1. Voting

2. Expanding Suffrage Suffrage = the right to vote
Franchise = the right to vote
1789 = only white male property owners could vote – maybe not even 1 in every 15
Electorate = the potential voting population

3. History of US suffrage has been bitter and violent
Two long terms trends
1) gradual elimination of restrictions on right to vote
2) state power over who voted has been changed to federal power

4. 5 States of Extending Suffrage
1) all religious qualifications have been gone since 1810 – all property ownership and tax payments have been gone since 1850’s
2) 15th Amendment ratified in 1870 – prevented anyone being denied the right to vote due to race
3) 19th Amendment ratified in 1920 – prevented anyone being denied the right to vote due to gender

5. 4) Voting Rights Act of 1965 did away with literacy tests – 23rd Amendment(1961) allowed people in DC to vote – 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated the poll tax
5) 26th Amendment (1971) 18 year olds and over were given the right to vote.

6. Universal Requirements
Every state requires voters to meet three qualifications:
1) citizenship – all states require a voter must be a US citizen
2) residence – legal resident of the state in which they are voting (most states have a certain time period). Reasons:
A) to keep political machines from importing voters
B) to allow new voters to become familiar with candidates & issues

7. Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 – Congress banned any requirement of longer than 90 for voting in presidential election
Dunn v. Blumstein (1972) – Supreme Court said TN requirement of 1 year was unconstitutional – 30 days was long enough

8. 3) Age – states have to let 18 yr olds and older vote
However, they can set the age at lower than 18 if they want
“old enough to fight, old enough to vote”
18-20 year olds are the smallest group of voters

9. Other Qualifications
States have imposed other qualification on voting over our history
1) registration – procedure of voter identification to prevent fraud
Election officials have a list of people who are registered
You remain registered unless you move, die, are convicted of a serious crime, or committed

10. Some people think registration should not be required
They think it keeps the poor and undereducated from voting
In most European democracies people are automatically registered to vote
US is the only democracy where it is a choice to register

11. Motor Voter Law (1993) has made it easier to register
1) citizens can register when they apply for or renew their license
2) register by mail
3) have forms available at all state offices

12. 2) Literacy – a person’s ability to read and write
Has been used to make sure people were “smart” enough to vote
Has also been used to prevent or discourage people from voting
Used in South until 1965 to keep African Americans from voting
Usually had to read a passage from the Constitution

13. Unintended consequences – it kept poor, uneducated whites from voting
So states added a “grandfather clause” – if their grandfather could vote in 1860, then they were exempt from the literacy test

14. 3) tax payments – for several decades, several states had a poll tax as a condition for voting
11 Southern states used this to keep African Americans from voting
By 1966, only AL, MS, TX and VA had this qualification
24th Amendment abolished poll taxes