Polls 111 Ch4
Study the graph on party registration by nativity, and then complete the following statement. While ______ percent of Californians born in the United States are registered Republicans, only ______ percent of immigrant Californians are registered Republicans.
27, 15 There are fewer voters registered with the Republican Party among immigrant Californians than registered with the Democratic Party (51 percent) or with no political party at all (31 percent).
Study the chart on regional political cultures in California, and then determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Correct -A smaller percentage of San Francisco residents voted for Proposition 8 (which outlawed same-sex marriage) than supported Proposition 187 (which made undocumented immigrants ineligible for social services -A majority of San Diego residents voted in favor of Proposition 6 (which would have repealed gas tax increases enacted by the legislature in 2017), while a majority of San Francisco and Los Angeles residents voted against it Incorrect -A higher percentage of Californians living in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego voted for Barack Obama in 2012 than voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 -Proposition 13, which limited property taxes, received majority support in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
Study the graph on who voted in 2018, and then determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Correct -A larger percentage of Latinos are ineligible to vote than any other racial or ethnic group in the state. -Women were slightly more likely to vote than men. Incorrect -Asian Americans made up a larger share of actual voters than they did of eligible voters. -African Americans are less than 10 percent of the overall population but more than 10 percent of actual voters.
Which of the following statements about California's presidential primary election are accurate?
Correct -California changed the date of its primaries to March for the 2000 and 2004 presidential primaries -Prior to 2000, California was one of the last states in the country to vote for the parties' presidential nominees. -Other states have shifted the dates of their presidential primaries in response to California's changing primary dates. Incorrect -California's presidential primary election has always taken place at the same time as the primaries for statewide offices.
Which of the following statements about the blanket primary system are accurate?
Correct -California instituted its current blanket primary system with the passage of Proposition 14 in 2010 -Proponents of the blanket primary argue that it will produce more moderate candidates and more competitive races. Incorrect -The blanket primary system has produced a Democratic and Republican candidate for every general election since it was implemented in 2012. -California currently uses a blanket primary system only for state legislative primary elections and not for any other races.
If you are not currently registered to vote in the state of California, which of the following things can you do to register before the next election?
Correct -Fill out a registration form through the secretary of state's website -Visit a branch of the California Department of Motor Vehicles -Obtain, fill out, and mail in a voter registration form from any U.S. post office or library Incorrect -Place a phone call to the voter registration hotline maintained by the California Department of Voter Affairs
Which of the following statements about California's use of vote by mail are accurate?
Correct -More than 40 percent of all of the votes cast in the state in 2016 were mail ballots. Incorrect -California is the only state that currently allows voting by mail without an approved excuse. -Before 1978, there was no vote by mail option available to citizens of the state. -California law currently requires that a person wishing to vote by mail make a separate ballot request three months before each election they would like to vote in.
Study the graph of presidential voting patterns in California, and then determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Correct -The percentage of voters in California who are Latino has increased in every presidential election between 1980 and 2016. -A majority of Latinos have voted for the Democratic Party's candidate in every presidential election since 1980. -Latinos have been significantly more likely to vote for Democratic presidential candidates than have voters in the state overall in every election since 1980. Incorrect -The overall share of votes going to Democratic Party candidates in the state has increased in every presidential election since 1984.
Study the graph on party registration by education, and then determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Correct -The propensity to register as an independent with no party preference is highest among the least educated (that is, those with a high school degree or less) -A plurality of voters in every educational group are registered with the Democratic Party. Incorrect -Third parties register less than 2 percent of voters in all educational groups. -The most educated Californians (that is, those with a college or postgraduate degree) are the most likely to be registered with the Republican Party.
Which of the following are reasons that election campaigns in California are typically so expensive?
Correct -The state's immense size means that candidates must spend enormous amounts of money buying the broadcast time to air ads across the state -The state has many expensive political consultants that seem essential to electoral success. Incorrect -The state has strong political parties that increase the money available to candidates. -The state's system of publicly financed campaigns with no spending limits increases the amount candidates are willing to spend on winning elections.
Which of the following statements about third parties in California are accurate?
Correct -Third parties can act as spoilers that alter the outcome of election -Third parties can increase turnout in elections -Third parties can help spur political action on issues neglected by the major parties Incorrect -Third parties can receive public financing for their candidates' state legislative election campaigns only if they have received more than 15 percent of the vote in the previous election.
Under state law, when are you required to reregister to vote?
