Right to Vote

1. Right to Vote • The Framers left suffrage qualifications up to each State. • Suffrage means the right to vote. • Franchise • The American electorate (people eligible to vote) is more than 205 million. • The history of American suffrage has been marked by two long trends. • Gradually extending suffrage • Second the National government taking over what was originally intended for the States

2. Extending Suffrage • First stage – religious qualifications disappeared (no state has had a religious qualification since 1810) • Second stage – followed the Civil War. The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, was intended to protect any citizen from being denied the right to vote because of race or color. • Third stage – the 19th Amendment prohibited the right to vote because of sex. • Fourth stage – Voting Rights Act of 1965 would eventually push for voter equality • Fifth stage – 26th Amendment in 1971 expanded the electorate (the minimum age would be 18)

3. Setting Voter Qualifications • This is a power that is reserved for the States. • The Constitution does place five restrictions on how the States use that power. • Voters must be allowed to vote in ALL elections. • Cannot be deprived based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” • 19th Amendment • No paying of a tax for taking part in an election process • 26th Amendment

4. Voter Qualifications • Citizenship – aliens, and foreign-born residents who have not achieved citizenship are generally denied the right to vote in the United States. • Residence – one must be a legal resident of the State in which he or she wishes to cast a ballot. (usually for a given period of time, 30 days) • To keep a political machine from importing outsiders to affect the outcome of an election • To ensure that every voter has at least some time in which to become familiar with the candidates and issues of the election.

5. Setting Voter Qualifications • Residence – nearly every State prohibits transients, or persons living in a State for a short amount of time, from gaining legal residence there. • Age – the 26th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1971. • No State may set the minimum age for voting in any election at more than 18. • States could set the age at younger than 18, if it so chooses.

6. Setting Voter Qualifications • Registration – forty-nine States, all except North Dakota, require that most or all voters be registered to vote. • Procedure that was adopted to prevent fraud. • Typically you register your name, date of birth, present address, length of residence, and similar facts. (usually done with the county clerk) • Literacy – today no State has a qualification based on voter literacy, or a person’s ability to read or write. • Tax payments – no longer exists • Persons denied the right • Persons in a mental institution or found mentally incompetent • Those convicted of serious crimes

7. Suffrage and Civil Rights • 15th Amendment – effort to franchise African Americans began with this amendment • Can’t be denied due to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” • This amendment had no way of being executed. • Many African Americans were kept from the polls in the South. • Poll tax • Literacy tests • Gerrymandering – drawing of district lines to limit the voting of a particular group or party • Violence

8. Early Civil Rights Legislation • Civil Rights Act of 1957 – created the United States Civil Rights Commission • Check out claims of voter discrimination • The commission would report claims to Congress • The attorney general had the power to seek court orders to prevent voter discrimination • The Civil Rights Act of 1960 provided referees to places that discriminated

9. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • This act outlaws discrimination in several areas • Forbids the literacy test • Prohibited job discrimination • The act relied on judicial action to overcome racial barriers by using injunctions • An injunction is a court order that forces or restrains (limits) the performance of some act by a private individual or by a public official. Violators were punishable by a fine and or imprisonment.

10. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 • This made the 15th Amendment an effective part of the Constitution. • It applied to all elections held anywhere in this country • It was originally intended to be in effect for five years, but Congress has extended its life three times. • The present version has been extended for 25 years, with its provisions to expire in 2007

11. Preclearance • The Voting Rights Act of 1965 created a further restriction on those States where a majority had not voted in 1964. • No new election laws unless given preclearance through the Department of Justice • Location of polling places • The boundaries of election districts • Deadlines in the election process • From ward or district election to at-large elections • The qualifications candidates must meet

12. Voter Behavior • Nonvoters – there are many millions of people who do not vote • Only about half of the people that were eligible voted in the last presidential election or about 51% • The numbers go done even further in off year elections (these are elections held in even numbered years between presidential elections • Political efficacy – people who lack their own sense of effectiveness in politics

13. Factors that Influence Voters • A voter’s personal characteristics such as age, race, income, occupation, education, and religion. (these are sociological factors) • A voter’s group affiliation such as family, co-workers, and friends. • Psychological factors • Party identification – loyalty to a party and voting only for that party is known as straight ticket voting • Split ticket voting is the practice of voting for candidates of more than one party in an election. • Independents are those people that do not have any party affiliation.