Jonah Patel
Voting rights in the United States have been expanded and protected by several constitutional amendments and federal laws. While the original Constitution does not explicitly mention a right to vote for citizens, subsequent amendments have extended voting rights to men of all races, women, and citizens aged 18 and above. The authority to protect voting rights stems from these amendments and legislation, with federal laws governing voting rights and making it easier for citizens to exercise their right to vote.
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What You'll Learn
- The original US Constitution does not explicitly mention a citizen's right to vote
- The 15th Amendment (1870) granted all male citizens the right to vote regardless of race
- The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
- The 24th Amendment (1964) removed poll taxes as a barrier to voting
- The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the minimum voting age to 18
The original US Constitution does not explicitly mention a citizen's right to vote
The original US Constitution, enacted into law in the late 18th century, does not explicitly mention a citizen's right to vote. Instead, it left it to the states to determine voter eligibility, leading to considerable variation across the nation. While most states restricted voting to property-owning or tax-paying white men, some states, like New Jersey, allowed free Black men and women of all races to vote, provided they met property or tax requirements.
The authority to protect voting rights stems from later amendments and legislation. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted the right to vote to all male citizens, regardless of their race or prior slave status. However, the Supreme Court interpreted this amendment relatively narrowly, and discriminatory practices, such as poll taxes, literary tests, and the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, prevented many African Americans in the Southern states from exercising their right to vote.
The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, prohibited states from denying women the right to vote. The Twenty-fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes, which had been used to restrict the voting rights of African Americans. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour, or membership in a language minority group. It also required certain places to provide election materials in languages other than English.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age to 18 for all elections. While the federal government technically has the power to protect voting rights and regulate elections, it currently lacks the tools to do so effectively. As a result, it is up to individual states to take action to protect voting rights, such as removing barriers to voter registration and making it as easy as possible to cast a ballot.
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The 15th Amendment (1870) granted all male citizens the right to vote regardless of race
Voting rights in the United States are governed by federal laws, which have their roots in the US Constitution's Article 1. Notably, the Constitution itself does not explicitly grant citizens the right to vote, and it does not define who is eligible to cast votes in elections. Instead, it states that those eligible to vote for the largest house of a state's legislature are also eligible to vote for members of the House of Representatives from that state. This left states with the power to decide who qualified to vote, resulting in variations across the nation.
The 15th Amendment, ratified on February 3, 1870, was a significant step towards ensuring that all male citizens, regardless of race, could exercise their right to vote. This amendment was the result of a prolonged struggle for equality, particularly for African American men, who had gained freedom and citizenship through the 13th and 14th Amendments following the Civil War. The 15th Amendment explicitly prohibited the federal government and state governments from denying or restricting a male citizen's right to vote based on "race, colour, or previous condition of servitude". This amendment was a cause for celebration among African Americans, who considered it a "second birth" for the nation, and it marked a significant shift in the political landscape.
However, despite the protections offered by the 15th Amendment, discriminatory practices and laws in some Southern states prevented many African Americans from fully exercising their right to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and the emergence of groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which used violence to intimidate voters, created significant barriers to voting for African Americans. It was not until the 20th century that Supreme Court decisions began to chip away at these discriminatory laws and restrictions, with key rulings in cases like Guinn v. United States (1915) and the "Texas primary cases" (1927-1953).
The enforcement of the 15th Amendment was a continuous struggle, and it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that all remaining deterrents to voting were abolished, and federal supervision of voter registration was authorised to ensure equal voting rights for all citizens.
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The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
Voting is not explicitly mentioned in the US Constitution, and the authority to protect voting rights comes from later amendments and legislation. The 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, was one such amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote.
The 19th Amendment was the culmination of a long and difficult campaign for women's suffrage in the United States, dating back to the mid-19th century. Women and their supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change to the Constitution. The amendment was first introduced to Congress in 1878 but was rejected in 1887. It was not until 1919 that the amendment passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The amendment prohibited the United States and its states from denying any citizen the right to vote based on sex. This effectively granted women the right to vote, although in practice, only white women were able to exercise this right due to ongoing discrimination against women of colour. It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that women of colour were afforded crucial protections to ensure their right to vote.
The passage of the 19th Amendment had a significant impact on the American electorate, changing it forever. However, it is important to note that the amendment did not ensure full enfranchisement, and many women, particularly women of colour, continued to face barriers to voting due to discriminatory state laws. It was not until the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 that all women, regardless of race or disability status, were fully protected in their right to vote.
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The 24th Amendment (1964) removed poll taxes as a barrier to voting
Voting rights in the United States are governed by federal laws, which have their roots in Article 1 of the Constitution. While the Constitution does refer to the election of members of Congress and the President, it does not explicitly state that citizens have the right to vote in elections.
The 24th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified on January 23, 1964, abolished poll taxes, which had been used to restrict the voting rights of African Americans and poor whites. The official text of the Amendment states:
> The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Poll taxes were adopted by Southern states, both in their laws and constitutions, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1902, all eleven states of the former Confederacy had enacted a poll tax, and by the time of the Amendment's ratification in 1964, five states still retained it: Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi. The taxes were upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1937, but President Harry S. Truman criticised them in his President's Committee on Civil Rights, and they were later investigated by John F. Kennedy.
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The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the minimum voting age to 18
Voting rights are governed by federal laws in the United States, which trace back to Article 1 of the Constitution. While the Constitution does refer to the election of members of Congress and the President, it does not explicitly define who may vote in these elections. The authority to protect voting rights is derived from later amendments and legislation.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution, ratified on July 1, 1971, lowered the minimum voting age to 18 for all Americans. The official text of the amendment is as follows:
> The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 gained momentum during the 1960s, largely due to the Vietnam War. Many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted to fight in the war, thus lacking any means to influence the government's decision to send them off to risk their lives. This led to the emergence of a youth rights movement, with the slogan "old enough to fight, old enough to vote". The slogan can be traced back to World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military draft age to 18.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first president to publicly support lowering the voting age to 18. In 1963, the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation encouraged lowering the voting age in their report to President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson subsequently proposed granting 18-year-olds the right to vote in 1968. In 1969, demonstrators in Seattle, Washington, called for support to lower the voting age. In 1970, President Richard Nixon added a provision to lower the voting age in the extensions of the Voting Rights Act.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment has faced legal challenges since its ratification, with arguments surrounding its applicability to college students from out-of-town, its extension to other political institutions, and the validity of voter identification laws.
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Frequently asked questions
Nowhere in the original US Constitution does it say that US citizens have an explicit right to vote. The authority to protect voting rights comes from later amendments and legislation.
The 15th Amendment (1870) extended voting rights to men of all races. The 19th Amendment (1920) prohibited the states from denying the vote on the basis of sex. The 24th Amendment (1964) removed barriers to voting by prohibiting poll taxes. The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18.
Almost all state constitutions contain an explicit right to vote.
The original Constitution states that anyone eligible to vote for the largest house of a state’s legislature is also eligible to vote for members of the House of Representatives from that state. It also refers to the election of members of Congress and of the President.
