US History Ch 4 - Voting and Elections

Which is not a form of political participation?

a.

Writing letters to local representatives

c.

Watching political news shows

b.

Distributing campaign literature

d.

Voting in elections

Watching political news shows

According to the authors, what is the defining characteristic of representative democracies?

Elections

Which of the following is not a demographic variable that affects turnout at the polls?

A. Education

B. Residency

C. Age

D. Income

Residency

Which of the following statements about voters is incorrect?

a. The more education an individual has, the more likely the individual is to vote.

b. A person who has a strong interest in politics is more likely to vote.

c. The younger an individual is, the more likely that individual is to vote.

d. Identification with either major political party makes a person more likely to vote.

C. The younger an individual is, the more likely that individual is to vote

Which is a legal voting qualification in Texas?

- Being a citizen of the United States

- Being at least 18 years of age

- Being a registered voter

Which is not a legal voting qualification in Texas?

a. Being a citizen of the United States

b. Being a registered voter

c. Being at least 18 years of age

d. Being a nonresident of the state

d. Being a nonresident of the state

Which individuals are legally disqualified from voting?

Individuals that have been legally declared mentally incompetent

Which of the following statements about Texas registration laws is incorrect?

a. A person may register in person or by mail.

b. A person can register when renewing a driver's license.

c. Registered spouses, parents, or offspring can register an individual.

d. An individual's employer can register an employee as long as the employer is a registered voter.

d. An individual's employer can register an employee as long as the employer is a registered voter.

Once they register, voters are automatically sent renewals at their address of record by

January 1st in even-numbered years.

Which list(s) is (are) used to purge the names of voters from the voter registration rolls?

a. Corner's reports

b. List of felony convictions

c. List of adjudications of mental incompetence

d. All of the above lists are used to purge names of voters from registration rolls.

a. Corner's reports

b. List of felony convictions

c. List of adjudications of mental incompetence

d. All of the above lists are used to purge names of voters from registration rolls.

(D all of the above)

An individual must be registered at least __________ days prior to the election to be eligible to vote in Texas.

30

Texas requires that all ballots and election materials be printed in other languages in addition to English if

counties have at least 5 percent or greater language minority.

Which of the following is NOT an argument put forward by those opposed to the voter ID law?

a. Voter ID is a solution to a problem that does not exist.

b. There is no real evidence of people impersonating other voters in Texas.

c. It would have a big impact on legitimate voters who do not have a driver's license.

d. It would only an advantage to minorities.

It would only an advantage to minorities.

Making registration and voting in America easier has resulted in which of the following?

A decrease in voter turnout

The total number of persons in the United States who are 18 years of age or older, regardless of citizenship, military status, felony conviction, or mental state defines

voting age population

Which of the following can be a contributing factor to the decrease in participation in the United States after 1960?

a. The passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment

b. An increase in party identification by voters

c. A decrease in party identification by voters

d. Both options A and C are true.

- The passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment

- A decrease in party identification by voters

D is the answer

Turnout in American general elections is __________ in comparison to other industrialized democracies of the world.

significantly lower

Which of the following concerning Texas elections is correct?

a. In presidential elections, as the turnout nationally has declined since 1960, Texas's turnout has actually increased.

b. In presidential elections, Texas's turnout is similar to U.S. turnout.

c. In mid-term elections, Texas ranks higher in turnout than most other states.

d. In mid-term elections, Texas has the same turnout as in presidential elections.

a. In presidential elections, as the turnout nationally has declined since 1960, Texas's turnout has actually increased.

Texas required individuals to pay a poll tax to vote in state elections until it was declared unconstitutional by

the decision in the case United States v. Texas

The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave

full suffrage to women in Texas

Smith v. Allwright

banned the use of White primaries

In the case Carrington v. Rash, the courts decided that

members of the military could enjoy the full rights of suffrage in Texas.

Which of the following techniques to prevent voting was never used in Texas?

a. Poll taxes

b. Literacy tests

c. Early registration

d. Annual registration

Literacy tests

Which case changed the state's early voter registration requirement in Texas?

Beare v. Smith

Which of the following is a deterrent to higher voter turnout in Texas?

a. Large number of elections

b. Long length of the ballot

c. Lower income and education levels in Texas

d. All of the above are correct.

D

Texas' political culture can best be described as

a mix of traditionalistic and individualistic.

In a traditionalistic political culture, politics is

the process of maintaining the existing social and economic order.

The traditionalistic political culture is especially characteristic of which Texas area?

East Texas

A method of selecting the nominees from a political party where party members elect the candidates who represent them in the general election is known as

direct primary

The Terrell Election Law enabled political party members to

select political party nominees by allowing a direct primaries.

The Texas Election Code requires each political party

that receives 20 percent of the gubernatorial vote to hold a primary election.

