what requirement was eliminated to allow more people to vote
Challenges to voting rights in this country, like the ones we've seen recently, are hardly a 21st-century invention. Entrenched groups have long tried to proceed the vote out of the hands of the less powerful. Indeed, America began its bully autonomous experiment in the late 1700s by granting the correct to vote to a narrow subset of society — white male landowners. Even as barriers to voting began receding in the ensuing decades, many Southern states erected new ones, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, aimed at keeping the vote out of the hands of African American men.
Over time, voting rights became a bipartisan priority as people worked at all levels to enact constitutional amendments and laws expanding admission to the vote based on race and ethnicity, gender, disability, age and other factors. The landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed by Congress took major steps to curtail voter suppression. Thus began a new era of push-and-pull on voting rights, with the voting age reduced to xviii from 21 and the enshrinement of voting protections for language minorities and people with disabilities.
Greater voter enfranchisement was met with fresh resistance and in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Deed in its ruling on Shelby County 5. Holder, paving the way for states and jurisdictions with a history of voter suppression to enact restrictive voter identification laws. A whopping 23 states created new obstacles to voting in the decade leading upwardly to the 2018 elections, according to the nonpartisan coalition Ballot Protection.
These activities accept a demonstrable and asymmetric effect on populations that are already underrepresented at the polls. Calculation to the problems, government at all levels has largely failed to make the necessary investments in elections (from technology to poll-worker training) to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the system.
1700s: Voting generally limited to white property holders
This 1940 oil painting, "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States," by Howard Chandler Christy, depicts the Constitutional Convention, held in 1787 in Philadelphia, where the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution. (Photo: Wikimedia)
Despite their belief in the virtues of republic, the founders of the United States accepted and endorsed severe limits on voting. The U.South. Constitution originally left it to states to determine who is qualified to vote in elections. For decades, state legislatures generally restricted voting to white males who owned property. Some states also employed religious tests to ensure that simply Christian men could vote.
1800s: Official barriers to voting starting time to recede
This 19th-century illustrated engraving shows black men recently emancipated from slavery participating in an election in New Orleans in 1867. (Photo: Wikimedia)
During the early function of the 19th century, state legislatures begin to limit the property requirement for voting. Afterwards, during the Reconstruction flow following the Ceremonious War, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which ensured that people could not exist denied the right to vote because of their race. The subpoena was ratified by u.s.a. in 1870. Nevertheless, in the decades that followed, many states, particularly in the S, used a range of barriers, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, to deliberately reduce voting among African American men.
1920: Women win the vote
Early in the 20th century, women still were only able to vote in a handful of states. After decades of organizing and activism, women nationwide won the correct to vote with the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.
1960: Southern states ramp up barriers to voting
Martin Luther Rex and his wife Coretta Scott Rex lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state upper-case letter in Montgomery. (Photo: William Lovelace /Express/Getty Images)
The struggle for equal voting rights came to a caput in the 1960s as many states, peculiarly in the South, dug in on policies—such every bit literacy tests, poll taxes, English-language requirements, and more—aimed at suppressing the vote amongst people of color, immigrants and low-income populations. In March 1965, activists organized protest marches from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital letter of Montgomery to spotlight the issue of black voting rights. The start march was brutally attacked by police force and others on a twenty-four hours that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday." Subsequently a 2d march was cut short, a throng of thousands finally made the journeying, arriving in Montgomery on March 24 and drawing nationwide attention to the upshot.
1964: The 24th subpoena targets poll taxes
A human sells poll tax pledges in 1947. (Photo: Jack Birns/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Poll taxes were a especially egregious grade of voter suppression for a century following the Civil War, forcing people to pay money in order to vote. Payment of the revenue enhancement was a prerequisite for voter registration in many states. The taxes were expressly designed to go on African Americans and low-income white people from voting. Some states even enacted gramps clauses to permit many higher-income white people to avoid paying the tax. The 24th amendment was approved by Congress in 1962 and ratified past united states two years later. In a 1966 case, the Supreme Court ruled that poll taxes are unconstitutional in whatsoever U.S. election.
1965: The Voting Rights Act passes Congress
A group of voters line up exterior the polling station in Peachtree, Alabama, a year after the Voting Rights Act was passed. (Photograph: MPI/Getty Images)
Inspired by voting rights marches in Alabama in jump 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. The vote was decisive and bipartisan: 79-18 in the Senate and 328-74 in the House. President Lyndon Johnson signed the measure on Baronial 6 with Dr. Martin Luther Male monarch, Jr., Rosa Parks, and other icons of the ceremonious rights movement at his side. In add-on to barring many of the policies and practices that states had been using to limit voting amongst African Americans and other targeted groups, the Voting Rights Human activity included provisions that required states and local jurisdictions with a historical pattern of suppressing voting rights based on race to submit changes in their election laws to the U.S. Justice Section for approving (or "preclearance"). In the ensuing decades, the preclearance provisions proved to exist a remarkably effective means of discouraging state and local officials from erecting new barriers to voting, stopping the most egregious policies from going forrard, and providing communities and civil rights advocates with advance notice of proposed changes that might suppress the vote.
