Ch. 6: Voters & Voter Behavior, Magruder's American Government

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suffrage

Back 1

the right to vote

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franchise

Back 2

the right to vote

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electorate

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The potential voting population; the people that are eligible to vote.

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transient

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one who stays for only a short time

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5 Stages: Extension of Suffrage

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(1) universal suffrage for adult white males (ending religious tests and property qualifications) by early to mid 1800s, (2) 15th Amendment (1870) intended to deny disenfranchisement based on race, but circumvented in the South for nearly another century, (3) 19th Amendment (1920) = women's suffrage, (4) the Voting Rights Act (1965) and the 24th Amendment (1964) ending the poll tax and 23rd (1961) giving electoral vote to Washington, D.C., and (5) 26th Amendment (1961) enfranchised 18-year-olds

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15th Amendment

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(1870) Civil War Amendment designed to guarantee that voting rights cannot be denied on the basis of race; circumvented by things like poll tax and literacy tests in the South

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19th Amendment

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(1920) women's suffrage; guaranteed that no one can be denied the right to vote based on sex

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23rd Amendment

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gave 3 electoral votes to Washington, D.C., enfranchising city residents

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24th Amendment

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SCOTUS struck down poll tax as voting requirement; no state can force anyone to pay a tax in order to vote

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26th Amendment

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(1971) guaranteed 18-year-olds the right to vote in federal elections; came out of the struggle over the Vietnam War and the use of the draft (conscription; Selective Service)

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Voting Rights Act of 1965

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major civil rights legislation designed to remove barriers to voting for African Americans

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literacy

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A person's ability to read or write; literacy tests were used in the South to disenfranchise African Americans

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poll tax

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a special tax, demanded by states, as a condition of voting; poll taxes were used in the South to disenfranchise African Americans

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voter registration

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System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents; Constitution gives states the power to require registration with these restrictions: no discrimination on basis of race or sex or age (if 18 or older) and no poll tax

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voter registration requirements

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states generally set citizenship, residence, and age requirements for voting

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reasons for residency requirement

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(1) to prevent political machines from bribing and importing enough outsiders to affect the outcome of local elections and (2) to allow new voters some time to become familiar with the candidates and issues in an election

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30 days

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A voter must be registered _____ (# of days) before the election order to vote in an election in Mississippi; SCOTUS says this is a reasonable amount of time

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same day voter registration

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(SDR) 11 states plus the District of Columbia presently allow any qualified resident of the state to register at the polls on election day

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purge

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the process of reviewing lists of registered voters and removing the names of those no longer eligible to vote; a purification

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poll books

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official lists of qualified voters in each precinct

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Secretary of State

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state official responsible for elections

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gerrymandering

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the drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent

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injunction

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(law) a judicial remedy issued in order to prohibit a party from doing or continuing to do a certain activity

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preclearance

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mandated by the Voting Rights act of 1965, the prior approval by the justice department of changes to or new election laws by certain states

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off-year election

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AKA: MIDTERM ELECTION; Congressional election that occurs between presidential election years. During these it's common for the sitting president's party to lose seats in Congress

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political efficacy

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

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political socialization

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the process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions; influenced by family, church, school, media, etc.

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the family

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the most influential factor in a child's political socialization

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the media

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with the advent of social media, this now competes with the family as a major influence in political socialization

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gender gap

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measurable differences between the partisan choices of men and women today

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party identification

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loyalty of people to a political party; it is often the best predictor of how a person will vote.

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straight ticket voting

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practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election

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split ticket voting

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practice of voting for the candidates of more than one party in an election

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independent

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a person with no party affiliation