Types of Voting Methods

The Australian Ballot

  • Began in Australia in 1856, and most states use it today

  1. It is printed at public expense

  2. It lists the names of all candidates in an election

  3. It is given out only at the polls, one to each qualified voter

  4. It is marked in secret

Absentee Ballot

  • A ballot is mailed to the voter

  • The voter makes selections and mails it back to the election commission

  • Elderly and military take advantage of this

    • Makes it difficult to make sure the person is who they say they are

    • Signature is on envelope to maintain anonymity 

Early Voting

  • A voter appears at a satellite location to vote before election day

  • In TN, this begins 20 days before an election, and ends 5 before the election

Why People Don’t Vote

  • Not registered

  • Don’t like either candidate

  • Don’t like politics

  • Voting is not required

  • Feel like their vote does not count

  • Happy with the status quo

  • Other ways to participate

  • In a typical Presidential election, voter turnout is typically between 40-60%

  • As a general rule, the general rule, the higher the office, the higher the turnout

Key Terms

  • Political Efficacy, Civic Competence - The belief that one’s political participation really matters

  • Internal Efficacy - The ability to understand and take part in politics

  • External Efficacy - The willingness of the state/government to respond to the citizens

Comparing Voters and Nonvoters

  • Voters:

    • Higher income

    • Higher education

    • Long-time residents

  • Nonvoters:

    • Younger than 35

    • Unmarried

    • Unskilled

    • Most live in the rural South

  • Women are more likely to vote than men

Gender, Age

  • Gender gap - differences in the partisan choices of men and women

  • Women tend to generally vote Democrat, while men generally vote Republican

  • Younger voters favor Democrats, while older voters favor Republicans

    • Trump muddied the lines of this along with gaining votes from African Americans

  • Woman are considered the largest number of voters by a slight margin over men

Religious, Ethnic Background

  • Protestants generally vote Republican

  • Catholics and Jews (religiously) generally vote Democrat

  • African Americans generally vote Democrat

  • Latinos are split

Retrospective Issue Voting vs Prospective Issue Voting

  • Retrospective Issue Voting - Voters look at past party actions to judge a current candidate

    • Examples: 1932, 2008

  • Prospective Issue Voting - Looking to promises a candidate makes

    • Trump promising he would put Musk in charge of government efficiency and choosing RFK