Voting Flashcards
What’s Suffrage
Right to Vote
Disenfranchised
Denied the right to Vote
5 stages that extended suffrage in America
Stage 1:
Early 1800s elimination of religion and property qualifications
Stage 2:
1870-15 amendment: protected against any citizen from being denied suffrage because of race or color or previous servitude
Stage 3:
1920-19th amendment gave women suffrage
Stage 4:
1960s-voting rights acts and 24th amendment(eliminated poll taxes)
Stage 5:
1971-26 amendment gave 18yrs old suffrage
Voter qualifications
- Citizenship-foreign born people in most states cant vote
- Residence: takes about 30 days to become a legal resident of a state (transients) who live in a place for a short time cant vote.
- 18 until 1971 age was 21
- Registration-identification for most states, not all
Very controversial between opponents and proponents
Opponents-says it disenfranchises the poor and less educated
Proponents-helps to stop voter fraud
Two Discriminatory voter qualifications that have been outlawed
- Literary tests
- Poll taxes
Groups who are denied to vote
- People in a mental institution
- People in prison for a felony
- People who are discharged dishonorably from the military cant vote
- Aliens
Reasons people give that don’t vote: top 5
- Not registered
- 1-vote wont make a difference
- Not Enough Choices(no real choice)
- System is corrupt
- Lazy, don’t feel like it
4 step process of transferring powers
- Primaries and Caucuses
- National Conventions (chooses candidate)
- General Election(popular vote)
- Electoral College
Nominations are made in 4 different ways
- Self-announcement- oldest form-they state they are running for office
- Caucus-a group of like-minded influential people meet to select the candidate
- Convention-form of National conventions to choose candidates
- Direct Primary-an intraparty election-an election within the party
open primary
open to all the people no matter what the party
closed primary
Open to only the party members-most states use this
Whats the FEC?
Federal elections committee sets up and regulates all election law
Ballot
is the medium by which a voter registers a choice in an election
Types of Ballots
- Voice-original
- Paper
- Australian Ballot-form used today
Four features of Australian Ballot:
- Provided at all the public expense
- Lists and the names of all candidates
- Is given out only at the polls
- Marked in secret
2 types of Australian ballots
- Office-Group all candidates listed together by office
- Party-column(Indiana) lists all the candidates under the party name
Absentee ballots
a process of voting without going to the polling place(soldiers, college students, etc)
What is a Precinct
The voting district
Who created the first voting machine?
Thomas edison
What 5 things do they spend their money on in campaigns?
- Mass mailings
- Campaign staff
- Signs/posters
- Pamphlets/buttons
- Advertisements on the radio and tele
Where does the candidates money come from?
small contributors
-Wealthy individuals
-Candidates; themselves
-Political action committees
-US government
Election advertising techniques
- Attack ads(negative for other party)
- Character Ads-talks about how great their character is
- Fear Ads: uses scare tactics
- Flip Flopping-Sudden change or reversal on policy or opinion
- Bandwagon-get famous people to vote for them
- Music-slogans
Whens election day
: 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in Nov on even numbered years
General election-2 parts(pres)
- Popular vote-people
- Electoral College-Winner must get 270 of the 558 voters
