GOTV
In less than a month, our nation will participate in a presidential election. If we’ve learned anything from 2020, it’s the importance of educating ourselves, questioning what we think we know, and checking our biases.
As a result, and because I love a timeline (see below), I thought it would be beneficial to review and refresh my memory (and yours) on America’s right to vote history. Our sorted past provides a framework to better understand what is currently happening in our country and why.
For many of us, our race, gender, or some other elicit bias have been means for prevention or persecution over the right to vote. In reality, it's been less than 50 years since the Voting Rights Act which forbids discrimination and yet there are still 4.1 million US citizens, in US territories, that are unable to vote in this upcoming election. Food for thought.
Our system is far from perfect, but we have to continue to challenge the status quo and put officials in office that will make change for "we the people." So, brush up on U.S. history, reflect on the democratic process, and research the candidates.
Now, GET OUT THE VOTE.
U.S. Voting Rights Timeline
1776 // Declaration of Independence is signed. The right to vote is restricted to property owners, most of which are white male protestants over the age of 21.
1787 // US Constitution is adopted and states are given the power to regulate their own voting laws. As a result, voting remains restricted to white male property owners.
1789 // George Washington elected as President, only 6% of the population can vote.
1790 // The Naturalization Law is passed and states only free, white immigrants are able to become naturalized citizens.
1848 // The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and guarantees US Citizenship to Mexican’s living in territories conquered by the US, however the English language requirement and violent intimidation limits access to voting rights to Mexican-American’s.
1856 // North Carolina is the last state to remove property ownership as a requirement to vote.
1866 // Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony form an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to universal voting rights.
1868 // 14th Amendment to the US Constitution is passed and citizenship is defined and granted to former slaves. However, voters are defined as male and although the amendment forbids states from denying any rights of citizenship, voting regulations are still left in the hands of state.
1870 // 15th Amendment passed and states the right to vote cannot be denied by the federal or state governments based on race. However, soon after, some states begin to enact measures such as voting taxes and literacy tests that restrict the actual ability of African Americans to register to vote. Violence and other intimidation tactics are also used.
1872 // Susan B. Anthony is arrested for attempting to vote in the presidential election. At the same time, Sojourner Truth, a former slave and advocate for justice and equality, appears at a polling booth in Grand Rapids, Michigan, demanding a ballot but she is turned away.
1876 // The Supreme Court rules that Native Americans are not citizens as defined by the 14th Amendment and, thus, cannot vote.
1882 // The Chinese Exclusion Act bars people of Chinese ancestry from naturalizing to become U.S. citizens.
1887 // Dawes Act passed. It grants citizenship and the right to vote to Native Americans who give up their tribal affiliations.
1890 // Wyoming admitted to statehood and becomes first state to legislate voting for women in its constitution.
1890 // The Indian Naturalization Act grants citizenship to Native Americans whose applications are approved—similar to the process of immigrant naturalization.
1919 // Native Americans who served in the military during World War I are granted U.S. citizenship.
1920 // 19th Amendment passed, giving women right to vote in both state and federal elections.
1922 // Supreme Court rules that people of Japanese heritage are ineligible to become naturalized citizens. In the next year, the Court finds that Asian Indians are also not eligible to naturalize.
1924, // The Indian Citizenship Act grants citizenship to Native Americans, but many states nonetheless make laws and policies which prohibit Native Americans from voting.
1925 // Congress bars Filipinos from U.S. citizenship unless they have served three years in the Navy.
1926 // While attempting to register to vote in Birmingham, Alabama, a group of African American women are beaten by election officials.
1947 // Miguel Trujillo, a Native American and former Marine, sues New Mexico for not allowing him to vote. He wins and New Mexico and Arizona are required to give the vote to all Native Americans.
1952 // McCarran-Walter Act grants all people of Asian ancestry the right to become citizens.
1961 // 23rd amendment passed. It gives citizens of Washington, D.C. the right to vote for U.S. president. But to this day, the district’s residents—most of whom are African American—still do not have voting representation in Congress.
1964 // 24th Amendment passed. It guarantees that the right to vote in federal elections will not be denied for failure to pay any tax.
1965 // Voting Rights Act passed. It forbids states from imposing discriminatory restrictions on who can vote and provides mechanisms for the federal government to enforce its provisions. The legislation is passed largely under pressure from protests and marches earlier that year challenging Alabama officials who injured and killed people during African American voter registration efforts.
1971 // 26th Amendment passed, granting voting rights to 18-year-olds. The amendment is largely a result of Vietnam War-protests demanding a lowering of the voting age on the premise that people who are old enough to fight are old enough to vote.
1975 // Amendments to Voting Rights Act require that certain voting materials be printed in languages besides English so that people who do not read English can participate in the voting process.
1993 // National Voter Registration Act passed. Intends to increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote by making registration available at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and public assistance and disabilities agencies.
2000 // A month prior to the presidential election, a federal court decides that Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico, though U.S. citizens, cannot vote for U.S. president. Residents of U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands—nearly 4.1 million people total—cannot vote in presidential elections.
2002 // Help America Vote Act (HAVA) passed in response to disputed 2000 presidential election. Massive voting reform effort requires states comply with federal mandate for provisional ballots, disability access, centralized, computerized voting lists, electronic voting and requirement that first-time voters present identification before voting.
Great resources for everything you need to cast your ballot this November. Register, make a plan, and VOTE.
Until next time,
Blackmouth Design
