Warm Up During the 1940s through the 1960s, there was a debate: should 18-year-olds be allowed to vote in national elections? The debate ended in 1971 when the 26th Amendment was passed, allowing citizens aged 18 to 20 to vote. In which year was voter turnout highest among this age group? Lowest? Transfer the statistical information given in the chart and graph to a written summary of each. Based on the graph, how important does this age group think voting is? What reasons can you offer for this?

Tuesday, February 19, 2019 Objective: Students will be able to analyze the changes in voting rights throughout our nation’s history. Purpose: Voting rights have significantly changed in our history and have changed recently due to political reasons.

History of Voting Rights By 1810, all states removed religious requirements needed to vote By 1850, all states removed the property ownership requirement needed to vote 1870, 15th Amendment: intended to protect any citizen from being denied the right to vote because of race or color Why do you think each of these used to be a requirement to be eligible to vote?

After the 15th Amendment extended suffrage to all races, some States enacted laws requiring African Americans and other minorities to pay poll taxes in order to vote.

Women could vote in several States before the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920. What percentage of States or territories granted women full suffrage in 1919?

History of Voting Rights 19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote 24th Amendment eliminated all poll taxes in 1964 25th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18

Suffrage was gradually expanded over nearly 200 years Suffrage was gradually expanded over nearly 200 years. How did the American electorate change over time? What effect might this have on elections?

Obstacles Remaining Today In many states, convicted felons do not have the right to vote American citizens who live in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, or Guam cannot vote for President and do not have a voting member of Congress Residents of American Samoa are not even citizens, so they also don’t get to vote for President The right to vote is still not guaranteed in the Constitution

Voting Rights Act of 1965 No voting law may be used to discriminate against certain groups of people (Section 2) Banned the use of literacy tests Preclearance (Section 5): no new election laws and no changes in existing election laws, could go into effect in certain States unless first approved by the Department of Justice Only those new or revised laws that do not dilute the voting rights of minority groups can survive the “strict scrutiny” process and take effect

What historical political and social patterns do you notice about which states are in red?

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Preclearance was required for changes to the following: the location of polling places the boundaries of election districts the deadlines in the election process the qualifications candidates must meet in order to run for office

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Any State or county subject to the voter examiner and preclearance provisions can be removed from the law’s coverage through a “bail- out” process That relief can come if the State shows the United States District Court in the District of Columbia that it has not applied any voting procedures in a discriminatory way for at least 10 years The law’s voter-examiner and preclearance provisions were also broadened in 1975 to cover any State or county where more than 5 percent of the voting-age population belongs to certain “language minorities.”

The Voting Rights Act sought to equalize access to voting The Voting Rights Act sought to equalize access to voting. What generalization can be made about the effect of this act on the number of elected black officials?

The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2006 The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2006. What was the goal of the tactics shown here? Why did the tactics change over time?

From 2000 to 2013, areas subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 attempted 74 times to implement voting laws that would have had a discriminatory effect against racial or linguistic minorities

Shelby County v. Holder In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court declared the need for states to get preclearance to be unconstitutional "Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy the problem speaks to current conditions."

The controversial ruling in Shelby County v The controversial ruling in Shelby County v. Holder caused a storm of reaction across the country. According to this cartoon, what might the ruling mean for voters?

Evaluating Voting Rights Summarize the current legal protections of the right to vote. Are further protections/guarantees of the right to vote needed or not needed? Explain. Should voting eligibility be expanded to more groups of people? Explain why or why not.

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/2ox5xp/the-colbert-report-voting- rights-act