Voters and Voter Behavior
Chapter 6
Constitutional Right to Vote
• The framers of the Constitution left the
power to set suffrage rights up to each
state.
• Suffrage- The right to vote.
• Franchise- The right to vote.
• Originally set up that only white male
property owners had the right to vote.
The Electorate
The potential voting age population
• Nearly all citizens over 18 years of age.
You gotta fight, for your right, to
vote!!!
The rights to vote for all came in stages.
1. Religious tests and property ownership
tests went away in the 1850’s.
2. Following the Civil War, African
Americans were granted the right to vote,
however, many laws in the South
prevented this from happening.
3. 1920, 19th Amendment: Women’s
Suffrage.
4. Civil Rights era of the 1960’s. Federal
legislation such as the Voting Rights Act
and elimination of the poll tax.
5. 26th Amendment, the Right for 18 year
olds to vote.
Voter Qualifications
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Determined by state
Citizenship
Age
Registration
Why people do not vote
• Jury Duty
• Negative campaigning
• My vote does not make a difference
• Time Zone Fall-out
-During Presidential elections, the East
Coast polls close much earlier than the
West coast and at times the Presidential
race is decided. (Mondale vs. Reagan)
Voting Statistics
• Reached a peek at a little over 60%
nationwide in the late 1960s and now is
around 50%.
• This is of registered voters, not all eligible
voters.
• These statistics are for Presidential Races
only. (Years like 2006 are off-year and are
much less of a turnout.)
Voter Behavior
Factors that effect your vote
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Age
Race
Income
Occupation
Education
Religion
Family
Co-workers
Friends
Sociological Factors
All facts below are the average.
• Income-Upper income = Republican
• Occupation- Union members = Democrats
• The more educated you are, the more likely you are to
be voting for Republicans. Except Master’s Degrees or
above, then it reverts back to the Democrats
• Gender- Men are more likely to vote Republican than
women.
• Age- The younger you are, the more likely you are to
vote Democratic, the older the more likely you are to
vote Republican.
• Geographical Factors- Red and Blue States
Psychological Factors
• Party Identification- Loyalty to a party. The single
most significant predictor of someone’s vote.
(This is on the decline)
• Straight-Ticket voting- The practice of voting for
candidates of but one party in an election.
• Split ticket voting- The practice of voting for
candidates of more than one party
• Independents- Voters that do not have an
allegiance to any political party.