POLS Chapter 5 Book Notes 9 30 12 Elections The U S has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the world State political cultures are reflected and sustained through elections when a majority or plurality of voters elects officials who reflect that majority s political beliefs o Plurality The highest number of votes garnered by a candidate for a particular office but short of an outright majority Elections for public office are the fundamental process of representative democracies Election laws are set and controlled by the states Electoral College is disproportional o One of the reasons Bush won the presidency without winning the popular vote Voice for the Public Voters are motivated by appealing to core issues which has also promoted the use of ballot initiatives to promote turnout People can be convinced to cast votes or change their vote by the o State of the economy o Health of a state s budget o Corruption scandals o Course of a military conflict U S Constitution gives states the authority to determine the time place and manner of holding o In most states the Secretary of State does this o In a few states the lieutenant governor or state election board does this o States rely on the counties or cities to run the polls and report the results to the proper State Supervision of Elections elections individual Style of ballot varies o Office group Massachusetts ballot A ballot in which candidates are listed by name under the title of the office they are seeking o Party column Indiana ballot A ballot in which the names of candidates are divided into columns arranged according to political party o Straight ticket Originally ballots that allowed voters to pick all of one party s candidates at once today voting for all of one party s candidates for various offices Ex Voting for all Democrats or all Republicans o Instant runoff voting IRV Voters rank all the choices Minneapolis and San Francisco use this for municipal elections Regulating the Parties Secret Australian ballot A ballot printed by the states that allows voters to pick and choose among different candidates and party preferences in private Republican and Democratic parties are regulated at the state level o Detailed regulations for party organization activities and nominating procedures Nearly every state holds primary elections to pick party nominees for state offices o Virginia still nominates candidates at party conventions Williams v Rhodes 1968 States could no longer require that a certain percentage of signatures be collected in each county o Case made it easier for new parties to get on the ballot o States have found other roadblocks Ex Texas Voters who participated in major party primaries are not allowed to sign a petition to get a new party on the ballot Also requires citizens to know and affix their voter registration numbers next to their signatures on petitions Jenness v Fortson 1971 Upheld a Georgia law that requires minor parties or independent candidates to collect signatures that represent 5 of the total number of votes cast in the last election for the office o Southern or traditionalistic states have the most restrictive ballot access laws Restricting Voters States determine who can register to vote and how they can register Before Voting Rights Act 1965 eastern states had property requirements and literacy tests designed to keep African Americans from voting Motor voter law 1993 law passed by congress that allowed citizens to register to vote when they take tests to receive their driver s licenses Registering voters prevents fraud Voter Turnout Percentage of eligible citizens who register to vote and do vote Voter turnout has declined by 25 Reasons for decline o General disaffection with politics and government o Measureable decline in civic minded institutions as student government and unions o Changing role of political parties away from engaging and educating voters and toward raising money and providing services to candidates Decline is different in different states because of o Political culture o Demographics o Party competition Educated white wealthy and elderly people are more likely to vote States who have strong two party competition are more likely to vote than one that is dominated by one party Hispanics Sleeping Giant have the least turn out o Lack well established political organizations needed to encourage registration and turnout o Age States with strong socializing institutions are places where people are engaged enough to vote What Elections Are Used For Nonpartisan Elections Elections in which candidates do not have to declare party affiliation or receive a party s nomination local offices and elections are often nonpartisan Electing the Executive Branch NJ has an extremely powerful governor Texas has one of the weakest governors o Governor can recommend a budget o Governor appoints secretary of state and members of boards but will most likely have to work with people who were appointed by his predecessors o Lt Governor has the most power President of the Senate o Plural executive system A state government system in which the governor is not the dominant figure in the executive branch but instead is more of a first among equals serving alongside numerous other officials who were elected to their offices rather than being appointed by the governor Reflection of the distrust that Texans had for strong government while framing the constitution in 1876 Legal Offices Attorney general o Previously dominated by democrats o Changed in the 1990 s once the position became seen as important It was now seen as a stepping stone towards governorship o Becoming more involved with multistate settlements instead of traditionally concentrating on law enforcement and consumer protection disputes within their states Elections are more expensive and considered more important because of the attorney general s increased activity o Increasingly more expensive o Caperton v Massey Ruled that a West Virginia Supreme Court justice who benefited from a 3 million campaign orchestrated by a coal mining company that had a large case before the court had a conflict of interest Judicial elections Direct Democracy Citizens make laws themselves rather than relying on elected representatives Voters can pass legislation on their own through ballot initiatives or referendums Citizens can petition to place a piece of legislation or a constitutional amendment on the ballot for approval or rejection by voters Citizens can
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