

We have a decentralized party system; the national
parties are collections of state and local parties
Parties are weaker than they used to be
Progressive reforms and weakening of patronage
 Direct primary reduces party control of nominations
 Rise of interest groups and PACs


Parties are made stronger or weaker by state laws
and practices
Different types of primaries (open, closed, etc.)
 Runoff elections in 10 Southern states, tend to
discriminate against minority candidates (whites in blackmajority areas as well as blacks in white-majority areas)


Interest groups tend to be strong where parties
are weak, and in states with fragmented
executive authority (SC in both cases)



V.O. Key argued that states with higher levels
of party competition are more likely to have
more liberal policy outcomes
If the parties have to compete for votes, they
make more of an effort to reach nonvoters, who
are traditionally poor, minorities, etc.
Having to address these people’s concerns
tends to produce greater attention to poverty,
racism, and associated issues, with more liberal
outcomes.

Socioeconomic factors:

Income
 The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to vote.

Education
 The better educated you are, the more likely you are to vote.
Your level of education is generally the most significant
predictor of your probability of voting.

Race
 In general, whites and Asians are more likely to vote than
blacks and Hispanics.

Age
 The older you are, the more likely you are to vote, up to a
point.





Low political efficacy: People are so dissatisfied that
they think it doesn’t matter whether they vote or not;
Satisfaction with status quo: People don’t vote because
they see no need to change things;
Difficulty in registering (now much easier than it used
to be, thanks to Motor Voter, which increased
registration but not turnout)
Structural barriers: registration requirements, difficulty
in getting to the polls during a certain time period on a
weekday, restrictions on absentee balloting
Southern states have tended to have lower
participation because of difficult registration laws,
disenfranchisement devices, poverty, and lack of party
competition.




Originally, the right to vote was limited to white
male property owners (and to Christians in some
jurisdictions)
Constitution originally gave states the power to
determine qualifications for “electors” (voters)
There was no specific “right to vote” under the
original Constitution
15th Amendment (1870): Barred discrimination in
voting on the basis of race, color or previous
condition of servitude (slavery).

The 14th and 15th Amendments are the first time that a “right to
vote” is mentioned in the Constitution.


17th Amendment (1913): Senators elected by
popular vote.
19th Amendment (1920): Barred discrimination
in voting on the basis of sex.

Women already had the right to vote in some states:
 The Wyoming Territory granted women the right to
vote in 1869. This was the first jurisdiction in the US to
do so.
 The Utah Territory granted women the right
to vote in 1870, but it was subsequently
repealed by Congress.
 When Utah sought admission as a state in
1896, one condition imposed by Congress
was that women not be given the right to
vote.
 Utah agreed to this provision, was admitted
to the Union, and then restored women’s
voting rights (nothing Congress could do
about it after they were admitted as a state).




23rd Amendment (1961): The District of
Columbia is given representation in the
Electoral College.
24th Amendment (1964): Abolished the poll tax
as a requirement for voting in federal elections.
26th Amendment (1971): Lowered the voting
age to 18.
Now, almost all citizens 18 and older have the
right to vote in all elections.

Literacy test
Requirement to read and interpret a section of the
Constitution to the satisfaction of the voting registrar
 Selectively enforced against black voters, also
disenfranchised many illiterate whites
 Alabama literacy test:
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/origi
ns/images/al_literacy.pdf
 Louisiana literacy test:
 http://www.nps.gov/miin/learn/historyculture/u
pload/LA-literacy-test.pdf


Poll tax
Outlawed in federal elections by 24th Amendment (1964).
 Outlawed in state elections by Supreme Court decision in
Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).


White primary
If the party is a “private organization,” they can restrict
their activities to “members.” These “activities” include
voting in the party primary, which was the decisive
election in the one-party Democratic South.
 Outlawed by the Supreme Court in Smith v. Allwright
(1944).


Malapportionment


Drawing districts of unequal population, generally
used to give rural areas greater representation than
urban areas; outlawed by a series of Supreme Court
decisions in the 1960’s
Gerrymandering
Drawing district lines in a way that benefits a
particular party or group and disadvantages another
 Unconstitutional to gerrymander on racial grounds,
but partisan gerrymandering is generally permitted


Voting Rights Act of 1965






Suspended literacy tests
Permanently banned practices used to discriminate on the
basis of race
Provided for federal registrars in jurisdictions with
literacy tests or similar devices and where less than 40%
of eligible citizens voted in 1964 Presidential election
Requires Department of Justice preclearance (approval) of
changes in voting practices in covered areas (the Supreme
Court struck down the coverage formula in 2013)
Primarily targeted at the South but as a result of
expansion of its provisions, now includes Alaska and
three boroughs of New York City
Renewed and amended in 1970, 1975, 1982 and 2006


US Supreme Court upheld constitutionality of
VRA in South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1968)
Voting Rights Act of 1970
Literacy tests permanently banned


Voting Rights Act of 1975
Extended protections to language minorities
 Election jurisdictions must provide balloting materials in
additional languages where >10% of the population
speaks it as a primary language

 Spanish in NYC and other areas
 Spanish and Chinese in San Francisco
 http://www.thestandingroom.com/.shared/image.html?/p
hotos/uncategorized/2007/11/07/ballot.jpg

Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982
Changed discriminatory “intent” standard to
“effect” standard
 In order to challenge a voting practice, it is no longer
necessary to prove that it was adopted with the
intent to discriminate, only that it has the effect of
discriminating on the basis of race
 This was the basis of the recent challenge to SC’s
Voter ID law (disproportionate effect on black voters
even if this was not its intention)
 Banned practices where minority voters have less
opportunity than others to participate in the electoral
process and “elect candidates of their choice”


Racially polarized voting: A majority of members of
one racial group support one candidate and a majority
of members of another racial group support another
candidate


In the South (and some other areas), a majority of white voters
support Republicans and a majority of black voters support
Democrats
Makes it difficult if not impossible for minority candidates to
get elected
 Obama carried NC in 2008 (first D since Carter 1976)
 Obama carried VA in 2008 and 2012
 First D since Johnson in 1964
 First D to carry VA in two elections since FDR
 Sen. Tim Scott was elected in SC in 2014
 Does this refute the idea that white voters won’t support black
candidates?

The VRAA of 1982 was interpreted by the
Justice Department as requiring the
construction of districts where minority
candidates had a fair chance of being elected.
This requires gerrymandering in favor of the
minority group (example: NC 12th CD, which
we covered earlier).




Named for Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and
Coretta Scott King
Extended language-minority requirements and
preclearance requirements
Controversies: Should states like SC continue to be
required to get federal approval for changes in
voting practices because of long-ago
discrimination? Supreme Court struck down
formula for determining discriminatory practices
in 2013.
Should balloting materials be provided in
languages other than English?


Felon disenfranchisement
Longer residency requirements


Requiring you to live in an area for a year or more
before you can vote there disenfranchises mobile
populations (who are more likely to be poor)
Federal law now prohibits a residency requirement
of longer than 30 days

Registration requirements






The earlier the cutoff date to register before the election,
the less likely people are to register and therefore to vote
SC requires you to register 30 days before the election
(most states require some advance registration period)
Eight states allow you to register on Election Day and
then vote immediately
NC allowed you to register and then vote during the
early voting period, but not on Election Day itself
(abolished 2013)
North Dakota has no voter registration, and very high
turnout
Academic studies indicate little evidence of fraud
committed through this practice



Intended as safeguard against voter fraud (but
academic research indicates that very little vote
fraud occurs in the form of identity theft or
impersonation at the polls)
ID requirements make it harder to vote
An estimated 11% of eligible voters do not have
government-issued photo ID

Lack of ID disproportionately affects poor
people in general and African-Americans in
particular



A black Southerner born before the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 is more likely to have been born at home if
their mother couldn’t go to a segregated hospital to
give birth
If you were born at home, you’re less likely to have a
birth certificate than if you were born in a hospital
What if you need a birth certificate to get a photo ID?



SC’s voter photo ID law was subject to Justice
Department preclearance.
The Justice Department denied preclearance
because it found that it would have a
disproportionate effect on black citizens.
On October 12, 2012, a federal court upheld the
ID law but postponed it from going into effect
until 2013; it is now in effect.




NC’s photo ID law is being challenged in court; the
Justice Department alleges that it was designed with
the intent of disenfranchising black voters. (It was
subsequently modified to provide for alternative forms
of ID in some cases.)
Arizona passed a law requiring proof of citizenship to
register to vote, which the Supreme Court struck down
in 2013.
This does not make it legal for non-citizens to vote; it
makes it illegal to disenfranchise people who can’t
document their citizenship.
In Texas, a concealed carry weapons permit counts as a
valid state-issued ID for voting purposes, but a student
ID from a state university does not.






Do you need an excuse to vote absentee by mail, or can
anyone do it for any reason?
If you don’t need an excuse for an absentee ballot, it’s
easier to vote
27 states allow absentee voting with no excuse
Oregon and Washington state conduct all elections by
mail
Significant potential for voter fraud in absentee
balloting
In SC, you must apply for an absentee ballot ahead of
time and meet certain requirements





Examples:
Students attending school away from home
Military personnel
Anyone age 65 and older
Hospitalized, job prevents you from voting while polls are
open, death in family, etc.

Vote in person at a designated site (such as a
public library) during a period of time prior to
Election Day



Available in 32 states and DC, not in SC
NC had early voting for 16 days prior to an election,
reduced to 9 as of this year
This is supposed to make it easier to vote, but
actually appears to decrease turnout

The theory is that if voters’ attention is directed
away from a single Election Day, they’re less likely
to vote


Certain types of technology make it harder for
your vote to be cast and counted accurately
This became an issue in the 2000 presidential
election in Florida
Punch cards: 4% error rate
 Computerized systems: <2% error rate
 Poorer (more Democratic) areas were more likely to have
cheaper, less accurate technology: did this actually affect
the outcome of the election?
 Bush won Florida by 537 votes


Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA)

Grants to states to improve voting technology






People under 18
Non-citizens
People who move within 30 days of the election
can vote using their old residence, not necessarily
their new one
Those declared mentally incompetent
Convicted felons in most states
Controversy regarding voting by college students
In some states, living in a dorm does not meet the
residency requirement to vote in the place where you
attend school; this was a controversy at WU for several
years
 In 2013, a county elections board in NC tried to have a
local college student declared ineligible to run for office
there; they lost.
 Most students use their family home as a voting address
even when they’re away at school
