Chapter 6 Voters and Voter Behavior

Chapter 6 Section 1: The Right to Vote Suffrage—the right to vote Franchise—synonym for the right to vote Electorate—the potential voting population (more than 230 million) Disenfranchised—barred from voting

5 Stages of Expanding Suffrage Early 1800s Religious, property, and tax qualifications begin to disappear 1870 15th amendment—no restrictions based on race/color 1920 19th amendment—no restrictions based on gender Wyoming (as a territory)—women’s suffrage in 1869 1960s Voting Rights Act of 1965—enforces racial equality at polling places 23rd amendment—DC votes in presidential elections 24th amendment—ban on poll tax 1970s 26th amendment—voting age to 18

Chapter 6 Section 2: Voter Qualifications Citizenship Must be a US citizen Only PA has a time requirement for naturalized citizen Aliens—foreign-born residents who have not become citizens Allowed to vote in CA (registered through DMV) Residence Must be legal resident of state in which ballot is cast Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 Bans residency requirement of longer than 30 days for presidential elections Most states do not specify a required residency period Transients may not vote in most states Plan to live in a State for only a short time from gaining legal residence

26th Amendment—suffrage for all citizens 18 and older States may choose to set age at less than 18 (but none have) Some allow 17yo to vote in primaries if they’ll be 18 by election day

Chapter 6 Section 3: Suffrage and Civil Rights How did the US fulfill the promise of the 15th amendment? 15th Amendment Ratified 1870 Southern Whites used variety of means to deny African Americans 15th amendment Violence, threats, social pressure, literacy tests, poll taxes, gerrymandering Smith v. Allwright (1944)—banned white primaries Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960)—banned gerrymandering for purposes of racial discrimination

Civil Rights Civil Rights Act of 1957 Civil Rights Act of 1960 Set up commission to investigate voter discrimination Enabled attorney general to enforce voting rights Civil Rights Act of 1960 Provided federal voting “referees” to serve where there was voter discrimination Help eligible voters register/vote Civil Rights Act of 1964 Banned discrimination in jobs Banned discriminatory voter registration or literacy requirements

South Carolina v. Katzenbiach Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 Voting Rights Act of 1965 Prompted by civil rights march in Selma, AL Applied 15th amendment to all elections Challenged poll taxes and literacy tests Authorized voting examiners Required federal preclearance to any changes in state election laws South Carolina v. Katzenbiach Upheld Voting Rights Act of 1965 Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 Extended Act for 5 years Banned literacy tests

Oregon v. Mitchell Law extended in 1975 Upheld ban on literacy tests Upheld residency requirements Law extended in 1975 Ban on literacy tests made permanent Applied provisions to language minorities

Chapter 6 Section 4: Voter Behavior Factors that Influence Voters Sociological Income Religion Occupation Ethnic background Education Geography Gender Family/other groups Age

Psychological Party identification Views on candidates Views on issues

Off-year elections (between presidential elections) typically have lower turn- outs Ballot fatigue is when there are fewer votes for the offices lower on the ballot Reasons people don’t vote Ill or physically disabled Legal reasons (mental health or felons) Racial or religious biases Just not voting (political efficacy is the lack of feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics)