Voters/Elections - Ch. 6-1

Chapter 6: Voters and Voter Behavior Section 1

Objectives 1. Summarize the history of voting rights in the United States. 2. Identify and explain constitutional restrictions on the States’ power to set voting qualifications.

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Key Terms • • • • •

suffrage: the right to vote franchise: a synonym for the right to vote electorate: the potential voting population disenfranchised: denied the right to vote poll tax: a fee charged before allowing someone to vote

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Introduction • How have voting rights changed over the course of American history? – Over time, voting rights have been extended to more Americans. – Voting qualifications based on property ownership, religion, race, and sex have all been eliminated through federal laws and constitutional amendments. – The age requirement for voting has been reduced. Chapter 6, Section 1

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The Electorate • The Constitution originally gave the power to decide voter qualifications to the States. – At first most States allowed only white male property owners to vote.

• Since 1789, many restrictions on voting rights have been eliminated. • At the same time, the power to decide who has the right to vote has been shifting from the States to the federal government. Chapter 6, Section 1

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Stage 1 • Checkpoint: What was the first voting qualification to disappear? – Religious qualifications for voting were eliminated by 1810. – This was followed in the early 1800s by the gradual elimination of property ownership and tax payment qualifications. – By 1850, almost all white males could vote in every State.

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Stage 2 • After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment made it illegal to deny any citizen the right to vote based on their race or color. – In theory, this amendment gave African Americans the right to vote. – However, the spirit of this law was violated for nearly 100 years as African Americans were denied the vote in many places. Chapter 6, Section 1

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Stage 3 • In 1920, the ratification of the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. – By 1920, more than half the States had already followed the example set by Wyoming in 1869 and given women the vote.

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Women’s Suffrage in 1919

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Stages 4 & 5 • During the 1960s, the civil rights movement led to new protections for African American voting rights. – The Voting Rights Act of 1965 defended racial equality in voting. – The 24th Amendment eliminated the poll tax in federal elections.

• In 1971 the 26th Amendment gave those 18 and older the right to vote. Chapter 6, Section 1

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Voting Qualifications • The Constitution sets five restrictions on the ability of the States to set voter qualifications. – Anyone allowed to vote for members of their State legislature must be allowed to vote for members of Congress. – The 15th Amendment bans the States from depriving any person of the right to vote on account of their race, color, or having once been enslaved.

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Voting Qualifications, cont. • Under the 19th Amendment, no State can deprive any person of the right to vote based on their sex. • No State can levy a tax on the right to vote for President, Vice President, or members of Congress.

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Voting Qualifications, cont. • Under the 26th Amendment, no State can deprive any person who is at least 18 years of age of the right to vote because of their age.

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Voting Qualifications, cont. • In addition, no State can violate any other provision in the Constitution when setting its voting qualifications. – For example, a State cannot set suffrage qualifications that violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

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Review • Now that you have learned about how voting rights have changed over the course of American history, go back and answer the Chapter Essential Question. – Why do voters act as they do?

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