The Role of the Voter in Elections Text Chapter 6

The Role of the Voter in Elections  “The Franchise,” in political-speak, simply means “the right to vote.”  Qualifications for the franchise have changed throughout US History  1700s: only white males who were Christian and owned property could vote  How has that changed since then?

The Role of the Voter in Elections  After the Civil War, once black persons were no longer slaves and now citizens, some states tried to limit their access to the franchise  The most common means were:  The poll tax  The literacy test  The “Grandfather clause”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  The poll tax: a fee that a voter had to pay in order to get a ballot.  It was usually low, but since most ex- slaves were sharecroppers, even a 50¢ poll tax was high  Sometimes, white politicians would pay the tax for a black voter – IF the voter would mark his ballot for that politician

The Role of the Voter in Elections  The literacy test:  Voters would have to read aloud to the poll worker, before being given a ballot  White voters would be given a very simple passage to read  Black voters would be required to read something complicated  Usually, the black voter would fail the test

The Role of the Voter in Elections  The Grandfather Clause  Was the hardest one to “beat”  A simple rule: if your grandfather had not voted before 1860, you couldn’t vote, either.  Think it through: this simple rule kept generations of black citizens from voting

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Most – but not all – states kept women from voting until 1920  Two exceptions: Wyoming, Michigan  Women’s suffrage advocates sought to change that  Suffrage is another term for the franchise – 19 th century ways of saying “the right to vote”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  The 19 th Amendment in 1920 forbade states to keep women from voting simply because they are women  Guaranteeing black citizens protection at the polls was more complicated  The 24 th Amendment in 1964 made poll taxes illegal in every state  The Civil Rights Act in 1964 made it a federal crime for any state to keep black people from voting,  States were also forbidden to allow any attempt to frighten black people from voting

The Role of the Voter in Elections  States today still place some restrictions on voting  A voter has to be a citizen  A voter has to reside in the area where he/she votes  A voter must show proof of being 18  A voter must be registered with his/her county’s Voter Registration system.

The Role of the Voter in Elections  There are still some legal ways to prevent people from voting, even if they meet all of these qualifications:  A person who is a convicted felon, severely mentally handicapped, or a prison inmate may not vote.  An ex-prisoner must petition his state to have voting privileges restored

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Most states have primary elections during the year before the general presidential election (every 4 years)  Political parties all encourage their members to come out and vote in these elections.  In a primary election, the voter must state his/her political party before voting; a voter can only vote in one party primary  In the general election, the voter is not required to publicly state his/her party; the ballot is totally secret

The Role of the Voter in Elections  NO voter can ever be required to reveal who he or she votes for; all US ballots are secret  Since this system was first used in Australia, it’s sometimes called “The Australian ballot”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Every state uses a different kind of voting device  Whatever system is used, there have to be safeguards for privacy, and against tampering  Each political party is allowed to send “poll watchers” to a voting place, to make sure the other party doesn’t try to fix the results

The Role of the Voter in Elections  In a general election, a voter might decide to choose a president from one party, but a senator or voter from another party.  This is perfectly legal; it’s called a “split ticket”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Voters use many criteria for choosing candidates:  Party affiliation  Philosophy shared with candidate  Religion shared with candidate  Appearance, or speaking skills  “eeny meeny minie moe….”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Some citizens just choose not to vote  “I only vote in presidential years, no other time”  “It’s too much trouble”  “They’re all crooks anyway”  “The weather was bad on election day”  “I don’t understand the issues”  “My vote is only one vote – it doesn’t matter”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Non-voters are, needless to say, bad for American society.  Non-voting allows unqualified people to get in office  Non-voting makes politicians more likely to be involved in corruption, because it seems as if “nobody’s watching”

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Who pays the expenses of candidates who run for office?  Their families and friends often lend large sums of money  Their political party contributes  Individual supporters contribute

The Role of the Voter in Elections  A huge amount of money comes from groups called “Political Action Committees” or PACS for short.  A PAC represents a group of individuals (such as a union, or an industry like the insurance or automobile industry)  This group wants to make sure elected officials make decisions that will help them

The Role of the Voter in Elections  PACS can legally donate up to $5,000 during an election season; this makes their influence stronger than any one voter can be  The Federal Election Commission has sought to limit the amount PACS can contribute; PACS complain that such rules limit their “freedom of speech and expression

The Role of the Voter in Elections  Many reformers think that all private money should be taken out of elections  They think that if too many private interests can give huge amounts to a candidate, they are literally buying an election  Such reformers think tax dollars should pay election expenses  So far, candidates and parties have been successful in preventing any such campaign finance reform