CH 6 Voters and Voter Behavior. Copy: Voting is crucial to a democratic society. It is a right guaranteed to anyone in the US who is a citizen and 18.

CH 6 Voters and Voter Behavior

Copy:

• Voting is crucial to a democratic society.• It is a right guaranteed to anyone in the US

who is a citizen and 18 years old.

Suffrage• 148 the right to vote.

• Electorate• 148 Those Americans eligible to vote,

registered or not.

registration

• 154• Procedure of voter identification to prevent

voter fraud.• One must be registered in order to vote.• Placed on a list• Done by party preference

• Literacy• 156 Ability to read and write.– Once used as a criteria for voter eligibility.

The Right to Vote

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• People elect representatives to make their laws.

• The number of representatives depends on population in a region.

• Drawing the regions can be done effectively for good or bad.

gerrymandering

• 159• Questionable practice of drawing electoral

district lines.• To set boundaries for people a political official

will represent.• Done to limit or strengthen the support of a

party or group.• Redistricting is done after the US census is done

(every 10 years).

Preclearance

• 164 Federal approval of state and local laws that guarantee fair and equal:– Poll location– Boundaries of election districts– Deadlines in the election process– Elections from ward to district to at-large.

Copy:

• A voter’s behavior is his/her own.• It develops from needs, relationships, and

experiences.

Voter Behavior

• 164 Off-year election• Held in even-numbered years between

presidential elections. – AKA: midterm elections

• Political efficacy• 166 Voter’s feeling of influence or

effectiveness in their act of voting.

• Political socialization• Process by which people gain or learn their

political attitudes and opinions.

Voter Behavior

• Gender gap• 169 difference in male and female voting trends.

• Party identification• 171 loyalty of a voter to a particular political party.

• Straight-ticket voting• 171 A voter only supports candidates or issues of

his/her own party.

Voter Behavior

• EC: Split-ticket voting• 171 a voter supports candidates or issues of

different parties, not just their own party.

• Independent• 171 any voter who has no party affiliation.

Voter Behavior

Presidential Election, 2012

• Solid GOP• Solid Dem• Which states should a GOP candidate

concentrate on?• Which states should a Dem candidate

concentrate on?• Which states must both candidates battle it

out over?

Hwk Concepts, Class Work, to Know

• EC: Describe two long-term trends that have characterized the history of suffrage in the United States (2) –148 Gradual elimination of voting

restrictions– Expansion of Federal government’s control

over voting

The Right to VoteConcepts: Ch 6, pp. 148-175

• Describe the five distinct stages in the growth of the American electorate (5) – 148 early 1800s, removed religious, property, and

tax payment qualifications– Post-Civil War: universal male suffrage– 1920: Women’s suffrage– 1960s: Civil Rights Acts; 23rd and 24th

Amendments: end poll taxes, and allow District of Columbia to vote

– 26th Amendment: extends voting age to 18.

EC: The Right to Vote

• What restrictions does the Constitution place on the States in setting suffrage qualifications? (3)– 148 voters must be able to vote in all elections– No discrimination by race, sex, age (18+)– No taxes as voter qualification.

EC: The Right to Vote

EC: Voter Qualifications

• Why do most states require voter registration? (2)– 152 prevents fraud– determines eligibility in closed primaries

• Why do election officials have poll books? – 152 keep track of all registered voters

• Why are poll books purged? – 152 keep the books current: eliminate voters

who have moved or passed away, felons.

EC: Voter Qualifications

• Why were poll taxes declared unconstitutional by SCOTUS? – 152 only allowed wealthy to vote– Discriminated against African Americans

EC: Voter Qualifications

• What is gerrymandering? – 159 drawing electoral districts to favor a particular party

EC: Suffrage and Civil Rights

EC: Suffrage and Civil Rights (5)

• What voting devices were used to disenfranchise African-Americans? – 159 – gerrymandering– Violence– Social pressures– Literacy tests– Poll taxes

• Images: • 146: compare to modern campaigning• No technology, only voice• Still involves travelling long distances

The Right to Vote

• Images: • 154: questions• A.• Though he has specific opinions about government

and politicians, he feels his vote won’t make a difference.

• B.• That such attitudes are part of the problem.

Voter Qualifications

• Images: • 155: interpret the graph a, b, – A – 10 percent wore a button or put a sticker on their car;– 8 percent gave money– 4 percent worked in a campaign or for a candidate.– B: – make sure your answer is supported by the graph.

• + what do the last two categories say about people caring about the outcome? discussion.

Voter Qualifications

Images:• 156: questions, + what do you think many Jim

Crow states did to avoid the issue?• They disqualified White, male voters.

EC: Voter Qualifications

• Images: • 157: question• Discourages people who might feel they

would fill out the application incorrectly• Frightens people who might not want their

names to appear in the newspapers.

Voter Qualifications

• Images: • 158: question, • That voter apathy is just as dangerous as a

dictatorship.

• + is there really a problem with the US voting system? Explain.

Voter Qualifications

• Images: • 161: questions• 1. 15th, 19th, 26th amendments• General trend has been toward a more democratic

(popular) system.

• 162: question.• About 1.7 million new African American voters

registered.

Voter Behavior

EC: Voter Behavior (10)• List sociological factors that affect political behavior– 164 income– Occupation– Education– Gender (orientation)– Age– Religion– Ethnic background– Geography– Family– Peer groups

• 165: questions• 1968• 1968

• 166: question• Nonvoters outweigh the voters• Suggest their refusal to vote has a huge

impact on elections.

Voter Behavior

• 167: question• Nonwhites, who have consistently voted

Democratic.

Voter Behavior

Gerrymandering

270 Map, question• Neither party wants to lose seats in Congress

as a result of combining districts.

• Look at the image on this slide.• What percentage of voters turned out for the

presidential election in 1964? In 1988?– Ans: 61.9 percent, 50.1 percent

• Which year shows the greatest difference between voter turnout for presidential elections versus non-presidential elections?– 1984

EC: Voter Behavior

EC: Voter Behavior

• Look at the image on this slide.• What percentage of voters turned out for the

presidential election and the non-presidential election in 1976?– presidential, – 53.5 percent; – non-presidential, – 34.9 percent

• You are working on a committee to examine whether 16-year-olds in your State should vote. Make up three to five questions that you would ask 16-year-olds to determine if they should gain the right to vote.– Do you read the newspaper, read blogs or Internet sources, or

listen to/watch news about state, national, and world events? – What is your opinion of our current President? – What is your opinion of our current Congress?– Are you concerned about having the right to vote? – Would you vote in the next general elections if given the

opportunity to do so, and why?

Electoral Process

• What was Benjamin Franklin suggesting about the government when he said that a man whose only property was a jackass would lose his right to vote if the jackass died?– Franklin may have been suggesting that the

government was biased toward property owners and that such a bias was unfair because property ownership in no way makes a person more qualified to vote.

– One’s rights stay with them all their life.

Electoral Process

• Why is the issue of voter rights so important in the United States?– If the United States is to remain a true democracy,

the voting rights of all people must be secured and guaranteed. Otherwise, certain groups will not find representation in government and will not be able to take part by holding public office. Because the Constitution did not establish voter rights for all groups, subsequent government actions had to be taken to do so.

Electoral Process