Voting and Elections

electronic voting

Voting on a touch screen.

crossover voting

When members of one political party vote in the other party's primary to influence the selection of the nominee.

Mobilizing Groups

- A fundamental part of campaigns is getting out the vote among groups that strongly support the candidate. - To a large extent, candidates focus on groups aligned with the political parties. - Republican candidates tend to focus their efforts on the former and Democratic candidates on the latter. - Traditionally, Democratic candidates have emphasized mobilizing these minority groups. - The mobilization of such groups is typically conducted very quietly, "under the radar", often through targeted mailings, digital ads, and phone calls.

Financing Primaries

- Administering primaries - The majority rule - Runoff primary - Open primary (Texas) - Closed primary - Crossover voting

Early Voting

- All Texas voters can now vote before election day. - Generally, early voting begins the 17th day before election day and ends the fourth day before election day. - This innovation has clearly made voting easier in Texas, and people are using it. In the 2016 election, for example, 74 percent of voters cast their ballot early.

Who Must Hold A Primary?

- Any party receiving 20 percent of the gubernatorial vote - New parties must meet additional requirements if their nominees are to be on the general election ballot. - In addition to holding a convention, these parties must file with the secretary of state a list of supporters equal to 1 percent of the total vote for governor in the last general election. - The list may consist of the names of those who participated in the party's convention, a nominating petition, or a combination of the two. - Persons named as supporters must be registered voters who have not participated in the activities (primaries or conventions) of any other party. - Each page (although not each name) on the nominating petition must be notarized. - Such a requirement is, as intended, difficult to meet and therefore inhibits the creation of new political parties.

Multilingualism

- Ballots in all Texas counties are in English. - Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent amendment in 1992. - According to Section 203 of the act, a political subdivision (typically, a county) must provide language assistance to voters if significant numbers of voting-age citizens are members of a single language minority group and do not speak or understand English "well enough to participate in the electoral process."

The Campaign Trail

- Candidates spend countless hours "on the stump," traveling around the state or district to speak before diverse groups. - The most direct route to the voters is through the mass media. - Candidates hire public relations firms and media consultants, and advertising plays a big role. - These days, a successful campaign often relies on negative campaigning, in which candidates attack opponents' issue positions or character.

County Level Administration

- Counties may choose from three options for the administration of general elections. - The first option is to maintain the decentralized system that the counties have used for decades. - Second option is the county commissioners' court to transfer the voter registration function from the tax assessor-collector's office to that of the county clerk, thus removing the assessor-collector from the electoral process. - Third option represents more extensive reform. It calls for all election-related duties of both the assessor-collector and the county clerk to be transferred to a county election administrator.

The General Election Campaign

- Despite all the media attention paid to the conventions, the debates, the advertising, and everything else involved in election campaigns, certain things powerfully structure the vote in national and state elections. - In state elections, two factors dominate: party identification and incumbency (those already in office who are up for reelection).

Where Does the Money Go?

- Digital advertising, direct mail, newspaper ads, billboards, radio spots, yard signs, and phone banks are all campaign staples. - Candidates for statewide and urban races must rely on media advertising, particularly television, to get the maximum exposure they need in the three- or four-month campaign period. - Campaigns are professionalized, with candidates likely to hire consulting firms to manage their campaigns. - Consultants contract with public opinion pollsters, arrange advertising, and organize direct mail and digital media campaigns that can target certain areas of the state.

Who Gets Elected

- Elected offices can be viewed as pyramid - Successful candidates typically white Protestant males (college educated or more) - Women and minorities making gains

Getting on the Ballot

- For a name to be placed on the general election ballot, the candidate must be either a party nominee or an independent. - For any party that received at least 5 percent of the vote for any statewide office in the previous general election, or 2 percent in the prior gubernatorial election, the full slate of candidates is placed on the ballot automatically. - Minor parties have a more difficult time. - Except for independent candidates running for president, independents and third party candidates may get a place on the ballot by submitting a petition containing signatures of a number of registered voters equal to a particular share of the total vote in the last election for governor.

General Elections

- Held to allow the voters to choose the people who will actually serve in national, state, and county offices from among the competing political party nominees and write-in candidates. - General elections differ from primaries in at least two other important ways. - First, because general elections are the official public elections to determine who will take office, they are administered completely by public (as opposed to party) officials of state and county governments. - Second, unlike Texas' primaries, in which a majority (50% plus 1) of the vote is required, the general election is decided by a plurality vote, in which a winning candidate needs only to win the most votes, even if that number is less than 50 percent. - Held every other year on the same day as national elections—the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years.

Money in Election Campaigns

- High-level campaigns for statewide office are usually multimillion-dollar affairs. - Candidates often try to solicit small individual contributions online and through direct mail campaigns. - However, to raise the millions required for a high-level state race, they must solicit "big money" from wealthy friends or business and professional interests that have a stake in the outcome of the campaign - Banks, corporations, law firms, and professional associations, such as those representing doctors, real estate agents, or teachers, organize and register their political action committees (PACs) with the secretary of state's office. - PACs serve as the vehicle through which interest groups collect money and then contribute it to political candidates.

