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and Behavior Unit 2 Topic 2 Day 4 Elections and Voting Objective Students will be able to understand US voting rights v oter qualifications and v oter behavior Starter Have all adult Americans had the right to ID: 540250 Download Presentation
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Presentation on theme: "Voting Rights"— Presentation transcript
Slide1
Voting Rights and BehaviorUnit 2Topic 2Day 4
Elections and VotingSlide2
ObjectiveStudents will be able to
understand U.S.
voting
rights;
v
oter qualifications; and
v
oter behavior.Slide3
StarterHave all adult Americans had the right to
vote?
Which groups had been excluded from voting earlier in U.S. history?Slide4
VotingSuffrage means the right to vote. Today, the right to vote is guaranteed to all U.S. citizens. However, this was not always the case.
Franchise
is a synonym for the right to vote.
Recall, who sets most election laws? Though, the Constitution limits what this body can do.Slide5
Voting RightsWhen the Constitution went into effect in 1789, the right to vote was generally restricted to white male property owners.
Probably not one in 15 adult white males could vote in elections in the various States.
Today, the American
electorate
– the potential voting population, is more than 230 million people.Slide6
Extending SuffrageSlide7
Major Extensions Suffrage
Elimination of first religious and then property qualifications in the early 1800s;
15th Amendment
– prohibits voting restrictions based on race or color;
19
th
Amendment
– prohibits voting restrictions based on sex;
26
th
Amendment
– lowers the voting age to 18.Slide8
QuestionIs it reasonable to require voter to be able to read and understand English?Slide9Slide10
Voter QualificationsStates are responsible for setting voter qualifications, however, the Constitution does place the aforementioned limits on this power.
What are the universal qualifications to vote in the U.S.?Slide11
*Voter Qualifications*
Must be a U.S. citizen
Aliens, foreign-born residents who have not become citizens, are generally denied the right to vote in this country. Still, nothing in the Constitution says that Aliens cannot vote, and any State can allow them do so it it chose.
Resident of the state
The residency requirement cannot be more than 30 days;
Residency requirements cut down on corruption and cheating as well as allow future voters time to become familiar with the candidates/issues.
Registration – every state except ND
Age – 18, but states may lowerSlide12
Debate“Disenfranchisement seems a particularly appropriate punishment for felons. The murderer, rapist, or thief has expressed contempt for his fellow citizens and broken the rules of society in the most unmistakable way.”
“Should Felons Vote?” by Edward
Feser
Should convicted felons be allowed to regain their right to vote after they serve their sentences?Slide13
Disenfranchisement Who should be denied the right to vote?Slide14Slide15
Literacy Test WorksheetSlide16
Voter BehaviorThe word idiot
came to our language from the Greek. In ancient Athens, idiots (
idiotes
) were those citizens who did not vote or otherwise take part in public life.
On election day in 2012, there were around 238 million person of voting age in the U.S. Yet only 126 million of them (53%) actually voted in the presidential election.Slide17
Voter Turnout
Yellow – voting for U.S. Rep; Green – voting for U.S. Rep in presidential election year.Slide18
NonvotersWhy do people not vote?Slide19
NonvotersWhy do people not vote?
Some cannot vote (in 2012, 20 million of the 110 million nonvoters were resident aliens; 2 million were in jail; 2-3 million were ill or too disabled).
Some believe that little will change regardless of who is in power;
Some do not vote b/c they are happy with the current
gov
and see no reason to take the time to vote;
Holding elections on weekdays may possibly discourage voting (note: most democracies hold elections on weekends; in 1996, 1 in 5 nonvoters polled stated they did not vote b/c they could not leave work or were too busy).Slide20
Who VotesSlide21
Who VotesSlide22
Voting BehaviorVoting behavior is influenced by a number of sociological factors such as age, income, occupation, education, gender, religion, ethnicity
.
African Americans tend to vote Democratic.
Older people vote more heavily Republican.
People with higher incomes and higher level of education tend to vote Republican (e.g., doctors, lawyers, and business executives).
High school graduate tend to vote Democratic.
Women tend to vote based on issues.
Traditionally, young voters vote Democratic.
Protestants tend to vote Republican, while Catholics and Jews vote DemocraticSlide23
Voting BehaviorBeyond the sociological factors, the single most significant and lasting predictor of how a person will vote is
party identification
.Slide24
Question
Should voters be required to take part in elections? What are the possible benefits
and drawbacks of such a step?Slide25
Exit Ticket