Elections and Voting
12
Justin Hayworth/AP Images
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.1
Types of Elections
 Primary Elections
 Closed primaries – open to voters registered for a
particular political party
 Open primaries – open to voters from any political
party
 General Election
 The election that decides who will represent the singlemember district – open to voters regardless of voter
registration
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Types of Direct Democracy
Elections
12.1
 Initiative and Referendum
Initiative placed on ballot by citizens & voted
on by citizens
 Referendum placed on ballot by legislature
and voted on by citizens

 Recall
An election designed to remove someone
from office
 Not every state, county or municipality has a
vehicle for recall

American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Primaries and Caucuses
 These are the “playoffs” to the general
election.
 Methods to select delegates
 Winner-take-all primary – all-or-nothing
 Proportional representation primary – you get a
proportional number of delegates to your popular vote
(over 15% and used by Democrats).
 Caucus – Town meetings designed to inform party
members who they’re voting on followed by a formal
vote
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.2
12.2
Presidential Elections
 The Electoral College
 Compromise at the Constitutional Convention
VA and NJ Plans both proposed an executive
selected by Congress


Article II, sec 1, clause 2 – Electors

Article I, sec 2, clause 3 – Census

Article II, sec 1, clause 3 – Process
Amendment XII – amends Article II, sec 1, clause
3 to include seperate ballots for pres and vp.

American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Selecting a President: The
Electoral College
12.2
 Historical challenges
 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, 1800 this election led to
the passage of the XXII Amendment
 John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, 1824 also known
as the Corrupt Bargain
 George W. Bush and Al Gore, 2000
 Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Selecting a President: The
Electoral College
12.2
 Should the Electoral College be reformed?
 Abolish in favor of popular vote
 Protecting smaller states from being overly influenced by
larger states
 Clinton beat Trump by:




1.695
1.159
2.854
2.868
million
million
million
million
votes in Los Angles County
votes in Chicago
vote advantage in those two cities
vote advantage nationally
 Margin of victory in those two cities helped Clinton win those states
(look at Chicago on the NY Times map), but the Electoral College
protects smaller states from being overly influenced by larger states.
As such, the Electoral College system favors smaller states.
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Patterns in Vote Choice
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Party Identification
Ideology
Income and Education
Race and Ethnicity
Gender
Religion
Issues
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.4
Party Identification and
Ideology
 Party Identity
 Most powerful predictor of vote choice
 Doesn't fully eliminate ticket splitting
 Ideology
 Liberals favor government involvement in social
programs and larger government.
 Conservatives favor ideals of individualism, marketbased competition and smaller government.
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.4
12.4
Income and Education
 Lower-income voters
 Tend to vote Democratic
 Higher-income voters
 Tend to vote Republican
 Education
 Most educated and least educated tend to vote
Democratic.
 Voters in the middle, such as those with a bachelor's
degree, tend to vote Republican.
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.4
Race and Ethnicity
 Whites more likely to vote Republican
 African Americans and Hispanics more
likely to vote Democratic
Gender
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Religion and Other Issues
12.4
 Religion
 Jewish voters strong Democratic Party supporters
 Protestants more likely to vote Republican
 Catholics divided
 Social justice versus abortion
 Issues
 Economy often key issue
 Retrospective judgment versus prospective judgment
Issues
Economy often key issue
Retrospective judgment versus prospective judgment
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.5
Voter Turnout
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Income and Education
Race and Ethnicity
Gender
Age
Civic Engagement
Interest in Politics
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.5
Income and Education
 Those with incomes over $65,000 vote
more than citizens with incomes under
$35,000.
 College graduates are more likely to
vote than those with less education.
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.5
Race and Ethnicity
 Whites tend to vote more than African
Americans, Hispanics, and other
minorities.
 Long-term consequences of voting
barriers
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.5
Gender
 Women vote more than men, and
account for a majority of the electorate.
Age
 Older citizens vote more than younger citizens
Civic Engagement
 Members of civic groups more likely to vote
 Interest in politics is a reliable predictor in voting
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Why Don't Americans Turn Out?
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Other Commitments
Difficulty of Registration
Difficulty of Voting
Number of Elections
Voter Attitudes
Weakened Influence of Political Parties
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.6
Improving Voter Turnout
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Make Election Day a Holiday
Enable Early Voting
Permit Mail and Online Voting
Make Registration Easier
Modernize the Ballot
Strengthen Parties
American Government: Roots and Reform, 2014 Election Update, 12e
O'Connor | Sabato | Yanus
Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011
Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
12.6