Chapters 3 4 11 Review Chapter 3 Voting and Elections in Texas Women meanwhile had no firm voting rights until the Nineteenth Amendment to the U S Constitution passed in 1920 Texas was the first Southern state to approve the amendment and allowed women to participate in primary elections as early as 1918 African American leaders contended that such a system violated the Fifteenth Amendment to the U S Constitution which guarantees that race cannot be used to prevent a person from voting White Primary The practice of allowing only whites to vote in Democratic Primary In 1964 the Twenty fourth Amendment was added to the U S Constitution to ban poll taxes in federal elections specifically for president vice president and the U S Senate and U S House of Representatives Voting Rights Act of 1965 National act protecting minorities from discrimination in the voting or registration process 1 The biggest single factor in determining turnout is level of education 2 Second family tradition has an impact on voter participation 3 Third language can be a barrier to participation A major factor that affects turnout is the large number of elections in Texas Texas voters can develop election burnout and only the most dedicated citizens vote every time they have the opportunity to cast a ballot There are three types of state elections in Texas Primary elections are used to select party nominees while general elections determine office holders from among the party nominees and special elections Before a Democrat and Republican can run against each other in a general election the parties must determine their nominees for each office These nominees are chosen through the primary election General elections determine who will hold office The winners of the primaries as well as the nominees of minor parties have their names placed on the general election ballot General elections require a plurality of the votes not necessarily a majority to win Plurality simply means more votes than any other candidate Gubernatorial elections in which the governor and other executive officials are picked are held during even numbered years between presidential elections The off year elections mean that voters pay more attention to these state wide executive races Special elections are held to fill vacancies ratify state constitutional amendments or approve local bond issues Special elections to fill vacancies require a majority to win and usually occur outside of the traditional March and November dates Although candidates don t go through a primary to get on the ballot most are readily identifiable with one of the major political parties and reach out to the party base for support Campaigning for political office in Texas can be an expensive and consuming endeavor Winning a competitive suburban state house race can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and that may just be in the primary In many cases because districts are so effectively gerrymandered the bulk campaign spending may occur in the primary An important factor in Texas political races is that with the exception of judicial races there are no limits on what an individual or a Political Action Committee PAC can give to a candidate Which U S Supreme Court decision definitively eliminated the white primary in Texas Smith v Allwright How did the white primary system in Texas effectively exclude African Americans from the political process It prohibited African Americans from participating in Democratic primary elections which always chose the winning candidate As a young man Jorge s grandfather was in Texas s lowest income bracket Prior to the poll tax being repealed Jorge s grandfather would the poll tax have likely been adversely affected by Which of the following is true about voting in Texas A voter can register a spouse parent or child provided that the second person meets voting qualifications The motor voter law allows Texans to register to vote when applying for a driver s license Sally registered to vote but later that year moved in with Fernando According to the voter registration requirements in Texas Sally must reregister using her new address What is the single biggest factor in determining voter turnout education level Recent statistics on voter demographics in Texas demonstrate that the voting gap has narrowed between minorities and whites In comparing and contrasting various states election laws which of the following is true Oregon and Washington conduct their elections exclusively by mail Which of the following is illegal to do during primary elections in Texas voting in the Republican primary and then voting in the Democratic runoff in the same year What percentage of the vote must a candidate receive in a primary election to be that party s nominee and avoid a runoff over 50 percent Why are gubernatorial elections in Texas held during even numbered years between presidential elections It helps ensure that voters pay more attention to these state wide races In regard to campaign contributions Texas election law does not put a limit on the amount a PAC or an individual can contribute to a candidate s campaign except in judicial races Recent technology has been utilized directly by political campaigns Which of the following two mediums include both long standing and nontraditional forms of outreach social media and television Targeted mass mailings are designed to energize and mobilize specific groups CH 3 TEST In the first century of Texas s history Texans fought both for and against inclusion in the political process for all its citizens Which of the following best characterizes political parties in Texas after the 1990s The Republican Party came to dominate state wide offices in Texas Election Day voter registration along with early voting are two options to increase voter turnout A state in the United States attempts to require citizens to pay a poll tax to vote in federal elections Which of the following specifically bans this requirement the Twenty fourth Amendment to the U S Constitution Which of the following would be most likely to decrease the cost of running a campaign in Texas using the Internet to get campaign messages to the public Michelle Jackson and Roger are candidates in the Republican primary in Texas and Peter Brian and Jose are candidates in the Democratic primary Penny a Republican was unable to vote in the Republican primary because she was out of town on the day of the primary election After the primary Brian and Jose
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