Gov 5 & 6

Sociological factors that tend to influence voter behavior:

-income and occupation -education -gender, age -religion, ethnic background -geography -family and other groups

Summarize the 5 stages in the extension of voting rights

1. -religious qualifications disappeared -states began to eliminate property ownership and tax payments 2. -15th amendment (protects citizens from being denied the right to vote) -African Americans still banned from voting 3. -19th amendment prohibited denial to vote due to sex -women vote in 1869 4. -secured African Americans in electoral process -equality booths 5. -26th amendment in 1971, allowed those over 18 to vote

5 provisions of the "Motor Voter Law"

1. Allow all eligible citizens to vote when getting or renewing drivers license 2. Provide for voter registration by mail 3. Make voter registration forms available at local offices 4. Every state mails a questionnaire to voters every 4 years 5. For ides states to purge for any reason

List the 5 restrictions that the Constitution places on the ability of the States to set qualifications for voting.

1. Anyone who can vote for most numerous branches can vote for representatives and senators in congress 2. No state can deprive the right to vote due to color, race, or previous condition of servitude 3. No states can deprive the right to vote due to sex 4. Can't require a payment of any tax as a condition for taking part in the nomination or election 5. No state can deprive any person who is at least 18 of the right to vote because of age

3 reasons why people may be denied the right to vote in some or all States:

1. Mental institutions 2. Convicted of serious crimes (in prison) 3. Anyone dishonorably discharged from the Army

Five "legal" devices that were used to prevent African Americans from voting even after the passage of the 15th Amendment:

1. Poll taxes 2. Literacy tests 3. White primaries 4. Gerrymandering 5. Registration laws

5 reasons "cannot voters" are unable to vote:

1. Resident aliens 2. Disabled or I'll 3. Traveling suddenly 4. Religious beliefs 5. In prison

3 main sources of information about voting behavior:

1. Results of particular elections 2. Field of survey research 3. Studied of political socialization

Describe the 2 trends in the expansion of the American electorate.

1. The nation has experienced the gradual eliminations on the right to vote 2. A significant share of what was originally the states power over the right to vote has been gradually assumed by the Federal Government

5 reasons why actual nonvoters do not vote:

1. Too busy 2. Approve in public business 3. Feel alienated 4. No sense of political efficiency 5. Inconvenient registration requirements

3 arguments against voter registration:

1. Voter turnout began to decline in the early 1900s 2. Voter turnout is much higher in Europe than the U.S. 3. U.S. is the only democratic country in which people decide whether or not to vote

How does a persons residence affect his or her eligibility to vote?

A person must have lived in the state for at least a certain period of time before they can vote

Civil Rights Act of 1960

Allowed federal voting references to help qualified people register and vote where there was discrimination

How can a state or country be removed from the voter-examiner and preclearence provisions of the Voting Rights Act?

By the bail out process, they must show it has not applied any voting procedures in a discriminatory way for at least 10 years

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Created U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which investigated voter discrimination

Why are residence requirements much shorter today than they were in the past?

Due to the direct result of 1970 Federal law and a 1972 Supreme Court decision

To whom did the Framers give power to set voter qualifications?

Each state

1982

Extended the basic features of the Voting Rights Act for 25 years

1970 (Voting Rights Act)

For 5 years, no state could use literacy as a voting requirement

What factors increase voter turnout even when they conflict with other factors?

High sense of political efficiency and 2 party competition

Description of the profile who is most likely to vote:

Higher levels of income, education, and occupational status, community life, long time and active residents, strong sense of party, believe voting is important, and have laws and customs

How did the 26th amendment affect the age at which citizens can vote?

It changed the age from being 21 to 18

Why is literacy no longer used as a suffer age qualification?

It disfranchised voters on account of their race

What is the purpose of voter registration?

It is intended to prevent fraudulent voting

What was the original purpose of literacy qualifications? For what purpose were these qualifications later used?

It was used to make sure that a qualified voter has the capacity to cast an informed ballot. It was later used to limit voting by the Irish Catholic immigrants

What is party identification, and how important is it in determining how a person will vote?

It's the loyalty of people to a certain political party, and it is the most significant and lasting predictor of how a person will vote

1992

Laws language minority revised

What was the purpose of the 15th Amendment?

No citizen can be denied suffrage based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It also enfranchised African American men

What is the purpose of preclearence? What types of laws are most likely to have preclearence problems?

No new or changed election laws can take effect in a state where less than half of the eligible electorate had registered or voted in 1964, unless approved by the department of justice

Independents

No party affiliation

How does voter turnout in off year elections compare to voter turnout in presidential election years?

Off year elections have lower rates of turnout than those years of presidential elections

Gomillion V. Lightfoot (voting rights for African Americans)

Outlawed gerrymandering

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed racial discrimination in job related matters and banned unfair voter registration and literacy requirements

Smith V. Allwright (voting tight for African Americans)

Outlawed the primary

24 Amendment (how it affected the poll tax)

Outlaws the poll tax

Harper V. Virginia Board of Elections (how it affected the poll tax)

Poll tax in conflict of the 14th amendment

What are poll taxes, and why were they once common throughout the south?

Poll taxes are a special tax, and they were common in the south because they discouraged voting by the African Americans

Civil Right Act of 1965

Protects African Americans against various tactics intended to prevent from voting

What is purging?

Removal of the names on the list of registered votes of those who are no longer eligible to vote

Can anyone under 18 in the United States vote?

Some 17 year olds can now cast ballots in primary elections in some states. They allow anyone who's 18th birthday falls after the primary but before the general election to vote

What are two terms that both mean "the right to vote"?

Suffrage and Franchise

1975

The 1970 law was extended to 7 years and the 5 year ban was permanent

What was the principal argument in favor of this amendment?

The Vietnam War. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote."

What are the two most important short term factors that can cause voters to switch sides in an election?

The candidates and the issues in an election

What is ballot fatigue, and how does it help explain "nonvoting voters"?

The farther down the ballot an office is, the farther the number of votes that will be cast for it. Many voters exhaust their patience and/or knowledge as they work down the ballot

What is the electorate?

The potential voting population

Why are voter ID laws controversial?

Their sponsors insist that the measures are intended to prevent people from fraud voting, but critiques say they were designed to discourage voting

How does voter turnout in primary and special elections compare to voter turnout in general elections?

There is more voter turnout in special elections than there is in general elections

How do residence requirements affect transients?

They prohibit transients in nearly every state

What is the purpose of residence requirements?

To keep a political machine from bringing in enough outsides to affect the outcome of an election, and to allow new voters the candidates and issues in an upcoming elections

How does geography affect voting patterns?

Vary in terms of size of the communities in which they live. Democrats tend to be in cities, while republicans tend to be in suburban America

Straight ticket voting

Voting for candidates of only 1 party

Split ticket voting

Voting of more than 1 party

When the constitution went into effect in 1789, who had the right to vote?

White male property owners

Is citizenship a requirement to vote in the United States?

Yes, aliens who have not become citizens are generally denied the right to vote in this country

Do family members tend to vote alike?

Yes, they vote in similar ways because a persons group associations usually reinforce the opinions he or she already holds

Description of the profile who is less likely to vote:

Younger than 35, unmarried, and unskilled, lives in the south or rural locations, and men are less likely to vote than women