Voters and Elections

Who gets to vote? Changes over time. When the Constitution was first instituted, voters were white men, and eligibility was determined by property ownership. The right to vote is called suffrage. After the Civil War, Blacks right to vote was established by the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments 13th ended slavery 14th made citizens (right to vote) 15th protection of voting rights Women of all colors did not get to vote until 1920, with the 18th amendment

Who votes? While all citizens (over the age of 18, 26th amendment) have the right to vote now, who actually votes? The older you get, the more likely it is that you will vote. The wealthier you are, the more likely it is you will vote. Education, Employment, Religion, Minority Status all factor in.

Recent trends US voter turnout (about 60%) is among the lowest of all modern democracies (Australia highest at 95%) While voter turnout was dropping significantly since 1960, recent trends show increases.

Structure of Elections Getting elected to office has two central obstacles. The first is getting the party nomination through a primary election, the next to to win the general election. The Primary Election is where candidates of the same party go against each other to get the party endorsement culminating in the party convention. In the primary election, candidates often go more to the right or left (depending on their party) to get the “base” voters excited and motivated. The General Election is where the candidates go against the nominees of the other parties before the general American Public. In the general election, the candidates move more towards the center to get the independent voters.

“New Style” Campaigning The focus of contemporary campaigning is the candidate, not the party, and is carried out by professionals (consultants, media specialists, pollsters, and advertising people.) Sophisticated voter databases maintained by the political parties and politically oriented businesses can target specific voters in each district with fundraising requests, phone banking, door to door canvassing, ride sharing and other ways to get voters to contribute, and to vote on election day.

Gerrymandering or, How the Candidate Picks the Voters When we thing of voting, we rarely ever consider the dynamics of which district we are in beyond the need to find a place to vote. Yet, it has become one of the most important tools of the politician to re-arrange the voting districts, in order for the politician to choose their voters, instead of the other way around. The act of re-drawing district boundaries to determine who gets to vote in each district has become known as Gerrymandering. Consider an imaginary state with 25 residents in 5 districts. If the state is divided into 15 Democrats and 10 Republicans, we could expect that this state would elect 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans to represent the state. By re-drawing the boundaries of the 5 districts however, the results could be anywhere from 5 Democrats and 0 Republicans, to 2 Democrats and 3 Republicans, creating a very non-democratic situation.

Self Segregating Even Split? Dems 5 Reps 0 Reps 3 Dems 2 D R D R D R D

Presidential Elections Unlike other elected officials, the President is not elected by direct vote, but by the electoral college. Each state has different rules, though the majority deliver all of their electoral votes to the candidate who wins 50.1% of the popular vote in that state. Each state has a minimum of 3 electoral votes (one member of the house, two senators), thought he largest have: California 55, Texas 34, New York 31. The District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) also gets 3 electoral votes. The winner is the one who gets 270 electoral votes. In the event of a tie, the House of Representatives votes for the president.

Electoral College The Electoral College was formed from the Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, and amended by the 12th, 14th, and 24th Amendments. There is no requirement for Electors to be popularly elected, and each state has the right to select Electors as it chooses. Though there have been various calls to remove the Electoral College, no real attempt has been made to change it.

Voter Fraud Voter fraud is where someone who is not eligible to vote casts a vote, or votes more than once. While there has been considerable outrage over voter fraud, there has been little actual proof. There is some evidence that voter fraud is an excuse to target minority voters and intimidate them into not voting.

Election Fraud Election fraud can be Deliberate miscount of votes Stuffing the box Throwing away ballots Changing votes Voter Suppression Ability to vote (number of machines, ballots, etc.) Discouragement (long lines, challenges, telling people it is illegal, threats) Purges

Black Box Voting In the last few elections, electronic voting has become an issue No paper trail Easily hacked Vote switching Computer problems Private companies No verification

Voter Choices How voters decide who to vote for is a concern for all candidates. Three Factor Explanation Party Identification Issue Positions Candidate evaluation Six Factor Explanation Past Performance Future Expectations Past Issue Positions Expected Future Policy Stands Candidate Attributes

Effects of voting and elections on public policy Does the public vote and elections have an effect on public policy? Are elected officials conscious of voter expectations when they make decisions? Do they carry out campaign promises? Do elected officials get thrown out of office when they fail to meet the expectations of the public? Should politicians follow what the public wants, or should they follow their own conscience?