1. Chapter 13 Voting and Elections
To Accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, and Texas Editions
American Government: Roots and Reform, 10th edition
Karen O’Connor and Larry J. Sabato
 Pearson Education, 2009

2. Voting

3. Think-Write-RoundRobin
What is your reaction to the quote by Winston Churchill?

4. Voting Behavior
Voting is a form of conventional political participation, participation that uses accepted forms.
Protest is a form of unconventional political participation.
Turnout is the proportion of electorate who votes.
States regulate voter eligibility. (Table 13.1, p 449)
Voters tend to be more educated and more wealthy.
Voters are likely to be middle-aged, women, and white.

5. Turnout of Eligible Voters in US
Back

6. Turnout of Eligible Voters in World
Back

7. Rally Robin
Identify as many reasons as you can that explain low voter turnout

8. Table 13.1- Voter Eligibility
Pg 449
Back

9. Think-Write-RoundRobin
Explain how these factors affect voter eligibility

10. Voting Behavior
Between 70 and 75 percent of the voting-age population is registered to vote.
50 percent vote in presidential elections on average.
Minority groups vote at lower rates explained by income and education levels.
Hispanics have grown in importance due to becoming largest minority group.
People who belong to politically-minded organizations are more likely to vote.
Interest in political matters is key to someone being more likely to vote.

11. Figure 13.3- Registered Voters
Pg 455
Back

12. Think-Pair-Share
What age group is most likely to be registered to vote? Why
What race/ethnicity is most likely to be registered to vote? Why
What gender is most likely to be registered to vote? Why

13. Why Is Turnout so Low?
In 2008, 62 percent of eligible voters turned out.
Most common reason for not voting is being too busy.
Registration can also be an unclear process.
Absentee voting can be difficult.
There are a lot of elections.
People are alienated, apathetic or turned off by quality of campaigns.
Political parties have less influence than in earlier years.

14. Figure 13.2- Why People Don’t Vote
Pg 454
Back

15. Round Table--Team
Identify as many efforts to improve voter turnout as you can

16. Round Table--Class
Identify as many efforts to improve voter turnout as you can

17. Ways to Improve Voter Turnout
Make registration and absentee voting easier, or allow early voting. (Ex. Automatically registered at 18)
A recent trend by some states is to require new identification, which some critics say will hurt turnout.
Make Election Day a holiday or have Election Week.
Strengthen political parties.
Use internet voting or weekend voting.
Use proportional representation.

18. Ways to Improve Voter Turnout

19. Patterns in Vote Choice
Party: Democrats largely vote for Democrats & Republicans largely vote for Republicans; Biggest predictor.
Ticket-splitting has increased however.
Race: minorities largely vote for Democrats.
African Americans most reliable, Asian Americans more likely to split.
Gender: Women lean Democrat & Men lean Republican.
Income: poor largely vote for Democrats while the very wealthy largely vote for Republicans.
Ideology: Liberals lean Democrat & Conservatives lean Republican.

20. Patterns in Vote Choice
Religion: Jewish voters more often vote Democratic
Majority of Catholics trend Republican, but often switch (Bush in 2004, Obama in 2008)
Evangelical Protestants more often Republican
Episcopalians/Presbyterians less reliable for Republicans
Issues: Prospective judgement: about pledges of party out of power and retrospective judgments: about the party in power

21. Think-Write-RoundRobin
Explain the purpose(s) of an election

22. Purposes of Elections
Legitimize government, even in authoritarian systems.
North Korea, Syria, & China have elections sometimes
Organize government.
Choose issue and policy priorities.
Electorate gives winners a mandate.

23. Think-Pair-Share What is a mandate?
Explain why some candidates (like Clinton and W. Bush) come into office without a mandate

24. Rally Robin
Identify as many types of elections as you can

25. Types of Elections Primary elections can be open or closed.
Primary Elections Explained
Crossover voting or raiding can occur in open primaries.
Runoff primaries held if no candidate wins a majority.
These use top 2 vote-getters from primary.
General elections determine who will fill public offices.
Ballot measures: initiative, referendum, and recall.

