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American Cit.
Chapter 6Voters and Voter Behavior
Section 1
The right to vote
The History of Voting Rights
Suffrage The right to vote (AKA Franchise)
Expansion of the Electorate The U.S. electorate includes some
210 million citizens potential voting population
originally a state power, however progressively a federal power
The History of Voting Rights (Con’t)
extending suffrage: Five Stages first stage: Early 1800’s
religious, ownership, tax payments banned second stage: 1870
15th amendment all races allowed to vote Third stage: 1920
19th amendment gave women suffrage Fourth stage: 1960’s
voting Rights Act of 1965 removed any remaining barriers to African American suffrage
Fifth stage lower voting age to 18 yrs. Old
The Power to set voting Qualifications
Still state power, however it can not be unconstitutional
Section 2
Voter qualification
Universal Requirements Citizenship
Most require you to be an American citizen Residence
Must be a permanent resident of the state you vote in
Most states do not set a requirement time period today
Transients generally can not vote in new state
person living in the state for only a short time Age
Until 26th amendment, states varied with age from 21 to 18
Other Qualifications Registration
A procedure of voter identification intended to prevent transient voting
Purging removing individuals who are not longer eligible
to vote Poll Books
the lists of all registered voters in each precincts Fight over how to stream-line it and avoid
fraud
Other Qualifications (Con’t)
Literacy A person’s ability to read or write No longer required, however it was used to
discourage African-American slaves forced creation of “Grandfather Clause”
Tax payment demanded payment of a special tax called a Poll
Tax However found unconstitutional
Persons denied the vote declared mentally incompetent felons
Section 3
Suffrage and Civil Rights
Fifteenth Amendment
Gave nearly all slaves the right to vote
However the right was still denied for nearly 90 years
Violence used to persuade Literacy test Gerrymandering
drawing of electoral district lines Democrats continually denied blacks into
primary’s in the South
Early Civil Rights Legislation
Civil Rights Act of 1957 Inquired into claims of voter
discrimination Civil Rights Act of 1960
Allowed federal voting referees
The Civil rights Act of 1964
Forbid voter registration or literacy in an unfair or discriminatory manner
Use judicial branch to determine discrimination
Used injunctions court order that forces or restrains
certain actions by public or private officials
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Applied to all elections and cemented 15th amendment
Preclearance Approval by the Department of Justice
Amendments to the Act Requirement to language 10,000 or more, minority
African Americans at the Polls
Chapter 6, Section 3Chapter 6, Section 322 4411
Section 4
Voter Behavior
Nonvoters
The word idiot is Greek and it means citizens who do not vote
The Size of the Problem
Off-year elections Congressional elections held in the
even-numbered years between presidential elections
Many choose not to vote due to “voting fatigue”
Presidential elections most voter population and participation
Why People do not vote Cannot voters
Resident aliens are denied access to vote
Disabled Actual voters
Convinced there is no purpose Political efficacy
lack any sense of their own influence or effectiveness in politics
they feel popular sovereignty is no longer alive
Why People do not vote (Con’t)
Factors affecting voters Mostly lack of interest
Comparing voters and nonvoters Voters tend to have higher income,
education, and occupational status Unvoters are generally younger than
35, unmarried and unskilled However multiple factors affect it.
Voters and voting Behavior
Studying voting behavior Political socialization
the process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions
Gender, Age gender gap
measurable difference between the partisan choices of men and women
Men more likely GOP and women more likely Democrat
Younger people more likely vote Democrat and older people more likely vote GOP
Voters and voting Behavior (Con’t)
Religious, Ethnic Background Protestants more likely vote GOP Catholics and Jews tend to vote Democrat FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Civil Rights Acts of
the 1960’s moved majority of African-American votes to Democrats
Latino’s are more unpredictable Geography
GOP has drawn good support from the South, and Democrats to the North
Democrats tend to get the bigger cities, while GOP draws the rural areas of the country
Family and Other Groups 9/10 married couples vote the same way
Psychological Factors Voters perceptions of politics Party Identification
Loyalty to Political Party Straight Ticket Voting
The practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election
Weakened over the years as evident by more split-ticket voting also the rise of people who consider themselves
independent Candidates and Issues
Exit polls greatly reveal the role of the Candidates character and their stance on issues, in determining their electorate
Sociological Factors
Income andOccupation
Education Gender and Age
Religious andEthnic Background
Geography Family and OtherGroups
Voter preferences can’t be predicted by just one sociological factor. Voter opinion is a
combination of all of these factors and more.
Chapter 6, Section 4Chapter 6, Section 422 3311