AP Gov Chapter 09 Outline

I.

TURNINGOUTTOVOTE
Althoughmostpresidentshavewonamajorityofthevotescastintheelection,no
modernpresidenthasbeenelectedbymorethan38percentofthetotalvotingage
population.Inthe2008generalelection,55percentofthevotingagepopulationcast
ballots.Incongressionalelectionsinyearswhenapresidentisnotelected,theturnout
ratesaresignificantlylower.Turnoutratesareevenlowerstillformostlocalelections.
A.

TheEffectofLowVoterTurnout
Someobserversbelievethatlowturnoutrepresentsathreattoourrepresentative
democraticgovernment.Othersbelievethatnonvotingmeanssatisfactionwith
thestatusquo.
1.

2.

B.

IsVoterTurnoutDeclining?Thevotingagepopulation(VAP)isnotthe
sameasthepopulationthatiseligibletovote.TheVAPincludes
noncitizensandineligibleexfelonsanddoesnotincludeoverseas
citizens(whocanvoteabsentee).Correctingforeligibility,theturnoutin
2004wasactually58.8percent.
FactorsInfluencingWhoVotes.Thedecisiontovoteappearstobe
influencedbythefollowingfactors:

Age.Individualswhoareolderaremorelikelytovote.The
youngestvotershavethelowestturnoutrate.

Educationalattainment.Individualswhohavemoreformal
schoolingaremorelikelytovote.

Minoritystatus.Despiteadecreasinggap,AfricanAmericansare
stilllesslikelytovotethanwhites.TurnoutforHispanicsand
AsianAmericansislowbecausemanyarenotyetcitizensordue
tolanguagebarriers.TurnoutamongAfricanAmericansand
Latinosincreasedin2008.

Incomelevel.Individualswhohavehigherincomesaremorelikely
tovote.

Twopartycompetition.Statesthathavetwostrongparties,as
opposedtoonestrongandoneweakparty,tendtohavehigher
voterparticipation.

WhyPeopleDoNotVote
Thereareseveralexplanationswhypeopledonotvote.Theseinclude
uninformativemediacoverageandnegativecampaigningaswellastherational
ignoranceeffect.
1.

UninformativeMediaCoverageandNegativeCampaigning.Thistheory
saysthatvotersarenotgiventhekindofinformationthatwouldprovide

AP Gov Chapter 09 Outline

anincentiveforthemtovote,andmanyareturnedoffbythenegativism
ofcampaigns.

II.

2.

TheRationalIgnoranceEffect.TheRationalIgnoranceEffecttheory
purportsthatmanyindividualsrationallycalculatethattheirvotewill
notchangetheoutcomeandthattheefforttoseekinformationtocastan
informedvoteisnotworthwhile.Whydoesanyoneshowuptovote
then?Oneexplanationisthatmostcitizensreceivepersonalsatisfaction
fromtheactofvoting;itmakesthemfeelthattheyaregoodcitizensand
doingsomethingpatriotic.

3.

PlansforImprovedVoterTurnout.Voterturnoutremainsrelativelylow
despiteideas(implementedorsuggested)toimproveitthroughmailin
voting,Internetvoting,andregisteringvotersapplyingfordrivers
licenses.Morerelianceonabsenteeballotshasledtosomestatestomove
tounrestrictedabsenteevotingwithpositiveresults.Severalstateshave
adoptedearlyvotingthatallowsvoterstocasttheirballotsanytimeup
tothreeweeksbeforeElectionDay.AnotherideaistodeclareElection
Dayanationalholiday.

LEGALRESTRICTIONSONVOTING
A.

HistoricalRestrictions
TheConstitutionprovidesforthestatestodeterminewhoshouldvote.
1.
2.

3.

B.

PropertyRequirements.Bythe1850sindividualswhodidnotownland
wereallowedtoparticipateinmoststates.
FurtherExtensionsoftheFranchise.In1870AfricanAmericanswere
grantedtherighttovote,thoughobstaclestotheirparticipationremained
untiltheVotingRightsActof1965.By1920womenweregranted
suffrage.Thelastmajorextensionofsuffrageoccurredin1971when18to
20yearoldswereallowedtovote.
IstheFranchiseStillTooRestrictive?Theprincipalargumentisoverex
felonswhohaveservedtheirsentencesbutarebarredfromvoting,often
forlife.MostotherdemocraciesdonotimposethisruleandnotallU.S.
stateshaveit.Thisrestrictionalterstheshapeoftheelectoratebecauseex
felonsareoftenmembersofaminoritygroup,poor,orboth.

CurrentEligibilityandRegistrationRequirements
Inordertoparticipateintheelectoralprocessinmoststatesanindividualmust
completearegistrationprocess.Althoughthisprocessvariesfromstatetostate,
itisconsideredimportanttopreventvoterfraud.Somehavearguedthatthe
registrationprocessistoocomplicatedand,therefore,reducesthenumberof
peoplewhovote.In1995,Congresspassedabillthatallowsindividualsto
completetheregistrationprocesswhentheyapplyforadriverslicense,

AP Gov Chapter 09 Outline

assumingtheyareatleast18yearsofage.Itisnowconsiderablyeasierfor
citizenstoregister.
C.

ExtensionoftheVotingRightsAct
TheVotingRightsActof1965wasenactedtoensurethatAfricanAmericanshad
equalaccesstothepolls.Theactwasextendedin2006for25moreyears.
Amendmentsandclarificationsincludedrequiringfederalapprovalofanynew
votingproceduresincertainjurisdictionswithahistoryofdiscrimination,voting
assistanceforthosewithlimitedEnglishproficiency,andauthorizationto
appointfederalelectionobserverswhenthereisevidenceofattemptsto
intimidateminorityvoters.

