| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Voting-Age Population | The citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching a minimum age requirement. In the United States a citizen must be at least eighteen years old in order to vote. |
| Registered Voters | People who are registered to vote. While almost all adult in American citizens are theoretically eligible to vote, only those who have completed a registration form by the required date may do so. |
| Motor-Voter Law | A bill passed by Congress in 1993 to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. The law, which went into effect in 1995, requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when one applies for a driver's license , and at state offices that serve the disabled poor. |
| Literacy Test | A requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. It was established by many states to prevent former slaves (Most of whom were illiterate) from voting. Illiterate whites were allowed to vote by a "grandfather clause" added to the law saying a person could vote, eventhough he did not meet the legal requirements, if he or his ancestors voted before 1867. |
| Poll Tax | A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote. It was adopted by many states to prevent former slaves (most of whom were poor) from voting. It is now unconstitutional. |
| Grandfather Clause | Added to the literacy test law saying a person could vote, even though he did not meet the legal requirements, if he or his ancestors voted before 1867. |
| White Primary | The practice of keeping African Americans from voting in primary elections (at the time, the only meaningful election in the one-party South was the democratic party) through arbitrary implementation of registration requirements and intimidation . Such practices were declared unconstitutional in 1944. |
| Australian Ballot | A government-printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret that was adopted by many states around 1890 in order ti reduce the voting fraud associated with party printed ballots cast in public. |
| Activists | Individuals, usually outside of government, who actively promote a political political party, philosophy, or issue they care about. |
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