Transcript Voting and Elections ppt - Beavercreek City Schools

Voting in the U.S.
The U.S. Constitution and Voter Qualifications
Voting Qualifications
• The Constitution says nothing about voting
– Reserved power held by the states to set
qualifications
• Suffrage: the right to vote
• Who was allowed to vote in 1789?
– White, male landowners
Voting Qualifications
• Amendments to the Constitution have slowly taken
away the complete power of the States to set the
qualifications
•
•
•
•
15th – African American men can vote
19th – Women can vote
24th – No poll tax may be required
26th – 18 and older can vote
3 Universal Qualifications: CAR
1. Citizenship: aliens (foreign born residents who
have not become citizens) are generally denied
the right to vote, but the Constitution doesn’t
deny them the right to do so
2. Age
– Be at least 18 years of age on or before the day of
the general election.
– If you will be 18 on or before the general election,
you may vote in the primary election for candidates,
but not on the issues.
LET ME
VOTE!!
3 Universal Qualifications: CAR
3. Residence: must be a legal resident of the state
you are voting in
– 30 days in Ohio
– Voting Rights Act Amendments banned any
requirement longer than 30 days
– In several states college students that claim the
campus community as their residence can vote there
Other Qualifications
• Registration: procedure of voter identification
intended to prevent fraudulent voting; must
preserve the rule of “one man, one vote.”
– 49/50 states require voters to be registered (North
Dakota does not)
– 17 states require a photo ID
– 17 states require no ID at all
– Which party supports requiring ID to be able to vote?
– Republican
– US is the only country in which each person decides if
he/she will register to vote
Who Can’t Vote?
1. People in mental institutions or found legally
incompetent to vote by the courts
– “No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the
privileges of an elector.” -OHIO CONSTITUTION. Art 5,
& 6.
2. People who have been incarcerated for a Felony
– ¼ of states prohibit serious criminals from ever voting
again
– Ohio allows them to vote after serving their time if
they re-register
– Maine & Vermont allow felons to vote from prison
In Ohio…
Q: “MAY I REGISTER TO
VOTE IF I HAVE BEEN IN
PRISON FOR A FELONY?”
A: YES. Ohio law allows
you to register and vote as
soon as you are RELEASED
FROM PRISON. All you
need to do is fill out a
voter registration form.
Who Can’t Vote?
• Some states don’t allow those who have been
dishonorably discharged from the military to
vote
• ***Ohio is one of those states
Suffrage & Civil Rights Timeline
• 15th Amendment (1869): The right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude
Suffrage & Civil Rights Timeline
• Civil Rights Act (1964)
– Ended discrimination on the basis of race, color,
creed, nationality, religion, & sex
– Ended unequal application of voter registration
requirements & racial segregation in schools, the
workplace, and all other public accommodations
Suffrage & Civil Rights Timeline
• Voting Rights Act (1965): Prohibits
states from imposing any "voting
qualification or prerequisite to voting, or
standard, practice, or procedure ... to
deny or abridge the right of any citizen
of the United States to vote on account
of race or color.”
• Congress intended to outlaw the
practice of otherwise qualified voters to
pass literacy tests