Chapter 12Voting, Elections and Campaigns

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Chapter 12-Voting, Elections and Campaigns

• Voter Turnout-the number or proportion of people
  that come out to vote.
• Those that typically come out to vote depends on
• a) Education
• b) Income
• c) Age
• d) Gender
• e) Race and Ethnicity
• f) Interest in Politics

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I. Why is Turnout Low?

• What age group turnouts to vote the most, the
  least and why? (2008-52)
• What demographic has high turnout, low turnout
  and why?
• What gender has high turnout and why?
• Highest turnout was 64 in 1960. In 2008, we
  reached 62, the highest since 1960.

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II. Turnout is low because.

• Too busy
• Difficulty to register-Motor/Voter Act of 1993
• Absentee Ballot difficulties
• Number of Elections
• US has one of the lowest voter participation
  rates of any nation in the industrialized world.

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III. Patterns in Voter Choice

• Issue-Centered Politics-Retrospective/Prospective
  Judgments
• Party Identification
• Candidate-Centered Politics
• Demographic (Urban vs Suburban)

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IV. Types of Elections How We go About the
Electoral Process

• Primary election
• Runoff primary
• General election
• Initiative-Referendum
• ------------
• Nominating Campaign
• Primary vs. Caucus
• Frontloading
• Party Conventions
• Delegates that attend conventions
• See Pages 366-367-political staffers

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IV. Electoral College

• Electoral College-representatives from each state
  who cast the final ballot for the President.
• Electors-members of the college that are
  equivalent to to the number of House and Senate
  reps.
• What is the original intent of the Electoral
  College?
• Popular vote vs. Electoral votes

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IV. Campaign Finance

• 1976-FECA-Federal Election Campaign Act
  disclosure to political campaigns
• 2002-Bipartisan Campaign Act
• (McCain/Feingold) Imposed to limit lobbying
  groups and limits amount individuals can give.
  Questioned freedom of speech.
• 2003-McConnell vs FEC Supreme Court decided
  that political party corruption overrides free
  speech-restricted political contributions and
  political advertising.
• PAC Contributions
• 527 Committees