American Government Unit 4
Chapter 6: Voters and Voter Behavior
Bellringer
Have all adult Americans always had the
right to vote?
 Which groups had been excluded from
voting earlier in US history?
 Which groups are excluded today?
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I. The Right to Vote
A) The History of Voting Rights
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1)
2)
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4)
5)
Suffrage – right to vote
Franchise – synonym for the right to vote
Electorate – voting population
Disenfranchised – citizens denied the right to vote.
Poll tax – tax to have to pay to vote
removed religious and property qualifications by
1850’s
15 Amendment gave African American men
19th Amendment gave women suffrage
Voting Rights Act of 1965 – secured African
Americans suffrage
26th Amendment – 18 year olds
B) The Power to Set Voting
Qualifications
States have power except 5 restrictions
the Federal government place on States.
1) Same voters must be allowed to vote in
each election
2) Cant deprive people from voting based
on race
3) Sex
4) No poll taxes
5) 18 years old
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Review
II.Voter Qualifications
Objectives
Identify the universal qualifications for
voting in the US.
 Explain the other requirements that
States use or have used as voting
qualifications.
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A) Universal Requirements
Must be a citizen to vote – can allow
Aliens but none have
 Aliens – foreign-born residents
 Must live in the state you vote in (30days)
 Transients – persons who live in a state
for only a short time (college)
 18 years – can make it lower (17)
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B) Registration
Registration – procedure of voter
identification to prevent fraudulent voting.
 Usually 30 days – some allow day of vote
 Purging – remove names from the
registered voting lists
 Poll books – official lists of qualified
voters in each precinct
 Motor Voter Act – law passed to make it
easier to vote – DMV and by mail
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C) Literacy, Tax Payment
Some states made people pass a literacy test
to vote – make sure educated people voted
 Usually used to stop immigrants and African
Americans from suffrage
 Grandfather clauses – laws that allowed
people to bypass literacy or poll taxes.
 Poll tax used to discourage African
Americans
 Mental institutions, felonies, dishonorable
discharged
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Review
Bellringer
What does this picture say about voting?
III. Suffrage and Civil Rights
Voting has been a life or death issue for
some
 In the Deep South – civil rights workers
suffered arrest, beatings, electric shocks
with cattle prods, even death.
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A) 15th Amendment
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1870 – 15th Amendment passed – didn’t say
anything about enforcing it – 90 years until reality
Literacy tests, poll taxes, “white primaries” and
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering – draw electoral boundaries to
limit voting strength of a group
1944 – Smith v. Allwright outlawed white
primaries
1960 – Gomillion v. Lightfoot outlawed racial
gerrymandering
Using Supreme Court - slow
Dr. Martin Luther King Junior
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Born in Atlanta from a prosperous family. Did not graduate
HS but enrolled in college at 15.
2 degrees in Theology, 1 in Sociology, and a PhD in
Philosophy.
Montgomery Bus Boycott (Carpool insurance) – 1955 –
Rosa Parks – 1 year
Picked 27 year old King
Studied Gandhi – civil disobedience – non-violence.
Used church organizations for Civil Rights – allowed
Birmingham 1963 – arrested to fill the jails – used children –
sheriff used water houses – TV – 2 months
1963 March on Washington – I have a dream
6:01, Memphis Tennessee, April 4th, 1968
Videos
Last speech http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZ
Kuv8
 Cronkite – assassination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmOBbxg
xKvo
 Pride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cDRWv
Dx8h4&feature=related
 RFK (no riots) –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6mxL2cq
xrA&feature=related
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B) Early Civil Rights Legislation
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In late 1950’s, Congress passed acts to enforce 15
Amendment.
Civil Rights Act of 1957 – created the US Commission on
Civil Rights – gave authority to Attorney General to seek
federal court orders to prevent abuse of allowing people the
right to vote
Civil Rights Act of 1960 – created federal voting referees –
help register and observe polling places
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – ended discrimination in jobs,
registering to vote (Title 9)
Injunction – court order that either compels or restrains the
performance of a private or public official. Can go to Jail,
Prison, or fined.
March on Selma Alabama – 3 murdered most beaten on TV –
nation saw it. Voter registration drive.
C) Voting Rights act of 1965
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Applied to all elections in the country
Outlawed literacy tests
Poll taxes
Preclearance – no new election laws, and no
changes in existing election laws, could go into
effect in any states with problems, unless first
approved by the Department of Justice –
preclearance.
Location of polling places, boundaries of election
districts, deadlines, going from wards to at-large.
Today, 6 states are still covered by Preclearance
Review
Can people that cannot vote still
influence lawmakers?
 Turn to page 169
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Bell Ringer
Turn to page 172. Lets read the cartoon.
 What does this cartoon suggest about
voter apathy?
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IV.Voter Behavior
5 options –
1) vote for A
2) Vote agaisnt A
3) Vote for B
4) Vote against B
5) Not vote
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A) Nonvoting
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Word idiot comes from the Greeks over
2500 years ago as someone who does not
vote.
2008 – 228 million people who can vote –
only 131 million did (60%), 121 million voted
for Congress? 10 million?
Off-year election – congressional elections
held in between presidential election
Ballot fatigue – voters exhaust their patience
and their knowledge as they work there way
down the ballot.
B) Why People Do Not Vote
Cannot-Vote – illegal aliens, mental health,
prison, religion, pressure
 Nonvoters – people who think everything is
fine and the alienated ones – meaningless
 Political efficacy – lack any feeling of
influence or effectiveness in politics – vote
doesn’t count
 Time-zone fallout – west already know who
won – don’t vote
 Lack of interest – good that they don’t vote.
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C) Voters and Voting Behavior
Political socialization – the process by
which people gain their political attitudes
and opinions – life
 Voters personal characteristics – age,
income
 voter’s group affiliation – family, friends
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D) Sociological factors
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Gender – Women vote Democratic more than men
Gender gap – difference between gender in partisan
choices
Race – African Americans vote heavily Democratic
Age – Older vote Republican
Income – over $60,000 vote Republican
Education – Republican voting tends to rise with level
of education
Party Identification : D-39%,R-32%, I-29%
Religion – Catholics and Jews vote Democratic
Geography – South and Midwest are Republican –
coast and big cities Democratic
E) Psychological factors
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Party identification – loyalty of people to a particular political
party.
Straight-ticket voting – vote all one party.
Majority of Americans identify with party and seldom change
no matter what. (going down)
Split-ticket voting – voting for candidates of both parties
Independents – people that have no party affiliation – usually
vote same party though.
New group of independents – education, good income, good
job
Candidates and Issues – some people actually vote on who
the candidate is and what is there stance on issues.
Review