Campaigns and Elections exam 1

Generic congressional ballot

asks voters which party they would prefer to control Congress or which party's candidate they would support without naming specific candidates.

Redistricting

process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, usually after the census.

Packing

Concentrating a group's voters into a small number of districts

Cracking

Dividing a group's voters among several districts so they have less influence in each one.

Primary types

• Closed primary = only party members can vote in that party’s primary.

• Semi-closed primary = both unaffiliated voters and members of the party can vote in that party’s primary.

• Open primary = all voters can vote in either party’s primary, but not in both primaries.

• Blanket primary (sometimes called a jungle primary) (invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2000) = Election in which all candidates for an office are listed on the ballot, and anyone registered to vote in that election may vote for any one candidate; typically, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff election

Ranked Choice voting

-election system where, instead of choosing just one candidate, voters rank candidates in order of preference—1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, and so on.

-Usually has a run off style weed out till cadidate reaches required threshold

Major principles of democratic elections

free choice, political equality, deliberation, and free speech

Principles of democratic elections: Free choice

Voters must be able to make genuine choices without coercion, intimidation, or improper pressure.

Principles of democratic elections: Political Equality

Political equality means that citizens should have an equal opportunity to participate politically.

Principles of democratic elections: Deliberation

citizens should have opportunities to consider information, discuss issues, hear different viewpoints, and make informed political decisions.

Principles of democratic elections: Free speech

Ability to

• Criticize government officials

• Support candidates

• Express unpopular opinions

• Debate public issues

• Share political information

Early United States privilege/right to vote

Mostly just land owning white men

15th Amendment

-1870

-Prohibited denying or abridging the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude

-did not immediately eliminate discriminatory barriers in practice

Disenfranchisement after Reconstruction

-1876 election changes this

-Limited black voting

• Literacy tests

• Poll taxes

• Complicated registration procedures

• Intimidation and violence

19th Amendment

-1920

-womens right to vote

24th amendment

-prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. The Supreme Court later struck down state poll taxes as unconstitutional as well

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Outlawed literacy tests

• Created stronger federal enforcement of voting rights

• Allowed federal examiners in certain circumstances

• Included protections against racial discrimination in voting

• Required certain jurisdictions under the original law to obtain federal preclearance before changing voting rules

26th amendment

-1971

-changed voting age from 21 to 18

Convenience voting

-Absentee voting

-Mail-in voting

-Early in person voting

Ways voting can be made easier or harder

• Voter registration laws

• Voter ID laws

• Felon disenfranchisement laws

• Polling locations and times

Rules affecting campaigning

-open vs closed primary (whether to ask voters to register as a party member)

-Mail voting (Reminding voters to return ballots)

-Long early-voting period (Need to mobilize earlier and track voters longer)

Semi open primary

Registered party members can vote in their party's primary. Unaffiliated/independent voters can choose which party's primary to vote in.

Semi closed primary

Registered party members can vote in their party's primary. Unaffiliated/independent voters can participate, but only if the state allows them to choose a party.

Top two primary

-all candidates run on the same ballot, regardless of political party.

-two candidates who receive the most votes move on to the general election

Duverger’s Law

states that winner-take-all, single-member district elections tend to produce a two-party system because third parties struggle to win seats and voters are encouraged to support one of the two major parties.

Plurality rule

-candidate with most votes wins even if its less than 50%

Single member district

electoral district where voters elect one representative to represent that district.

Proportional representation

-seats are distributed more closely according to each party's share of the vote.

-ex: if a party receives roughly 20% of the vote, it might receive roughly 20% of the available seats

Major 2026 Voting Rights Act changes

-Louisiana v. Callais (2026) significantly weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which had been used to challenge election districts that diluted the voting power of racial minorities. (ruled that Louisiana's creation of a second majority-Black congressional district violated the Constitution.)

Major players and outcomes: 1800

• Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton

• Jefferson and Burr initially tied in the Electoral College, sending the election to the House of Representatives. After a prolonged House deadlock, Jefferson was elected president and Burr became vice president.

Major players and outcomes: 1828

• Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun (Jackson's running mate)

• Andrew Jackson defeated incumbent President John Quincy Adams. (Jackson received 152 electoral votes, while Adams received 73)

• Campaigns increasingly attempted to mobilize ordinary voters

Major players and outcomes: 1876

• Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican), Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat)

• Tilden won the national popular vote, but the Electoral College result was disputed. Disputes over electoral votes in several states led to a political crisis. Congress created an Electoral Commission, and Hayes ultimately received the presidency.

Major players and outcomes: 1968

• Richard Nixon (Republican), Hubert Humphrey (Democrat), George Wallace (American Independent Party)

• Richard Nixon won the presidency. George Wallace won several states as a major third-party candidate.

• Showed how Third parties can influence campaigns and Electoral College outcomes

Pre-democratic era

• electorate was much smaller because voting was restricted in many states.

• Candidates often did not campaign in the modern sense

• Political elites, legislatures, newspapers, and political allies played major roles.

Mass mobilization era

• voting rights expanded for white men and property requirements declined, campaigns had to appeal to a much larger electorate.

• Campaign rallies, Parades, local party orgs

• Andrew Jackson's 1828 campaign reflected the growth of mass electoral politics.

Progressive Era

• changes designed to reduce the power of party organizations and increase direct participation.

• direct primary meant candidates increasingly needed to appeal directly to voters to win their party's nomination rather than relying entirely on party leaders.

• candidate centered strategy

Candidate campaign era

• Campaigns increasingly focused on the individual candidate.

• Candidates could communicate more directly with voters due to tech (Radio, tv, etc)

• Campaigns focused on making candidate look good

Contemporary era

• use digital technology, voter data, and new forms of voting such as early and mail voting.

• still holds similar traits of earlier eras (partisanship, mobilization, negative campaigning)