Just remember that it varies by state. Some states have no such proscription.
Actually, turnout is expected to be pretty high this year. Several states are reporting record registrations.
And there are always attempts to boost it. Good God, we have every celebrity in the world making public service announcements about voting. People bothering folks at metro stations, malls, supermarkets with voter registration information. Parties and other organizations organize Get Out the Vote (GOtV - Go TeeVee) programs on election day, calling their members to check if they’ve voted and bothering people they see on the street to convince them to vote. Blah.
And yeah, different groups have different voter turnouts.
Pretty well covered already. The original intent was that the President would be chosen by wise heads selected by the individual states – and making it equivalent to their total representation in Congress protected the smaller states from being overpowered by the bigger ones, since they got an automatic three electoral votes (resulting from 2 Senators + 1 Congressman) just by being a state. In 47 states, there is a “winner-takes-all” setup where a slate of electors from each party, pledged to vote for that party’s candidate, runs in quadrennial elections, and whichever slate receives the majority vote is chosen to vote for their candidate. As noted, Nebraska and Maine can split it: if Bush wins Nebraska by 53%-47%, with 60%-40% in the 2nd Congressional district, losing by 49%-51% in the 1st, he’ll get three electors from Nebraska and Kerry one (for the 1st district). Colorado is currently on the winner-takes-all system, but has a provision on the ballot this year that would distribute its electoral votes according to how each candidate does in the election, which if passed would operate to distribute the votes this year as well as in the future.
This varies across the country. Much of the Northeast uses voting machines. In North Carolina we have ballots that resemble those goofy achievement tests given in school – you fill in an oval next to your preferred candidates’ names with Magic Marker, which is read by a scanner. The ballots in Florida are infamously done in different ways in different counties; the punch-card thing with the hanging chads was common through 2000.
Since we may have dozens of offices up for election at any General Election, using ballot papers would be difficult to manage. In a given village in New York, for example, you might have: President/Vice President, U.S. Senator, Congressman,
Governor/Lt. Governor, State Senator, Assemblyman (these are for the state legislature), State Comptroller, Attorney General, County Legislator, County Executive, Sheriff, County Clerk, State Supreme Court Judge (maybe two or three seats there), County Judge, Town Supervisor, two Town Councilman seats, Town Clerk, Justice of the Peace, Assessor, Village Mayor, two Village Trustees. Can you imagine the length of a ballot paper listing all the candidates for all these offices?
This goes by state law. In many states, felons lose the franchise, permanently, on conviction of a felony. (They can apply for it to be reinstated after serving their sentence and spending a period of time living as a law-abiding citizen.) In others, it’s for the duration of their sentence (whether incarcerated, on parole, or on probation), and is automatically restored at the end of their sentence. Each state has different rules on this.
Yes, as noted above, since the passage of the 26th Amendment, which made a flat age of 18 standard everywhere. Before that, it was based on individual states’ laws.
Yes. Your legal voting residence is the last place you lived in before going abroad – just as British troops from Bristol in Iraq can send in absentee ballots to Bristol for their preferred M.P. candidate among the ones running there.
Yes. In the U.S., we hold general elections every year in November, when we elect most of our higher public officials. This November we are electing President and Vice President of the U.S., one third of the Senate (each Senator has a six year term, and one third are elected each two years), and the entire House of Representatives. Many states are electing governors and other statewide officials (attorney general, comptroller, etc.) as well as state legislators and judges. Localities may be electing county executives, mayors, local legislators, judges, and other officials. And many states and localities have ballot initiatives.
Every second November we have Congressional elections (all of the House and one third of the Senate). And in the Novembers when there there are no Congressional elections, there are still state and local elections and ballot initiatives. For instance, in New York, the Governor and other statewide officials are elected in one “off” year and the Mayor of New York City and other citywide officials are elected in the other.
There are some states and localities that have elections at other times (for instance, school board elections in New York are usually not in the November general elections), but the biggies are almost always in November (oddities like the California Governor recall aside).
Frequently turnout for one election will have a major effect on others. For instance, the Presidential election has a significant “coattails” effect on the Congressional election, with a popular Presidential candidate being a decisive factor in close races for Congress. Likewise turnout for ballot initiaves can impact races for office (and vice versa).
As I understand most European elections, there will be only one race (or a limited number) run simultaneously (i.e. there will be a parliamentary election several weeks after a parliament is dissolved, but this will not involve municipal officials). With one (or just a few) races to decide, it is fairly easy to count hand marked ballots.
In the U.S., in contrast, there may be dozens of elections run simultaneously on different government levels. Because almost all of the elections are held simultaneously, some sort of automatic voting machine is required to have the ballots for all of the races tabulated in any sort of timely manner.
Well, there are always voter drives. There are probably more so this year thanks to the perception of a highly polarized electorate and a national split. It is generally safe to assume that the elderly are going to vote as a higher percentage than the youth, for example. Problem is, there is no way to force higher turnout without passing mandatory voter laws, which would not go over well. It might be possible to increase turnout by going to an all-absentee system like Oregon has. Does anyone have the stats on the effect that has had on Oregon turnout?
