Transcript The Electoral College

VOTING and ELECTIONS
U.S.A.
50%
Voter Participation
Across the Globe
Canada
70%
France
80%
Mexico
60%
India
53%
U.K.
77%
Russia
55%
Australia
95%
Japan
67%
Brazil
100%
Voter Participation
Across the Globe
Austria
58%
Venezuela
64%
Belize
90%
Denmark
85%
South Africa
92%
Greece
99%
Malta
96%
Expanding the Electorate:
“The Voting Amendments”
1870 15th Amendment
suffrage extended to African
American men
1920 19th Amendment
suffrage extended to women
1961 23rd Amendment
D.C. granted 3 electoral votes
1964 24th Amendment
poll tax declared unconstitutional
1971 26th Amendment
suffrage extended to 18 year-olds
CONVENTIONAL vs.
UNCONVENTIONAL POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION
Conventional Methods
• Registering to vote
• VOTING
• Writing letters or emails to your
representative or senator
• Making a phone call to your
representative or senator
• Forming an interest group
• Joining an interest group
• Making financial contributions to
campaigns or interest groups
Unconventional Methods
• Boston Tea Party
• Shay’s Rebellion
• participating in boycotts or
protests (WTO, World Bank)
• camping outside President Bush’s
ranch to protest the Iraq War
• throwing red paint on those
who wear fur coats to protest
animal cruelty
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
• applied to ALL elections held anywhere in this country--local, state, and national
• suspended the use of any literacy tests or similar device in any state or county
where less than half of the electorate had been registered to vote in the
1964 presidential election
• authorized the Attorney General to appoint voting examiners
to serve in any of those states or counties
• gave federal officers the right to register voters
and otherwise oversee the conduct of the elections
in those areas
• this Act provided for major changes in voter
registration and elections in six states--Alabama,
Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina,
and VIRGINIA, and 40 counties in North Carolina
Voter Turnout in the United States
Year% Turnout of Voting Age Population
2008 62.00
2006 37.10
2004 55.30
2002 37.00
2000 51.20
1998 33.90
1996 49.00
1994 36.60
1992 55.10
1990 33.10
1988 50.30
1986 33.50
1984 53.30
1982 38.00
1980 52.80
1978 34.90
1976 53.50
1974 35.90
1972 55.20
1970 43.50
1968 60.90
* Presidential election years in bold;
off-year (mid-term) elections in plain type
U.S. Census Bureau
Registered Voters

Voting Behavior
 Voting is the most common form of conventional political
participation
 Turnout is the proportion of the electorate who votes
 States regulate voter eligibility
 Voters are more educated and make more money
 Voters are likely to be middle-aged, women, and white
 The South traditionally has the lowest voter turnout rate
Turnout of Eligible Voters

Voting in the South v. Non-South

Voter Eligibility
Why Is Turnout so Low?
 In 2008, 62 percent of eligible voters turned out
 Most common reason for not voting is being too busy
 Registration can also be an unclear process
 Absentee voting can be difficult
 There are a lot of elections
 People are apathetic
 Political parties have less influence than in earlier years
Why People Don’t Vote

What are the major
factors that influence
voters’ decisions?
• personal
background
• loyalty to
political parties
• campaign issues
• voter’s image of
a candidate
• propaganda
Purposes of Elections
 Legitimize government, even in authoritarian systems
 Organize government
 Choose issue and policy priorities
 Electorate gives winners a mandate
Party Conventions
 Each party has its own rules about delegates
 Delegates tied to candidate, except superdelegates
 Require representation of women and minorities
 Republicans do not bind delegates to candidate
 Media extensively cover happenings
The Electoral College
 Representatives from each state who select president
 Electors equivalent to senators plus representatives
 Framers favored system to remove power from people
 Originally president and vice president selected alone
 Changed after 12th Amendment
 1876 and 2000 elections demonstrate concerns
The Electoral College

Reforming the Electoral College
Three major proposals have been made:
 Select the president by popular vote
 Each congressional district has a vote
 Keep the College, abolish the electors
Congressional Elections
 In Congress, incumbency has its advantages
 Support from a paid staff
 Media and travel budgets
 “Scaring off” other challengers
 Redistricting and gerrymandering to protect incumbents
Gerrymandering

2008 Congressional Elections
 Democrats advantaged by momentum and money
 Used these to make gains in House and Senate
 Victories in South and West were particularly notable
Why Incumbents Lose
 Redistricting can pit incumbents against one another
 Scandals or personal misconduct
 Presidential coattails
 Midterm elections; president’s party usually loses seats