Voting and Elections - Key Terms (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key voting and election concepts, amendments, and turnout-related terms from the lecture notes.

Suffrage

The legal right to vote in political elections.

Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

Prohibits denying the right to vote based on race/color; effectively allows Black men to vote.

Literacy test

A test of reading/writing used to determine voter eligibility, historically used to disenfranchise Black voters.

Poll tax

A tax required to vote; historically used to prevent or limit participation by poor voters and minorities.

White primary

Primary elections restricted to white voters, effectively excluding Black voters from selecting party nominees.

Grandfather clause

Policy allowing those whose grandfathers could vote in 1869 to vote; used to maintain white voting power and disenfranchise others.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Federal law prohibiting racial discrimination in voting; banned literacy tests and authorized federal oversight to protect voting rights.

Language minority protections (1975 amendment)

Amendment that expanded voting protections to language minorities, often requiring language assistance and bilingual ballots.

Freedom Summer murders (1964)

Murder of civil rights workers in Mississippi during voter registration drives, highlighting violence in the movement.

Dual federalism

A system in which state and federal governments operate in separate spheres of authority; relevant to early civil rights enforcement.

Turnout

The share or percentage of eligible voters who actually cast a ballot in an election.

Alienation

Feeling of detachment or powerlessness from the political process, leading to lower participation.

Civic duty

Perceived obligation to participate in civic life (voting, jury duty, public service) as a public responsibility.

Precinct

A subdivision of a county used for organizing voters; each precinct is associated with a local polling place.

Primary election

Election within a political party to choose its candidate for the general election.

General election

The main election where voters choose public officeholders; typically held in November of even-numbered years.

Midterm election

Elections held in November of even-numbered years without a presidential contest (often for Congress and some state offices).

Off-year election

Elections held in odd-numbered years, often focusing on constitutional amendments or local offices, not tied to federal elections.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 (ratified in 1971).

Hysteria (historical argument against women's suffrage)

The outdated claim that women were too emotional or irrational to vote; used to oppose women's suffrage.