Texas Govt 2306 CH 5 Campaigns and Elections

Label each campaign responsibility as belonging to either the individual candidate for office or the political party.

Candidate: -campaign strategy -raising money -running campaigns Political Party: -get-out-the-vote drive -organizing phone banks

Examine the chart, and determine which of the following statements are accurate.

Correct Answers: -African American turnout is only slightly lower than white turnout -Asian American voter turnout is slightly higher than Latino voter turnout Incorrect Answers: -Latino voter turnout is about equal to Texas total voter turnout -Texas total voter turnout is similar to white total voter turnout

Study the chart below, and determine which of the following statements accurately reflect the data.

Correct Answers: -More voters participate in Republican primaries than in Democratic primaries -Presidential general election turnout is higher than either party's presidential primary election turnout -Statewide general elections in non-presidential years draw fewer voters than in presidential election years Incorrect Answers: -Special elections yield higher turnouts than do midterm elections -More Texans turned out for the 2016 Democratic presidential primary than for the 2016 Republican presidential primary

Which of the following are the most likely causes for low voter turnout in Texas elections?

Correct Answers: -Texas holds its elections during nonpresidential election years -There are so many candidates for office that voters are simply overloaded with elections and candidates Incorrect Answers: -The Texas government makes every effort to enhance voter knowledge of candidates -Voters tend to be overwhelmed with information about their candidates

Watch the animation on ethnicity and voter turnout in Texas and determine which of the following statements are accurate.

Correct Answers: -Texas is a majority-minority state in which more Texans have a non-Anglo background Incorrect Answers: -Texas is a majority-minority state, and non-Anglo Texans now have higher rates of voter turnout than white Texans -Latinos are the largest bloc of voters in Texas

What are the requirements for an independent candidate to get on the ballot in Texas?

Correct Answers: -The candidate must obtain signatures on a petition from registered voters -The candidate must obtain a number of signatures equal to one percent of the total votes in the last governor's race -The candidate must obtain signatures only from registered voters who did not participate in either party primary or runoff primary election Incorrect Answers: -Voters may sign more than one candidate's petition

Evaluate the information in the table to determine which statements are best supported by the data.

Correct Answers: -The dominance of Republican candidates in statewide races is reflected in their ability to raise funds -Democratic candidates running for judicial office are more competitive than Democrats running for other offices Incorrect Answers: -Third parties appear to have significant support in Texas

Examine the table below, and determine which of the following statements are accurate based on the data presented.

Correct Answers: -The more dollars are contributed, the more votes are won -Democratic candidates for office generally raise less than half of the funds raised by their Republican opponents -Democrats have consistently lost by roughly the same percentage of votes in every office Incorrect Answers: -The Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner raised slightly more than his Republican opponent

What are some of the qualifications for registering to vote in Texas?

Correct Answers: -U.S citizenship -eighteen years of age -a resident of Texas for 30 days Incorrect Answers: -a permanent resident of the country -a resident of the country for 60 days

Which of the following do supporters of voter ID laws in Texas argue?

Correct Answers: -Voter ID laws are necessary to ensure that Texas elections are free from fraud -Penalties are necessary to deter any attempts to commit fraud -There is public support for voter ID laws Incorrect Answers: -Student IDs will be accepted; hence, there is little burden on potential voters

Which of the following do opponents of voter ID laws in Texas argue?

Correct Answers: -Voter ID laws do not preserve the integrity of the electoral system -Voter ID laws address a problem that does not exist -Voter ID laws minimize Democratic turnout in order to help state Republicans Incorrect Answers: -Voter ID laws have little public support

Which of the following are advantages that incumbents enjoy in elections in Texas?

Correct Answers: -experience running campaigns -name recognition -previous political experience Incorrect Answers: -international experience

What are some of the characteristics of primary elections in Texas?

Correct Answers: -first elections held in an electoral cycle -held on the second Tuesday in March of an election year Incorrect Answers: -held in odd-numbered years -funded solely by the state

What were the most salient issues in the 2018 Texas elections?

Correct Answers: -immigration policy -gun rights -tax policy Incorrect Answers: -the state budget

Which of the following factors may contribute to low voting participation rates in Texas?

Correct Answers: -income -education -low levels of knowledge about political candidates Incorrect Answers: -high levels of competition between parties

The intent of the framers of the Texas Constitution was to create strong popular control of government by making both government actions and offices subject to popular vote. What have been the effects?

Correct Answers: -low voter turnout -reliance on cues Incorrect Answers: -increased voter knowledge

Which of the following do voters primarily use in making their decisions about which candidates to support?

Correct Answers: -party label -interest group endorsements incumbency -endorsements from large newspapers Incorrect Answers: -televised debates

Texas voters use elections to do which of the following?

Correct Answers: -select leaders -authorize action by the government -determine party candidates for office -authorize government borrowing Incorrect Answers: -impeach elected officials -approve appointees of the governor

Which of the following are the most likely reasons for low voter turnout in Texas?

Correct Answers: -the voter identification law -a younger and less educated population -too many elections and too many candidates -too many low-visibility offices Incorrect Answers: -holding elections for Texas state office during presidential election years

Match the following voting laws and procedures to their correct definitions.

Early Voting: allows voter to cast ballots during the two-week period before the regularly scheduled election date Motor Voter Law: a national act that allows people to register to vote when applying for a driver's license Reapportionment: the process of determining how many congressional seats each state will receive Redistricting: the process of redrawing electoral districts and redistributing legislative representatives

True or False? Incumbents don't have the advantage in most races and often lose to challengers.

