Campaigns, Elections, and Voting: Detailed Notes - CHAPTER 9

The Importance of Fair, Independent Elections

  • National sovereignty is vital; nations should have self-rule without outside interference.
  • Throughout U.S. history, there have been efforts to influence American voting behavior by individuals, organizations, and campaigns.

Why Election Meddling Matters

  • In 2017, a report confirmed that the Russian government conducted a campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election, achieved through social media, including over 677,775 Twitter posts.
  • Evidence suggests continued Russian interference in U.S. elections, necessitating concern about election integrity.

Political Participation as an Expression of the Will of the People

  • Campaigns, elections, and voting are fundamental to civic engagement.
  • Electoral participation is a crucial area of civic participation.

Today’s Fight over Voter Access

  • Claims have emerged regarding voter suppression efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with similar issues noted in 2022.
  • Contentions between Democrats and Republicans enhance the debate on voter access.

The Act of Voting

  • Voting begins when a voter registers, requiring adherence to varying state laws.
  • The Australian ballot allows secret voting and unbiased counting by officials.

The 2000 Election and Its Impact

  • Controversy surrounded the Florida voting process in the 2000 presidential election.
  • The Supreme Court's ruling led to policy changes, including the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, allocating $650 million to modernize voting systems.
  • By 2020, some states were using electronic voting without paper backups.

Types of Ballots

  • Party-column ballot: Organizes candidates by party, encouraging party-line voting.
  • Office-block ballot: Arranges candidates by office, promoting ticket splitting.

Voting by Mail

  • Historically limited to those unable to vote in person, voting by mail expanded due to COVID-19.
  • States like Oregon and Colorado now provide automatic mail ballots to all voters.

Running for Office: The Choice to Run

  • Motivations for candidacy include civic responsibility, party loyalty, social recognition, personal goals, and interest in electoral politics.

Formal Eligibility Requirements

  • U.S. Constitution outlines minimum criteria for federal office holders:
    • President: natural born citizen, 35 years old, resident for 14 years.
    • Vice President: natural born citizen, 35, not a resident of the president's state.
    • Senator: citizen for 9 years, 30 years old, state resident.
    • Representative: citizen for 7 years, 25 years old, state resident.

Informal Eligibility Requirements

  • Candidates for federal office often expected to have higher qualifications than local or state candidates, such as office holding experience, education, and strong communications skills.

Elections in the United States

  • States hold at least two types of elections:
    • Primary Elections: Determine party nominees; some use caucuses.
    • General Elections: Nominees compete; the person with the most votes wins.

Deciding the Nomination: Caucuses and Primaries

  • Voting processes vary by state, focusing on delegate selection rather than direct candidate votes.
  • Reforms post-1968 Democratic Convention increased influence of voters in party nominations.

Types of Primary Elections

  • Open primary: Any registered voter can participate.
  • Closed primary: Only party members can vote in their party's primary.

Presidential Primaries

  • Timing of primaries affects influence on candidate outcomes; early primaries have more sway.
  • Super Tuesday: A significant day for many primaries in early March.

General Elections

  • Held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
  • Most follow a winner-take-all approach, with runoffs as needed when no majority is achieved.

Referendum, Initiative, and Recall

  • Referendum: Voters can endorse or oppose proposed measures from the legislature.
  • Initiative: Citizen-driven proposals for legislation or constitutional amendments.
  • Recall election: Allows voters to remove an officeholder before term completion.

The Nature of Political Campaigns Today

  • Campaigns have shifted due to professionalization of staff, media expansion, and evolving campaign finance laws.

The Professionalization of Political Campaigns

  • Rise of campaign consultants specializing in different aspects of campaign management, including strategy and finance.

The Media: Transforming Political Campaigns

  • Media's expanded role provides unprecedented access to information, posing a challenge for responsible information consumption by citizens.

Revolutionizing the Campaign: New Technologies

  • Technologies like social media, podcasts, and online forums allow candidates to reach voters directly and in real time.

Presidential Campaigns

  • Campaigns offer extensive opportunities for public engagement and participation in the electoral process.

Party Conventions and the General Election Campaign

  • Conventions finalize party nominees, usually determined by primary voting long before the convention.

The Electoral College

  • Comprises 538 electors, requiring 270 electoral votes for a presidential candidate to win.

Who Votes? Factors in Voter Participation

  • Factors influencing participation include education, age, race/ethnicity, income, and competitiveness of the race.

Education Level—The Number One Predictor of Voting

  • Higher education correlates with increased likelihood of voting, with significant gaps between different education levels.

The Age Factor

  • Younger adults historically vote less than older adults, although turnout has increased recently among younger voters.

Race, Ethnicity, and Voter Participation

  • African American and Latino voter turnout was pivotal in 2020; previous elections showed varied turnout levels.

Income—A Reliable Predictor of Voting

  • Higher income correlates with increased voter turnout; low-income individuals generally vote at much lower rates compared to high-income individuals.

Party Competitiveness and Voter Turnout

  • Competitive races often lead to increased voter turnout due to perceived higher efficacy and media attention.

How Voters Decide

  • Voters may use prospective voting (future policies) or retrospective voting (past performance of incumbents) to make decisions at the polls.

Major Factors in Voter Decision Making

  • Salient issues are critical for voter alignment with candidates; incumbency provides an advantage due to familiarity.

Campaign Influences on Voter Choice

  • Campaign dynamics have evolved with reliance on professionals and media; negative campaigning affects partisan judgment and turnout.

Why Some People Do Not Vote

  • Factors include lack of efficacy, voter fatigue from extended campaigns, and structural barriers in voting regulations.

Lack of Efficacy

  • Many citizens feel their voices don't matter in the political process, which can suppress voter turnout.

Voter Fatigue and Negative Campaigns

  • Long campaigns and negative advertising contribute to voter disenchantment and apathy.

The Structure of Elections

  • Complex registration processes and frequent elections deter participation; reforms like the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 aim to simplify registration.

Rational Choice Theory

  • Some individuals assess the costs vs. benefits of voting; when the costs exceed perceived benefits, participation declines.

The Consequences of Nonvoting

  • Nonvoting reflects a lack of civic engagement and can skew election outcomes; debates persist about its implications for democracy.

Money and Politics

  • Money plays a critical role in campaigns. PACs are limited in contributions, while super PACs can raise unlimited funds independently from candidates after Citizens United case.

Early Efforts to Regulate Campaign Finance

  • Historical laws like the Federal Election Campaign Act aimed to curb corruption by limiting contributions and increasing accountability.

The Court Weighs In: Money = Speech

  • The 1976 Supreme Court ruling allowed unlimited personal campaign spending as protected speech, correlating with a rise in PACs.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

  • Passed to restrict soft money contributions, although subsequent court rulings altered these regulations significantly.

The Court Weighs In (Again): The Birth of Super PACs

  • Citizens United v. FEC (2010) recognized corporations' rights to political speech, leading to the proliferation of super PACs.

Super PACs and Independent Expenditures

  • Super PACs can spend unlimited amounts on campaigns but must operate independently from candidates.

Contribution Limitations by Donor and Campaign Recipients

  • Defined limits on contributions per election cycle differ for individuals, PACs, and party committees, affecting campaign finance dynamics.

Circumventing the Rules: Dark Money, 527s, and 501(c)(4)s

  • New forms of political entities exploit loopholes in campaign finance regulation, often escaping stringent oversight.

Review 1

  • The shift from party-dominated campaigns to candidate-centered campaigns reflects changing voter engagement methods and new voting laws.

Review 2

  • Key questions arise on how to ensure electoral integrity, adapt to new technologies, and improve voter participation amidst evolving laws.