Drill 10/8

When is it appropriate to have your right to vote taken away?– Is it ever appropriate?– Should there be any restrictions at all?

Voting in America

Objective: SWBAT

Identify who has the right to vote and how the right to vote has evolved over time

Voting

Two terms – same meaning– Suffrage– Franchise

Having the right to vote

Electorate– The population that has the ability to

vote Today: Citizen, 18+, Registered, Non-

Felon Potentially 200 million voters

The Right to Vote Evolves

1787– Constitution ratified, old British voting

rights intact– White property owning males

1820’s– Andrew Jackson begins expanding

suffrage

1850’s– Nearly all adult white males

The Right to Vote Evolves

1870– 15th Amendment ratified– Extended the Right to vote to black,

adult men

1920– 19th Amendment– Gave women the right to vote

The Right to Vote Evolves

1961– 23rd Amendment– DC votes in Presidential race

1964– 24th Amendment– Eliminates any poll tax as a voting condition

1965– Voting Rights Act– Made illegal any discriminatory practices in

voting Literacy tests, etc.

The Right to Vote Evolves

1971– 26th Amendment– All adults over the Age of 18 have the

right to vote

CW: Investigating Voter Apathy

With so many potential voters about 2/3 do NOT vote. This is called Voter Apathy Read the following cartoons and analyze them by

answering the questions on a separate sheet of paper.

Drill 10/9

Define the following terms– Suffrage– Franchise– Disenfranchise– Electorate

Objective: SWBAT

Investigate and analyze state qualifications for voting in elections

Setting Qualifications

Congress leaves voting qualifications up to the states

So long as five conditions are met

Five Conditions

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 1 (+17 amendment)

No state can deprive someone the right to vote based on race

No state can deprive someone the right to vote based on sex

No state can institute any kind of “poll tax” as a qualification for voting

No state can deprive anyone over the age of 18 the right to vote due to age

State Qualifications

All states require – Citizenship

Only legal citizens have the right to vote That includes NATURALIZED immigrants

– They have taken the oath and are considered legal citizens

– There is NOTHING in the Constitution about immigrant voting

State Qualifications

Residence– Most states have laws that require a person to be

a resident for a period of time before voting rights are given

This was done to prevent voter fraud (voting in different districts

Usually 1 year in a state, 30-90 days in a district

Age– Federal law states 18+

Some states allow 17 year-olds to vote in elections that would fall around their 18th birthday

CW – State Qualifications

With a partner, complete the Guided Reading assignment for CH 6.2.

Drill 10/10

What are the five constitutional conditions for voting qualification in America?

1.2c1 No discrimination based on

– Race– Sex

No “poll taxes” No age discrimination over the age of 18

Hypotheses about voters

Most likely to vote and why? Age

– 18-20 21-24– 25-34 35-44– 45-64 64 +

Region– Northeast, South, Midwest, West

Education– 8 years or less– High School– College

Drill 10/20

Why don’t some people vote?

Objective: SWBAT

Analyze Voter behavior in America through a study of statistics

The Non-Voter

Political Efficacy– Influence in the political system

The non-voter usually feels that their vote does not matter

They feel that they have been squeezed out of the political system

The Non-Voter

Voter Apathy For the General Presidential Election the US

averages about 50%– “Off Year Elections” – sometimes as low as 37%– “Off Year Elections”

Elections where representatives and senators are elected, but not the President

Non-Voters

Who are the non-voters?– Under 35– Unskilled (low-education)– Southern

The South has more non-voters than other regions

– Rural

How might the Two party system effect voter turnout?

CW – 10/10

Voter Behavior Read Ch6.5 and complete the assignment

relating to the study of voter behavior Use the reading from the section “The

Sociological Factors” to complete the chart– For example: pg 146 it reads “voters with lower

incomes tend to be democrats”– The answer for number 1 on the chart would be

“Lower incomes”

Drill 10/21

What does it mean to have high political efficacy?

Low political efficacy?

Objective: SWBAT

Analyze voter data and how voter rolls relate to the election of candidates.

Voter Behavior

Demography– The statistical study of a population

Demographic– A statistical section of a population

Voter Behavior

Using your classwork from yesterday identify which party the following people might vote for based on the following data

Sex Age Income Religion

White Male– 25– $40,000– Catholic

Hispanic Woman– 60– $95,000– Protestant

Black Male– 40– $95,000– Protestant

Black Male– 21– $25,000– Protestant

Voter Behavior

Other factors influencing party affiliation– Geography

Urban centers vote Democratic Rural areas vote Republican Major Democratic Centers

– Northeast, West Coast Major republican Centers

– South, Mid West

– Family If you grow up in a liberal house, you tend to be more

liberal

Classwork: Analyzing Data