Voting Rights: A Short History
The struggle for equal voting rights dates to the earliest days of U.S.
history. Now, after a period of bipartisan efforts to expand
enfranchisement, Americans once again face new obstacles to voting
By Carnegie Corporation of New York November 18, 2019
Challenges to voting rights in this country, like the ones we've seen recently, are hardly a 21st-
century invention. Entrenched groups have long tried to keep the vote out of the hands of the
less powerful. Indeed, America began its great democratic experiment in the late 1700s by
granting the right to vote to a narrow subset of society — white male landowners. Even as
barriers to voting began receding in the ensuing decades, many Southern states erected new
ones, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, aimed at keeping the vote out of the hands of African
American men.
Over time, voting rights became a bipartisan priority as people worked at all levels to enact
constitutional amendments and laws expanding access to the vote based on race and ethnicity,
gender, disability, age and other factors. The landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed by
Congress took major steps to curtail voter suppression. Thus began a new era of push-and-pull
on voting rights, with the voting age reduced to 18 from 21 and the enshrinement of voting
protections for language minorities and people with disabilities.
Greater voter enfranchisement was met with fresh resistance and in 2013, the Supreme Court
gutted the Voting Rights Act in its ruling on Shelby County v. Holder, paving the way for states
and jurisdictions with a history of voter suppression to enact restrictive voter identification laws.
A whopping 23 states created new obstacles to voting in the decade leading up to the 2018
elections, according to the nonpartisan coalition Election Protection.
These activities have a demonstrable and disproportionate effect on populations that are
already underrepresented at the polls. Adding to the problems, government at all levels has
largely failed to make the necessary investments in elections (from technology to poll-worker
training) to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the system.
1700s: Voting generally limited to white property holders
Despite their belief in the virtues of democracy, the founders of the United States accepted and
endorsed severe limits on voting. The U.S. Constitution originally left it to states to determine
who is qualified to vote in elections. For decades, state legislatures generally restricted voting to
white males who owned property. Some states also employed religious tests to ensure that only
Christian men could vote.
1800s: Official barriers to voting start to recede
During the early part of the 19th century, state legislatures begin to limit the property
requirement for voting. Later, during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, Congress
passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which ensured that people could not be
denied the right to vote because of their race. The amendment was ratified by the states in
1870. However, in the decades that followed, many states, particularly in the South, used a
range of barriers, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, to deliberately reduce voting among
African American men.
1920: Women win the vote
Early in the 20th century, women still were only able to vote in a handful of states. After decades
of organizing and activism, women nationwide won the right to vote with the ratification of the
19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.
1960: Southern states ramp up barriers to voting
The struggle for equal voting rights came to a head in the 1960s as many states, particularly in
the South, dug in on policies—such as literacy tests, poll taxes, English-language requirements,
and more—aimed at suppressing the vote among people of color, immigrants and low-income
populations. In March 1965, activists organized protest marches from Selma, Alabama, to the
state capital of Montgomery to spotlight the issue of black voting rights. The first march was
brutally attacked by police and others on a day that came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.”
After a second march was cut short, a throng of thousands finally made the journey, arriving in
Montgomery on March 24 and drawing nationwide attention to the issue.
1964: The 24th Amendment targets poll taxes
Poll taxes were a particularly egregious form of voter suppression for a century following the
Civil War, forcing people to pay money in order to vote. Payment of the tax was a prerequisite
for voter registration in many states. The taxes were expressly designed to keep African
Americans and low-income white people from voting. Some states even enacted grandfather
clauses to allow many higher-income white people to avoid paying the tax. The 24th
Amendment was approved by Congress in 1962 and ratified by the states two years later. In a
1966 case, the Supreme Court ruled that poll taxes are unconstitutional in any U.S. election.
1965: The Voting Rights Act passes Congress
Inspired by voting rights marches in Alabama in spring 1965, Congress passed the Voting
Rights Act. The vote was decisive and bipartisan: 79-18 in the Senate and 328-74 in the House.
President Lyndon Johnson signed the measure on August 6 with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Rosa Parks, and other icons of the civil rights movement at his side. In addition to barring many
of the policies and practices that states had been using to limit voting among African Americans
and other targeted groups, the Voting Rights Act included provisions that required states and
local jurisdictions with a historical pattern of suppressing voting rights based on race to submit
changes in their election laws to the U.S. Justice Department for approval (or “preclearance”). In
the ensuing decades, the preclearance provisions proved to be a remarkably effective means of
discouraging state and local officials from erecting new barriers to voting, stopping the most
egregious policies from going forward, and providing communities and civil rights advocates
with advance notice of proposed changes that might suppress the vote.