False

True or False? The 2018 statewide elections in Texas showed that most voters are still more concerned about local issues rather than national issues, and vote accordingly.

False

Political parties conduct campaigns to achieve what goal?

Get control of government

Use the figure below and your knowledge of Texas as a one-party dominated state to decide which of the following statements is accurate.

In non-presidential election years, the person who wins the office of governor could be chosen by less than 10 percent of the overall voters in the state

Which method did groups like MALDEF and the NAACP use with great success to expand voting rights?

Litigation

Match each of the following descriptions with the correct election type.

Primary Election: -Voters determine the candidates who will run for office for each party -The winner is the candidate who receives a majority of the votes Special Election: -Voters approve or reject borrowing by government entities to assume long-term debt -Elections called by the governor to fill vacancies -Voters approve amendments to the Texas Constitution

One way some states have tried to increase voter turnout is by expanding the period of time people are allowed to vote through early voting periods before Election Day. When early voting was introduced, many predicted this would favor -________. However, in 2020 -_______ were more likely to vote early. And on Election Day more -_____ also voted in person.

Republican, Democrat, Republican

Match the voting reform with the effect it had on elections.

Smith v. Allwright: ended the use of the white primary Twenty-Fourth Amendment: eliminated the poll tax in federal elections Voting Rights Act of 1965: granted the federal government authority to register voters and enforce voting laws Nineteenth Amendment: granted women's suffrage in federal elections

The following excerpt from the opinion in Shelby County v. Holder makes what justification for the ruling of the Court in the case?

The Court held that while remedy in the law was justified at the time, the new status of minority participation in voting no longer justified states being treated unequally

Responsibility for conducting and regulating elections belongs to which level of government?

The states

For much of the twentieth century, why was the Texas Democratic primary election so important?

The winner would nearly always win the general election.

True or False? Major, large city newspaper endorsements often carry important weight, especially in down ballot races for local offices.

True

True or False? The Democratic and Republican parties have intentionally worked together to create formal structural requirements that make it difficult for independents or third-party candidates to get on the ballot.

True

Although the poll tax was made illegal in federal elections by the passage of the ________________________ to the U.S Constitution, it remained legal in state elections in Texas until _______, when it was ruled unconstitutional in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment, 1966

Which of the following do opponents of voter ID laws in Texas argue?

Voter ID laws do not preserve the integrity of the electoral system. Voter ID laws address a problem that does not exist. Voter ID laws minimize Democratic turnout in order to help state Republicans.

What is the greatest cause of turnover for Republican incumbents running for office today?

challenges from Tea Party-supported candidates in the primaries

Primary elections in which only registered members of a particular party can vote for the party's candidates are called ____________________. In contrast, primary elections in which any registered voter can cast a vote for either party's candidate (but not for both) are called ________________________.

closed primaries, open primaries

While Texas primaries are technically considered _______ primaries because individuals must declare their party when they arrive at a polling location, they essentially function as _______ primaries because voters do not have to choose a party affiliation when they register to vote.

closed, open

Prohibited by federal courts in 1971, which voting requirement was most targeted at preventing migrant workers from voting?

early registration

In which type of election does the Democratic Party's nominee run against the nominee from the Republican Party and any independent or third-party candidates to win an office?

general election

In order to limit partisan ________________ in the redistricting process, some states have taken the responsibility for drawing electoral maps away from ______________ and given it to an independent _______________.

gerrymandering, state legislatures, redistricting commission

Third-party and independent candidates struggle to get on the ballot and effectively compete in elections because of formal and informal barriers. Match each barrier with the category of barrier in which it belongs.

informal barrier -The candidate lacks a party affiliation. -Voters believe that third-party and independent candidates can't win. -The candidate needs to educate voters on issue positions. formal barrier -The candidate must file an intent form. -The candidate must get 1 percent of eligible voters to sign a petition. -The candidate can collect signatures only between the primary runoff and August.

In Texas, most statewide officials are elected in _____________ election years to prevent __________________ from influencing the outcomes of the state races.

midterm, presidential candidates

Which provision under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 required any changes to election procedures or district lines to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice?

preclearance

Match each characteristic with the type of election it describes.

primary -all candidates who filed to be the party nomineeheld on the first Tuesday in March -held on the first Tuesday in March -includes all candidates who filed to be the party nominee general -third-party and independent candidates held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November allows voters to choose who will hold office -allows voters to choose who will hold office -includes third-party and independent candidates -held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November primary runoff -held in May -allows voters to choose between the top two candidates from a party who didn't get a majority -held in May

A _____________ is the first election held in an electoral cycle. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes, the two candidates who received the most votes face each other in a ____________________ to determine the party's nominee.

primary, runoff primary

In the early twentieth century, some male public officials argued that women should not be allowed to vote because they could not perform other functions considered part of the basic duties of citizenship, since these were also illegal for women to do. Which of the following were considered to be the most basic responsibilities of citizenship?

serve as an authorized deputy in emergencies serve in the military serve as a juror in a trial

Which type of election is required if a local school district wants to borrow money to build a new high school or repair elementary schools?

special election

Which of the following factors help explain why Texas has the nation's lowest voter turnout?

the voter identification law a younger and less educated population too many low-visibility offices too many elections and too many candidates

The Supreme Court case Smith v. Allwright ended which election practice?

the white primary