VOTING AND ELECTIONS
Elections and Democracy
Democratic control
Elections are essential for democratic politics.
Elections are the principal means by which
popular sovereignty and majority rule are
supposed to work.
Can elections ensure that governments will do
what the people want?
Purpose of Elections
Political Participation
Political participation refers to political
activity by individual citizens.
Unconventional participation — includes
activities such as demonstrations and boycotts
Conventional participation — includes activities
such as voting, writing letters, contacting
officials, giving money
Expansion of the franchise
The franchise was quite restricted in the early
years of the United States.
The expansion of the right to vote has been one
of the most important developments in the
political history of the United States.
Direct partisan elections
The vanishing electorate
Suffrage expanded to more groups during the first
century of American history, and larger and larger
proportions voted.
Voter turnout rate in the U.S. is very low
compared with other modern industrialized
countries.
The ideal of political equality is violated by low
rates of voter turnout.
Barriers to Voting
Causes of low voter turnout
Registration
Eligibility rules Cal. (illegal – under 18, noncitizen,state
resident requirements, non prisoners/parolees, non legally
insane)
Alienation and apathy about politics that many Americans
felt after the 1960s
California Registration

The deadline November 5, 2002
General Election is October 21,
2002. Register criteria: 1. United
States citizen
2. resident of California
3. at least 18 years of age (or by
next election date)
4. not in prison or on parole for
conviction of a felony
5. not been judged by a court to be
mentally incompetent to register
and vote
You will need to reregister when
 You move; You change your name;
change your political party affiliation:
Fill-out a Voter Registration Form
Online We recommend you use this
service at least one month prior to
election day to avoid missing your
opportunity to vote due to postal delays.
Campaigning Involvement
Despite low voter turnout levels, Americans
are more likely than people in other countries
to participate actively in campaigns.
Areas of involvement
Contact officials
Give money
Attend meetings
Attend political rallies
Work actively in a campaign organization
Who Participates?
Characteristics of voters and nonvoters
There is class bias in voting and other forms of
political participation.
Some statistical analyses indicate that the crucial
factor in voter turnout is the level of formal
education.
Income level may be more important than
education in affecting who actually votes.
Does It Matter Who Votes?
 Two contrasting points of view
The rate of participation is unimportant because the
preferences of those who vote are similar to those who
do not vote.
A low voter turnout rate may be a positive factor since
more educated people vote.
Nonvoters are clearly different from voters.
How participation can make a change
Broader participation would increase popular
sovereignty and political equality.
Types of Elections
Primary election – direct partisan elections
where voters decide which of the candidates
within a party will represent the party’s ticket
in the general election
Closed primaries – party registered voters to
cast a ballot
Open primaries – allows independents to vote
Blanket primaries – voters casts ballots in either
party’s primary (but not both) on an office –byoffice basis
Runoff primary – a second primary election among
candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in
the first primary
Nonpartisan primary – done in California’s local
elections
General Elections – voters decide which candidate
will fill public office
Elections & voters making Laws
Applies to Cal. & around 17 other States
(famous proposition #s-13, 5, 215)
Initiative – voters propose legislation to be
place on the state ballot
Referendum – allows a legislative statute
from taking effect.
Recall – allows voters to remove elected
officials from state or local office between
elections.
The Initiative Mess
Ballot measure represent big $
New policy entrepreneurs can emerge
Campaigns increasingly rely on television
Elected official employ the initiative
Local gov’t workload increaseses after
passage
Purpose of Campaigns
Campaigning for Office
Contending for a presidential nomination
Primaries and caucuses
Momentum
How to win — factors that affect candidates’
success in gaining delegate support
National conventions
Nomination Politics and
Democracy
“However, the crucial role of party activists
and money givers in selecting candidates
means that nominees and their policy stands
are chosen partly to appeal to party elites and
financial contributors, rather than to ordinary
voter.”
Money and Elections
Presidential campaigns cost enormous
amounts of money.
The cost has increased rapidly over time.
The source of campaign money is far more
problematic for democracy than the cost of
presidential elections.
Where does the money come from?
Does money talk?
How Voters Decide
The way in which people make their voting
decisions affects how elections contribute to
democratic control of government.
Parties, candidates, and issues all have
substantial effects on how people vote.
Social characteristics and party loyalties
Candidates
Issues
The Electoral College
When voting for president, American voters
are actually voting for a slate of electors who
have promised to support the candidate.
Consequences of the electoral college system
Magnifies the popular support for winners
May let the less popular candidate win
It discourages third parties
How does it work?

Electors are allocated to the states
based on their representation in
Congress - one elector for each of
the two Senators, one for each
representative. For the decade of
the 1990's, California has 54
electoral votes.
On the first Monday after the second
Wednesday in December, the electors
representing the party whose presidential
slate garnered the most votes assemble
in the Senate Chambers of the State
Capitol at 2:00 p.m. to cast their votes,
voting separate ballots for President and
Vice President. The results are sealed and
delivered to the Secretary of the United
States Senate; the Senate tallies the
states' votes and officially declares the
President.
Electors are paid $10 plus mileage
(5¢ per mile) for the round trip from
their homes to the Capitol.
Arrangements for the college
meeting are handled through the
Governor's office.
All states but Maine and Nebraska have a
winner-take-all system for electors; in
those two states electoral votes are
awarded proportionately. US Senate
historian indicates one California instance
of "faithless electors" -- one who voted
for Wm. Jennings Bryan when the state
went for Wm. McKinley (1900).
What happens if the
electoral vote is a tie?
The House of Representatives makes the
decision with each state having one vote.
Representatives of at least two-thirds of
the states must be present for the vote.
If they cannot decide by March 4, then
the Vice President becomes President and
the person receiving the largest number
of Vice President votes becomes Vice
President.
How are electors
chosen?

Each party determines its own method for
selecting electors. In the Democratic
Party, each congressional nominee and
each US Senate nominee (determined by
the last two elections) designates one
elector whose names are filed with
Secretary of State by October 1 of the
presidential election year.

In the Republican Party, the nominees for
governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer,
controller, attorney general, secretary of
state, United States Senators (again, going
back two elections) the Senate and Assembly
Republican leaders, all elected officers of the
Republican state central committee, the
national committeeman and
committeewoman, the president of the
Republican county central committee
chairmen's organization and the chair or
president of each Republican volunteer
organization officially recognized by the state
central committee act as electors.
No incumbent Senators, congressional
representatives or persons holding an
office of trust or profit of the US can
serve as electors.
American Independent electors are
selected at the party's nominating
convention, as are those of the
Libertarian, Natural Law, and Reform
parties, who further specify a 50/50 ratio
of men and women.
For more information, you may want
to look at the following sites:
National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA)
This site provides answers to frequently
asked questions on the electoral college.
Santa Cruz County Elections Department
- What is the Electoral college?
This site provides information on the
origins of the electoral college, the pros
and cons of the electoral college and the
rules that govern the electoral college
today.
Do Elections Matter?
In terms of the responsible party government
theory...
Republicans tend to be more conservative than
Democrats on a number of economic and social
issues.
This provides voters with a measure of
democratic control by enabling them to detect
differences and make choices.
Voters exercise control in the electoral competition
theory by either reelecting successful incumbents or
defeating unsuccessful officeholders.
Elections force parties to compete by nominating
centrist candidates and by taking similar popular
positions.
U.S. elections help make the public’s voice heard,
but political equality is damaged by providing more
political influence to some types of people than to
others.