Correct -When you change addresses Incorrect -Before every presidential election -every year -when you get married or get a divorce
Suppose you wanted to start your own political party in the state of California. Which of the following things could you do in order to qualify your party for the ballot before the 2020 election?
Correct -draft a petition to have your new party included on the ballot and gather 1,271,255 signatures in support of the petition -register approximately 6.5 million voters for your new party by October 1, 2019 Incorrect -raise at least $1,000 in contributions for your party during the 2020 calendar year from at least 29 of the 58 counties in the state -receive an official endorsement of your party from at least two members of the state Assembly, two members of the state Senate, and one elected official from the executive branch during the 2020 calendar year
Most states in the Country currently use a blanket primary system
False (Most states use either an open (approximately 20 states) or a closed (approximately 25 states) primary system. Only Alaska, Louisiana, Washington, and California use a blanket primary system.)
What effect did the Supreme Court's ruling on Proposition 198 (in California Democratic Party v. Jones) have on California's primary system?
It struck down the blanket primary system created by Proposition 198
Suppose a U.S. House of Representatives district in Southern California contains 64 percent registered Democrats and 30 percent registered Republicans. Which of the following statements accurately describes a primary election in this district that features eight Democratic candidates and two Republican candidates?
The primary election could produce a November general election with two Republican candidates on the ballot (Although the district is heavily Democratic, the large number of Democratic candidates could lead to a primary election in which the top two vote-getters are Republicans. If Democratic and Republican voters equally split their votes among their party's candidates, for example, every Democratic candidate would receive 8 percent of the vote while the two Republican candidates would each receive 15 percent of the vote.)
Which term best describes California's electoral system
Winner-take-all (California has a winner-take-all system of voting in which the candidate receiving the highest number of votes wins the election.)
Passed by a huge majority of voters in 1978, this ballot initiative rolled back property tax rates and limited the government's ability to raise local property taxes in the future.
13 (Proposition 13 is regarded by some observers as one of the most significant political events in California's history. It won by a landslide vote nearly everywhere in the state.)
What is the minimum number of days before an election that voters in the state of California need to register?
15
Study the map of party registration in the state of California, and then determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Correct - There are very few counties in the state where the parties have roughly the same number of registered voters -The Democratic Party typically registers more voters than the Republican Party in coastal counties Incorrect -Los Angeles County is the most Democratic county in the state. Orange County is the most Republican county in the state.
Registering to vote increases a person's chances of being selected for jury duty and significantly enhances the scrutiny a person receives on their income taxes.
False
California currently has only three officially qualified political parties: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party and the American Independent Party
False (California has six qualified parties: the American Independent Party, the Democratic Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Republican Party.)
Which of the following statements about nonpartisan elections in the state of California are accurate?
Most local elections in the state are nonpartisan. (Most elections at the city and county levels are nonpartisan, including races for city councils, county board of supervisors, school boards, and judges.)
Which of the following statements about Proposition 34 (2000) is accurate?
Proposition 34 was approved by a strong majority of voters (Proposition 34 passed with close to 60 percent of the popular vote.)
Match each statement about the state of California's campaign finance law with the appropriate ballot initiative Proposition 208 (1996) Proposition 9 (1974)
Proposition 9 (1974) -Created Fair Political Practices Commission -Created the Political Reform Division within the office of the secretary of state Proposition 208 (1996) -Allowed candidates to accept spending limits in return for increased contribution limits -Limited contributions to candidates from individuals, political parties, corporations, unions, and PACs
The average cost of winning a state Senate seat in California is over 150 times greater than the average cost of winning a state Senate seat in North Dakota.
True (California is the costliest state in which to win a state Senate seat ($938,522). The least expensive seat is North Dakota at $5,713
In the 2016 general election, there were more "early voters" who cast their ballots before Election Day than voters who showed up to vote in person on Election Day.
True (In California, vote-by-mail ballots can be used to cast an early vote before Election Day. Additionally, some counties have permitted early voting, in which voters can go to various publicized locations (such as shopping malls, registrars' offices, and civic centers) to cast their votes as early as 29 days before an election. In the November 2016 general election, nearly 60 percent of all voters were early voters)
the 2010 governor's race between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown was the most expensive governor's race in U.S. history.
True (While candidates spent nearly $200 million overall, $160 million was spent by Meg Whitman alone.)
Which of the following is the primary reason the Republican Party has lost support in the state of California over the last three decades?
White and older voters, an important part of the Republican Party coalition, are a declining percentage of the state's population. (Nonwhites now account for a majority of the state's population and tend to prefer the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party.)