Expanding the Electorate

The right to vote has undergone dramatic change throughout America’s history. The framers of the Constitution intended the right to suffrage to only be extended to white male citizens over the age of 21. There were also property requirements that prevented even poor whites from voting.

Gradually, though, the right to suffrage was expanded so that now citizens over the age of 18 can vote regardless of race, religion, sex, disability, or sexual orientation. The journey to equal voting rights was long and arduous since the federal government couldn’t impose national voting regulations and protections. The Constitution left voting rights up to the states.

The first expansion of suffrage was during a time known as Jacksonian Democracy which was from 1828 to 1840. During Jacksonian Democracy, there was a movement towards greater democracy. Andrew Jackson himself was a common man and he and his supporters supported broadening the public’s participation in democracy. By 1850, nearly all property requirements for voting were abolished which resulted in universal white male suffrage. However, blacks, immigrants, and women were still excluded from the electorate.

African Americans were the next group to gain voting rights. The process wasn’t nearly as peaceful as it was for poor white males. It took the American Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction for the Fifteenth Amendment to be implemented. While African Americans could legally vote after the Fifteenth Amendment, they were often prevented from fully exercising their right to vote by whites and discriminatory legislation. The Jim Crow era that arose after Reconstruction consisted of intimidation from white vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses aimed specifically at African Americans. As a result, African Americans had great difficulty voting.

Women’s suffrage came with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Prior to the Nineteenth Amendment, some western states had already granted the right to vote to women. However, a constitutional amendment protecting all women’s right to vote took decades of advocacy. The movement for suffrage for women can be traced back to 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. After the convention, the fight for women’s suffrage became more pronounced with passionate activists such as Alice Paul, leader of the National Women’s Party, and Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Originally, Wilson opposed a women’s suffrage amendment but he eventually switched his position through the influence of Carrie Chapman Catt who had a less militant advocacy style than Alice Paul. Wilson tied the suffrage amendment to women’s involvement in World War I and while the amendment proposal failed in 1918, the president’s approval of the amendment helped boost support. Congress took up the proposal again in 1919 and the proposal passed and was ratified by the states.

Native Americans and Asians were eventually granted the right to vote. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act was enacted granting the right to vote to Native Americans. The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 granted Asians voting rights. Like African Americans though, Native Americans and Asians were barred from voting by discriminatory laws. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that voting discrimination was finally addressed. The act forbade laws restricting people’s ability to vote such as poll tax and literacy test laws. The federal government was granted oversight of the voting process which helped prevent discrimination.

The last group to gain voting rights was 18 to 20-year-olds. Advocates argued that since 18-year-olds were old enough to fight in the Vietnam War, then they should be allowed the right to vote. The Twenty-six Amendment thus lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971.

Sadly, despite remarkable progress in expanding the electorate, there are still issues today that hinder people from exercising their voting rights. Voter suppression is still very much an issue and it involves gerrymandering, voter roll purging, ID requirements, and other harmful tactics. Voter suppression laws need to be outlawed and the best way to do that is to vote for candidates that promise to target these discriminatory laws. No one who is legally able to vote should be prevented from voting.

References

Ferreira, R. (2020). The history of voting in the United States. The Elm. https://elm.umaryland.edu/voices-and-opinions/Voices--Opinions-Content/The-History-of-Voting-in-the-United-States.php

HISTORY. (2021). 19th Amendment. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment-1

Kennedy, L. (2021). Voting rights milestones in America: A timeline. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/voting-rights-timeline

Lumen. (n.d.) The Jacksonian administration. Lumen. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/the-jackson-administration/

United States Government. (n.d.). Elections and voting. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/elections-and-voting