American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

ChAPTER EighT • CAmPAigns AnD ElECTions 193

Very close elections, such as the 2008 Minnesota

Senate race, demonstrate that your vote can make a

difference. In local races, elections have sometimes

been decided by one or two votes. In nearly every

state, before you are allowed to cast a vote in an

election, you must first register. Registration laws

vary considerably from state to state.

Residency and Age Requirements What do

you have to do to register and cast a vote? In gen-

eral, you must be a citizen of the United States, at

making a difference

REgisTERing AnD VoTing

least eighteen years old on or before Election Day, and

a resident of the state in which you intend to register.

A number of states require that you meet a minimum-

residency requirement. The minimum-residency

requirement is very short in some states—for example,

ten days in Wisconsin. No state requires more than

thirty days. Thirty states do not have any minimum-

residency requirement.

Time Limits Nearly every state also specifies a closing

date by which you must be registered before an election.

You may not be able to vote if you register too close to

the day of the election. The closing date for registration

varies from Election Day itself to thirty days before the

election. In North Dakota, no registration is necessary.

In most states, your registration can be revoked if

you do not vote within a certain number of years or do

not report a change of address. Federal regulations place

limits on how purges are conducted, but Democrats have

frequently accused Republican state officials of violating

the rules. The belief is that those who move frequently

or who often fail to vote—and who are therefore purged—

tend to be Democrats. For their part, Republicans con-

tend that aggressive purges limit voter fraud.

An Example Let us look at voter registration in Texas as

an example. If you live in Texas, you may have registered

to vote when you obtained your Texas driver’s license.

If not, you can find a voter registration form online by

searching on “texas vrapp.” You must mail the applica-

tion to the voter registrar in your county. (The registrar’s

address appears on the form after you finish filling it

out.) Applications are also available at post offices, librar-

ies, Texas Department of Public Safety offices, and Texas

Department of Human Services offices. Your application

must be postmarked thirty days before Election Day.

Disputed ballots are always a part of the

election process. Did this Minnesota voter mean to vote for

Norm Coleman? Coleman supporters argued that he or she

did, whereas supporters of Al Franken (the eventual winner)

contended that it was an invalid ballot. What do you think?

(AP Photo/Dawn Villella)

Australian ballot 186

caucus system 183

closed primary 182

coattail effect 186

credentials

committee 184

direct primary 181

elector 185

Federal Election

Commission (FEC)

176

focus group 175

franchise 190

front-loading 183

front-runner 183

general election 173

keyterms

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