1. Voters and Voter Behavior
Chapter 6

2. Section 2
Voter Qualifications

3. Universal Voting Requirements
Every State in the U.S. requires that any person who wants to vote must be able to satisfy qualifications based on three factors.
Citizenship
Residence
Age

4. Citizenship
You must be a citizen to vote in the United States. (Some states allow non-citizens to vote in some types of elections.)

5. Residence
You must be a legal resident of the State in which you wish to cast a ballot.
Person must live in a State for a certain amount of time before he or she can vote
To prevent outsiders from swaying an election and to allow people to become familiar with issues/candidates.
The time period has shortened throughout history.
Most states today it is 30 days or less
Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 & Dunn v. Blumstein

6. Age
Age: No state can set the minimum age for voting in any election at more than 18.
(26th Amendment, 1971): “Old enough to fight and die; old enough to vote.”
States can set the age lower than 18 if they choose.
Nebraska has come close to letting 17 year olds vote.
18-20 year olds are the least likely citizens to cast a ballot.

8. Who is Eligible to Vote in Colorado?
You are eligible to vote if you:
will be 18 years of age or older at the time of the next election,
are a United States citizen,
have resided in Colorado 22 days immediately before the election at which you intend to vote,
are not serving a sentence of confinement, detention, or parole for a felony conviction.

9. Registration
Registration is a procedure of voter identification fraudulent voting.
Also a method of establishing party membership.
Requirements for registration often include paperwork where an eligible voter provides their name, place of birth, age, address, length of residency, and other information.
Controversies
Effects on poor, minorities, elderly, disabled
Voter ID Laws

10. Literacy Tests and Poll Taxes
Many states used to require the passage of a literacy test in order to vote.
No modern states require this.
Tax Payment
Payment of property taxes or the payment of a poll tax used to be a qualification for voting in many states.
No states require this today because it was outlawed by the 24th amendment.

11. People who can not vote Individuals who are illegally in the country.
People admitted to mental institutions.
People who have been found legally incompetent.
People who have been convicted of serious crimes.
Some states prevent individuals who have been dishonorably discharged from the military from voting.