Simone Lawson
The right to vote in the United States has been amended several times since the US Constitution was first written in the late 18th century. Initially, women and people of colour were excluded from voting. However, six constitutional amendments have since been passed to address voting rights and make it more accessible to all citizens. These include the 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour, or membership in a language minority group.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| 15th Amendment | Passed in 1870, it extended voting rights to African American men and banned discrimination based on race. |
| 19th Amendment | Passed in 1920, it prohibited states from denying the vote based on sex, giving women the right to vote. |
| 24th Amendment | Passed in 1964, it eliminated poll taxes, which had been used to restrict voting rights, particularly for African Americans. |
| 26th Amendment | Passed in 1971, it lowered the voting age to 18 for all elections. |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | Enforced the amendments, securing voting rights for adult citizens of all races and genders through federal laws. |
| National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 | Created new ways to register to vote and mandated states to maintain accurate voter registration lists. |
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What You'll Learn
- The 15th Amendment (1870) gave African American men the right to vote
- The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
- The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes
- The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18
- The Voting Rights Act (1965) prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour or language
The 15th Amendment (1870) gave African American men the right to vote
The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on 3 February 1870, gave African American men the right to vote. The official text of the amendment is as follows:
> The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Despite the 15th Amendment, African Americans were still disenfranchised in many Southern states. In the 1890s, steps were taken to ensure "white supremacy", including literacy tests for voting and grandfather clauses that excluded people from voting whose ancestors had not voted in the 1860s. This led to the rise of Jim Crow laws in the Southern states, which undermined the newly achieved constitutional liberties of African Americans.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to pass legislation that would uphold the 15th Amendment, stating:
> We cannot have government for all the people until we first make certain it is government of and by all the people.
This resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote and authorized federal supervision of voter registration where necessary.
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The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified on August 18, 1920, was a significant milestone in the history of women's suffrage, guaranteeing American women the legal right to vote. This amendment was the culmination of a long and arduous struggle spanning decades, with the first introduction of the amendment in Congress dating back to 1878. The journey towards women's suffrage involved tireless efforts through organising, petitioning, lecturing, writing, marching, lobbying, and even civil disobedience to achieve what many considered a radical constitutional change.
The amendment states that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This declaration ensured that women across the nation were granted the same voting rights as men, marking a pivotal moment in the fight for gender equality.
However, it is important to acknowledge that the impact of the 19th Amendment was not immediately felt by all women. While white women benefited from its ratification, the systemic racism prevalent in the South and other regions prevented Black women and women of colour from fully exercising their newly granted right. It would take several more decades for them to gain equal access to the ballot box, as they continued to face discriminatory state voting laws and racially biased policies.
Additionally, Native American, Asian American, and Latina women were also largely excluded from voting rights at the time of the 19th Amendment's passage. Native Americans, in particular, were ineligible for U.S. citizenship in 1920, and it wasn't until the Snyder Act of 1924 that they achieved some access to the ballot. Asian women faced barriers due to racist laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prevented their participation in the electoral process.
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The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes
The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes as a requirement for voting in federal elections. The amendment states that citizens' right to vote in any election for President, Vice President, or any other federal position shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State due to the failure to pay a poll tax or any other tax. This amendment was a significant step towards ensuring that all citizens, regardless of their economic status, had the opportunity to participate in federal elections.
The history of the poll tax in the United States is closely tied to the struggle for racial equality, particularly regarding the voting rights of African Americans. In the late 19th century, following the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, states across the former Confederacy sought to restrict the civil liberties of the newly-freed African American population. One of the methods employed to achieve this was the imposition of poll taxes. While the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote, many were still unable to exercise this right due to barriers such as poll taxes.
The poll tax, often coupled with literacy tests, served as a tool to disenfranchise African Americans and poor whites, making it difficult for them to vote. Proponents of the poll tax downplayed its discriminatory impact, assuring white voters that they would not be adversely affected. However, in reality, the tax disproportionately impacted African Americans and poor whites, effectively excluding them from the political process.
The movement to abolish the poll tax gained momentum during the Roosevelt Administration in the 1930s and 1940s, with President Harry S. Truman's Committee on Civil Rights investigating the issue. Despite these efforts, it wasn't until the administration of John F. Kennedy that the poll tax repeal gained legislative traction. In August 1962, Congress proposed the 24th Amendment, and by January 1964, it was ratified by the required 38 states, marking a significant victory for voting rights and civil liberties in the United States.
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The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18
The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on July 1, 1971, lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years 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 power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
The push to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 gained momentum in the 1940s, with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt endorsing Congressional proposals. However, it wasn't until the 1960s and early 1970s that the movement gained significant traction, largely due to increasing public opposition to the Vietnam War. Many young Americans were being drafted to fight in a war that they had no political authority to influence through voting. This led to the popular sentiment that if someone was old enough to fight for their country, they should be old enough to vote. Additionally, the growing number of young Americans graduating high school, attending college, and engaging in political and social activism heightened national awareness of the process of crafting laws and constitutional amendments.
The 26th Amendment faced legal challenges, with questions arising regarding the representation of out-of-town college students at the polls and the applicability of the amendment to other political institutions, such as jury duty. Despite these challenges, the 26th Amendment remains a significant milestone in the expansion of voting rights in the United States, ensuring that young adults have a voice in the democratic process.
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The Voting Rights Act (1965) prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour or language
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a significant piece of legislation that aimed to address and prohibit voter discrimination based on race, colour, or membership in a language minority group. This act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965, and served as a crucial step towards ensuring equal voting rights for all citizens, regardless of their racial or linguistic background.
Prior to the enactment of this legislation, African Americans, particularly in the South, faced significant obstacles to exercising their right to vote. These barriers included poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions specifically designed to limit their political participation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 directly addressed these discriminatory practices, outlawing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting" that resulted in the denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race, colour, or language minority status.
One of the key provisions of the act was Section 2, which contained strong protections against voter discrimination. This section prohibited both intentional discrimination based on race or colour and any election practices that resulted in the denial or abridgment of the right to vote for individuals belonging to racial or language minorities. Additionally, Section 2 allowed private plaintiffs to take legal action and sue to enforce these prohibitions, further strengthening the fight against discriminatory voting practices.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also included other important sections, such as Section 5, which required certain jurisdictions with a history of egregious voting discrimination to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any new voting practices or procedures. This provision ensured that changes to election laws in these areas would not further disenfranchise minority voters. While the coverage formula for Section 5 was later struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013 as obsolete, it played a crucial role in protecting voting rights for almost five decades.
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