1971: Young people win the vote
For much of the nation’s history, states generally restricted voting to people age 21 and older.
But during the 1960s, the movement to lower the voting age gained steam with the rise of
student activism and the war in Vietnam, which was fought largely by young, 18-and-over
draftees. The 26th amendment prohibited states and the federal government from using age as
a reason to deny the vote to anyone 18 years of age and over.
1975: Voting Rights Act expanded to protect language minorities
Congress added new provisions to the Voting Rights Act to protect members of language
minority groups. The amendments required jurisdictions with significant numbers of voters who
have limited or no proficiency in English to provide voting materials in other languages and to
provide multilingual assistance at the polls.
1982: Congress requires new voting protections for people with disabilities
Congress passed a law extending the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. As part of the
extension, Congress required states to take steps to make voting more accessible for the
elderly and people with disabilities.
1993: “Motor Voter” becomes law
Responding to historically low rates of voter registration, Congress passed the National Voter
Registration Act. Also known as “motor voter,” the law required states to allow citizens to
register to vote when they applied for their drivers’ licenses. The law also required states to offer
mail-in registration and to allow people to register to vote at offices offering public assistance. In
the first year of its implementation, more than 30 million people completed their voter
registration applications or updated their registration through means made available because of
the law.
2000: Election problems spotlight need for reform
The extremely close Bush-Gore Presidential race led to a recount in the state of Florida that
highlighted many of the problems plaguing U.S. elections, from faulty equipment and bad ballot
design to inconsistent rules and procedures across local jurisdictions and states. The U.S.
Supreme Court ultimately intervened to stop the Florida recount and effectively ensured the
election of George W. Bush.
2002: Congress passes the Help America Vote Act
With memories of the problems of the 2000 election still fresh in everyone’s mind, Congress
passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 with the goal of streamlining election procedures
across the nation. The law placed new mandates on states and localities to replace outdated
voting equipment, create statewide voter registration lists, and provide provisional ballots to
ensure that eligible voters are not turned away if their names are not on the roll of registered
voters. The law also was designed to make it easier for people with disabilities to cast private,
independent ballots.
2010: Philanthropy embraces need for reform
Along with a core group of other funders, the Carnegie Corporation of New York began
investing in voting rights and elections work in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, it wasn’t until the early years of the 21st century that funders started to work more
intentionally together in their support for voting rights. A key vehicle for collective funder action
on these issues is the State Infrastructure Fund (SIF), a collaborative fund administered by NEO
Philanthropy. The fund was created in 2010 and has raised more than $56 million from an
expanding list of funders to invest in advancing voting rights and expanding voting among
historically underrepresented communities.
June 2013: The Supreme Court strikes a blow to the Voting Right Act
In its June ruling in the case, Shelby County v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the
Voting Rights Act. Because of the Court’s decision, states and localities with a history of
suppressing voting rights no longer were required to submit changes in their election laws to the
U.S. Justice Department for review (or “preclearance”). The 5-4 decision ruled unconstitutional a
section of the landmark 1965 law that was key to protecting voters in states and localities with a
history of race-based voter suppression. In her dissent in the case, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
famously stated, “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to
stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are
not getting wet.”
August 2013: States ramp up barriers to voting
On August 11, North Carolina’s governor signed a voter identification law seen by many as an
attempt to suppress the votes of people of color. The North Carolina law was just one of many
similar laws passed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2013 Shelby ruling. Texas
officials, in fact, acted on the same day of the Shelby decision to institute a strict voter
identification law that previously had been blocked under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
because of its impact in suppressing the vote of low-income people and racial minorities. After a
lawsuit filed by civil rights groups and the U.S. Department of Justice, the North Carolina law
was struck down by a federal judge who said it targeted African Americans with “almost surgical
precision.” Officials in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Virginia shortly joined the ranks of
those intent on exercising their newly won power to turn back the clock to an earlier time when
election laws and practices in many places were marked by blatant discrimination and racism.
