Women Voter Convention, San Francisco, California, 1915
Topics on the Page
Voting Rights and Voter Suppression
History of Voting Rights
Teaching Resources
Gerrymandering
Poll Taxes
Literacy Tests
Voter Restriction Laws
Supreme Court Decisions on Voting Rights
Click here for the text of the Proposed New Right to Vote Amendment to the Constitution
- At present there is no right to vote explicitly set forth in the Constitution.
Voter Rights and Voter Suppression
Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting.
Voting Rights Advocates Raise Concerns about New Restrictions at the Ballot Box
Voting Rights Video
Polling Place, New York City, 1912
15th Amendment to the Constitution
Teaching Resources:
Quiz:
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is named for Elbridge Gerry from Massachusetts who attended the Constitutional Convention but did not sign the Constitution was later the fifth Vice-President of the United States.
Gerrymandering Explained, The Washington Post (2017)
The Man Who Rigged America's Election Maps tells the story of Republican mapmaker Thomas Hofeller who died in 2018.
Poll Taxes
Poll Tax History is an interactive overview of the rise of poll taxes after the Civil War
The 24th Amendment Ended the Poll Tax, January 23, 1964
White Only: Jim Crow in America discusses ways African Americans were denied the vote
Literacy Tests
Can You Pass a Literacy Test?
Literacy Tests and the Right to Vote
- Connecticut was the first state to require a literacy test
- It was intended to keep Irish immigrants from voting
New Hampshire Sign, 2013
Voter Restriction Laws
New Voting Restrictions in Place for 2016 Presidential Election, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law
- Includes an interactive map to see state-by-state restrictions, including voter ID laws, photo ID requirements, and reduction of early voting times and days
After Stunning Democratic Win, North Dakota Republicans Suppressed the Native American Vote, The Nation (May 2, 2018)
- Federal Court found voter identification laws were disproportionately burdensome to Native Americans
Voter Identification Requirements, National Council of State Legislatures
Oppose Voter ID Legislation: Fact Sheet, American Civil Liberties Union
How Controversial Voter ID Laws are Affecting Voters from PBS Newshour
Some Republicans Acknowledge Leveraging Voter ID Laws for Political Gain, The New York Times (September 16, 2016)
The Truth About Voter Fraud, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law
Barriers to Voting, Pennsylvania Bar Association
Who Gets to Vote? Washington State Legislature
Voter Fraud? Or Voter Suppression? Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
The Supreme Court at Night
Supreme Court Decisions on Voting Rights
Here Is What Is Happening in the Battle for Voting Rights, Mother Jones (August 3, 2016)
Virginia Minor
- Virginia Minor challenged voting restrictions against women during 1872 Presidential election
- The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not grant women the right to vote
Leser v. Garnett (1922)
- Decision by the Supreme Court reaffirmed the 19th Amendment that women had the right to vote
Resources for Identifying Current Political Issues
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