26. 2012 General Election in Kentucky Initiative: House Bill 1
Are you in favor of amending the Kentucky Constitution to state that the citizens of Kentucky have the personal right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, subject to laws and regulations that promote conservation and preserve the future of hunting and fishing, and to state that public hunting and fishing shall be a preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife?
Yes (85%)
No (15%)

27. Nominating a President
Delegates to convention chosen by election or caucus.
Elections may be winner-take-all or proportional.
Democrats more likely to use proportional, Republicans using it more in 2012.
Caucuses are better for the party organization.
Elections allow for broader participation.
Trend toward front-loading.

28. Rally Coach
Student A: Explain the difference between an open primary and a closed primary
Student B: Explain the difference between a primary and a caucus

29. Figure 13.4- Front-loading
Pg 470
Back

30. Think-Pair-Share Explain the strategy of front-loading.
Explain two ways in which front-loading effects the nomination process

31. Party Conventions Each party has its own rules about delegates.
Democrats no longer subscribe to unit rule.
Delegates tied to candidate, except superdelegates.
Require representation of women and minorities.
Republicans do not bind delegates to candidate.
Media no longer extensively cover happenings, but do show nomination speeches.

32. Delegates
On the Democratic side, the number of delegates a state receives is based on a number of factors:
population & Democratic party enrollment
average vote cast in last 2 elections for D candidates
Democratic performance in the last few elections
Democratic proportion of state Congressional delegation
following the rules (e.g. not changing date of primary contrary to party's wishes)

33. Think-Pair-Share
Based on these factors, rank the following states in order from highest number of democratic delegates to the lowest
Kentucky
California
New York
Montana

34. Democratic National Convention 2016

35. Republican National Convention 2016

36. Party Delegates How many delegates does the Republican Party have?
How many delegates does the Democratic Party have?
How many superdelegates did the Democratic Party have?

37. Party Delegates
4. How many delegates did Trump win? 5. Were most of these delegates awarded through a primary vote or a caucus? 6. How many delegates did Clinton win? 7. Were most of these delegates awarded through a primary vote or a caucus? 8. Why do you think Clinton won more superdelegates than Sanders?

38. How Electoral College Works
Voters in each state vote for one presidential candidate.
A group of Electors from each state actually select president on behalf of the what the voters in their state wanted.
Electors are equivalent to a states’ senators plus its representatives.
Framers favored this system to remove power from people and to make smaller states have more representation.
Originally president and vice president selected separately.
Changed after Twelfth Amendment.
Electing a US President in Plain English How the Electoral College Works

39. Problems with Electoral College
Electors do not have to vote for who the voters wanted.
Smaller states actually have more representation than they should according to population; big states have less.
Candidates only visit “swing” states.
Four Times in US History the President has been elected without the Popular vote:
JQ Adams 1824, Hayes 1876, Harrison 1888, & Bush 2000
The Trouble with the Electoral College

40. Reforming the Electoral College
Three major proposals have been made:
Select the president by popular vote.
Each congressional district has a vote.
Keep the College, abolish the electors.
(All proposals listed on page 477)

41. Congressional Elections
In Congress, incumbency has its advantages. Congressmen get reelected about 95% of the time.
Support from a paid staff who work for constituent problems.
Media and travel budgets increase visibility.
“Scaring off” other challengers because of advantages.
Redistricting and gerrymandering to protect incumbents.
Gerrymandering Explained

42. Think-Pair-Share What is Gerrymandering?
How often are states’ district lines redrawn?
In the state below, which party determines how these district lines are redrawn?
Affiliation
Members
Republican 74
Democrat 64

43. Why Incumbents Lose
Redistricting can pit incumbents against one another.
Scandals.
Presidential coattails.
Midterm elections; president’s party usually loses seats.

44. Reforming the Electoral Process
End front-loading with regional primaries.
Even the playing field with new campaign finance laws.
Increase turnout with online voting or voting by mail.
Make voting more accessible with a modern ballot.

45. Round Table--Team
Propose a solution to fix the electoral process

46. Round Table--Class
Propose a solution to fix the electoral process