Seeking Suffrage

 Voting  Volunteering for a campaign  Joining an interest group  Lobbying the government  Writing to government officials  Running for office How can citizens participate in politics?

 American citizens  18 years of age and older  Including all races  And both genders Who is allowed to vote? 18+

 Which of the following countries does not constitutionally guarantee its citizens the right to vote? Is it:  (A) Iran  (B) Libya  (C) The United States  (D) All of the above. Right to Vote?

 Constitutional Silence on the Right to Vote. Instead the Constitution bans the restriction of voting based on certain factors.  Comparatively, South African constitution has an express right to vote.  When the US Constitution was written, only white, male, adult property owners were allowed to vote.  Property ownership and tax requirements were eliminated over the next years.  Literacy tests and poll taxes were implemented in many states. Discriminatory practices. (1850’s-1880’s)  Took until the 1970’s and 1980’s to eliminate literacy tests and poll taxes throughout the country. Historically

As the description of the Amendment is presented on the slide, raise you hand if you think you know which Amendment is being discussed. Which Amendment is it?

AMENDMENT XIII (13) Passed by Congress January 31, Ratified December 6, Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Slaves were considered property and were not considered American citizens. This meant they were restricted from voting. Once the thirteenth amendment was passed, they were still not permitted to vote – just because slavery was illegal, it did not make them citizens..

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State… …the right to vote in any election male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States AMENDMENT XIV (14) Passed by Congress June 13, Ratified July 9, Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment repealed the 3/5 clause of the Constitution which only counted 3/5 of each slave towards the population of each state. This means that slaves were now freed based on the Thirteenth Amendment and made full citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment. It also distinguished the voting age as 21 limited to male citizens.

 The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude-- AMENDMENT XV (15) Passed by Congress February 26, Ratified February 3, The Fifteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution banned the restriction of voting based on race or previous servitude. Only applied to men.

Bad Romance: ‘Til We Have Suffrage

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. AMENDMENT XIX (19) Passed by Congress June 4, Ratified August 18, The Nineteenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution banned the restriction of voting based on sex/gender.

 1893 New Zealand  1902 Australia 1  1906 Finland  1913 Norway  1915 Denmark  1917 Canada 2  1918 Austria, Germany, Poland, Russia  1919 Netherlands  1920 United States  1921 Sweden  1928 Britain, Ireland  1931 Spain  1944 France  1945 Italy  1947 Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan  1949 China  1950 India  1954 Colombia  1957 Malaysia, Zimbabwe  1962 Algeria  1963 Iran, Morocco  1964 Libya  1967 Ecuador  1971 Switzerland  1972 Bangladesh  1974 Jordan  1976 Portugal  1989 Namibia  1990 Western Samoa  1993 Kazakhstan, Moldova  1994 South Africa  2005 Kuwait  2006 United Arab Emirates  2011 Saudi Arabia 3 Timeline of Women’s suffrage

 The right of citizens of the United States to vote…shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax. AMENDMENT XXIV (24) Passed by Congress August 27, Ratified January 23, Some states instituted taxes, or fees, that had to be paid in order to vote, knowing that many poor people would be unable to afford the fee. This practice was stopped by the 24 th Amendment

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. AMENDMENT XXVI (26) Passed by Congress March 23, Ratified July 1, Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment. After the Vietnam conflict in the 1960’s, many felt that if you are old enough to be drafted (18+) to fight in the U.S. military, you should be able to vote.

 In your group, create a timeline of voting rights.  Include:  The year  The Amendment Number  A summary of the Amendment  The group impacted*  An illustration of the Amendment Put it on the line!

Seeking Suffrage Timeline AMENDMENT XIII (13) Ratified December 6, Abolished slavery AMENDMENT XV (15) Ratified February 3, Banned the restriction of voting based on race. AMENDMENT XIV (14) Ratified July 9, Established that all former slaves were considered full citizens; repealed the 3/5 compromise. Also set the voting age at 21+.

Seeking Suffrage Timeline AMENDMENT XXIV (24) Ratified January 23, Poll taxes were banned. Citizens would no longer have to pay to vote. AMENDMENT XXVI (26) Ratified July 1, Voting age lowered to 18. AMENDMENT XIX (19) Ratified August 18, Banned the restriction of voting on the basis of gender. 18+

 Prior to this Act, Native Americans had been denied the right to vote due to the fact that they were not counted as citizens because they were citizens of their tribe and did not pay taxes to the United States government.  It was required Native Americans to give up their tribal citizenship in order to become full citizens of the United States.  The Indian Citizenship Act declared all non- citizen Native Americans born within the United States citizenship, thus granting them the right to vote. Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

Who would be unable to vote?  African Americans  Female citizens  Native Americans  Citizens who are poor  Citizens who are uneducated  Citizens under the age of 18 What if these amendments had never been added to the Constitution?

 Those under the age of 18  Non-citizens residing in the United States  Illegal aliens  Prisoners What do you think? Who should not be allowed to vote? This means you! This could include those in the United states who are studying abroad or working in the United States on a visa This refers to those who live in the United States illegally This includes in some states those who are incarcerated and recently released from prison.

 If you could propose a constitutional amendment to ban discrimination of certain groups, who would you target?  If you could propose an amendment to the Constitution to not allow certain groups to vote, what would you propose? Who would you target?

 Should we require citizens to vote?  With such a low percentage of persons in the United States who actually vote, what would happen if we amended the Constitution to require everyone to vote?  Some countries have such a requirement. What are the pros and cons of such a policy? Compulsory Voting