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Chapter 6 Voters and Voter Behavior. Steve Splan Steven Aurit Sherry Ball Ben Gartland. Section 1 The Right to Vote. History of Voting. Extending Suffrage: The Five Stages extend voting rights came in the early 1800s broaden the electorate followed the Civil War
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Chapter 6Voters and Voter Behavior Steve Splan Steven Aurit Sherry Ball Ben Gartland
History of Voting • Extending Suffrage: The Five Stages • extend voting rights came in the early 1800s • broaden the electorate followed the Civil War • 19th Amendment prohibited the denial of the right to vote because of sex • securing African Americans a role in the electoral process • 26th Amendment no State can set minimum age for voting at more than 18
The Power to set Voting Qualifications • Five Restrictions on how States use power • people must be allowed to vote for representatives and senators in Congress • cannot deprive a person the right to vote based on race • cannot deprive a person the right to vote based on sex • cannot require payment • cannot deprive a person of 18yrs. to vote
Universal Requirements • Citizenship • must be a citizen or native-born • Residence • States Adopt Residence Requirements • to keep a political machine from importing enough outsiders to affect the outcome of local elections • to allow new voters at least some time to become familiar with the candidates and issues in an election
Universal Requirements Cont. • Age • no state may set the minimum age for voting in any election • a state may set the age at less than 18, if it chooses to do so
Other Qualifications • Registration • 49 states require all voters to be registered • “Motor Voter Law” • allow all eligible citizens to register to vote • provide for voter registration • make registration forms available at local offices • Literacy • no state has a suffrage qualification based on voter literacy
Other Qualification Cont. • Tax Payment • payment of taxes used to be a common suffrage qualification • Persons Denied the Vote • nearly all states have disqualified those who have been convicted of serious crimes
The Fifteenth Amendment • Gerrymandering-the practice of drawing electoral district lines in order to limit the voting strength of a particular group or party
Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Injunction- a court order that either compels or restrains the performance of some act by a private individual or by a public official
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Made the 15th Amendment, at long last, a truly effective part of the Constitution • this act applied to all elections held anywhere in this country • Voting Act originally to last only five years
Voting Rights Act of 1965 cont. • Preclearance • cases show that laws most likely run afoul of preclearance requirements are those that make changes • location of polling places • boundaries of election districts • deadlines in the election process • ward or district election to at-large elections • qualifications candidates must meet in order to run for office
Nonvoters • Tens of millions vote in all kinds of elections • many millions for one reason or another choose not to vote
The Size of the Problem • Off-year election: the congressional elections held in the even-numbered years between presidential elections • Ballot Fatigue
Why People Do Not Vote • Can’t Vote • resident aliens • ill or disabled • traveling • religious beliefs • jail/prison • Actual Nonvoters • don’t want to • don’t care
Comparing Nonvoters to Voters • Voters Characteristics • high income • education • occupational status • long-time residence • sense of party identification • Nonvoters Characteristics • under 35 • unmarried • unskilled • live in south rural areas
Voters and Voting Behavior • Studying Voting Behavior • results of particular elections • field of survey research • studies of political socialization
Factors that Influence Voters • Age • race • income • occupation • education • religion
Voter’s group affiliations • Family • co-workers • friends
Sociological Factors • Income/Occupation • High Income= Republican Party • Low Income= Democratic Party
Psychological Factors • Party Identification: the loyalty of people to a particular political party • Straight-ticket Voting: practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election • Split-ticket voting: practice of voting for the candidates of more than one party in an election • Independents: used to identify people who have no party affiliation • Candidates and Issues