1. Chapter 6 Vocabulary 1.Suffrage 2.Electorate 3.Elections 4.Convenience Voting 5.General Election 6.Off-year Election 7.Turn-out 8. Motor Vehicle law

2. Government Chapter 6 Voters & Voter Behavior ISuffrage A. The right to vote B. Originally the right to vote was limited to white male property owners. Only 1 in 15 qualified. Ben Franklin told the story of the man whose only property was a jackass and noted that if the jackass died the man would lose his right to vote. So who has the right to vote? The man or the jackass?

3. IIToday’s Electorate: +205 million A.131,257,542 voted in the 2008 general election = 9 million more than 2004 1.vs. only a 6.5 million increase in eligible population 2.63.4% = highest since 1960 @ 64.8% 3.third highest since women gained the right to vote

4. IIIVoting Rights Changes A.15th amendment–race B.19th amendment-women C.Voting Rights Act of 1965 (suspended literacy tests) D. 23rd amendment-voting for residents of DC E. 24th amendment- eliminated poll tax F. 26th amendment-18 year olds

5. IVDisenfranchisement of Blacks A. Literacy tests, poll tax, put in place to disenfranchise blacks B. Grandfather clause was added to help poor whites get around the literacy & poll requirements VRequirements to vote A. citizenship-states choose this, not in the Constitution B. residency-adopted to keep political machines from bringing in outsiders to vote and is now usually 30 days. Transients-temporary residents usually cannot vote- college students C. age-26th amendment passed more quickly than any other amendment. Vietnam War-“Old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”

6. VIParticipation by age A. 18-20 yr old in 1996-31.2% voted B. 65+ in 1996-67% voted.

7. VII. Registration to vote A. European Nations B. In the U.S. C. Motor vehicle law

8. XIII. Voter Behavior A. Greek (idiotes) means those citizens who did not vote B. Why People don’t vote 1. Makes no real difference 2. Satisfied with the status quo 3. Distrust politicians 4. Have no sense of political efficacy (no sense that they have any influence or effectiveness in politics) 5. Bad weather 6. Time-zone fallout 7. Long lines C. Apathy on Election Day: is not the source of lower voter turnout. Of those who are registered the overwhelming majority vote. The real source of the problem is that a relatively low % of the adult population is registered to vote. D. Voter Turnout: Should be a simple calculation in which the numerator is the # of votes cast & the denominator is the # of citizens eligible to vote. It is not the percentage of those registered who vote

9. IX. Who votes? Who doesn’t? A. EducationA. younger than 35 B. AgeB. unmarried C. Faith/religious involvementC. unskilled D. Occupational StatusD. Rural / south E. Gender

10. X. Elections: are the centerpiece of democracy-Elections can influence public policy & policy outcomes can influence elections. The future of democracy will be one of the great issues that America’s citizens must face as the nation continues into its third century.

11. XIThe Future of Democracy will be one of the great issues that America’s citizens must face as the nation continues into its third century.