Ch. 7 Quiz

What ended the poll tax?

Ratification of 24 amendment in 1964

Voting Laws

Restrictions on African Americans such as poll tax, literacy test, grandfather clause

Voting Rights Act 1965 ( VRA )

Protected the rights of minority voters by prohibiting state laws that denied voting rights based on race

Shelby County v. Holder ( 2013 )

decided to get rid of standards and process of VRA and push decision making for election policy in VRA states to the state and local level

Who signed the Voters Rights Act?

Lyndon B. Johnson

How does someone register to vote?

Submit form, residency requirement, and states may require registration 30-days before election

National Voter Registration Act ( 1993; aka Motor Voter )

Enacted to expedite the registration process and require states to allow citizens to register to vote when they sign up for drivers licenses and Social Security be

How is Voter Turnout determined?

Percentage of ballots / votes divided over how many people could have voted

Voting-age Population ( VAP )

Citizens who are the age of 18 yr old. Included in the voting population because of their age to do so

Voting-Eligible Population ( VEP )

Citizens 18 or older who, whether they have registered or not, are eligible to vote because they are citizens, and not imprisoned

What impacts voter turnouts?

Citizens socioeconomic status, race, Photo ID Laws, Hours of polling places

What is a competitive election?

A race where a challenger runs against the current office holder - 2 people competing for a seat

What is an open-seat election?

Current office holder is not running for reelection and seat is available for anyone

Political Action Committees ( PAC )

Organizations created to raise and spend
money to influence politics

Tillman Act ( 1907 )

prohibited corporations from contributing money to candidates running in federal election

Federal Election Campaign Act (1971)

Created rules governing the way organizations and companies could contribute to federal campaigns allowing the creation of political action committees.

Campaign Finance Laws include…

PAC: Political Action Committees and the Tillman Act (1907)

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Restricted on donating an exceptional amount on your election

Federal Election Commission

Operates independently of government and enforces the elections laws

McCain–Feingold Act (Bipartisan Campaign
Reform Act of 2002)

Placed limits on total contributions to political parties - prohibited coordination between candidates and PAC campaigns and required candidates to include personal endorsements on their political ads

United v. Federal Election Commission

led to the removal of spending limits on corporations

Primary Elections

most common methods of picking a party nominee for state, local, and presidential contests

Open Elections

allows all voters to vote

Closed Election

Only members of the political party selecting nominees may vote

Top-two primary election

all candidates campaign against each other and two candidates with the most votes become the final candidates

Caucus

meeting of party members in which nominees are selected informally

Delegates

Person who represent their choice at the party’s state- or national-level nominating
convention

Who reads vote total in Congress in January and winner officially named President ?

President of the Senate

How many electors and electoral votes are required to win the presidency?

538 electors and 270 electoral votes

Midterm Elections

The congressional elections that occur in the even-numbered years between presidential election years, in the middle of their presidential term