1. Voters and Voter Behavior Chapter 6

2. History of Voting Rights  The Framers purposefully left the power of voting to the States  Suffrage and Franchise – right to vote  Electorate – people entitled to vote  Today the electorate consists of over 200 million people

3. In the Past...   States have limited voting rights in the following ways: – –Charging poll taxes – –Requiring literacy tests – –Passing political socialization laws – –Implementing the grandfather clause

4. Extending Suffrage  5 stages to where we are today 1. 1800s – property, religious, and tax qualifications were eliminated 2. 1870 – 15 th Amendment 3.1920 – 19 th Amendment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qizZtAlcghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qizZtAlcg (women’s suffrage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qizZtAlcg 4. 1960s –  Voting Rights Act 1965 – focused on all unequal suffrage in US  23 rd Amendment – District of Columbia (3 electoral)  24 th Amendment - poll tax ended 5. 1971 – 26 th Amendment

5. Do you have to be a US citizen to vote?  Nope! Some states used to allow immigrants to vote before they were citizens to draw people to the state.  All states require it now, but its not in the constitution

6. Georgia Voter Registration Requirements  YOU MUST  Be a citizen of the United States  Be a legal resident of Georgia and of the county in which you want to vote  Be 18 years old within six months after the day of registration, and be 18 years old by election day  Not be serving a sentence for having been convicted of a felony  Not have been judicially determined to be mentally incompetent, unless the disability has been removed

7. Universal Requirements  3 requirements of States  1. Citizenship –Most states require you be a citizen of the US  2. Residency –Must be a legal resident of a State –Each state determines their own minimum requirements  3. Age –Minimum is 18 years old

8. Cont.  Registration  Literacy  Poll tax  Mentally Incompetent  Felony Offenders

9. Nonvoters  Voter turnout decreases during –off-year/midterm elections (the years in which we do not vote for the presidency)  Elections at all levels – most do not vote.

11. Why People Do Not Vote  Voting is inconvenient  Political Efficacy- Don’t believe their vote will make a difference  Distrust politics or politicians

13. Characteristics of typical voters  Educated  Higher-levels of income  Occupational status  Strong sense of party identification

14. Voters and Voter Behavior  Voter Behavior is studied in several ways:  The results of elections –Results of confidential voting  The field of survey research –Conducting polls across specific cross sections of the population  Studies of political socialization –The process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions

15. Psychological Factors  Party Identification –Loyalty is the single most significant factor of how a person would vote  Candidates and the Issues –Short-term factors that can influence a voter