2014: The voting rights movement coalesces to fight suppression
In response to post-Shelby assaults on voting rights, voting rights organizations across the
country stepped up their work to protect and advance the right to vote and move us closer to the
vision of a nation of, by, and for the people. This work includes litigation to challenge
unconstitutional barriers to voting, on-the-ground advocacy to advance pro-voter policies at the
local and state levels, and nonpartisan efforts to register, educate and mobilize historically
underrepresented populations so they can participate more actively in elections and civic life.
The State Infrastructure Fund began convening a cohort of nonprofit public interest litigation
groups with the aim of streamlining and coordinating the field’s response to a fresh wave of
policies to suppress the vote. Coordinated by the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund (MALDEF), the collaborative of 12 organizations has played an essential role
in pushing back against strict voter identification laws, racial gerrymandering, and other tactics
aimed at reducing the voting rights of underrepresented populations.
2016: Presidential election and claims of fraud
After President Trump was elected despite losing the popular vote, he and his supporters made
claims that large numbers of people voted illegally. A Washington Post analysis was able to find
only four documented cases of voter fraud in the 2016 election out of 135 million ballots cast.
The narrative about fraud ultimately resulted in President Trump convening the Presidential
Commission on Election Integrity, which disbanded in January 2018 without presenting any
evidence or findings. Continued false claims of rampant voter fraud have added fuel to the fire
and prompted even bolder efforts to suppress the vote. Adding to the problems, government at
all levels has largely failed to make the necessary investments in elections (from technology to
poll worker training) to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the electoral system.
October 2018: State, local officials keep erecting new barriers to voting
continue
A 2018 USAToday analysis found that election officials recently have closed thousands of
polling places, with a disproportionate impact on communities of color. The polling place
closures are just one example of how states and localities have continued to try to suppress the
votes of targeted populations. In 2018, for example, the Georgia Senate passed bills cutting
voting hours in Atlanta (where African Americans are 54 percent of the population) and
restricting early voting on weekends. The latter measure was seen by many as a not-so-subtle
attempt to target nonpartisan “Souls to the Polls” events organized by black churches to get
their parishioners to vote on Sunday after church. Both Georgia measures were subsequently
defeated in the state Assembly.
November 2018: Election draws record number of voters but problems
remain
According to early estimates, 116 million voters—nearly half the eligible voting population (49.7
percent)—cast ballots in the 2018 elections. Not only did voter turnout set a 100-year record for
midterm races, but the election saw record numbers of women and candidates of color running
at all levels. In addition, voters approved a number of important state ballot measures aimed at
expanding the electorate and making it easier to vote, including a law in Florida that lifts the
permanent ban on voting for people with a felony criminal record. The numbers for 2018 were
especially impressive given that many states continue to take aggressive steps to make it
harder for people to vote. According to the nonpartisan coalition Election Protection, 23 states
created new obstacles to voting in the decade preceding the 2018 election.
2019: Voting rights groups prepare for the 2020 Census and redistricting
In the same way that partisan interests and those in power have used voting rights laws and
policies to suppress the vote, they also have attempted to use the U.S. Census and the
subsequent congressional redistricting process to advance their political goals. The Trump
administration, for example, fought unsuccessfully for two years to add a question to the 2020
census asking if someone is a citizen of the United States. Voting rights and civil rights groups
said this was a transparent attempt to instill fear in immigrant communities, with the result of
undercounting the immigrant population and reducing its political power and voice. Other
concerns about the 2020 census include chronic underfunding for the work of accurately
counting everyone in the nation. To the extent that the census cuts corners, there is a well-
founded belief that it will result in an undercount of already underrepresented populations,
including low-income populations and people of color.
For further background and how we can protect the right to vote, read our report, Voting Rights
Under Fire
1. What were the initial criteria for voting rights in the United States as stated in the text?
2. How did the introduction of poll taxes and literacy tests affect African American men’s
ability to vote?
3. Describe the significance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its impact on voter
suppression.
4. What historical events led to the ratification of the 24th Amendment, and what change
did it bring about?
5. Explain the role of the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder and its
consequences on voting rights.
6. How did the 2013 North Carolina voter identification law attempt to influence voter
turnout among people of color?
7. What were some of the measures taken by Congress to expand voting rights for young
people and language minorities?
8. In what ways did the 2000 Presidential election highlight the issues within the U.S. voting
system?
9. Discuss how voting rights organizations responded to the post-Shelby challenges to
voting access.
10. What does the text suggest about the relationship between the U.S. Census and voting
rights, particularly concerning immigrant communities?
