Texas Politics Today, 11th Edition

1
Texas Politics Today, 11th Edition

• Chapter 3
• Voting and Elections

2
Political Participation

• People participate in many ways
• Voting
• Discussion
• Campaigning
• Donating money
• Signs
• groups

3
The Participation Paradox

• People should not vote
• People vote for many other reasons

4
Who Votes?

• Demographic Variables
• Education
• Age
• Income
• Political Variables
• Interest
• Party identification

5
The Practice of Voting

• A U.S. citizen
• At least eighteen years of age
• A resident of the state and a county
• Cannot have been declared mentally incompetent by
  the court
• a convicted felon whose rights have not been
  restored by a pardon or by the passage of two
  calendar years from the completion of a
  sentence.
• Must register by person or mail thirty days
  before the election
• May register while getting a drivers license

6
Voter Turnout in U.S. and Texas
7
Voter Turnout (Continued)

• Voting age population has increased at a rate
  twice of that of the total electorate.
• Reasons for low voter turnout in America
• Twenty-sixth Amendment
• Decline in Party Identification
• Voting for presidential elections has gone down
  in America.
• Turnout in general elections is generally lower
  than those of most industrialized democracies of
  the world.
• Turnout in Texas has remained stable, but is only
  about 26.

8
Reasons for low voter turnout in Texas

• Legal Constraints
• Socioeconomic Factors
• Political Structure
• Political Culture
• Poll Tax
• Womans Suffrage
• White Primary

• Military Vote
• Long Residency Requirement
• Property Ownership for Bond Elections
• Annual Registration
• Early Registration
• Jury Duty

9
Socioeconomic Factors

• Texas Poverty Level is 15.
• 3 of 10 minorities live at the poverty level.
• 1 0f 5 Texans over 25 did not graduate from high
  school42
• Thus, a positive correlation exists between
  income, education and voting.

10
Political Structure

• The long ballot is used with 150 to 200
  candidates names.
• Voters are asked to vote at numerous elections
  for boards, municipalities and bonds.
• The present system is just as modern as other
  systems in the country.

11
Political Culture

• Texas is a mix of the traditionalistic and
  individualistic culture.
• Traditionalistic
• Individualistic

12
Voting Barriers Removed

• The 26th Amendment
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Removing property requirements

13
Elections in Texas

• Direct Primaries are a by product of the caucus
  and the party convention system.
• Once considered private parties or individuals,
  the primary system was argued in court.
• Smith v. Allwright (1944) invalidated primaries
  as a private process and invalidated the the all
  white primary.

14
Elections in Texas (cont.)

• Major parties must hold a primary.
• Minor a parties are allowed to hold conventions.
• Financing of primaries is by the Secretary of
  State, the chief elections officer for the state
  state and county executive committees are
  reimbursed.
• Writes-in candidates are also allowed 5000
  signatures for state-wide offices/district and
  lesser offices 500 maximum.

15
County State Elections

• County Elections
• Chair and county executive committee administer
  primaries
• State Elections
• State party chair and executive committee
  administer primaries
• Run-offs are held when no candidate receives a
  majority of the popular vote.

16
Primaries are Open or Closed

• Closed Primary
• A person is forbidden to vote in more than one
  primary on election day
• Once a person has voted in the first primary,
  they are forbidden from voting in the other
  parties run-off and convention

• Open Primary
• Voters decide on election day in which primary
  they will participate
• In Texas to win a primary requires a majority of
  those who vote.

17
When are Closed or Open Primaries Used?

• A closed primary is one in which only registered
  party members can vote.
• Texas operates in practice like an open primary.
• In Texas, the legal system is a closed primary.
• Crossover voting allows members of one party to
  raid the other partys primary.
• Texas nominates party candidates via direct
  primary.
• The dual primary sometimes results in a run-off.
• Texas first direct primary law was the Terrell
  Election Law of 1903.

18
General Elections

• Held biennially on the first Tuesday after the
  first Monday of even-numbered years.
• The primary winners run in the general election.
• To win a general election, a candidate must
  receive a plurality.
• County officials conduct general elections.
• Special elections meet emergencies for home-rule
  cities, the US and state legislatures.
• They are not partisan.
• It is easy to get on the ballot. Fill the forms
  and pay the filing fee.

19
Ballots

• Requiring ballots to be printed in English and
  Spanish allows more citizens to vote as enacted
  by the legislature in 1975.
• 40 of those under twenty five vote in national
  elections.
• In Texas, we use the party column ballot which
  encourages straight ticket voting.
• The secret ballot is an Australian Ballot.