unit 3, notes 2 voters and voter behavior. framers left power to set suffrage qualifications to each...
TRANSCRIPT
Framers left power to set suff rage qualifi cations to each state
Suffrage = right to voteWhen constitution ratifi ed in 1789
right to vote only allowed white, male, property owner
Most could not voteToday electorate – those allowed
to vote, much larger, almost anyone 18 or older Because of the many changes over
200 years of who is allowed to vote (laws)
Over years this power has gradually been assumed by federal government
VOTING RIGHTS
1) Early 1800s ended any religious test to vote Had been in place during colonial days After that, states began eliminating
qualifications property ownership, and tax payment
2) 15 th Amendment allowed African American to vote Said no citizen can be denied right to vote
because of race or color Still prevented from voting by individual
state laws created to get around this
3) 19 th Amendment – can not be prevented from voting because of sex
5 STAGES OF EXTENDING SUFFRAGE
4) Voting Rights Act of 1965 – African Americans allowed to vote 23rd Amendment – gave D.C.
votes in Presidential electorate
24th Amendment – eliminated poll tax
5) 26 th Amendment – no state can set minimum voting age at more than 18.
States still allowed power to set voter qualifi cations
5 STAGES OF EXTENDING SUFFRAGE, CONT.
States determine who can voteoAll states say you must meet qualifications based on 3
factors1) Citizenship2) Residence3) Age
ROLE OF THE STATES
Aliens – foreign born people who live in the US but have not become citizens
Are generally denied the right to vote But nothing in Constitution says they can not or states can
not allow them to vote Some states will allow them to vote if they have applied for
citizenship
CITIZENSHIP
Must be a legal resident of state in which you want to vote Do this for 2 reasons
1) keep pol it ical parties from bribing outsiders to come in
and vote on their elections2) al l new voters (residents of state) time to get to know
issues of the state and the candidates
o Most say you have to live in state for 30 days
o Most do prohibit transients – person living in state for a short time from gaining legal residence
o College student – only temporarily there so can’t vote
o But many states will allow your campus community to count for residency so you can vote
RESIDENCE
26 th Amendment - must be 18 or olderMinimum age can not be more than 18, can set less
than 18 if states want to Made in 1971 during Vietnam – ratified more quickly than
any other amendment “old enough to fight, old enough to vote” But you people don’t show up to vote
AGE
Registration Must register to vote Procedure of voter identification to prevent fraudulent
voting Gives election offi cials list of qualified voters Must register name, age, place of birth, present address,
length of residence Local election offi cials ordered to purge lists of registered
voters remove names of those no longer eligible
Some think that registering should be done away with because it hinders people from voting, especially poor, uneducated
Most states have eased registration process
OTHER QUALIFICATIONS
Congressed passed law requiring itMotor Voter Law – states must…
1) allow eligible citizens to register when applying for or renewing license
2) provide for voter registration by mail3) make registration forms available at state employment, welfare, and other social service
agencies 4) requires questionnaires be mailed to
registered voters so poll can be purged for deaths or changes of address
5) can not be purged for failure to vote
OTHER QUALIFICATIONS, CONT.
No state has qualifi cation based on literacy – ability to read or write Was used to make sure voter could cast
informed ballots Used unfairly to keep African Americans
and Native Americans from voting Many white people asked to “understand”
short passages from constitution African Americans given long, highly
complex passages This sometimes hindered whites from voting Enacted grandfather clause
A man or his male descendants who had voted before 15 th Amendment could legally vote without passing literacy test
Voting Rights Acts ended this
LITERACY
Right to vote cannot be denied due to race, color, or previous condition of servitude Intended to ensure that African
American men could vote But all the amendment did was make
this statement It did not provide a means to enforce and
implement To make it eff ective congress would
have to act would not happen for 90 years
During that time African Americans were kept from polls in most of south Used violence, threats, would fi re them if
they registered to vote “Legal devices” were used – literacy tests Poll taxes
15TH AMENDMENT
Gerrymandering – drawing electoral district line to limit voting strength of particular party“white primaries” – always elected a democratAlso states defined political parties as “private
associations” Can choose to exclude members, only party members
could vote in primary Supreme Court outlawed gerrymandering in Alabama
Gomillion v. Lightfoot AL legislature had redrawn electoral districts around Tuskegee
to not include blacks in city limits Court said this violated 15 th Amendment because it irregularly
shaped district clearly created to deprive blacks of political power
GERRYMANDERING
Civil Rights Act of 1957 – set up US Civil Rights Commission Job to inquire into claims of voter discriminationCivil Rights Act of 1964Broader and more eff ective
Outlaws discrimination in several areas, especially job-related Forbids use of any voter registration or literacy requirement in
unfair discriminatory manner Relied on judicial action to overcome problems and used
federal courts to order change Injunctions – court order that either compels (forces) or
restrains (limits) the performance of some act by private individual or public offi cial
A violation of an injunction may = prison Many protests and sit-ins all around South
CIVIL RIGHTS AND VOTING RIGHTS
Finally made 15 th Amendment actually eff ectiveApplied to all elections, federal, state, local
Only for 5 years but congress had extended it each time No more use of literacy test or similar device Gave federal offi cers right to oversee voting in some areas
VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
Throughout history less and less people have been exercising their right to vote Even lower rates of turnout in off year elections
in congressional elections held in even-numbered years between presidential elections
Nonvoter problems more than 10 mill ion persons who voted in last presidential election could also have voted for a congressional candidate but they did not choose to They are called “nonvoting voters” They are much more common in state and local
elections As a general rule, the farther down the ballot an offi ce
is, the fewer the number of votes that will be cast This is sometimes referred to as “ballot fatigue” This suggests that many voters exhaust their patience
and/or knowledge as they work their way down the ballot
VOTER PARTICIPATION
Cannot-votersSeveral million persons who are
regularly identified as nonvoters can be more accurately described as “cannot voters” They don’t vote, but they actually
cannot do soSome of these people are resident
aliensThey are barred from the polls in
every stateOthers may be sick or disabledOther reasons include mental
condition, prison or religious beliefs
WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE
Millions of actual nonvoters Those who could have voted in presidential election but did
not Number of reasons for this Many who could vote do not because they are convinced that
it makes little real diff erence who wins The large group contains two different groups of non-voters
It includes many who generally approve of the way the public business is being managed
They believe no matter who wins things will continue to go well Many other feel alienated Many who deliberately refuse to vote because they don’t trust
political institutions Others believe their vote has no real impact on what
government does or the outcome of the election
ACTUAL NONVOTERS
Other factors aff ect whether voters show up at pollCumbersome election
procedures inconvenient registration
requirements long ballots, long lines at polling
place Of all reasons the major cause
for nonvoting is lack of interest Most often they do not know even
the simplest facts about the candidates and issues involved
FACTORS AFFECTING TURNOUT
Many diff erences between them People most likely to vote display characteristics as higher
levels of income, education and occupational status Tend to be long-time residents who are active in or
comfortable with their surroundings Likely to have strong sense of party identification and
believe that voting is an important actNonvoters likely to be younger than 35, unmarried,
unskilledMore in the South and rural areasToday women more likely to vote than men
COMPARING VOTERS AND NON-VOTERS
Parts of voters social and economic life that aff ect voting Income, occupation
Voters in lower income brackets more like to be democrats Voters in higher income brackets tend to be republicans
Professional and business people tend to vote republican
Gender, Age Women tend to favor democrats, Men = republican Younger voters – more likely democrat
Religious, Ethic Protestants – republican Catholic, Jewish – democrat African American – democrat Latino - democrat
SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS