Voter Turnout

Lecture 6-2

Voting Rates

• United States has one of the lowest levels of voter turnout in the Industrial world

• Get out the vote drives may be one solution

• However easier registration may be the answer – Motor Voter

State vs Federal Control

• Initially the states controlled everything

• Since then the Federal government has sought to regulate elections and voter eligibility

Federal “Rules”

• Suffrage to women – 19^th Amendment

• Suffrage to blacks – 15^th Amendment – Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Suffrage to 18 year olds – 26^th Amendment

• Direct election of US Senators – 17^th Amendment

Black Voting Rights

• Supreme Court guts 15^th Amendment

– United States v. Reese (1876)

– Ex parte Yarbrough (1884)

Southern State Strategies

• Literacy Test with Grandfather Clause

• Poll Tax

• White Primary

• Intimidation

Removing Barriers to Black Voting

• White Primary – Smith vs. Allright (1944)

• Literacy Test – 1970 amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Poll Tax – 24^th Amendment (1964)

Women’s Suffrage

• Western states permit women to vote

• 19^th Amendment ratified in 1920

• No dramatic changes in outcomes

• Initially women do not vote

• Now women vote as much or more than men

Youth Vote

• Voting Rights Act of 1970

• 26^th Amendment – 1971

• Lower turnout, no particular party benefited

Debate Over Voter Turnout

• Real decline as popular interest and party competition decrease

• Apparent decline – more honest elections today

• Rational Actor

• Would universal turnout alter election outcomes? – Most political scientists say NO

• As turnout decreases – other forms of participation increase

Demographic Characteristics of Participants

• Education

• Church Attendance

• Men vs Women

• Race

• Age

Final Thoughts

• Most stable countries have a low voter turnout

• American elect more official than Europeans do and have more elections