1. AP US Government Mrs. Lacks
Voter Turnout
AP US Government
Mrs. Lacks

2. Qualifications (set by states)
Citizenship: must be a US citizen
Residency: must vote where you live (or where you are specifically registered)
Age: must be at least 18
Registration:
must have formally applied/registered to vote
All states except North Dakota (only need to be a resident of the precinct in which you’re voting for 30 days)

3. Changing in Voting Eligibility
1870: 15th Amendment (African American men)
1920: 19th Amendment (Women)
1924: Native Americans get citizenship and voting rights
1961: 23rd Amendment (DC residents can vote in federal elections)
1964: 24th Amendment (prohibits poll taxes in federal elections)
1965: Voting Rights Act (removes anything that might restrict African Americans from voting)
1971: 26th Amendment (changes voting age from 21 to 18)

4. Voter Registration Designed to reduce voter fraud
Also seen as discouraging
Motor Voter (1993)– register at DMV when you renew your driver’s license

5. Absentee & Early Voting
Absentee voting
if you’re going to be out of your district on Election Day, you can mail in your vote
Has to be post marked no later than Election Day
Used since the Civil War
2004: more than 1 in 5 voters voted absentee
Early Voting
2008: 31 states allowed early voting
2012: all states allow early voting; how early depends on the state

6. Precedent 2012
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo (Dem) signed an Executive Order on November 5th allowing voters in NY to vote at any polling place by signing an affidavit saying that they’re registered

7. Voter Turnout
The proportion of the voting age population (VAP) that votes in a given election
Declined significantly since 1960
Oddly enough, parallels rising levels of education

8. Year
Voting Age Population
Registration
Turnout
% T/O of VAP
1996
196,511,000
146,211,960
96,456,345
49.08%
1994
193,650,000
130,292,822
75,105,860
38.78%
1992
189,529,000
133,821,178
104,405,155
55.09%
1990
185,812,000
121,105,630
67,859,189
36.52%
1988
182,778,000
126,379,628
91,594,693
50.11%
1986
178,566,000
118,399,984
64,991,128
36.40%
1984
174,466,000
124,150,614
92,652,680
53.11%
1982
169,938,000
110,671,225
67,615,576
39.79%
1980
164,597,000
113,043,734
86,515,221
52.56%
1978
158,373,000
103,291,265
58,917,938
37.21%
1976
152,309,190
105,037,986
81,555,789
53.55%
1974
146,336,000
96,199,020*
55,943,834
38.23%
1972
140,776,000
97,328,541
77,718,554
55.21%
1970
124,498,000
82,496,747#
58,014,338
46.60%
1968
120,328,186
81,658,180
73,211,875
60.84%
1966
116,132,000
76,288,283^
56,188,046
48.39%
1964
114,090,000
73,715,818
70,644,592
61.92%
1962
112,423,000
65,393,751+
53,141,227
47.27%
1960
109,159,000
64,833,096x
68,838,204
63.06%

10. Reasons for low voter turnout in US
Institutional barriers
Registration
Long Ballot
Type of Election
Higher in general elections than primaries
Higher in presidential elections than midterms
Higher in federal elections than state elections
Higher in state elections than local elections
Absentee Ballot
Ballot Fatigue - too many elections
Young people
4 Political Reasons: efficacy, candidates, no competition, mobilization efforts

11. Who votes in US?
Activists (elites): people who participate in all forms of politics
Educated
White
Older
Wealthy
Who voted in 2012?

12. Factors affecting voter behavior
Geography
Strong Presidential candidates (coattail effect)
Timing (realignment, midterms)
Party Affiliation (strongest)
Demographics
Sex
Race
Social class
Religion
Issues (Retrospective - are you better off today than you were four years ago vs. Prospective- looking ahead at how a candidate will handle something)
Candidate Appeal

13. Voter Turnout in Industrialized Democracies
Much higher than US voter turnout
Automatic voter registration
Multi-party systems
Penalties for not voting

15. Compulsory Voting (fines, service, imprisonment)
RED: Compulsory voting, enforced. DARK PINK: Compulsory voting, not enforced. ORANGE: Compulsory voting, enforced (only men). LIGHT PINK: Compulsory voting, not enforced (only men). YELLOW: Historical: the country had compulsory voting in the past

16. Participation Voting is not the only way to participate in politics
joining civic associations
supporting social movements
writing to legislators
fighting city hall