Well, that’s what you get when you set up a federal system with this much population and territory. As long as elections are a state and local matter, it’s gonna be this complicated and balkanized.
One last one and then I’m going to the pub (It’s 4.30 here - prime after work pub time).
If certain local ballots eg Gun Control overly help one specific candidate - do the parties try to get these sort of things on the ballot so that they can drag out some extra voters who are likely to vote for them?
(we just put a cross on a piece of paper next to the candidate we like and post it in a big metal box - it works for us)
Essentially, a felony is any crime defined by the penal code of the state in question as a felony, as opposed to a misdemeanor. For many types of crimes, the statutes define particular criteria that determine whether the offense rises to the level of a felony; for others, it’s up to the judgement of the prosecutor. Most traffic offenses are misdemeanors, unless they’re aggravated by some other factor. As for shoplifting, in my own state of Georgia, the Official Code of Georgia was amended in 2000 to provide that shoplifting offenses of less than $300 value are misdemeanors, unless:
[ul]
[li]It’s a second or subsequent offense for shoplifting, regardless of whether the earlier offense(s) were misdemeanors or felonies; or[/li][li]The items in question were taken from three or more stores in one county within seven days, with the value of the property stolen from each store amounting to $100 or more.[/li][/ul]
The criteria vary from state to state.
It has become an issue, and one that’s getting more attention recently. The Sentencing Project, an organization that advocates for sentencing reform and the use of alternatives to incarceration, has produced a little 3-page document that summarizes the situation in the various states. There was a recent study on the effect of such laws on voting rates among black citizens in Atlanta and Providence, Rhode Island (there’s also a New York Timesarticle on the study available, but you have to register to access it).
Nope. The method of electing Representatives, Senators, state officials, etc., is left up to each state. The 14th Amendment provides that if the right to vote is denied to any male citizen of voting age for any reason other than participation in a rebellion or commission of any other crime, the state’s population for purposes of determining its representation in Congress will be reduced by the number of citizens thus disenfranchised. The 15th specifically prohibits states from denying the right to vote on the basis of race. The 19th prohibits states from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. The 24th Amendment prohibits states from requiring payment of a poll tax or any other tax as a condition for voting. The 26th lowered the voting age to 18 from 21. Otherwise, except for the “right to vote” implicit in the prohibitions against denying it to individuals on specific bases, there’s no constitutional guarantee of a right to vote. An amendment to address this rather odd lacuna has been proposed, but as far as I know there’s been no groundswell of support for it.
Billdo makes a good point. Europeans cannot imagine how many different elections are held in the U.S. I’ve read that the New York City metro area has more than 1200 different voting governmental units, spread out over three states, each with totally different rules and regulations. A London or Toronto-like metro governance is impossible.
In any major election, therefore, the votes must be stacked into dozens of different piles. City mayors and councilmen or the equivalent, county executives and legislators or the equivalent, school district boards, fire district leaders, judges of varying courts, state legislators, state governors, federal Representatives and Senators, and the President, just to give a very short list.
On another subject mentioned above, state voting for federal office in the past at one time was determined by the state. Maine notoriously used to hold its election day in September or October and its results were known early - and often a good predictor of the national race. This gave rise to the adage, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” In 1936, however, Maine voted for the Republican Alf Landon, who won only one other state. Democratic party boss James Farley joked, “As Maine goes, so goes Vermont.”
I don’t know if it was this event that caused the change, but today all national elections are held on the same day in every state.
Aye, it is complex but there are historical reasons for that.
US election history is rife with examples of people/groups trying to skew the system to their favor. Poll taxes and literacy tests helped keep the poor out (generally seen in the South to disenfranchise African Americans). “Vote early, vote often” (Al Capone) was your generic ballot box stuffing. It has happened where dead people voted. IIRC one city in Illinois saw more votes cast than the city had in its entire population. Every 10 years the party in power gets to redraw voting districts and they try to draw them to favor their side and edge out the other (this is known as Gerrymandering). In some cases Gerrymandering gets way out of hand (I believe one case saw the voting district encompass nothing more than a highway for like 20 miles before ballooning out to get more of the people they wanted). The US Supreme Court has tossed out some of the more egregious cases of Gerrymandering but you still see some crazy districts.
Liberals, conservatives…all have been guilty of voting shenanigans at one time or another.
You still see these efforts today although they usually aren’t quite so overt and couched in “legally” keeping people away from the polls. Many minorities claimed they were unfairly purged from Florida’s voter rolls or other impediemts to voting. By the time any of it gets sorted the election is long over so it goes down as an, “Oops…we’ll try and be more fair four years from now.”
