Practicing Texas Politics: Chapter 5
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35 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Sound Bite | a very short statement of a candidate's theme communicated by radio or television in a few seconds |
| Political Action Committee (PAC) | An organizational device used by corporations, labor unions, and other organizations to raise money for campaign contributions. They donate because they agree with a candidate's position on an issue. |
| Texas Ethics Commission | Enforces state standards for lobbyists and public officials, including registration of lobbyists and reporting of political campaign contributions. (it requires financial disclosure from public officials) |
| Campaign Reform Act | Enacted by the U.S. congress and signed by president Bush in 2002, this law restricts donations of "soft money" and "hard money" for elections campaigns, but has been challenged in federal court. Also restricts corporations and labor unions the ability to run "electioneering" ad featuring the names and likenesses candidates close to election day |
| Soft Money | Campaign money donated to national political parties rather than to the candidate |
| Hard Money | campaign money contributed directly by individuals |
| Universal Suffrage | Voting is open for virtually all persons 18 years of age or older |
| Literacy Tests | A prerequisite for voter registration, this test was designed and administered in ways intended to prevent African Americans and Latinos from voting. it required prospective voters to take a screening test that conditioned voter registration on a person's literacy. |
| Grandfather Clause | Exempted people from educational, property, or tax requirements for voting if they were qualified to vote before 1867, and were descendants of such persons. Because African Americans were not allowed to vote before the 15th amendment (1870) it was used to prevent African Americans from voting |
| Poll Tax | a special tax that citizens pay to become eligible to vote ($1.75). Tax levied in TX from 1902 until a similar Virginian tax was declared unconstitutional in 1962. failure to pay the annual tax made a citizen ineligible to vote in party primaries or in special and general elections. Because of this African American voter participation declined. it was eventually abolished with the ratification of the 24th amendment. |
| White Primary | a nominating system designed to prevent African American and some Mexican Americans from participating in Democratic primaries from 1923-1944. Declared unconstitutional in Smith v Allwright trial |
| Racial Gerrymandering | Drawing districts designed to affect representation (under represent) of a racial group (African Americans) in a legislative chamber, city council, commissioners court, or other representative body. |
| At-Large Majority Districts | a district that elects two or more representatives |
| Voting Rights Act | Abolished use of all literacy tests in voter registrations. Prohibited residency requirements of more than 30 days for voting in Presidential Elections. Requires states to provide some form of absentee or early voting. Allows individuals to sue federal courts to request that voting examiners be sent to a particular area. Also it was amended to add the following: establish a new federal policies to increase voter turnout among Native Americans and Latinos for example using Spanish-speaking residents must use bilingual ballots / other bilingual materials. |
| Motor Voter Law | (AKA National Voter Registration Act) Legislation requiring certain government offices (e.g. motor vehicle licensing agency) to offer voter registration application to clients. |
| Voter Turnout | percentage of the voting-age population casting ballots in an election |
| Texas Election Code | The body of state law concerning parties, primaries, and elections. |
| Voter Registration | A qualified voter must register with the county registrar, who complies lists of qualified voters residing in each voting precinct |
| Early Voting | conducted at the county courthouse and selected polling places before the designated primary, special, or general election day. (17 days before first primary or 10 days before runoff primary) |
| Voting Precinct | The basic geographic area for conduction primaries and elections; TX is divided into more than 8,500 voting precinct with approximately 100 to 2,000 registered voters. |
| Election Administrator | less than 30% of TX counties employ a full-time election administrator to supervise voter registration and voting |
| Election Judge | Appointed by county commissioners court to administer election in a voting precinct |
| Primaries | A preliminary election conducted within the party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent general election |
| Direct Primary | A nominating system that allows voters to participate directly in the selection of candidates for public office |
| General Election | (candidates for all parties compete) Held in November of even-numbered years to elect county and state officials from among candidates nominated in primaries or in nominating conventions (for small parties) |
| Runoff Primary | Held a month after the first primary to allow party members to choose a candidate from the first primary's top two vote-getters |
| Closed Primary | A primary in which voters must declare their support for the party before they are permitted to participate in the selection of its candidates |
| Open Primary | a primary in which voters are not required to declare party identification |
| Nonpartisan Blanket Primary | A nominating process whereby voters indicate their preference by using a single ballot on which are printed the names and respective party labels of all persons seeking nomination |
| Independent Candidates | a candidate who runs in a general election without party endorsement or selection |
| Jungle Primary | Louisiana conducts this primary in which candidates from all parties compete in a single election. A candidate who receives 50% or more of the votes is elected; otherwise a runoff between the top two candidates must be held. (no party primary just the general election) |
| Crossover Voting | A practice whereby a person participates in the primary of one party, then votes for one or more candidates of another party in the general election (democrats in republican dominated counties are more likely to participate in crossover voting) |
| Canvas | to scrutinize the results of an election and then confirm and certify the votes tally for each candidate |
| Off-Year or Midterm Elections | A general election held in even-numbered year following a presidential election |
| Special Elections | an election called by the governor to fill a vacancy (U.S. congressional or state legislative office) or vote on a proposed state constitutional amendment or local bond issues |
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