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Voting Rights

Voting Rights. Suffrage. Suffrage is the right to vote Two trends with American suffrage The gradual elimination of restrictions (religion, property, race, sex, tax payment, etc.) Federal government assuming power over right to vote. Stage 1. Early 1800s No religious tests since 1810

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Voting Rights

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  1. Voting Rights

  2. Suffrage • Suffrage is the right to vote • Two trends with American suffrage • The gradual elimination of restrictions (religion, property, race, sex, tax payment, etc.) • Federal government assuming power over right to vote

  3. Stage 1 Early 1800s No religious tests since 1810 Removal of property and tax payment qualifications By 1850 almost all white adult males could vote

  4. Stage 2 1870: 15th Amendment “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” Can’t deny voting rights based on race Outlawed discrimination in theory

  5. Stage 3 1920: 19th Amendment “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The right to vote cannot be denied based on gender

  6. Stage 4 1960s: Civil Rights movement Civil Rights Act of 1964 & Voting Rights Act of 1965 FINALLY racial equality at the polls Outlawed discrimination in fact

  7. Stage 5 1971: 26th Amendment “The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.” The age to vote is set at 18!

  8. Voter Qualifications In order to vote, you must meet 3 requirements. Citizenship Residency Age States may set the requirements in these three areas for people who wish to vote

  9. Other Qualifications Registration: a procedure of voter identification intended to prevent fraudulent voting; most states require this Literacy: no state has a suffrage qualification based on literacy…but some states used to Tax payment: 24th Amendment outlawed poll taxes, which were common early in American history

  10. Why is there a low voter turnout in America???

  11. Factors that Influence Voters Two broad sociological factors Voter’s personal characteristics: age, race, income, occupation, education, religion, etc. Voter’s group affiliations: family, co-workers, friends, etc. This is part of political socialization

  12. Political Socialization Process by which people formulate their political attitudes and opinions

  13. Income, Occupation, Education • Democrat: • lower income • Manual labor and other low income occupations • Republican • Higher income • Professional positions and business people • The more education a person has, the higher tendency to vote Republican.

  14. Age, Gender Age Gender Older: Republican Younger: Democrat Immediately after the 26th Amendment was passed voter turnout for 18 year-olds was high but it has dropped significantly since Women are 5-10% more likely to favor the Democrats Men 5-10% more likely to favor the Republicans This is called the gender gap

  15. Religious & Ethnic Background Religion Ethnic Protestants: Republican Catholics and Jews: Democrat • African American and Latino: Democrat • Latino: • Cuban Americans: Republican • Mexican Americans and Puerto Rican Americans: Democrat

  16. 2013 Chris Christie Re-election

  17. 2013 Continued

  18. 2013 Continued

  19. 2013 Continued

  20. 2013 Continued

  21. Psychological Factors

  22. Party Identification • Party Identification: the loyalty of people to a particular political party • Single most important factor in predicting a person’s partisan voting behavior • When strong: straight-ticket voting • As it weakens: split-ticket voting • Independents: people who have no party affiliation

  23. The Electoral Process

  24. Ways to Nominate a Candidate Self Announcement Caucus Convention Direct Primary Petition

  25. Self Announcement • A candidate will announce they are running for office • Oldest form of nomination • A few situations where this might happen: • A candidate failed to win the primary • A candidate is unhappy with the major party’s choice • Write-in candidates ALWAYS self-announce Lisa Murkowski

  26. Caucus: a group of like-minded people who meet to select the candidates they will support in an upcoming election Caucuses started in the early 1700s in America, but were eventually replaced by nominating conventions

  27. Conventions Local caucus: selects candidates for local offices and delegates for county convention County convention: selects candidates for county offices and delegates for state convention State convention: selects candidates for state offices (Governor, etc.) and delegates for national party convention National party convention: selects candidates for national offices (President, VP) Corruption led to a new system: the Direct Primary

  28. Direct Primary • Held within a party to choose that party’s candidate for office • Compared with the caucus and convention methods, the number of people who participate in the direct primary is much greater • Two basic forms: • The closed primary • The open primary • The closed primary • Only declared members of a party can vote in that party’s primary • The open primary • Any qualified voter can cast a ballot