New political parties in Texas must complete all of the following requirements to get their candidates on the general election ballot except

a. hold a convention.

b. must file with the secretary of state a list of supporters equal to 1% of the total vote for governor in the last general election.

c. show that persons listed as supporters have not participated in the activities (primaries or conventions) of either of the two major political parties.

d. have each page of their nominating petitions notarized.

b. must file with the secretary of state a list of supporters equal to 1% of the total vote for governor in the last general election.

For Texas primaries, the state party chair and the state executive committee of each party

a. conduct a drawing to determine the order of the names on the ballot.

b. certify the ballot to the county level officials.

c. canvass the election returns after the primary.

d. All of the above is correct.

(D all of the above)

To win a Texas primary election, a candidate must receive

50 percent plus one of the votes.

A __________ is held when one of the two top contenders of a second primary did not receive a majority of the votes

runoff primary

A closed primary allows only those individuals who ____________ to participate

are party members

What type of primary allows a voter to choose on Election Day which primary they will participate?

Open-primary

What is it technically called when a person who identifies with one political party opts to vote in the other party's primary to influence its outcome?

Crossover voting

Texas does not have term limits for which office?

a. Governor

b. State Senator

c. State House of Representative

d. All of the above are true

D

To win the general election, a candidate must win with __________ of the votes

a plurality

General elections in Texas are held on the

Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years.

In presidential election years, which of the following offices is NOT on the Texas ballot?

The Texas Governor

What year was the Texas Constitution amended to extend the terms (from two years to four years) for the governor and other major administrative officials?

1972

All special elections in the state

are nonpartisan elections

The chief election officer of the state is the

secretary of state

The duties of the secretary of state include all of the following except

a. disbursing funds to the state and county executive committee to pay for the primary elections.

b. keeping election records, both party and governmental.

c. enacting legislation and voting guidelines.

d. sitting on the board that canvasses election returns for state and district offices.

c. enacting legislation and voting guidelines.

A type of ballot used in a general election where all of the candidates from each party are listed in parallel columns is called

party-column ballot

Supporters of the major political parties support the use of which ballot?

Party-column ballot

Minor political parties in the state prefer the office-block ballot because it

makes straight-ticket voting for the major parties more difficult.

What is another name for the Massachusetts ballot??

Office-block ballot

Which of the following statements about Texas elections is incorrect?

a. Getting off an election ballot can be as difficult as getting on.

b. For any party that received at least 5 percent of the vote for any statewide office in the previous general election, the full slate of candidates is placed on the ballot automatically.

c. Write-in candidates are not listed on the ballot.

d. The process of gaining access to the ballot by third parties is simple in Texas.

d. The process of gaining access to the ballot by third parties is simple in Texas.

For a name to be placed on the general-election ballot, a candidate must be either a party nominee or an independent and

win 5 percent of any statewide office.

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered Harris County to provide ballots (and voting material) in which language?

Vietnamese

One can vote early in Texas elections under which of the following conditions?

You can vote early for any reason

The small piece of paper produced in punch-card ballots is known as

chad

Specific Texas laws regarding recounts in elections allow each of the following except

a. a candidate can request a recount if he or she loses by less than 10 percent.

b. the candidate who requests a recount is required to pay for the recount.

c. a manual recount must be used.

d. canvassing authorities are given very little discretion when interpreting an indentation on the chad.

d. canvassing authorities are given very little discretion when interpreting an indentation on the chad

A number of Texas counties introduced electronic voting in the 2002 midterm election because

of the possibility of similar problems that occurred in Florida during the 2000 election

A political party's ultimate aim is to

nominate candidates in the primary or convention and get them elected.

In state elections, what two factors predominate?

Party identification and incumbency

Throughout their campaigns, Texas Democratic candidates tend to mobilize all of the following groups except

a. African Americans. c. teachers.

b. Latinos. d. business interests.

d. business interests.

What strategy is used in election campaigns in which candidates attack opponents' issue positions or character?

Negative campaigning

Candidates spend most of their "on the stump" time in _________, though stumping alone, nowadays, does not get a candidate elected

urban and suburban areas in the state.

Organizations that raise and then contribute money to political candidates are known as

political action committees.

All PACs must be registered with the

secretary of state.

Money spent by political parties on behalf of political candidates, especially for the purposes of increasing voter registration and turnout is called

soft money.

The primary enforcement of regulations of state campaign laws is the responsibility of the

Texas Ethics Commission

Which of the following is not included in the Texas campaign finance law?

a. Limitations on the amount a candidate is allowed to spend

b. Disclosure of who makes contributions

c. Report of how much a candidate raises

d. Disclosure of how campaign funds are spent

a. Limitations on the amount a candidate is allowed to spend

The first African American elected to a statewide office in Texas was

Morris Overstreet

According to Laura K. De La Cruz, which event was instrumental to the shift to the new media?

The F.C.C. eliminating of the fairness doctrine

Which of the following is not part of the new media

a. Cable c. Talk radio/podcasts

b. Major traditional networks d. Websites

b. Major traditional networks