Voting in America

The Right to Vote

• The Framers of the Constitution purposely left the power to set suffrage qualifications to each State.

History of Voting Rights

• Both of these terms have the same meaning:–The RIGHT or

PRIVILEGE to vote.

Suffrage / Franchise

Voter Statistics in US

• When the Constitution went into effect in 1789, who was allowed to vote? –White, male, property owners

Expansion of Electorate

• Today the size of the American electorate (potential voting population) is around 210 million people

• Who is allowed to vote today? –Nearly all citizens who

are at least 18 years old.

Expansion of Electorate

• That big number is a result of some 200 years of continuing, often bitter and sometimes violent struggle.

• The history of suffrage has been marked by (2) long-term trends:1. The gradual elimination of restrictions on the

right to vote2. The State’s power over the right to vote has

been assumed by the Federal government.

Expansion of Electorate

• The growth of the American electorate to its present size and shape has come in five fairly distinct stages:

Extending Suffrage

• When: –Early 1800s

• What:–Elimination of

religious, property, and tax requirements.

The 1st Stage

• When:–Post Civil-War Era.

• What:–Race or color could

not block right to vote.

–15th Amendment.

The 2nd Stage

• When:–1920

• What:–Women get the

right to vote in Federal elections.

–19th Amendment

The 3rd Stage

• When:–1960s

• What:–23rd Amendment allows District of

Columbia to vote in presidential election–24th Amendment – No poll tax–Voting Rights Act 1965

The 4th Stage

• When:–1971

• What:–Minimum age of

voting can be no higher than 18 years old.

The 5th Stage

VoterQualifications

• Today, every state requires that any person who wants to vote must be able to satisfy qualifications based on (3) factors:

Universal Requirements

• Aliens (foreign born residents who have not become citizens) are denied the right to vote.

• States have power to regulate this.

• Pennsylvania?–Citizen for 30 days–Resident of PA for 30

days

Citizenship

• Why is there a residency requirement?1. Political Machines

cannot bring voters in from different areas.

2. New voters can become familiar with candidates and issues of an area.

Residency

• Transients: –persons living in a State for only a

short time; are prohibited from voting in nearly every state.

Residency

• 26th Amendment (1971) set the minimum age for voting in any election at no more than 18.

• Vietnam War was key.• What is the impact of 18-20

years olds in voting?–NONE: they have the

lowest percentage of all voting groups..

Age

Age

• The States have imposed a number of other qualifications over time.

1. Registration2. Literacy3. Tax Payment4. Persons Denied the Vote

Other Qualifications

• Procedure of voter identification intended to prevent fraudulent voting.

• A prospective voter must register his/her name, age, place of birth, present address, length of residence, and similar facts.

• What is purging? –Reviewing the lists of registered voters and

removing the names of the ineligible.

Registration

• Some people argue that the registration requirement is bar to voter turnout, especially among the poor and less-educated.

Registration

• In 1993 Congress passed a law dubbed “the Motor- Voter Law”.

• What did this do? 1. Register by mail2. Register when

applying/renewing driver’s license.

Registration

• Today no state has a suffrage qualification based on voter literacy – a persons ability to read or write.

• States had these in place to keep a group away from the polls – African Americans, Native American, Irish Catholic immigrants.

Literacy

• What eliminated all of these requirements? –Voting Rights Act

Amendments of 1970

Literacy

• Poll tax = payment of a tax in order to vote.

• Beginning with Florida in 1889, each of the 11 southern states enacted this to keep African-Americans away from the polls.

Tax Payment

• The 24th Amendment to the Constitution ended this in 1964.

Tax Payment

• Some states deny the right to vote to certain persons:–People in mental institutions.–Persons found legally incompetent.–Persons convicted of serious crimes.

Denied the Vote

Suffrageand

Civil Rights

• First step in the effort to extend the franchise to African Americans.

• What does it declare….

15th Amendment

• Right to vote cannot be denied because of race, color or previous condition of servitude.

15th Amendment

• Yet for almost 90 years (1870-1960), the Federal government paid little attention to voting rights for African Americans.

• During this period, blacks were kept from the polls by a mix of violence, literacy tests, poll taxes and other devices:

Federal Government

• Definition:–Drawing district

lines to limit or strengthen the voting power of a particular group.

Gerrymandering

• Definition:–Practice that

excluded blacks from running for office; used in the South.

–Eventually ruled unconstitutional.

White Primaries

• Allowed for Federal voting referees to help voters register or vote.

Civil Rights Act 1960

• This Act was much broader and more effective than either two of the earlier measures.

• Outlawed discrimination in several areas – especially job related matters.

• It relied on judicial action to overcome racial barriers.

Civil Rights Act 1964

• Definition:–A court order

that either forces or limits an action by a person.

Injunction

• Voter registration march in Selma, Alabama were met with violence - showing a need for new and stronger legislation.

• What played a role in getting the nation’s attention? –The violence shown on

national TV.