The Majority Rule

- In Texas, nominations are by a majority (50% plus 1) of the popular vote. - If no candidate receives a majority of votes cast for a particular office in the first primary, a runoff primary is required in which the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes are pitted against each other. - Primary elections in Texas are held on the first Tuesday in March of even-numbered years. - Although there are earlier presidential primaries, no other state schedules primaries to nominate candidates for state offices so far in advance of the general election in November. - Turnout in Texas primaries is much lower than in general elections.

Who Votes?

- It is now clear that a relatively small number of demographic and political variables are especially important. - The most important demographic variables are education, income, and age. - The answer is straightforward: People who are educated, have high incomes, and are older are more likely to care about and pay attention to politics. Thus, they are more likely to vote. - Political factors influence the likelihood of voting, especially one's expressed interest in politics and intensity of identification with a political party. - Identification with either of the major political parties

participation paradox

- The fact that citizens vote even though a single vote rarely decides an election. - The point of this paradox is not to suggest that people should not vote but rather to highlight that they vote for other reasons.

runoff primary

A second primary election that pits the two top vote-getters from the first primary against each other when the winner of the first primary did not receive a majority.

Choosing Issues

- Just as they target social groups, candidates focus on issues that reflect their party affiliations, but they avoid unpopular positions like higher taxes or budget cuts for education or law enforcement. - Where candidates do differ is in their emphasis on particular issues and their policy proposals. - Through polls, candidates attempt to identify the issues that the public considers to be important and then craft policy positions to address those issues. - Public opinion polling is fundamental in modern election campaigns in America, and campaign messages are often presented in advance to focus groups—test groups of selected citizens—to help campaign strategists tailor their messages in a way that will appeal to particular audiences.

Reasons for Low Voter Turnout in Texas

- Legal constraints - Demographic factors - Political structure - "Long ballot" - Jeffersonian way of voting - Party competition - Politcal culture

Write-In Candidates

- Not listed on the ballot—voters must write them on the ballot. - Must file a declaration of candidacy with the secretary of state 70 days before election day. - With the declaration the candidate must include either the filing fee or a nominating petition with the required number of signatures. - Even when registered, write-in candidates are seldom successful.

Electronic Voting

- Partly in response to the events in Florida—and the seeming potential for similar problems in Texas—a number of counties introduced electronic voting in the 2002 midterm elections to allow voting by using touch screens.

financing primaries

- Party primaries are funded partly by modest candidate filing fees, but most of the primaries' costs come from the state treasury. - The parties' state and county executive committees initially make the expenditures, but the secretary of state reimburses each committee for the difference between the filing fees collected and the actual cost of the primary. - To get on the party primary ballot, a candidate needs only to file an application with the state or county party chair and pay the prescribed fee.

Ballot Construction

- Party-column ballot (Texas) - Split-ticket voting - Straight-ticket voting - Office-block ballot (Texas) - The Politics of Ballot Construction

Control Over Money in Campaigns

- Prompted by the increasing use of television in campaigns and the increasing amount of money needed to buy it, the federal government and most state governments passed laws regulating the use of money in the early 1970s. - The Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1972 established regulations that apply only to federal elections: president, vice president, and members of Congress. - It provided for public financing of presidential campaigns with tax dollars, limited the amount of money that individuals and PACs could contribute to campaigns, and required disclosure of campaign donations. - Later amendments to the Federal Elections Campaign Act made it legal for national political parties to raise and spend unlimited amounts of soft money, funds spent by political parties on behalf of political candidates. - Party funds could be used to help candidates in a variety of ways, especially through voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives. - The U.S. Supreme Court further opened up spending in 1985 by deciding that independent expenditures could not be limited. -As a result, individuals and organizations could spend as much as they wanted to promote a candidate as long as they were not working or communicating directly with the candidate's campaign organization.

Voter Turnout in the United States and in Texas

- Since 1960, turnout has actually declined - The number of voters has actually steadily increased, from 70.6 million votes for president in 1964 to an estimated 129 million votes in 2012—an increase of 83 percent - The total number of persons in the United States who are 18 years of age or older, has grown at a much faster rate than the actual voting population. - The two major reasons for decrease in voter turnout: 1) traced to the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1972 and 2) identification with the two major political parties dropped after the 1960s, and more than one-third of all Americans now consider themselves independents—that is, unattached to either of the parties. - Turnout in American general elections is significantly lower than it is in other countries that are ranked as among the most democratic in the world. - Low voter turnout in the United States is caused by other factors, including institutional structures (primarily the strength of political parties) and the fact that most states require voters to register—in some nations, citizens are automatically registered to vote when they meet age requirements.

The Politics of Ballot Construction

- Supporters of the major Texas political parties strongly support the use of the party column ballot. - It enables lesser-known candidates to ride on the coattails of the party label or a popular candidate running for a major office. - For each office, the parties are slated from top to bottom on the ballot according to the proportion of votes that each party's candidate for governor received in the most recent gubernatorial election.

