2. American History of Voting Rights Federal Law and Constitutional Amendments

3. Early Voting Rights Suffrage or Franchise: means the right to vote Electorate: potential voting population Early U.S. History: only white adult males who owned property were allowed to vote Denied the right to vote: poor white males who did not own property, females, slaves, free African-Americans, Native-Americans, immigrants DENIED

4. 15 th Amendment (1870) “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” Gave all adult males the right to vote Preventing African-American Males from voting in the South  Literacy Test  Poll Tax  Grandfather Clause

5. 19 th Amendment (1920) “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” Gave all adult females the right to vote Susan B. Anthony

6. Civil Rights Acts for Voting Civil Rights Act of 1957: Commission could investigate claims of voter discrimination Attorney General could intervene with lawsuits seeking injunctive relief against violations of the 15th Amendment Civil Rights Act of 1960: Provided for the appointment of federal voting referees Referees were given the power to help qualified voters register to vote in federal elections Civil Rights Act of 1964: Forbid the use of a literacy test for a requirement to register to vote in any unfair or discriminatory manner Focused on the use of Federal Court injunctions to force states to comply with federal voting laws

7. 24 th Amendment (1964) “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representatives in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax” Outlawed the poll tax in all federal elections

8. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Outlawed the literacy test as requirement to vote in all elections US Attorney General has the power to appoint voting examiners to serve in areas were racial discrimination exists (mainly in the south) to help blacks register to vote Drastically increased the number of registered black voters in the Southern States Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966) Supreme Court outlawed the poll tax in all state and local elections TAX

9. Voting Rights Act of 1970 Gave 18 year olds the right to vote in federal elections Also contained a provision lowering the voting age to 18 in state elections, but the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional. Would lead to the passage of the 26 th Amendment in 1971

10. 26th Amendment (1971) “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.” Lowered voting age from 21 to 18 Direct result of the Vietnam War

11. National Voter Registration Act of 1993 NVRA or the “motor voter” law Allows citizens to register to vote when they apply for a drivers license at the DMV Allows citizens to register to vote at any state office that provides public assistance or services for the disabled Allows citizens to register to vote by mail Requires states to update and maintain detailed voter registration lists Unfunded Mandate (protested by Republicans) Voter Registration

12. Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 Replace all lever-operated and punch-card voting devices by 2006 (touch screen computer systems) Direct result of the 2000 election (Bush v. Gore) Upgrade the training of election workers (poll workers) Centralize/computerize their voting registration systems to facilitate the identification of qualified voters on election day Provide for provisional voting for those not listed on the poll list (allow them to vote and verify later) Created the Election Assistance Commission Provides assistance to the U.S. military and disabled voters Funded mandate from the federal government

13. Bush: 50,455,156271 Gore: 50,992,335266 Nader: 2,882,8970

17. Election of 2008

18. 2008 in South Carolina President 100.0% of 2,291 precincts reporting CandidatePartyVote CountsVotes Cast John McCainGOP1,018,75653.8% Barack ObamaDem850,12144.9% Bob BarrLib7,2090.4% Chuck BaldwinCST6,625 0.4%Updated: 11/6/2008 10:08 PM President 100.0% of 2,291 precincts reporting Updated: 11/6/2008 10:08 PM

19. Election of 1980