Dr. Martin Luther King

• This act applied to ALL elections held anywhere in this country – state and local as well as federal.

• Originally, the Act was to be in effect for 5 years but Congress has extended its life three times.

Voting Rights Act

of 1965

1. Suspended us of literacy tests.

2. Gave Federal government power to oversee elections.

Voting Rights Act

of 1965

President Johnson and Dr. Kingat signing of Voting Rights Act

• Changes that must be approved:–Location of polling

places–Boundaries of districts–Deadlines in election

process–Qualifications of

candidates

Preclearance

• Additions to the law include: –extensions for existing

provisions–help for language

minorities (ballots in several languages)

Amendments tothe Act

VoterBehavior

• There are several legitimate reasons for not voting…

• But the troubling fact remains that most of the millions who do not vote cannot claim those reasons.

Nonvoters

• Case in point Election Day 2000: – those eligible to vote

(205.8 million) and 105.4 million did vote (51.2%)

–How many people did not vote at all? • Nearly 100 million

people!!!

Size of the Problem

• Off-year elections, which are the congressional elections in between a President’s term, have even lower rates of voter turnout.

• What does it mean to be a “nonvoting voter”?–Vote for candidates at top

of ballot, but no other offices.

Size of the Problem

• One reason for nonvoting is “ballot fatigue” –many voters get

exhaust their patience and/or knowledge as they work they way down the ballot.

Ballot Fatigue

• There are any number of reasons for not voting:–Belief that it makes

no difference who wins.

–Others are satisfied with the political world as they it.

Actual Nonvoters

• Define–People who lack any

feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics.

• Why do people have it?–They believe they

have no impact on what the government does.

Political Efficacy

• Cumbersome election procedures (registration, long lines and ballots)

• Bad weather can also effect turnout.

Turnout Factors

• Time-Zone Fallout–polls on East Coast

close before other time-zones

–Announcing East Coast results might discourage West Coast voters.

Turnout Factors

• A simple factor is, purely and simply, a lack of interest!

Turnout Factors

• Voters and Non-voters.

• One useful way to get a handle on the problem of nonvoting is to contrast those who go to the polls regularly and those who do not…

Comparing …

• High level of income, education and job status.

• Strong sense of party identification.

• Long time residents who are active in their community.

• Unmarried, unskilled and under the age of 35.

• Live in rural areas of country.

• Women vote more than men.

Comparing …

Voters Non-Voters

• Voting has been studied more closely than any other form of political participation.

• Why is this? The importance of the topic and the great amount of data available.

Voter Behavior

• Most of what is known about voter behavior comes from (3) sources:

Studying Voters

The Results of Particular elections

• Studying the returns from areas populated with a specific group will indicate how they voted.

The Field of Survey Research

• Scientific polling of public opinion can determine voter outcome.

Studies of Political Socialization

• This involves studying experiences and relationships in people’s lives

Sociological Factors• Sociology is

the study of groups and how people behave within groups.

Income, Occupations

• Lower income tend to be Democrat, higher income Republicans.

• Occupations : –professionals, business

people tend to vote Republican

–manual labor, union workers tend to vote Democrat.

Education…• College grads vote

for Republicans in higher percentages than do high school grads; High school grads vote GOP more than grade school grads.

Gender• The Gender Gap in

politics:–Women tend to favor

Democrats by 5-10%, and men tend to favor Republicans by the same amount.

Protestants

• Historically, a majority of Protestants have voted Republican.

• Social issues are key to most Protestants voters.

Catholic• Traditional, have

voted Democrat.• Immigration in early

1900s.• Recent trend is that

they are swing voters:–2004 52% for Bush–2008 58% for Obama

Jewish• Traditionally have

always voted Democrat.• Immigration in early

1900s.• Recent trend:

–2004 75% for Bush–2008 79% for Obama

African-American • For decades, African

Americans have supported the Democratic Party consistently and massively.

• 95% in 2008

Latinos• Do not vote as a block

• Cuban-Americans:–Tend to vote Republican

• Mexicans and Puerto Ricans:–Tend to vote Democrat

Geography• The part of the country in which a person

lives has an impact on voting.• Solid South:

–Starting with the end of the Civil War, the South voted solidly Democrat for over 100 years.

Family

• Married couples and family members tend to vote the same way.

• What is the role of parents?–2 of 3 voters follow the

political attachments of their parents

Psychological Factors• Psychology is

the study of the mind and of individual behavior.

• A majority of Americans identify with one of the major parties – and many NEVER change.

• This is the SINGLE most significant predictor of how a person will vote.

Party Identification

Straight/Split Ticket

• Straight Ticket :–Voting of candidates

of ONLY one party• Split Ticket:

–Voting for candidates of MORE than one party

• Term used for people with no party affiliation.

• New breed of:–Often young and

above average in education, income and job status.

Independents

• Candidates:–An impression a

candidate makes on a voter can cause a switch in party

• Issues:–An important issue can

cause a switch in party for a voter.

Short Term Factors