1. Seeking Suffrage

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

3. 18+ Who is allowed to vote? American citizens
18 years of age and older
Including all races
And both genders
Note: The exception to all of these factors is prisoners and those recently released from prison. This will be addressed in later slides.

4. Right to Vote?
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.
All of the above. There is a constitutional silence on the right to vote. Instead
The Constitution bans the restriction of voting based on certain factors such as gender, race, etc

5. Historically
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.

6. Where do we get our voting rights?
SCAVENGER HUNT!
Using a copy of the Constitution, locate the Amendments that address voting rights in some way.
Once you have identified the Amendment:
Summarize the content
Identify the groups impacted
State the year each Amendment was ratified
Students will do a mini Constitution scavenger hunt to locate the Amendments pertaining to voting. Have students complete Part I of worksheet.

7. Which Amendment is it?
As the description of the Amendment is presented on the slide, raise you hand if you think you know which Amendment is being discussed.
Note: These are not in chronological order. They will be placed on a timeline in later slides.
Modifications:
Create signs for the Amendments being addressed for students to hold up as the summary appears.
If you have dry erase boards, have students write down the number of the Amendment on the board and hold up the number as the summary appears.
Discuss the summary with the students to see if they had anything different in their summary of the Amendment. Students will not be asked to recall the number of the Amendments on the End of Course exam, however this provides a forum to discuss and review the summaries provided by the students.

8. Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
AMENDMENT XXVI (26)
Passed by Congress March 23, Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th 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.
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.

9. Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
AMENDMENT XIX (19)
Passed by Congress June 4, Ratified August 18, 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.
The Nineteenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution banned the restriction of voting based on sex/gender.

10. Timeline of Women’s suffrage
1893 New Zealand
1954 Colombia
1902 Australia1
1957 Malaysia, Zimbabwe
1906 Finland
1962 Algeria
1913 Norway
1963 Iran, Morocco
1915 Denmark
1964 Libya
1917 Canada2
1967 Ecuador
1918 Austria, Germany, Poland, Russia
1971 Switzerland
1919 Netherlands
1972 Bangladesh
1920 United States
1974 Jordan
1921 Sweden
1976 Portugal
1928 Britain, Ireland
1989 Namibia
1931 Spain
1990 Western Samoa
1944 France
1993 Kazakhstan, Moldova
1945 Italy
1994 South Africa
1947 Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan
2005 Kuwait
1949 China
2006 United Arab Emirates
1950 India
2011 Saudi Arabia3
1. Australian women, with the exception of aboriginal women, won the vote in Aborigines, male and female, did not have the right to vote until 1962.
2. Canadian women, with the exception of Canadian Indian women, won the vote in Canadian Indians, male and female, did not win the vote until Source: The New York Times, May 22, 2005.
Women in Saudi Arabia will not be eligible to vote until 2015.
Read more: Timeline of Women’s Suffrage Granted, by Country — Infoplease.com

11. Bad Romance: ‘Til We Have Suffrage

12. It also distinguished the voting age as 21 limited to male citizens.
AMENDMENT XIV (14)
Passed by Congress June 13, Ratified July 9, 1868.
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.
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
This granted full citizenship to all freed slaves (previously slaves had only been counted as 3/5 of a person towards the total population in the state). Although it did not allow them to vote (this would be granted 5 years later in Amendment XV), it was a step towards gaining voting rights.
It also distinguished the voting age as 21 limited to male citizens.

13. Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
AMENDMENT XXIV (24)
Passed by Congress August 27, Ratified January 23, 1964.
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.
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 24th Amendment

14. Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
AMENDMENT XV (15)
Passed by Congress February 26, Ratified February 3, 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--
The Fifteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution banned the restriction of voting based on race or previous servitude. Only applied to men.

15. Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
AMENDMENT XIII (13)
Passed by Congress January 31, Ratified December 6, 1865.
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..

16. Put it on the line! 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
*For some of the Amendments, this may not apply. Ex: Amendments

17. Seeking Suffrage Timeline
AMENDMENT XIII (13)
Ratified December 6, 1865.
Abolished slavery
AMENDMENT XV (15)
Ratified February 3, 1870.
Banned the restriction of voting based on race.
AMENDMENT XIV (14)
Ratified July 9, 1868.
Established that all former slaves were considered full citizens; repealed the 3/5 compromise.
Also set the voting age at 21+.

18. Seeking Suffrage Timeline
AMENDMENT XIX (19)
Ratified August 18, 1920.
Banned the restriction of voting on the basis of gender.
AMENDMENT XXVI (26)
Ratified July 1, 1971.
Voting age lowered to 18.
Could also add the 23rd amendment which addressed the District of Columbia and electors.
AMENDMENT XXIV (24)
Ratified January 23, 1964.
Poll taxes were banned. Citizens would no longer have to pay to vote.
18+

19. Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
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.
This slide is included as a side note. American Indians were denied the right to vote due to the fact that they were not considered American citizens unless they gave up their tribal citizenship.

20. What if these amendments had never been added to the Constitution?
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

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

22. What do you think?
On your See It My Way handout, you will need to tell about the group that is not allowed to vote in the United States.
Provide arguments for and against allowing these populations to vote.
Be sure to explain your position very clearly!
Anyone else?

23. Who would you target?
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?

24. Compulsory Voting 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?