Lone Star Politics: Tradition and Transformation in Texas by Ken Collier & Steven E. Galatas & Julie D. Harrelson-Stephens

Author:Ken Collier & Steven E. Galatas & Julie D. Harrelson-Stephens [Collier, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2014-12-31T06:00:00+00:00

Roll off process in which voters mark off only the “more important” offices on a lengthy ballot—usually national or statewide offices—and leave the county or local office choices blank.

Party-line voting process in which voters select candidates by their party affiliation.

Voting, Voter Registration, and Turnout

National elections are required by federal law to be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. State and local elections in Texas are also typically held on a Tuesday, and polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. While these hours might seem extensive, in fact, for many people who work from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., with time needed for commuting to and from work, these hours may not be enough. To help Texans turn out to vote, Texas began in 1988 to experiment with advanced or early voting, which allows a voter to cast a ballot before an election without giving a specific reason. Historically, to cast a ballot before Election Day a voter had to qualify for an absentee ballot by documenting a specific reason for being absent on Election Day: for example, being on vacation, being on a business trip, or being away at college. In early voting, the local elections administrator opens polling to voters during specified times and days in the weeks leading up to the election. In Texas, early voting days include weekends. Voting is made easier and occurs at the leisure of the voter, who can now avoid a hectic workday scramble to get to the voting booth before it closes on Election Day. Texas was an early adopter of such voting; its experiences and those of a handful of other states led to the expansion of early voting nationwide, and many states now have some form of it. As shown in Figure 9.1, early voting has become quite popular in Texas, especially in presidential election years. In 2014, more than 2.5 million Texans took advantage of early voting, down slightly from the 2010 statewide, midterm elections.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.