Voting in the United States

The American Electorate

• Over 230 million people eligible to vote• Not always that easy:

• Religious Qualifications (1810)• Property Ownership• Tax Payment Qualifications• Race Restrictions• Gender Restrictions• Location Restrictions• Financial Restrictions• Age Restrictions

Who Sets Suffrage Qualifications?

• The States….sort of• No Constitutional authority, except:

• Article I Section 2 Clause 1 (Vote for Reps)• Article II Section 1 Clause 2 (Electors)• And now…

• 15th Amendment• 19th Amendment• 24th Amendment• 26th Amendment• Even the 14th Amendment – Hill v. Stone

Not everyone supported equal suffrage for all!

So…Who Can Vote Now?

• Universal Requirements:• Citizenship

• No Aliens• Residence

• Legal resident of the State in which you vote• Length of residency restrictions

• Voting Rights Act of 1970• 30 days max restriction for Presidential elections

• Just say NO…..to transients• Age

• 26th Amendment (1971)• Registration

• All states except N. Dakota• Purging

Who Cannot Vote in the U.S.?

• Depends on State law, but generally:• No Felons• No person committed to mental institution• No person convicted of election fraud• No veterans dishonorably discharged

Registering to Vote

• Registration is NOT mandatory• Only democratic country in the world• Registration mandatory in Europe

• “Motor Voter” Act of 1993• Register when renew driver’s license• Register by mail• Get forms at government agencies• Form sent every 4 years to “purge” lists• Crawford. v. Marion County Election Board

• Is requiring photo ID legal? 6-3 says YES!!

U.S. Voting, a History of Discrimination• Literacy Tests

• Must prove ability to read/write to vote• “Understanding Clause”• Grandfather Clauses• Legal until 1970!!!

• Tax Payment (Poll Taxes)• 24th Amendment (1964)• “Legal” until 1966• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966)

• Extended prohibition of poll taxes to states• Affluence has nothing to do with voting• 6-3 Supreme Court Decision

What About Ohio?• Must complete Voter Registration at least 30 days

prior to an election.• Be a citizen of the United States.• Be a resident at least 30 days before election.• Be at least 18 years old by the day of the election.• Not be serving time for a felony conviction.• Not be declared incompetent by a court of law.• Convicted of violating election law.• Not be dishonorably discharged from the military.• Must provide legal form of identification.

Legal Forms of Identification• Government issued ID card• Military issued ID card• Current Utility Bill• Current Bank Statement• Current Government issued check• Current Paycheck• Government document with name & addressProvisional Ballots

Current as of 11/04/2012

Congressman Tim Ryan (D)13th Congressional District

The 13th District

Are YOU an Idiot?

Idiot: n. from Greek idiotesThose who do not vote or otherwise

take part in public life

2008 Election• 227.8 Million Voters• 127 Million ballots cast for President (61%)• 114 Million ballots cast for Congress (50%)

• “nonvoting voters”• Ballot Fatigue• General elections fare better than primaries

Why Do People Not Vote?• Time Factor?• “Cannot Voters”

• 10 Million Resident Aliens• 5-6 Million sick or disabled• 2-3 Million traveling• 500K in mental institutions• 2 Million incarcerated• 100K refuse on religious grounds “idolatry”• Discriminatory Practices

Actual Nonvoters• 80 Million chose not to vote in 2008

• “My vote doesn’t matter”• Political efficacy (political “worth”)–no feeling of influence

• Disenfranchised vs. “Life will go on”• Distrust of “the system”• Complicated ballots, long-lines, bad weather• “Time-Zone Fallout”• Lack of interest – Voter Apathy

Voters• Higher income levels• Higher education levels• Higher occupational status• Well-integrated in society• Long-time residents• Strong party identification• Believe voting is important

Non-Voters• 35 or younger• Unmarried• Unskilled• Live in the South• Rural areas• Men less likely to vote

Voter Behavior - Sociological Factors• Income & Occupation

• Lower income brackets vote Democratic• 2008 was unusual exception• Blue collar vs. White collar

• Education• More education tends towards Republican• 2008 was unusual exception

• Gender• Women tend to vote Democratic

Sociological Factors (Cont.)• Religion

• Protestants tend to favor Republican• Catholics & Jews seem to lean Democratic

• Obama won 78% of Jewish vote & 54% of Catholic• Church attendance

• 55% of regular church-goers voted for McCain• Ethnicity

• Blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic• 95% of all voting blacks voted for Obama in 2008

• Latinos tend to vote Democratic• Cuban Americans tend to vote republican

Sociological Factors (Cont.)• Geography

• The South• New England• Urban vs. Suburban

• Family, Friends, and Co-Workers• 9 out of 10 married couples share party beliefs• 2 out of 3 voters follow their parents views• Group associations seem to reinforce political ideals

Psychological Factors• Party Identification

• Most people choose a party and stay for life• Straight-ticket voting• Recent elections show declining party influence

• Split-ticket voting• Rise in declared “independent” voters• 25-30% of the electorate claims independent status• Most will vote for one of the major parties

• Candidate Identification & Issues• Can sometimes outweigh party loyalty

YearVoting-agepopulation

Voterregistration Voter turnout

Turnout of voting-age population (percent)

2010** 235,809,266 NA 90,682,968 37.8%

2008* 231,229,580 NA 132,618,580* 56.82006 220,600,000 135,889,600 80,588,000 37.1

2004 221,256,931 174,800,000 122,294,978 55.32002 215,473,000 150,990,598 79,830,119 37.0

2000 205,815,000 156,421,311 105,586,274 51.31998 200,929,000 141,850,558 73,117,022 36.4

1996 196,511,000 146,211,960 96,456,345 49.11994 193,650,000 130,292,822 75,105,860 38.8

1992 189,529,000 133,821,178 104,405,155 55.11990 185,812,000 121,105,630 67,859,189 36.5

1988 182,778,000 126,379,628 91,594,693 50.11986 178,566,000 118,399,984 64,991,128 36.4

1984 174,466,000 124,150,614 92,652,680 53.11982 169,938,000 110,671,225 67,615,576 39.8

1980 164,597,000 113,043,734 86,515,221 52.61978 158,373,000 103,291,265 58,917,938 37.2

1976 152,309,190 105,037,986 81,555,789 53.61974 146,336,000 96,199,0201 55,943,834 38.2

1972 140,776,000 97,328,541 77,718,554 55.21970 124,498,000 82,496,7472 58,014,338 46.6

1968 120,328,186 81,658,180 73,211,875 60.81966 116,132,000 76,288,2833 56,188,046 48.4

1964 114,090,000 73,715,818 70,644,592 61.91962 112,423,000 65,393,7514 53,141,227 47.3

1960 109,159,000 64,833,0965 68,838,204 63.1