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Suffrage & Civil Rights
Chapter 6 Section 3
The 15th Amendment
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The purpose of the 15th Amendment
(1870) was to grant suffrage to newly
freed slaves. (federal government did
not enforce)
White supremacists in the South
devised many ways to prevent African
Americans from voting.
IE. Gerrymandering
Between the 1950s and the 1970s,
Congress passed a number of civil
rights laws designed to end
disenfranchisement of African
Americans.
Test Question
Gerrymandering was unfair because
a. no one has the right to divide
electoral districts for elections.
b. it set district lines to decrease one
group’s voting strength.
c. it made voter registration
impossible for African Americans.
d. it increased the voting power of
minority groups.
Test Question
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, did
not secure the right of African Americans
to vote primarily because?
a. it did not state voting rights could not be
denied to African Americans.
b. the Federal Government did not intervene
to uphold the amendment.
c. part of it did not apply to African American
women as well as men.
d. it prevented State leaders from acting on
behalf of potential voters who were being
discriminated against.
The Civil Rights Acts of
1957 and 1960
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The Civil Rights Act of 1957 set up a
federal Civil Rights Commission and
gave the attorney general the power to
seek injunctions against any person or
group that sought to interfere with the
voting rights of qualified persons.
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 provided
for the appointment of federal voting
referees, who could be sent anywhere
a federal court found discrimination.
The Civil Rights Act of
1964
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964
outlawed job related
discrimination.
It also forbade States to use
voter registration requirements in
discriminatory manner.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
and Its Amendments
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The Voting Rights Act of 1965
was a vigorous attempt to
enforce the 15th Amendment by
attacking discriminatory
practices in the South and
sending in federal officials to
ensure that African Americans
were allowed to vote. (applies to
state, federal and local elections)
Test Question
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a.
b.
c.
d.
The provisions of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965, and its amendments of
1970, 1975, and 1982, apply to
all national, State, and local
elections.
federal elections only.
State and local elections only.
all federal and State elections, but
not to all local elections.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
and Its Amendments
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The law has been extended three
times, expanding it coverage to
States and counties outside the
South and to “language
minorities”-Hispanics, Native
Americans, Asian Americans, and
Alaskan natives.
• The expansion of Suffrage has
been expanded through
constitutional amendments and
civil rights acts.
Voter Behavior
Chapter 6 Section 4
Nonvoting
The Size of the Problem
• Only about half of eligible
voters turn out in presidential
elections.
• Only about a third of eligible
voters turn out in off-year
elections.
Test Question
A person who votes in the
presidential election but does not
vote for a gubernatorial candidate in
the same election is known as
a. a cannot-voter.
b. a nonvoting voter.
c. an independent voter.
d. an actual nonvoter
Little-Recognized Aspects
of the Problem
• More people vote in federal than in
State and local elections.
• In general, the farther down the
ballot office is, the fewer the number
of votes that will be cast for it. This
phenomenon is called “ballot
fatigue”.
• Turnout is lower in off-year
elections, primaries, and special
elections than it is in presidentialyear elections.
Test Question
The phenomenon in which fewer
votes are cast for offices
farther down the ballot is called
a. voter alienation.
b. straight-ticket voting.
c. split-ticket voting.
d. ballot fatigue.
Why People Do Not Vote
• .”Cannot-Voters”
• Nearly 20 million Americans do not vote
because they cannot.
• Cannot-Voters include aliens, the
mentally or physically handicapped, and
people in prison.
• Some people cannot vote because their
religious beliefs forbid them to
participate in government.
• Some are still prevented from voting
because of discriminatory electoral
practices.
Actual Nonvoters
• Many people do not vote because they are
satisfied with the political system as it is
and believe that the outcome of elections
will not affect them.
• Many others do not vote because they
distrust the political process and do not
think that they have any effective political
power.
• Bad weather, “time-zone fallout” and
cumbersome election procedures keep
some away from the polls
Test Question
The most significant reason for nonvoting in
United States elections today seems to
be
a. long-term mental or physical illness
or illness on an election day.
b. rules and regulation that make
registration and voting cumbersome.
c. lack of education about voting policies
and procedures.
d. apathy or distrust of politics.
Factors Affecting
Turnout
• Voters are most likely to be people
at the higher end of the social,
economic, and educational ladder,
active in their communities, and who
experience few cross-pressures.
• Nonvoters are most likely to be
under 35, unmarried and unskilled,
and living in the South or in rural
area.
• People with a high sense of
political efficacy do not vote no
matter what their personal
background.
• The greater the degree of
candidate competition, the
higher the voter turnout is likely
to be.
The Study of Voting
Behavior
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Observers learn about voter behavior
through three main sources.
They carefully study the results of
particular elections.
They conduct and study public opinion
polls.
They try to understand political
socialization—all of the complex
influences that go into how people see
the political world and their role within it.
• Sociological factors include a
voter’s personal social
characteristics, such as age,
race, religion, and so on.
• Physiological factors include
how a particular voter sees
parties, candidates, and issues
in an election.
The Sociological Factors
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Income, Occupation—Business and
professional people and those from
higher income groups tend to
support the Republican party while
manual workers and those from
lower income groups tend to
support the Democratic party.
Education—The more education a
voter has, the more likely he or she
is to vote Republican.
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Sexes, Age—in recent years, men
and younger voters have been more
likely to vote Republican.
Religious, Ethnic Background—
Jews, Catholics, and nonwhites
tend to support the Democratic
party.
Geography—Traditionally,
Southerners, and residents of
northeastern cities have been
strongly Democratic.
Family, Other Group Affiliations—
People in the same family or circle
of friends tend to vote alike.
Test Question
The policies of political socialization
a. stifles individual initiative by
promoting party politics.
b. fosters the feeling that ones vote
does not count.
c. includes a variety of individual
experiences.
d. is the study of individual voting
behavior.
The Psychological Factors
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Party Identification—A voter’s
loyalty to one political party is the
single most important predictor of
how that person will vote.
Candidates and Issues—Although
many voters usually vote for one
party or the other, they may switch
allegiances in a given election
based on the particular candidates
or issues involved.
Test Question
The single most significant
predictor of a person’s partisan
voting behavior is his or her ___.
a. party identification.
b. personal characteristics.
c. political efficacy
d. perceptions of politics.