Voting Rights
- Title
- Voting Rights
- Description
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Voting rights are established in the United States Constitution, requiring that U.S. citizens shall not be denied of their right to vote based on their race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age. These rights may be infringed upon at a state level by state rules and regulations, such as voter identification laws or cuts to early voting, for example.
Initially, voting rights were limited to property-owning white men. Following the Civil War, the 15th Amendment (1870) opened voting to African American men, however, restrictions such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and racial violence kept many Black men from exercising their right to vote during the Jim Crow Era. The 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote, but Jim Crow laws still restricted Black women’s suffrage. The Voting Rights Act (1965) prohibited racial discrimination in voting, intending to outlaw the prejudicial restrictions adopted by many southern states.
Voting access is currently being constricted through the implementation of unfair voter ID requirements, restrictions on early voting and voting by mail, and redistricting electoral boundaries. These laws and restrictions especially disenfranchise low-income, disabled, and minority voters.
- Item sets
- Legal Concepts
- Title
- Voting Rights
- Description
-
Voting rights are established in the United States Constitution, requiring that U.S. citizens shall not be denied of their right to vote based on their race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age. These rights may be infringed upon at a state level by state rules and regulations, such as voter identification laws or cuts to early voting, for example.
Initially, voting rights were limited to property-owning white men. Following the Civil War, the 15th Amendment (1870) opened voting to African American men, however, restrictions such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and racial violence kept many Black men from exercising their right to vote during the Jim Crow Era. The 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote, but Jim Crow laws still restricted Black women’s suffrage. The Voting Rights Act (1965) prohibited racial discrimination in voting, intending to outlaw the prejudicial restrictions adopted by many southern states.
Voting access is currently being constricted through the implementation of unfair voter ID requirements, restrictions on early voting and voting by mail, and redistricting electoral boundaries. These laws and restrictions especially disenfranchise low-income, disabled, and minority voters.
- Item sets
- Legal Concepts