The Right to Vote

The Right to Vote• Suffrage & Franchise- The right to vote• What portion of the population originally had the

right to vote in our country? • Since that time, the electorate, has continually

grown to over 220 million people. • The history of American suffrage has been

defined by two trends: 1)the gradual elimination of restrictions on the right to vote, and 2)the gradual change in hands of the determining who has suffrage from the States to the Federal govt.

Extending Suffrage• The elimination of restrictions on the right to vote

has come in 5 distinct stages:1. The elimination of religious and property

restrictions. 1800-18502. The elimination of race restrictions (15th

Amendment). 18703. The elimination of gender restrictions (19th

Amendment). 19204. The elimination of systematic denial of suffrage

based of race (Voting Rights Act 1965 and 24th Amendment). 1960’s

5. The admission of those who are 18 or older as voting citizens (26th Amendment). 1971

Power to Set Suffrage Qualifications• The right to set suffrage qualifications is reserved to

the states, however, the Constitution sets 5 restrictions on that reserved power.

1. States must allow all voters to vote in all elections2. 15th Amendment- “No state can deprive a person the

right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude.

3. 19th Amendment- “No state can deprive a person the right to vote based on the account of sex.”

4. 24th Amendment- No state may institute a tax in connection with the election of the Pres, Vp, or Congress.

5. 26th Amendment- “No state can deprive any person who is at least 18 the right to vote based on age.”

Suffrage & Civil Rights• Which Amendment extended suffrage to African

Americans?• 15th Amendment (1870)

• Was this Amendment effective?• For about 90 years, the Federal Government did

little to ensure the constitutionally granted African American right to vote.• African Americans were generally and systematically

denied suffrage through many mediums.

Suffrage & Civil Rights• The most common medium used to prevent

African American voting was violence. • Tactics such as threats and social pressures also

helped limit African Americans from casting their vote.

• Other “legal” devices were used such as literacy tests and Gerrymandering. • The practice of drawing electoral district lines in order

to limit the voting strength of a particular group or party.

Suffrage & Civil Rights

Suffrage & Civil Rights• Civil Rights Activists, such as Martin Luther King Jr. began

to draw attention to the civil rights movement and African American suffrage.

• Civil Rights Act of 1964-Outlawed any discriminatory measure in voter registrations or

literacy tests. -Relied on an injunction- the violation of an injunction is punishable

by fine and imprisonment. (not effective).-i.e. Selma, Alabama voter registration march. • Civil Rights Act of 1965-Most effective civil rights legislation to date.1. Suspended Literacy Tests and similar devices2. Appointed Federal voting examiners.3. Gave Federal voting examiners the power to register voters in

their appointed district.

Voters and Voting Behavior• Most of what we know about voting behavior comes

from 3 main sources:1. The Results of particular elections – B studying the

election returns of particular election populated by different groups, we can find out how each group voted in a given election.

2. The field of Survey Research – scientifically polling cross sections of the public to find out certain public opinion on candidates and issues. (Gallup Polls)

3. Studies of Political Socialization – Studying the experiences and relationships that determine how/why people participate in politics the way that they do.

Factors that Influence Voters• The two main factors that influence the way that

people vote are • 1) Sociological and 2) Psychological factors.

• The Sociological factors that influence voters are their personal characteristics and group affiliations.

• The Psychological factors that influence voters are personal perceptions of politics (in general), parties, candidates, and issues.

• These two influence factors are closely related and constantly interact with one another.

Sociological Factors• Income/Occupation – Traditionally we can draw these

assumptions: High Income = Republican, Low Income = Democrat. White collar = Republican. Blue Collar = Democrat.

• Education – Trends show that the more education you receive, the more likely you are to be Republican.

• Gender/Age – Traditionally, women are more likely to be democrats, males are more likely to be republicans (this is known as the gender-gap). Young voters are more likely to be democrats, while older voters are more likely to be republicans.

• Religion/Ethnicity- Protestants= Republican, Jews & Catholics= democrats. African Americans and Latinos favor Democratic Party candidates.

Sociological Factors (cont)• Geography:

• Family and Other Groups: 9/10 married couples vote in the similar ways. Children most often follow the political attachments of their parents.

Psychological factors• Party Identification: the loyalty of people to a

particular party, is the single most significant and lasting predictor of how a person will vote.

• A trend away from party identification in recent years has grown to create more split-ticket voting.

• Overall, Independents are generally much less concerned with politics.

• However, recently a new breed of independents have been formed – young, highly educated, and employed voters.