Open Primary

- Texas and 14 other states have an open primary, in which voters decide at the polls (on election day) in which primary they will participate. - Voters who did not vote in the first primary are still free to vote in either party's runoff primary, but because of the restriction against switching parties after voting in the first primary, some consider the runoff to be semi-open. - the typical closed primary requires that a person specify a party preference when registering to vote. - Nine states have a semi-closed (or semi-open) system, in which registered party members must vote in their party primaries, but independents are allowed to vote in either primary. - Five other states have a mixed system, where one party has an open and the other a closed (or semi-closed) primary. - Another three states use a top-two primary, in which candidates from different parties compete in a single primary and the top two vote-getters proceed to the general election.

The Secret Ballot and the Integrity of Elections

- Texas uses the Australian ballot, adopted by Texas in 1892, allowed people to vote in secret. It includes names of the candidates of all political parties on a single ballot printed at the public's expense and available only at the voting place. - Although there are legal remedies, such as the issuance of injunctions and the threat of criminal penalties, Texas has looked primarily to "political" remedies in its effort to protect the integrity of the electoral process. - Traditional practice has been that in general and special elections, the county board of elections routinely appoints as election judges the precinct chair of the political party whose members constitute a majority on the elections board. - Candidates can ask for a recount of the ballots.

Primary Elections

- The first was the caucus, consisting of the elected political party members serving in the legislature. The "insider" politics of the caucus room motivated the reformers of the Jacksonian era to throw out "King Caucus" and to institute the party convention system by 1828. - By 1890, the backroom politics of the convention halls again moved reformers to action, and the result was the direct primary, adopted by most states between 1890 and 1920. - Texas's first direct primary was held in 1906, under the Terrell Election Law passed in 1903. - The direct primary enables party members to participate directly in the selection of a candidate to represent them in the general election.

The Practice of Voting

- To register to vote a person must be a citizen of the United States, 18 years old, and resident of the state. - No convicted felons - No people considered "mentally incompetent" - Must register to vote either in person or by mail at least 30 days before the election

Timing

- Unlike presidential elections, campaigns for state offices, including the governorship, begin fairly late in the election cycle. - Candidates often reserve a large proportion of their campaign advertising budget for a last-minute media "blitz." - Consequently, candidates in the future may be less likely to concentrate their efforts so tightly on the final days of the campaign.

Counting and Recounting Ballots

- Vote counting contains error of 1-2% - Texas candidate can request recount if loses by less than 10%

Photo ID Required for Texas Voters

- You must now present one of the following forms of photos ID when voting in person - Texas drive license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) - Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by the DPS - Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS - U.S. military identification card containing your photo - U.S. citizenship certificate containing your photo - U.S. passport

Special Elections

- designed to meet special or emergency needs, such as ratification of constitutional amendments or filling vacant offices. - held to fill vacancies only in legislative bodies that have general (rather than limited) lawmaking power. - Because special elections are not partisan, the process of getting on the ballot is relatively easy and does not involve a primary. - Unlike in general elections, the winner of a special election must receive a majority of the votes.

Administrating Primaries

- the state party chair and the state executive committee of each political party receive applications of candidates for state offices, conduct drawings to determine the order of names, certify the ballot to the county-level officials, and canvass the election returns after the primary.

Australian ballot

A ballot printed by the government (as opposed to the political parties) that allows people to vote in secret.

long ballot

A ballot that lists all candidates, for all positions, from all political parties, available to a specific voting district

direct primary

A method of selecting party nominees in which party members participate directly in the selection of a candidate to represent them in the general election.

negative campaigning

A strategy used in election campaigns in which candidates attack their opponents' issue positions or character.

party-column ballot

A type of ballot used in a general election in which all of the candidates from each party are listed in parallel columns under the party label.

office block ballot

A type of ballot used in a general election in which the names of the parties' candidates are listed randomly under each office.

open primary

A type of party primary in which a voter can choose on election day in which primary to participate.

closed primary

A type of primary in which a voter is required to specify a party preference when registering to vote.

plurality votes

An election rule in which the candidate with the most votes wins even if that candidate get less than 50 percent.

Elected Officials Pyramid

At the bottom of the pyramid are most local offices; at the top is the governor. Moving from bottom to top, the importance of the office increases and the number of officeholders decreases. It thus gets more and more difficult for politicians to ascend the pyramid, and only the most effective politicians rise to the top.

political action committees (PACs)

Organizations that raise and then contribute money to political candidates.

independent expenditures

Money individuals and organizations spend to promote a candidate without working or communicating directly with the candidate's campaign organization.

soft money

Money spent by political parties on behalf of political candidates, especially for the purposes of increasing voter registration and turnout.

split-ticket voting

Selecting all of the candidates of one particular party.

early voting

The practice of voting before election day at traditional voting locations, such as schools, and other locations, such as grocery and convenience stores.

voter turnout

The proportion of eligible Americans who actually vote.

Jeffersonian Way of Voting

The states vote as a democratic republic

voter-age population (VAP)

The total number of persons in the United States who are 18 years of age or older.