  29. Other Primary Elections • Runoff Primary • If a candidate does not gain an absolute majority of votes, the top two vote-getters in the first primary will face each other again a few weeks later • Nonpartisan Primary • Not identified by party labels • School board members, municipal positions, and judges • Often, if a candidate wins a majority in a nonpartisan primary, they will run unopposed in the general election

  30. Petition Candidates are nominated based on petitions signed by a certain number of qualified voters in a given district Generally required by State law for nominating a minor party candidate Usually found at the local level Often used for nonpartisan positions

  31. ELECTIONS Two periods to vote in elections: during early voting or on election day

  32. Elections Early Voting Election Day Absentee ballot Vote without actually going to the polling place on election day Often done by mail Voting like Election Day But during a period of days before the election “the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November” Here’s why Prevents it from falling on a Sunday (separation of church and state) Prevents it from falling on the first day of the month (often payday)

  33. Elections Popular Vote Electoral College Simple People vote for the candidate they would like for President Complex Actually voting to send “electors” to cast the ACTUAL vote for President Originally intended so “enlightened and respectable citizens” to choose the most qualified candidate Now, more of a “rubber stamp” for the popular vote Still decides the outcome

  34. U.S. Constitution's Requirements for a Presidential Candidate At least 35 years old A natural born citizen of the United States A resident of the United States for 14 years

  35. Step 1 Primaries and Caucuses Caucus: In a caucus, party members select the best candidate through a series of discussions and votes. Primary: In a primary, party members vote for the best candidate that will represent them in the general election.

  36. Step 2: National Conventions Each party holds a National convention to finalize the selection of one presidential nominee. At each convention, the presidential candidate chooses a running-mate (vice presidential candidate).

  37. Step 2: National Conventions Each party holds a National convention to finalize the selection of one presidential nominee. At each convention, the presidential candidate chooses a running-mate (vice presidential candidate).

  38. Step 3: General Election The presidential candidates campaign throughout the country in an attempt to win the support of the general population. People in every state across the country vote for one president and one vice president. When people cast their vote, they are actually voting for a group of people known as electors

  39. Step 4: Electoral College In the Electoral College system, each state gets a certain number of electors, based on each state's total number of representation in Congress. Each elector casts one electoral vote following the general election; there are a total of 538 electoral votes. The candidate that gets more than half (270) wins the election. Nevada = 6 The president-elect and vice president-elect take the oath of office and are inaugurated in January.

  40. 2012 Election Results

  41. Electoral College Explained http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50133559n&tag=mg;mostpopvideo

  42. Flaws with the Electoral College • Winner of the Popular vote is not guaranteed the Presidency • 2000 Election • Electors are not required to vote with the popular vote • “Faithless Electors” • Some states require they vote for the popular vote winner, but none have ever been enforced (possibly unconstitutional) • Election may be decided in HoR • No one gets to 270, HoR decided President • Senate decided VP

  43. Campaign Finance • Sources of campaign funds: • Small contributors • Small amounts and only occasionally • Wealthy individuals & families • Large donations to serve their best interests • Candidates • Providing personal funds for their campaign • Nonparty groups • Political Action Committees (PACs): the political arm of special-interest groups • Temporary Organizations • Groups formed to aid the immediate campaign

  44. Federal Election Commission (FEC) Independent agency in the Executive Branch Administers federal law dealing with campaign finance Require the disclosure of campaign finance data Place limits on campaign contributions: individuals are limited to $101,400 Places limits on campaign contributions to PACs Place limits on campaign expenditures: only if they accept federal subsidies Provide public funding for various portions of the presidential election process Laws governing campaign finance have become gradually more specific and enforced

  45. Hard Money vs. Soft Money Hard Money Soft Money Money that is raised and spent to elect candidates Limits are placed on how much hard money is spent Funds given to party organizations for “party-building activities” Candidate recruitment Voter registration Get-out-the-vote drives Until 2002, no limit was placed on soft money and in the 1980s and 1990s, much of the money spent was unregulated soft money

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