U.S. Government and Civics / Unit 9: Political Parties, Elections and Interest Groups
9.5 Voting and Turnout
Notes
Turnout is the share of eligible people who vote.
- Turnout is higher in presidential elections than in midterm (non-presidential) elections, and lower still in many local elections.
- Groups that tend to vote at higher rates: older citizens, people with more education and higher income. Young adults (18 to 24) tend to vote at lower rates.
- Factors: registration rules, election day convenience, interest in the race, how close the race is, and political efficacy (belief that one's vote matters).
- Ways people decide: party-line voting (choosing one party's candidates); retrospective voting (judging past performance); prospective voting (judging what candidates promise); candidate characteristics.
- Ticket splitting: voting for candidates of different parties on the same ballot.
- States run elections and set many rules, such as how to register, early voting and mail ballots, so rules differ across states.
Practice
A voter chooses a candidate for governor of one party and a senator of another party. This is called:
Ticket splitting means voting for different parties on one ballot.
A voter supports the incumbent because the economy improved during her term. This is:
Retrospective voters judge officials on past results.
Which election would usually have the LOWEST turnout?
Local elections held on their own often draw far fewer voters.
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