5.1 & 5.2 - Voting Rights and Turnout

Which of the following describes an effect of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment?

• It assured equal access to places of public accommodation regardless of race.

• It increased the importance of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

• It reduced barriers to political participation on the basis of gender.

• It eliminated poll taxes.

A voter’s decision to support the incumbent president in an upcoming election is based on recent economic growth and record low unemployment. Which of the following models of voting behavior best characterizes this voter’s decision?

• Prospective voting

• Party-line voting

• Retrospective voting

• Rational choice voting

Which of the following scenarios is most related to the Twenty-Sixth Amendment?

• A primary election is held to determine the candidate who will run as the Republican for the United States Senate.

• An interest group purchases a television ad prior to an election.

• An eighteen-year-old votes in a presidential election.

• A woman votes in a local election.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government . . ."

". . . Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men. . . .

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.

He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.”

-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

Which of the following amendments to the United States Constitution addresses the grievance that a woman is not permitted “to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise”?

• Fourteenth Amendment

• Fifteenth Amendment

• Seventeenth Amendment

• Nineteenth Amendment

Senator Hoffman is campaigning for reelection in her state. Her campaign message emphasizes how the policies she has supported have benefited her constituents. She has spotlighted job creation and an overall improvement in the standard of living in the state in the past six years. Senator Hoffman is hoping to appeal to which of the following voting behavior models?

• Retrospective voting

• Prospective voting

• Party-line voting

• Rational-choice voting

Which of the following statements is true based on the data in the line graph?

• In 1988 and 1992, voters 18–29 years old favored the Democratic candidate more than voters 65 and older did.

• In the 2000 election, the gap between voters 65 and older and 18–29 years old was 2%, with voters older than 65 preferring the Democratic candidate.

• In 1972 and 1984, voters 65 and older favored the Democratic candidate more than voters 18–29 years old did.

• In the 2012 election, the gap between voters 65 and older and 18–29 years old was 8%, with 18–29-year-old voters preferring the Democratic candidate.

Which of the following statements most accurately compares elections in the United States with those in most other Western democracies?

• United States citizens have fewer opportunities to vote in elections.

• Political parties exert a stronger influence over voting in the United States

• There are fewer obstacles to voting in the United States

• There are more political parties in the United States

• The voter turnout rate in the United States is usually lower

Which of the following statements about voting behavior in national elections is most accurate?

• Men are more likely to vote than are women.

• Blue-collar workers are more likely to vote than are professionals.

• Those with less than a high school education are more likely to vote than are college graduates.

• Democrats are more likely to vote than are Republicans.

• Senior citizens are more likely to vote than are college students.

Which of the following statements about voting behavior in the United States is correct?

• College graduates are more likely to vote than are those who have at most a high school diploma.

• Voters under the age of 25 are more likely to vote than are those in any other age group.

• Registration requirements have no significant effect on voter turnout.

• Since 1920, the proportion of women who have voted is approximately the same as the proportion of men who have voted.

• During the twentieth century, the proportion of African Americans who voted was approximately the same as the proportion of White Americans who voted.

Which of the following is true of voter turnout in the United States?

• Three-fourths of the electorate votes in a presidential election.

• The South votes in larger numbers than does any other region of the country.

• Men vote in larger numbers than do women.

• There is no relationship between the age of the voter and participation rates.

• The voter-participation rate is one of the lowest of any industrialized nation.