12th: Unit 2 - Ch 6

Literacy

A person's ability to read or write. Was, at one time, used as a qualification for voting. That is, if you couldn't read/write, you couldn't vote. Often times it was used unfairly to exclude certain groups of people from voting. That is no longer legal.

Off-year Election

Congressional elections held in the even-numbered years between presidential elections

Poll Books

List of a all registered voters in each precinct

Gender Gap

Measurable differences between the partisan choices of men and women today

Poll Tax

Payment of a special tax used as a condition for voting. Again, was done, often in the South, as a way to exclude certain groups from voting. No longer legal.

Independent

People who do not identify with any political party

Electorate

Potential voting population

Split-Ticket voting

Practice of voting for candidates of more than one party in an election. You vote for some Democrats, some Republicans, and even some Independents *if* you think they will do the best job.

Straight-Ticket Voting

Practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election. So, if you're a Republican, you only vote for candidates who identify as Republicans.

Registration

Procedure of voter identification intended to prevent fraudulent voting

Political Socialization

Process by which people gain the political attitudes and opinions

Purging

Removing names of those no longer eligible to vote from the list of registered voters

Party Identification

The loyalty of people to a particular political party. A significant indicator of how someone will vote.

Gerrymandering

The practice of drawing electoral district lines in order to limit the voting strength of a particular group or party

Suffrage

The right to vote. Synonym: Franchise.

Franchise

The right to vote. Synonym: Suffrage.

Political Efficacy

The sense that your vote counts or that you have an influence in politics. Lack of political efficacy often leads to non-voting. That is, if you don't feel your vote can have any real impact on what govt does, you're unlikely to vote.