POLS 2312 1st Edition Lecture 10 Elections Anthony Downs two party competition results in attempts by both parties to gain the vote of the median voter A political scientist The era of the big government is over Bill Clinton in search of the median voter circa 1996 First thing he tried to do when winning the presidency was passing the health care reform which failed badly Redistricting States draw new boundaries for electoral districts every ten years Gerrymandering drawing an electoral district in order to give electoral advantage to one political party Congressional districts or state legislative districts are drawn by political leaders their not there from beginning time Politicians choose their voters not the other way around Every 10 years the U S conducts a census which lets the Congress know about the population We go through the process of redistricting through the census and have new boundaries which is done by the state legislator If you re in control of the party at the beginning of the ten years then it s very likely that you re able to choose the boundaries that will benefit your party at the end of the ten years 2012 Elections In the U S as a whole 1 4 million more people voted for Democrats then for Republicans in the House of Representatives elections Result 234 Republican seats and 201 Democratic seats Was a midterm election no presidency election in the year of 2012 Total votes in Texas elections for the U S House of Representatives 2002 Democrat 1 855 178 Republican 2 290 723 Other 119 309 Result 17 democrats sent to congress 15 republicans sent to congress Redistricting Techniques Goal to minimize the impact of a particular political group Packing placing a large percentage of the group in question within the district Cracking splitting voters from one group into multiple districts Tarrant county 33rd congressional district One Person One Vote Baker v Carr 1962 Congressional districts within a state must have approximately equal numbers of residents Reynolds v Simms 1964 State legislative districts must follow the same rules Voting Rights Act 1965 Eliminated various barriers to minority voting Originally aimed at African American voters Extended to language minority groups in 1975 Renewed on a number of occasions most recently in 2006 Preclearance Until 2013 states and communities with a history of racial discrimination in voting were required to seek prior approval for changes to their election codes and district boundaries Texas grew by 4 3 million between 2000 and 2010 Result Granted 4 new Congressional Districts Justice Department and Federal Court in San Antonio found that the new map was intentionally discriminatory Types of Elections Primaries In which a political party chooses its nominee In Texas a candidate needs to get a majority of the vote in the primary If they do not a run off primary is held General Election Candidates from competing parties square off Shelby County AL v Holder 2013 Our country has changed While any racial discrimination in voting is too much Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions Chief Justice John Roberts 2012 General Elections Overall U S Turnout 58 2 of voting eligible population Texas Turnout 49 7 of voting eligible population Only West Virginia 46 3 Hawaii 44 2 and Oklahoma 49 2 had lower turnouts Mitt Romney Republican 4 5 million votes Barack Obama Democrat 3 3 million votes Result 38 electoral college votes for Mitt Romney 2012 Senatorial Election in Texas Republican Primary Run off Ted Cruz 631 316 David Dewhurst 480 161 Ted Cruz Republican 4 4 million votes Paul Sadler Democrat 3 1 million votes Elections in Texas Almost every state wide official is elected A number of cities hold off year or even non November elections Arlington holds municipal elections every spring current mayor Robert Cluck was elected with 7 800 votes in May of 2013 Voting on Constitutional Amendments occurs during November of odd numbered years Responses Motor Voter Law 1995 Allows people to register to vote when getting a driver s license Early Voting Makes it easier for people to vote Florida Fair Districts constitutional amendments adopted by referendum with 63 of the vote in 2010 California Bipartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission