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Voting and Voter Participation
Will you be 18 on November 4th,
2008?
1. Yes
2. No
Are you registered to vote?
1. Yes
2. No
0% 0%
s
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Ye
N
Could you have voted for the
President in 1800?
1. Yes
2. No
0% 0%
s
o
Ye
N
How many times have we extended the right
to vote and to what groups?
• Voting is the type of political
activity most often engaged in by
Americans.
• The Electorate has expanded
many times in history:
– 1870- 15th amendment-black men
right to vote
– 1920- 19th amendment-women
– 1924- Congress granted Native
Americans citizenship and vote
– 1964- 24th amendment prohibited
use of poll tax
– 1965- Voting Rights Act of 1995-
removed restrictions that kept blacks
from voting.
– 1971-26th amendment, 18 year old
vote
What Amendment guaranteed
the right to vote for women?
1. 1870 – 13th Amendment
2. 1870 – 14th Amendment
3. 1870 – 15th Amendment
4. 1920 – 19th Amendment
5. 1964 – 24th Amendment
6. 1971 – 26th Amendment 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
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What Amendment guaranteed the
right to vote for 18 year olds?
1. 1870 – 13th Amendment
2. 1870 – 14th Amendment
3. 1870 – 15th Amendment
4. 1920 – 19th Amendment
5. 1964 – 24th Amendment
6. 1971 – 26th Amendment 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
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What Amendment guaranteed
the right to vote for minorities?
1. 1870 – 13th Amendment
2. 1870 – 14th Amendment
3. 1870 – 15th Amendment
4. 1920 – 19th Amendment
5. 1964 – 24th Amendment
6. 1971 – 26th Amendment 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
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Elections in the 1800’s were
different
• Parties prepared ballots in 1800‟s.
• They used different colors of paper that
allowed them to “monitor” how people voted.
• Reform led us to the “Australian ballot”-
devised in Australia in 1856.
• We moved to this type of ballot in the early
1900‟s
– it is printed by the state-public expense,
– it lists the candidates names,
– it is given out at the polls,
– it is secret
Elections Today
• Today we are voting
electronically (with
voting machines) and
there are a lot of
problems with this new
technology.
Here are some sample Ballots…
Travis County Sample Ballot:
• http://www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/ele
ction/20081104/sample.asp
Williamson County Sample Ballot:
• http://www.wilco.org/CountyDepartments/
Elections/tabid/450/Default.aspx#2008sb
Voting Today
• All neighborhoods are
divided into voting districts or
precincts of about 500-1000
people.
• This precinct number allow
you to find your polling
place – place where you go
to vote
• Poll watchers are assigned
to the polls, one from each
party to challenge anyone
they believe is not qualified
to vote.
Elections today are:
1. Done on
„Australian Ballots‟
2. Done at precincts
3. All done
electronically
4. Paid for by political
parties
5. All of the above
Elections are conducted at:
1. Precincts
2. Polling locations
3. Elementary
schools
4. Voting districts
In which Presidential election did the highest
percentage of the electorate actually vote?
1. 1960
2. 1968
3. 1972
4. 1980
5. 1996
6. 2000
7. 2004
Voter Turnout
• We hold more elections for more offices than
others countries do.
• Our highest turnout is in presidential general
elections. We also turn out more for federal
elections more than local does.
– 1960, we peaked at 63% of people over 21.
– http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html
– Turnout should have gone up since 1960 because of the
Voting Rights Act.
– Women have increased their voting turnout.
– The electorate has grown richer and more educated; it
seems we would have an increase because of that.
Registration and Voting
• Registration – tends to discourage voting.
Most other democracies have automatic voter
registration.
– Average voter turnout in the U.S. is more than 30
points lower than other democracies.
• Registration varies from state to state.
– Every state except North Dakota requires
registration.
– 3 states permit election-day voter registration.
– In most states, 30 days residency is needed, and
you must register 30 days prior to an election.
Why is Voter Turnout so Low?
• 85 million eligible Americans fail to vote in
presidential elections – why?
• People are lazy, they are apathetic, and voter
registration appears to be the major block to
voting.
What percentage of eligible voters
aged 18-25 voted in the 2004
election?
1. 100%
2. 80%
3. 60%
4. 50%
5. 44%
0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
0%
%
%
%
%
80
60
50
44
10
There has been a decline
of voter turnout since
1960 because of the 26th
amendment – lowered
voting age to 18 – it
expanded the electorate,
but lowered the overall
turnout percentage,
because this block of
young voters just don’t
vote.