III.

HOWAREELECTIONSCONDUCTED?
TheUnitedStatesusestheAustralianballotasecretballotthatisprepared,
distributed,andcountedbygovernmentofficialsatpublicexpense.Beforethe
Australianballotbecamestandardin1888,manystatesusedthealternativesoforal
votinganddifferentlycoloredballotspreparedbytheparties.
A.

OfficeBlockandPartyColumnBallots
TwotypesofAustralianballotsareusedintheUnitedStatesingeneralelections.
Thefirst,calledanofficeblock,orMassachusettsballotgroupsallthe
candidatesforaparticularofficeunderthetitleofthatoffice.Partiesdislikethis
ballotbecauseitplacesmoreemphasisontheofficethanonthepartyand
discouragesstraightticketvoting.Thesecond,calledapartycolumn,orIndiana
ballotarrangesallofapartyscandidatesinonecolumnunderthepartyslabel.
Moststatesusethistypeofballot,andthetwomajorpartiesfavorthisform
becauseitencouragesstraightticketvoting.

B.

VotingbyMail
Onlyrecentlyhaveseveralstatesofferedmailballotstoalloftheirvoters,which
isbelievedtomakevotingeasierforcitizens.ResultsfromOregonsuggestitmay
increaseturnoutaswellassavetaxpayermoney.Althoughmanystatesnow
offervotingbymail,Oregonistheonlystatetohaveabandonedprecinctpolling
placescompletely.

C.

VoteFraud
Votefraudissomethingregularlysuspectedbutseldomproved.Some
researchersclaimthatthepotentialforvotefraudishighinmanystates,
particularlythroughtheuseofphonyvoterregistrationsandabsenteeballots.
1.

TheDangerofFraud.Statesoftenhaveregistrationlawsthataremeantto
encourageeasyregistrationandvoting.Suchlawscanbetaken
advantageofbythosewhoseektovotemorethanonce,inparticular,
throughabsenteeballots.

AP Gov Chapter 09 Outline

2.

D.

MistakesbyVotingOfficials.Mistakesbyelectionofficialscanleadto
somevoterdisenfranchisement,particularlyamongminorityandpoor
voters.Asaresultoftheconfusiongeneratedbythe2000elections,many
statesaretryingtoimprovetheirvotingprocedures.Someclaimthat
certainreforms,suchasrequiringvoterstoshowavoterregistrationcard
orphotoidentification,maypreventfraudbutmayalsodeterfirsttime
voters,newcitizens,andpeoplewithlesseducationalbackground.

TheImportanceoftheVotingMachine
Until2000,statesandcountiesmovedfromhandcountedpaperballotsto
mechanicalorelectronicvotingmachinesastheycouldaffordtoorinresponse
tolocalelectiondifficulties.The2000presidentialelectionspurredanational
debateonthemechanicsofhowpeopleactuallycasttheirballots.Ballot
problemsinFlorida,inparticular,resultedinaseriouslyflawedelectionprocess
thatproducedtremendousvotercynicism.In2002,CongresspassedtheHelp
AmericaVoteAct(HAVA),whichestablishedacommissionto,amongother
things,setstandardsforvotingmachines.Officialsareconcernedthatrelying
solelyondigitalrecordingsandtransmissionsofvotecountsmaysubjectthe
votetohackingandfraud.Todate,nosystemhasbeendevisedthatistotally
immunetosomesortoffraud.

IV.

THEELECTORALCOLLEGE
A.

TheChoiceofElectors
TheElectoralCollegeissetforthintheConstitution(ArticleII,Section1;
AmendmentXII;andAmendmentXXIII).Eachstatechooseselectorsequalin
numbertothenumberofrepresentativesandsenatorsthestatehasatthetimeof
theelection.TheDistrictofColumbiaalsochoosesthreeelectors.Currentlythere
areatotalof538electors.Foracandidatetobeelectedpresident,heorshemust
winaminimumof270electoralvotes.

B.

TheElectorsCommitment
Ineachstatethepoliticalpartyselectsanumberofpeopletoserveaspotential
electorsunderthepartylabel.Whenvotersgotothepollstocastaballotforthe
presidentialcandidate,theyareactuallyvotingforaslateofelectorspledgedto
supportthepresidentialcandidateoftheparty.Inallbuttwostates,thereisthe
winnertakeallsystem;i.e.,ifacandidatereceivesapluralityofthevotescast,he
orshewinsalloftheelectoralvotesfromthestate.Thisistheunitrule.

C.

CriticismoftheElectoralCollege
Asaresultoftheunitrule,presidentialcandidatesoftenignorestateswherethe
resultisnotindoubt.Inthewakeofthe2000elections,therehavebeen
numerousargumentsagainsttheElectoralCollege.Opponentssuggestthatthe
currentsystemisunfairtocandidateswhowinthepopularvoteandtheir

AP Gov Chapter 09 Outline

supporters,thatitcausescampaigningtobeconcentratedinlarge,competitive
states,andthatitfavorsthesmallerstates.Regardlessofthesearguments,itis
likelytoremainasthemethodfortheelectionofthepresident.Tomodifyor
eliminatetheElectoralCollege,anamendmenttotheConstitutionwouldhaveto
beproposedandratified,whichisunlikelygivensmallstateopposition,in
particular.Anotherreformoption,theNationalPopularVotemovement(NPV),
createsacompactbetweenstatesthatrequireelectoralvotesfromNPVstatesto
becastforthecandidatewhowinsthenationalpopularvote,regardlessofthe
voteinthatparticularstate.Sofaronlytwostateshaveapprovedthislaw,but
severalmoreareconsideringit.