Chapter 17Elections and Voting

Chapter 17Section 1

Election Campaigns

Serious candidates for president begin organizing over a year before the election to compete in spring primaries.

After the nominating convention, the candidate runs an intensive campaign from early September until the November election.

Electing the President

Electoral Votes and the States◦ To win a presidential election, a candidate must

receive a majority of the electoral votes, so candidates compete hardest in high-population states.

Campaign Strategy◦ The candidate must decide on the kind of strategy

most likely to achieve victory.

Electing the President

Campaign Organization◦ A strong organization, headed by an experienced

campaign manager, is essential in running a presidential campaign. Campaign Manager: the person responsible for the

overall stagy and planning of a campaign Using TV and Internet

◦ Television conveys the candidate’s image, while Web sites can be used to raise money and inform the public about the candidate.

◦ Image: mental picture that voters have of a candidate

Electing the President

Running for office is very expensive.

Candidates need money for such things as office space, staff salaries, consultants, pollsters, travel, campaign literature, and advertising in the mass media.

Presidential and congressional candidates spent a total of $3 billion dollars in the 2002 elections.

Financing Campaigns

Regulating Campaign Financing◦ In the 1970s, a new campaign financing system

was set up based on: public disclosure of spending, public funding of presidential elections, and limiting or prohibiting the contributions of

certain groups.

◦ Created in 1974, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency that administers federal election laws and keeps records of campaign contributions.

Financing Campaigns

Public Funding◦ The 1974 campaign finance law also established public

funding for presidential campaigns.

◦ Presidential candidates may accept federal funding from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund for the primary campaigns and the general election.

◦ Candidates must agree to limit their total campaign spending.

◦ Third party candidates can receive federal funds if their party receive at least 5% of the vote in the previous Presidential election.

Financing Campaigns

Private Funding◦ The majority of campaign funding comes from

private sources, including individual citizens, party organizations, corporations, and special-interest groups.

◦ Political Action Committees, or PACs, are established by interest groups to support candidates, but they are limited in the donations they can make. PACs: organizations formed to collect money and

provide financial support for political candidates

Financing Campaigns

Private Funding◦ Two methods are used to get around campaign

spending limits: Soft-money donations, which are contributions given

directly to a political party for general purposes such as voter registration drives.

Issue-advocacy advertisements, which support an issue rather than a particular candidate.

Financing Campaigns

Private Funding◦ The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, passed in

2002, bans soft-money donations to national political parties, but its constitutionality remains in question.

Campaign Law and the Internet◦ The FEC regulates campaigns online; for example,

all campaign Web sites that cost $250 dollars or more must be registered with the FEC.

Financing Campaigns

Chapter 17Section 2

Expanding Voter Rights

Before the American Revolution many groups were excluded from voting:◦ Women

◦ African Americans

◦ White males who did not own property

◦ Persons who were not members of dominant religious groups

Early Limitations on Voting

During the early 1800s, states gradually abolished property and religious requirements for voting, and by the mid-1800s, the nation had achieved universal white male suffrage.◦ Suffrage: The right to vote

Early Limitations on Voting

By 1914 women had won the right to vote in 11 states.

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified after World War I, granted women in all states the right to vote.

Woman Suffrage

Enslaved African Americans were not allowed to vote, and free African Americans could vote in only a few states, until 1870.

The Fifteenth Amendment, passed after the Civil War, granted the vote to African Americans in both state and national elections.

African American Suffrage

The Fifteenth Amendment did not result in full voting rights for African Americans.

Southern states set up restrictive voting qualifications.

Some southern states used literacy tests to disqualify African Americans from voting.

The Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and 1970 outlawed these tests.

African American Suffrage

Poll taxes and grandfather clauses were devices used to discourage African Americans from voting.◦ Poll Tax: money paid in order to vote◦ Grandfather Clause: provided that only voters

whose grandfathers had voted before 1867 were eligible to vote without paying a poll tax or passing a literacy test

The Twenty-fourth Amendment banned poll taxes.

African American Suffrage

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and later voting rights laws brought the federal government directly into the electoral process in the states.

The bill ended official discrimination against African Americans and increased their political strength and participation in government.

African American Suffrage

For many years the minimum voting age is most states was 21.

This amendment lowered the voting age to 18 throughout the nation.

The amendment helped satisfy those young people who could be drafted into the military but could not vote.

The 26th Amendment

Chapter 17Section 3

Influences on Voters

Age◦ Voters’ ages may affect their views and determine

their voting decisions. Other Background Influence

◦ Education, religion, and racial or ethnic background affect voters’ attitudes, but voters do not always vote in keeping with their backgrounds.

The Cross-Pressured Voter◦ Cross-pressured voters, those caught between

conflicting elements in their lives, may vote based on the issues and candidates.

Personal Background of Voters

Because the majority of American voters consider themselves either Republicans or Democrats, most vote for their party’s candidates.

Independent Voters◦ Independent voters, who have increased in

numbers, do not belong to either major party but are an important element in presidential elections.

Loyalty to Political Parties

Strong vs. Weak Party Voters◦ Not all party members vote for all their party’s

candidates.

◦ Strong party voters are those that select their party’s candidate in election after election.

◦ Weak party voters are more likely to switch their votes from time to time.

Loyalty to Political Parties

Many current voters are better informed than past voters because they are better educated.

Current issues have a greater impact on voters’ personal lives.

Television imparts information on issues.

Still most voters are not fully informed on campaign issues.

Issues in Election Campaigns

The 1980 presidential election demonstrated the importance of issues:◦ The high rate of inflation

◦ The high cost of living

◦ The high rate of unemployment

◦ These issues were debated by the candidates that clearly helped Reagan win the election.

Issues in Election Campaigns

Americans want someone they can trust as a national leader.

Voters often select candidates for the image they project.

Image: mental picture that voters have of a candidate

The Candidate’s Image

Political parties and candidates use ideas, information, and rumors to influence voters with propaganda techniques.

Name calling, testimonials, bandwagon, transfer, plain folks, and card stacking help to win votes.

Propaganda

Regular voters have positive attitudes toward government and citizenship.

Generally, regular voters have more education and a higher than average income.

Middle-aged citizens have the highest voter turnout.

Profile of Regular Voters

They may not meet citizenship, residency, and registration requirements.

The percentage of voters among those who are eligible has declined.

Profile of Nonvoters