Why is Voter Turnout so Low?
• Others say, there is
not a candidate who
is appealing.
– Candidates
themselves are not
real choices.
– They are not exciting,
and they avoid taking
stands on issues.
Who is most likely to vote?
1. Christians
2. People 18-25
3. High School grads
4. College grads
5. African-Americans
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Who Votes?
• What kinds of things
help us to predict
who will/does vote?
• Level of education
helps predict whether
people will vote, as
education increases,
so does the
propensity to vote.
• Race and ethnicity are
also linked to voting in
large part because
they are correlated to
education.
Who is most likely to vote?
1. Parents of young
children
2. People age 18-25
3. People over 70
4. People age 55-70
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Who Votes?
• Income and age
are also important.
• Those with higher
income vote more.
• 18-24 year olds
vote the least
• People over 70
also have low
voter turnout.
How can you vote in Texas?
1. Register on
election day
2. Anyone with a
driver‟s license
can vote
3. Register 30 days 0% 0% 0% 0%
prior to the
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Who Can Vote?
• 1. In the State of
Texas, you must be
registered to vote.
• 2. In Texas, you must
be a citizen and a
resident of the state for
30 days.
• 3. Most states make
you register 30 days
prior to the election.
Who Can Vote?
• 4. In Texas, if you will be
18 soon, you can register
60 days before your
birthday BUT you must be
18 on election day in order
to vote.
• 5. All States require
registration EXCEPT North
Dakota
• 6. Maine and Washington
allow you to register at any
time up to and including
the day of the election.
Who are the CAN NOT voters?
• 1. Aliens (non-citizens) even
though nothing in Constitution
disallows them-states choose
(p.132)
• 2. convicted felons lose
privilege
• 3. some religious disallow
people to vote.
• 4. some are physically ill and
can not get to the polls
• 5. mentally restrained in
institutions.
What is a NON VOTER?
• 1. People that choose not to
• 2. Voter who thinks vote does not count
• 3. People who are satisfied with the status quo
• 4. Those who distrust the government
• 5. Those who are not interested
• 6. Those who are not registered
• 7. Most of the time these are the NON VOTERS- younger than
35, unmarried, unskilled, uneducated, live in rural areas, in the
South.
• 8. Band wagon effect (choose not to because everyone else
has already voted one way)
• 9. Bad weather, long lines, inconvenient
• 10 Non voters who vote (vote top of ticket, leave bottom
blank-ballot fatigue)
What Factors influence us to
vote?
• Psychological- how do you feel
about the issues? How do you feel
about the candidates-what are your
perceptions?
• Sociological-groups that you
belong to-age, occupation, religion,
geographical area in which you
live, sex, education, party
identification.
• Party identification is the single
most significant and lasting
predictor of whether a person
will vote, it is also the most
important factor that brings us to
the polls.
Voting Choices
• Party ID- has a lot to do with one‟s evaluation of
candidates and often predicts a person‟s stand on
issues.
• 2/3rd of all independents are, in fact, partisan in
their voting behavior, meaning they have two
choices-vote democrat or republican.
Independent democrats vote democrat.
Independent republicans vote republican.
• Voting on the Basis of Candidates-the 1980‟s
marked the emergence of candidate-centered
elections. Greater weight given to the candidate‟s
strengths and weaknesses is not new.
Voting Choices
• Most scholars agree, issues are
NOT as central to the decision
process as partisanship and
candidate appeal. Candidates
are intentionally vague on their
positions. By not detailing their
plan, they can appeal to the
middle.
• The state of the economy is
often the central issue in midterm
elections. It is common for the
president‟s party to lose seats in
Congress in the off-year
elections.
Voting Choices
• Voters tend to see the
responsibility of the
economy resting more with
the president than with
Congress, governors, or local
officials.
• Less-educated people tend
to judge a candidate on the
basis of their own financial
standings. Upper-status
voters are more likely to
watch the overall
performance of the
economy.
Some cool voting websites
• http://www.votersunite.org/takeaction/feder
alpaperballot.asp
• http://www.rockthevote.com/voting_is_eas
y.php
• http://www.openvotingconsortium.org/
• http://www.electoral-
vote.com/evp2006/Info/political-
websites.html
• http://www.factcheck.org/
