1. Voters Qualifications and Behaviors

2. While all states have requirements for voting, most of those used to disenfranchise certain groups have been eliminated over time Many factors influence the Americans who do vote Big Idea

3. Voter Qualifications State citizenship State Residence Age Voter Registration Mental Competency Criminal Record All States Some States

4. What does this mean? Suffrage

5. The power to decide voter suffrage lies with the states. ALL state requires: Citizenship Residency Age Who has the power? What type of power is this? Reserved Power

6. You must be a citizen of the US Aliens: foreign born residents who are not citizens They can’t vote HOWEVER, nothing in the Constitution says they can’t vote State could allow Legal Aliens the right to vote it has happened State Citizenship Opinion #1 (write this down) Do you think legal aliens should be allowed to vote? AND what about illegal aliens?

7. Must be a legal resident of the state Most states: person must be able to prove they live in the state used to be states set a period of time someon had to live in the state to qualify 1 year for state elections Today congress has banned anything longer than 30 days State Residency

8. We know that ______ Amendment sets the voting age as nothing more than 18. States could make it lower if they wanted to Before it was 21 “Old enough to fight. Old enough to vote” Vietnam Age 26 Opinion #2 Do you think we should allow people under the age of 18 should be allowed to vote?

9. Voter Registration In Virginia: You must register to vote at least 29 days before the primary or general election Mental Competency In Virginia: you can’t vote if you are convicted of a felony Criminal Record In Virginia: you can’t vote if you are declared mentally insane in a court of law Other Qualifications Opinion #3 Do you believe we should deny criminals the right to vote? what about when they are no longer in jail?

10. Literacy ability to read and write (comprehend) to insure people could cast an informed ballot BUT also used to discourage certain groups Tax Payment prove that you pay property tax Poll tax: special tax to vote Used to be Qualifications Can’t Vote

11. Influencing Voter Behavior Sociological Factors ●Income ●Occupation ●Education ●Gender ●Age ●Religion ●Ethnicity ● Region of residence ●Family Psychological Factors ●Party identification ●Perception of candidates ●Perception of Issues