Voting

Seventeenth Amendment

Direct election of senators

Important issues that cause versatility in voting:

Economic Ruins.

Candidate Centered Campaigns

Election campaigns and other political processes in which candidates, not political parties, have most of the initiative and influence.

What structural barriers did southern states use to deny African Americans the right to vote?

Many states enacted the literacy test to their state constitutions. They had certain barriers that were made into requirements like property-owning, poll taxes, etc. They were used to discourage any potential black voter. The grandfather clause was also enforced to suppress black voting. It's allowed states to recognize registering voters as they would have recognized his grandfather.

What is the difference between voting-eligible population and voting-age population?

The voting-eligible population includes all those of age that could legally vote if they wanted to.

Electorate

These are the a large percentage of Americans who cast a vote every four years for the next American president and other offices.

Why did the Framers endorse the elite model of democracy?

This is because the political Elites decided the presidential elections. The Constitution originally called for state legislators to appoint electors who then later elected the president in an electoral College. This type of democracy was how the rich kept their power.

What are the arguments for and against online voting?

Those who affirm voting online say that it will be easier for some, while also lower administrative costs for elections, and it's going to also prepare a younger tech-savvy demographic of voters into an influential and formidable force. But those who negate say that voting could make obvious a digital divide that still partially exists in the United States and could open the door for hacking or other manipulation.

How do most polling places avoid voter fraud?

Upon registration, potential voters must provide a driver's license or the last four digits of a social security number.

rational-choice voting

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen's individual interest

voting blocs

Voting blocs are the demographics in which people fall under, such as gender, age, education level, race/ ethnicity, and religious beliefs with a correlation to rates of voter turnout and how they vote.

How does being a felon impact your voting rights?

While in prison, all the two States strip the right to vote to every voter. After while on parole, most states reinstate felons voting rights while some states do not. 12 States deny convicts who committed severe crimes their voting rights in a permanent status.

party-line voting

process in which voters select candidates by their party affiliation

prospective voting

prospective voting is citizens who anticipate the future of a candidate and base their voting on that.

voting apathy

reluctance or lack of interest in voting

Suffrage

the right to vote

retrospective voting

voting based on the past performance of a candidate

Australian ballot

A government printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret that was adopted by many states around 1890 in order to reduce the voting fraud associated with party printed ballots cast in public.

Absentee Ballot/Voting

A way people can vote when they can't get to their polling place. They vote on a special form and mail it in.

provisional ballot

Ballots that are given to voters when they move from one residence to another in different precincts, forgetting to change their registration.

Fifteenth Amendment

Citizens shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or the United States ¨ on the account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.¨

Twenty-sixth Amendment

Citizens ¨18 years of age or older¨ shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or the United States ¨on account of age.¨

Twenty-third Amendment

For presidential and vice-presidential elections, ¨ the district constituting the seat of government¨ shall appoint a number of electors ¨in no event more than the least populous states.¨

What is voting age population?

Includes everyone at or over the age of 18.

How did the Civil Right Act of 1957 & 1964 address voting rights?

It addressed voting by acknowledging discrimination in voter registration thus establishing the US office of civil rights.

Cafeteria Catholic

It is those who claim the Catholic faith yet disagree with one or more doctrinal or moral teachings of the Catholic Church.

Describe how the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped change discriminatory voting practices in the South.

It's put watchful eyes on States with lower voter turnouts of African-Americans under the Justice Department. It also outlawed literacy tests.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Outlawed poll taxes in federal election.

Franchise

Right to vote to the working-class men.

Nineteenth Amendment

The 19th Amendment covers women's suffrage AKA women's right to vote.

What is the NVRA and what did it do? What name is typically used for it?

The NVRA stands for the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Its purpose was to increase citizen participation and alleviate the difficulty of having to make a special effort to register to vote. It's addresses national standards and enforcement of voter registration, mail-in registration, and government agency based registration.

What are the arguments for and against voter ID laws?

The affirmative state that it will decrease the chances of voter fraud, thus guaranteeing accuracy in elections. While those who negate it, historically liberals, say that it would set precedence for barriers that will make it less likely for voters who tend to vote democratic to vote.

political efficacy

The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference

Why did voter turnout decline in the 1970s?

The events of Nixon's Watergate scandal and the unpopular Vietnam War resulted in the disengagement of politics amongst voters for the next two decades.

What is HAVA and what impact does it have on elections and voting?

The help America vote Act imposes several requirements on States, with the intention of creating standards for voting and election management.

voter turnout

The percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election.