So, in the end you see piles of election laws accrue over time to address some of these issues but leave it to people to always find a loophole or new way to unfairly influenece the system in their favor so you get yet more laws. And so it goes…
As for the Electoral College many see it has an anachronism and unfair. The really “fair” way would be a straight majority vote. Get 50.1% of the votes across the country and it’s done. As weird as the EC seems it does actually have a useful (IMHO) role. If you are interested here is an interesting article on what the EC gets us: Math Against Tyranny. It may well be that some feel a majority popular vote is still the way to go but at least they can now hold that opinion having a better understanding of what is going on which is always a good thing.
A very interesting thread, and illuminating. No bickering between posters on different interpretations either!
If I can ask something too. How does the size of the US affect the balloting. For instance isn’t it possible for one state on the east coast to have finished voting before another state has even warmed up. Are exit polls published from the earlier voting states allowed, and if they are can they affect the vote in other states?
While I was living in Ohio, I voted using punch-card ballots in every election I voted in, including those in which I voted absentee. I was never told that the chads had to be punched out completely, and I have absolutely no recollection regarding I ever made sure that I did so. Now I wonder how many of my ballots were spoiled.
Just to clarify, there are no official attempts to boost turnout. The government itself has nothing to say regarding voter turnout. Indeed, there isn’t a consensus regarding whether encouraging voter turnout is good. There are quite a few supporters of the proposition that for one reason or another we are better off without the votes of those who would otherwise have to be encouraged to vote.
The situation is similar here. The young, the poor, and minorities are less likely to vote.
Technically speaking, there are no national elections in the United States. Even the presidential election is actually 51 separate state elections. Elections are governed by state law and every state has different rules. Generally speaking, though, presidential elections are not treated separately from other elections. For example, in Montgomery County, Ohio, there are usually two elections every year, one in May and one in November. All matters that are up for a vote in May are put on one ballot and all matters that are up for a vote in November are likewise put on a single ballot. There are usually provisions for additional “special” elections as needed.
They very well might have an effect, but I don’t think there is any comprehensive scholarship on the issue.
Yes, they do.
I sincerely wish that we had this much common sense.
This was an issue in the 2000 election. As polls closed and the media started making predictions that “Gore won” Florida the claim was made that it would turn away voters in western states (or even in Florida IIRC as not all polls had closed there) from bothering to go vote. Then Fox, essentially a Republican mouth piece, was the only one who called Florida for Bush. Then the other networks decided they made a mistake and retracted their prediction and said “Bush won” Florida which liberals then said kept people from voting.
It is hard to quantify exactly what effect that all really had and it is the loser (whatever side that may be) who bitches about it. The media, I think, have agreed to hold off on these predictions but it is a free speech thing and they are in competition with each other and want to be the first to “make the call” so how well they adhere to this is an open question.
Exit polling was allowed through the 2000 election. I believe it has now been banned, or at least it is safe to assume that no network will attempt to call any race any time soon using exit polling or any other means, after the screwups the networks made. It was indeed at least possible for such exit polling to keep potential voters at home in the West, but I don’t know if it is possible to say whether or not it ever had a real effect and to what amount. In any case, I don’t predict any predictions by the networks this year.
It happens all the time. In most states, the polls close at 7 p.m. That means that the polls in California are open for three hours after the polls in New York have closed.
Everything is allowed. There are no restrictions on polling or guesswork or even absolute conclusions on anyone’s part. There are those who do believe that such conclusions may affect the vote in states where the polls are still open. Generally speaking, I believe that most of the news media have agreed not to call an election in a particular state until all the polls in that state have closed, but it’s not mandated by law.
If you follow the election night coverage in the American media, you’ll see a big map. As the evening progresses, you’ll see states on the map filled with color to indicate projected results (actual results may take days or weeks). If the map is colored in such a way that would indicate that the remaining uncolored states’ votes would not affect the outcome, it may well depress turnout in the states where the polls are still open.
Well, I’m from here and I have a question about felons voting: when you register it gives you the requirements: over 18, citizen, resident, not a felon, and not guilty of “moral turpitude” (I forget the phrasing around it, as it’s been quite a few years since I registered). I know moral turpitude is being a Bad Person, but what does it really mean in this context? In other words, is this how states keep unwanted released felons from being allowed to vote again? I believe I noticed this in Georgia when I voted there in college, but it may have said it here in SC too.
Good questions. Yes, states on the east coast finish voting hours before those on the west coast. Exit poll results from the eastern states are broadcast, and can have some effect on late balloting in other states. The effect on the presidential election is probably minimal, but many people are concerned about the potential effect on “down-ticket” races – the Congressional, Senate, state legislature, gubernatorial, and other local elections that are held at the same time; when a potential voter decides to stay home because early polls from the east show his presidential candidate getting stomped, he also ends up not voting for his party’s candidates for Congress, his state legislature, etc. No one really knows how significant this effect is, however. As a result of concerns about the effect reports of exit poll results were having within states, media outlets now generally do not report results in a given state or jurisdiction until the polls close in those areas.
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History currently has an exhibit on the mechanics of voting. There’s a very interesting map here – http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/patchwork.html