Chapter 15: Voting Rights and Voter Behavior AP Government & Politics

Civil Rights Act of 1964

1.) Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

2.) Created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Suffrage

Which citizens are qualified to vote

Electorate

Those who go to the polls and vote

15th amendment

1.) Gave African Males the right to vote

2.) Citizens shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or the United States on the account of race color or previous condition of servitude

3.) First constitutional mandate affecting state voting requirements

Franchise

The right to vote

Grandfather clause

1.) Disenfranchised African Americans from the right to vote

2.) Registration law allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867

3.) Guinn v United States (1915)- ruled unconstitutional

Literacy test

1.) Disenfranchised African Americans from the right to vote

2.) A test given to persons to prove they can read and write before being allowed to register to vote

3.) Outlawed in Voting Rights Act of 1965

19th amendment

1.) Gave women the right to vote

2.) citizens shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or the United States on account of sex

3.) Montana elected the first woman to congress, Jeanette Reagan

party identification

When one self-identifies with a party, acknowledging membership, or openly referring to himself or herself as a Democrat or Republican

Party line voting model

citizen who affiliate with a political party or hold a strong party loyalty will likely vote with that party at most opportunities

Poll tax

1.) Disenfranchised African Americans from the right to vote

2.) A simple fee required to vote

3.) Abolished by the 24th amendment

Preclearance

1.) put states under federal supervision if they attempted to invent new legal loopholes to diminish black suffrage such as maybe pulling places or gerrymandering.

2.) Created by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the prior approval by the Justice Department of changes to or new election laws by certain States

3.) Shelby County, Alabama v Holder (2013)- supreme Court ruled that this section (section 5) imposes burdens that are no longer responsive to current conditions

Prospective voting model

1.) Voter votes for vision of future they support

2.) Citizens anticipate the future. they consider how candidates or proposed ballot initiatives might affect their lives or operation of the government.

Rational choice voting model

Voter examines issue or candidate, evaluates promises or platforms, in votes in a way that seems to benefit the voter

Retrospective Voting Model

1.) Voter looks backward to consider candidates' track records. Also looks at the economy in who was in control and whether it was good or bad.

2.) If the race is for an open seat, The voter will likely consider the incumbent party's recent track record, or maybe the challenging candidates accomplishments or shortcomings of previous office

17th Amendment

Direct election of senators

24th amendment

1.) Outlawed poll taxes in federal elections

2.) Citizens shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or the United States by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax

26th Amendment

1.) Prevents states from the denying citizens 18 and over the right to vote

2.) citizens 18 years of age or older shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or the United States on account of age

23rd Amendment

For presidential and vice presidential elections the district constituting the seat of government shall appoint a number of electors in no event more than the least populous state.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

1.) Outlawed literacy test

2.) Put states with low voter turnout under the watchful eye of the Justice department

3.) The law gave the department of Justice jurisdiction over states that had any type of voting test and less than 50% turnout in 1964. These states would be subject to federal election examiners and the preclearance provision.

White primary

1.) Disenfranchised African Americans from the right to vote

2.) state democratic party organizations set rules for the primaries defining their membership as a white men's club.

3.) Smith v Allwright (1944)- ruled unconstitutional, violated equal protection clause

absentee ballot

If a voter cannot make it to the polls he or she can mail a completed ballot instead.

Australian ballot

1.) Printed and distributed at public expense

2.) Show all qualifying in candidates' names

3.) Be available only at the polling places

4.) Be completed in private

gender gap

Difference in political views between men and women and how these views are expressed at the voting booth

Help America Vote Act (2002)

1.) Imposes national standards on states for voting and election management

2.) Passed after 2000 Presidental Election (Bush v Gore)

3.) All states had to change to electronic voting

Midterm election

Elections held midway between a presidential term

Motor Voter Law (National Voter Registration Act of 1993)

Requires states to offer citizens a chance to register at state-run agencies

political efficacy

The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference

Political apathy

A lack of concern for the election outcome

polling place

the location where voting is carried out

Precinct

A small geographical area of about 500 to 1,000 voters who all vote at an assigned polling place.

Provisional ballot

Set aside votes until election officials investigate to make certain voters vote at the correct place (change of residence or inactive voters)

voter registration

Enrollment in the electoral roll- 30 days in advance of an election

Enables government to: prepare for an election, verify voter qualifications, assign a voter to only one polling place, registrants must provide driver's license or social security, 18 years old US citizen resident of state

voter turnout

Number of voters who actually cast votes as a percentage of the voting age population.

Voting age population

Everyone over the age of 18

voting blocs

a group of voters that are strongly motivated by a specific common concern or group of concerns to the point that such specific concerns tend to dominate their voting patterns, causing them to vote together in elections

Voter eligible population

Citizens over the age of 18

Wards

For purpose of voting counties, cities, and towns are subdivided into wards