https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q Voting en-us 2021-02-18 16:13:06 UTC 2025-12-17 10:00:44 UTC hello@padlet.com zoe_smith8 https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q/wish/1215867273
"An election is an orderly process for making group decisions. Free and fair elections are the hallmark of democracy. Voting is making a choice among alternatives in an election. Like other rights, the right to vote is not absolute but subject to regulations and restrictions. During periods of American history, law, custom, and even violence have prevented certain groups of people from voting. Before the American Revolution, the colonies placed many restrictions on who had the right to vote. Women and most African Americans were not allowed to vote; neither were white males who did not own property or pay taxes. In some colonies, only members of the dominant religious group could vote (CHP 18.1, page 2)." "When the Constitution went into effect in 1789, African Americans, both enslaved and free, made up about 20 percent of the U.S. population. Yet enslaved persons were not permitted to vote anywhere, and free African Americans who were allowed to vote could do so in only a few states. The first effort to extend suffrage to African Americans nationwide came shortly after the Civil War, when the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870. The amendment provided that no state could deprive any citizen of the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment marked the first time that the U.S. Constitution dictated rules to the states about who they must allow to vote. Although the Fifteenth Amendment was an important milestone on the road to full suffrage, it did not result in complete voting rights for African Americans. Political leaders in Southern states set up a number of roadblocks to disenfranchise and discourage the participation of African American voters (CHP 18.1, page 3)." ]]> 2021-02-18 16:14:12 UTC https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q/wish/1215867273 zoe_smith8 https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q/wish/1215929533 Until the 1960s many states had required citizens to pass a literacy test to qualify to vote. For many cases, white voters were judged literate if they could write their names, but African-American voters were often required to do much more. "Another device that was designed to discourage African American suffrage was the poll tax. Usually amounting to a dollar or two, citizens had to pay a poll tax before they could vote. The poll tax had to be paid not only for the current year but also for previous unpaid years. It was a financial burden for poor people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. In addition, the tax had to be paid well in advance of Election Day, and the poll-tax payer had to present a receipt showing payment before voting. Voters who did not have their receipts were barred from voting. Thousands of African Americans in the states with poll taxes were excluded from the polls. Despite gains, many discriminatory practices still prevented African Americans from voting into the mid-twentieth century, particularly in the South. One key pillar of the civil rights movement of the 1960s was the fight for voting laws that would prohibit this discrimination. With the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the federal government took new steps to directly regulate state-controlled election procedures. The act allowed the federal government to register voters and send poll watchers on Election Day in states and localities that discriminated against African American voters (CHP 18.1, page 4)."]]> 2021-02-18 16:27:23 UTC https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q/wish/1215929533 zoe_smith8 https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q/wish/1216093099 "The federal election cycle ensures that the entire government will not turn over at the same time. Federal elections are held every two years for members of Congress, when every house member and one-third of the U.S. senators are up for election. Every four years, we have a presidential election. Congressional elections held in the middle of a president’s term are called midterm elections (CHP 18.2, page 2)." "Voters’ personal backgrounds affect their decisions. A person’s background includes such things as family, age, education, religion, occupation, income level, where they live, and general outlook on life. Consider how a person’s age might affect his or her vote. A 68-year-old senior citizen might favor a candidate who promised an increase in Social Security payments. On the other hand, a voter who is 23 might not want more money deducted from her paycheck for Social Security and vote against this candidate. Similarly, geography may affect how someone votes. People who live in cities may be more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to invest in public transportation than people who live in more rural areas. As the U.S. population shifts to become more urban and suburban, this could affect voting patterns (CHP 18.2, page 4)." "Another influence on voters’ decisions is their loyalty—or lack of it—to one of the political parties. The majority of American voters consider themselves either Republicans or Democrats, and most vote for their party’s candidates. Voters look for a variety of qualifications in candidates for local, state, or national office. Some voters are concerned with whether candidates have specific experience in government, as an entrepreneur, or as a business leader. Other voters are looking for a fresh face or someone with a new perspective. It might be important to some that a presidential candidate has experience in the military or that a candidate for statewide office has a long history of living and working in that state. Some might want a candidate with impressive academic accomplishments; others prefer a candidate whose experiences more closely mirror their own (CHP 18.2, page 5)."]]> 2021-02-18 17:02:15 UTC https://padlet.com/zoe_smith8/f82av2klip55jl8q/wish/1216093099