GOV-Ch 6 Vocab

Franchise

Franchise is the statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government, this especially refers to the rights of citizenship and the right to vote. A franchise has the same meaning and importance of suffrage.

Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is the dividing of a state to give one political party a majority in many districts purposely. For example, if the opposing party had a large amount of supporters in one area, gerrymandering of the opposing side would make that area a single district. This is unfair because there would be very few representatives of that party other than that district. The victimized party would not have much say in bills negotiated in the government because they would always get outvoted.

Injunction

Injunction is a court order forbidding something from being done, or commanding something to be done. Injunctions are issued where mere award of damages at the end of a trial would not be satisfactory or effective, or may lead to a greater harm or injustice.

Literacy

Literacy is the ability to read or write. The United States used to have a suffrage qualification based of literacy. This was supposed to prove that a voter had the ability to cast a vote. For a long time, literacy tests were used as a way to prevent African-Americans from voting. Today, no states have any literacy qualifications to vote.

Poll Books

Poll books are the official lists of qualified voters in each precinct.

Poll Tax

Poll taxes were taxes that had to be paid by registered voters in order to be able to vote. The courts decided it was illegal as the poorer people could not afford it and this prevented them from voting. So today we do not have the requirement for a payment of taxes to vote. This was put in place as another way to prevent African-Americans from voting because they generally could not afford the tax.

Purge

Purging is the act of state officials to review the registration lists to update them and remove the names of voters who are no longer eligible to vote. This is supposed to be done every two to four years but it is often ignored.

Registration

Registration is the procedure of identifying voters in order to prevent fraud in elections. Voter registration is the requirement in some democracies for citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed to vote in elections. United States is the only place where people have the choice of whether to register to vote or not. However, some states do not require registration for all elections. Registration includes a process of entering one's basic information. State law also reviews these lists of registered voters to update them.

Suffrage

Suffrage is the right to vote. The legal right to vote was extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment. When citizens have the right to vote for or against laws and leaders, it shows we have a democracy. In a democracy like that of the United States of America, it is one of the most important principles of government. Many Americans think voting is an automatic right, something that all citizens over the age of 18 are guaranteed. But this has not always been the case. When the United States was founded, only white male property owners could vote. It has taken centuries and several amendments to achieve the rights we have today.

Transient

Transients are people living in the State for a short period of time. Many States prohibit transients from voting because they have not lived in that area long enough to be considered a legal resident. Many states have requirements on how long one must live in said state to be able to vote. It can range up to 30 days, but no more. This makes it difficult for traveling people like sales agents and those in the military to be able to vote.

Gender Gap

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Independent

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Off-Year Election

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Party Identification

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Political Efficacy

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Political Socialization

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Preclearance

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Split-Ticket Voting

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Straight-Ticket Voting

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Electorate

The electorate is all of the people entitled to vote in a given election. However, the electorate is not all the people who actually end up voting. Today, the American electorate is about 220 million people. Our electorate has grown significantly as the qualifications to vote has become less strict. Over time we have given more white males, African-Americans, women, and citizens over the age of eighteen the right to vote.