Chapter 6: Voters and Voter Behavior
Section 1: The Right to Vote
Section 2: Voter Qualifications
Section 3: Suffrage and Civil Rights
Section 4: Voter Behavior
Section 1: The Right to Vote
The success of a democratic government
depends on popular participation – voting is the
key.
“Suffrage”: the right to vote (“franchise”).
“Electorate”: the potential voting population.
When the Constitution was passed, only
white male property owners could
vote. Over time, qualifications to
vote have eased significantly and
the federal government has taken
control over granting the right to
vote.
The following restrictions are placed on
states setting voter qualifications:
 15th
Amendment prohibited the denial
of voting based on race.
 19th Amendment prohibited the denial
of voting based on sex.
 23rd Amendment added voters of the
District of Columbia.
 24th
Amendment eliminated the
poll tax. (+ Civil Rights Act of
1965)
 26th amendment forbids states to
set minimum voting age at higher
than 18.
Sumary
 What
constitutional restrictions
exist on the States’ power to set
voting qualifications?
Section 2: Voter Qualifications
There are universal voting requirements in
every state based on 3 major subjects:
1. Citizenship
2. Residence
3. Age
1. Citizenship:
You must be a citizen of the
U.S. to vote.
“Aliens”(Legal/documented
Residents): foreign-born
residents who have not become
citizens are typically denied the
right to vote.
2. Residence:
You must be a resident of
the state you plan to
cast a vote in – usually
at least 30 days.
* “Transients”: persons living in a
state for only a short period of time
(travelling salesmen, college students,
etc.) usually aren’t granted residency
3. Age:
The 26th Amendment says
the states cannot deny
citizens of the U.S. the
right to vote if they are
18 or older – “old
enough to fight, old
enough to vote” – states
can lower the voting age if
they chose to do so.
The only other major qualification that has stood
the test of time is “registration”: a procedure
of voter identification intended to prevent
fraudulent voting.
*Typically, you must register your name, age, place of birth, present
address, etc. You stay registered unless you die, move, are
convicted of a serious crime, or are committed to a mental
institution.
Recently, all states have made it easier to
register to vote – online, at the DMV,
by mail, or at local offices of state
employment, welfare, and other social
service agencies.
Most states require voters to be registered 20-30
days before elections.
Summary
 Explain
the other requirements that
States have used or still use as voting
qualifications. (pp.154-157)
Section 3: Suffrage and Civil Rights
Voting rights have been
ensured through
constitutional
amendments and various
acts passed by Congress.
Today, no voter is denied the right to vote
because of discrimination in any election
throughout the United States.
Those denied the right to vote:
Those in mental institutions or declared
mentally incompetent, many who
commit serious crimes, and some who
have been dishonorably discharged
from the armed forces.

Amendments
The 15th Amendment was intended to protect any
citizen from being denied the right to vote because of
color.
 Violence
 Threats
 Firing
 Denying credit
 “legal” devices
 Literacy tests
 Poll taxes
 Gerrymandering
 Gomillion V. Lightfoot (Alabama, 1960)
 White primaries (Parties: “Private Assoc.”)
 “Smith v. Allwright (Texas, 1944)
Acts
Civil Rights Act of 1957- set up the
United States Civil Rights Commission
to inquire into claims of voter
discrimination.
 Civil Rights Act of 1960- added the
additional safeguard of appointing federal
voting referees. They were given the
power to help qualified persons to register
and vote in federal elections.

Acts
Civil Rights Act of 1964- It relied on
judicial action to overcome racial barriers
and emphasized the use of federal court
orders, or injunctions.
 Voting Rights Act of 1965- This applied to
all elections held anywhere in this country.
 Preclearance is prior approval by the
Department of Justice for a change to a
law.
 States can bail out by showing that they
have not applied discriminatory voting
practices for at least 10 years.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Provisions of Voting
Rights Act of 1965
Court Decisions Upholding
the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Led to the abolishment of
the poll tax
Harper v. Virginia State Board
of Elections, 1966
Outlawed the use of any
kind of literacy test
Oregon v. Mitchell, 1970
Mandated preclearance
Later amendments added a
language-minority provision
South Carolina v. Katzenbach,
1966
Not challenged
African Americans at the Polls
Summary
 Analyze
the provisions and effects of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
 Pp161-163.
Section 4: Voter Behavior
In 2004, 56.7% of the electorate
participated in the presidential election
(95 million eligible voters did not vote).
Ballot Fatigue: People vote less as they go down the ballot:
Voters exhaust their patience/knowledge (Chart P. 165)
Why
Don’t
People
Vote?
1. “Cannot
Voters”:
literally
cannot
vote
(resident aliens, ill or physically disabled, out of
town, mentally ill, jailed, religiously forbidden).
2. Actual Nonvoters: some people believe their
vote does not matter – they do not have
“political efficacy”: a feeling of influence in
politics.
3. Other Reasons: cumbersome procedures
(long lines, time, bad weather, registration
process) – “time-zone fallout”: voters in the
west may not vote because early results may
have already sealed the election – lack of
interest (#1 factor of nonvoting).
More Likely to Vote:
Older, women, and those with
high levels of income,
education, job status, party
affiliation.
Less Likely to Vote:
Younger, men, and those with
lower levels of income,
education, job status, and no
party affiliation.
Why people vote the way they do?
 socialization—studying
political
socialization, the process by which
people gain their political attitudes and
opinions, can also be useful in
predicting voting behavior
Sociological Factors
Voter preferences can’t be predicted by just
one sociological factor. Voter opinion is a
combination of all of these factors and more.
Income and
Occupation
Education
Gender and Age
Religious and Ethnic
Background
Geography
Family and Other
Groups
 Psychological
 Party
Identification-loyalty to party
 single
most significant and lasting predictor
 Candidates
 two
Factors
and Issues
short-term factors
Summary
 How
do sociological and psychological
factors work together to influence
voter behavior?