1971: Young people win the vote
President Richard Nixon signs the 26th Amendment bringing down the voting age to eighteen from 21. (Photo: UPI/Getty Images)
For much of the nation's history, states by and large restricted voting to people age 21 and older. But during the 1960s, the movement to lower the voting age gained steam with the rise of student activism and the war in Vietnam, which was fought largely past young, 18-and-over draftees. The 26thursday amendment prohibited states and the federal government from using age every bit a reason to deny the vote to anyone 18 years of age and over.
1975: Voting Rights Human activity expanded to protect linguistic communication minorities
A adult female walks past a sample ballot in Spanish at a polling station in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm /AFP via Getty Images)
Congress added new provisions to the Voting Rights Act to protect members of linguistic communication minority groups. The amendments required jurisdictions with meaning numbers of voters who have express or no proficiency in English language to provide voting materials in other languages and to provide multilingual assistance at the polls.
1982: Congress requires new voting protections for people with disabilities
A disabled homo casts his ballot. (Photo: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Congress passed a law extending the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. As part of the extension, Congress required states to take steps to make voting more accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities.
1993: "Motor Voter" becomes police force
A man registers to vote at the Jefferson County Section of Motor Vehicles in Arvada, Colorado. (Photo: Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Responding to historically low rates of voter registration, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act. Too known as "motor voter," the police required states to allow citizens to annals to vote when they applied for their drivers' licenses. The police likewise required states to offer postal service-in registration and to let people to register to vote at offices offering public assistance. In the first year of its implementation, more 30 million people completed their voter registration applications or updated their registration through ways fabricated bachelor because of the police.
2000: Election bug spotlight need for reform
A judge on the the Broward County Canvassing Board uses a magnifying glass to examine a dimpled chad on a punch carte election during a vote recount in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after the contested 2000 presidential election. (Photo: Robert Male monarch/Newsmakers/Getty Images)
The extremely close Bush-Gore Presidential race led to a recount in the state of Florida that highlighted many of the problems plaguing U.S. elections, from faulty equipment and bad ballot pattern to inconsistent rules and procedures across local jurisdictions and states. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately intervened to end the Florida recount and effectively ensuring the election of George W. Bush-league.
2002: Congress passes the Assist America Vote Act
A adult female inserts her election into the machine later on voting. (Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)
With memories of the bug of the 2000 election yet fresh in anybody's heed, Congress passed the Help America Vote Deed in 2002 with the goal of streamlining ballot procedures across the nation. The constabulary placed new mandates on states and localities to supercede outdated voting equipment, create statewide voter registration lists, and provide provisional ballots to ensure that eligible voters are non turned away if their names are non on the roll of registered voters. The law likewise was designed to brand it easier for people with disabilities to cast individual, independent ballots.
2010: Philanthropy embraces need for reform
Voters wait in line to cast a vote in Miami, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Along with a core group of other funders, the Carnegie Corporation of New York began investing in voting rights and elections work in the Us in the 1970s and 1980s. However, it wasn't until the early years of the 21st century that funders started to work more intentionally together in their support for voting rights. A central vehicle for collective funder action on these issues is the Country Infrastructure Fund (SIF), a collaborative fund administered by NEO Philanthropy. The fund was created in 2010 and has raised more than $56 million from an expanding listing of funders to invest in advancing voting rights and expanding voting among historically underrepresented communities.
June 2013: The Supreme Courtroom strikes a blow to the Voting Correct Act
Holding images of murdered Mississippi ceremonious rights worker Medgar Evers, demonstrators gather as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in Shelby County v. Holder. (Photo: Bit Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In its June ruling in the instance, Shelby County v. Holder, the U.South. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Human activity. Considering of the Courtroom's conclusion, states and localities with a history of suppressing voting rights no longer were required to submit changes in their election laws to the U.Southward. Justice Department for review (or "preclearance"). The five-4 decision ruled unconstitutional a section of the landmark 1965 law that was key to protecting voters in states and localities with a history of race-based voter suppression. In her dissent in the instance, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg famously stated, "Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to end discriminatory changes is similar throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are non getting wet."
August 2013: States ramp up barriers to voting
Northward Carolina State University students wait in line to vote in Raleigh, North Carolina, shortly later on the land passed its stringent voter ID police force disqualifying student ID cards as an accepted form of voter identification. (Photo: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)
On August 11, North Carolina's governor signed a voter identification law seen by many every bit an endeavour to suppress the votes of people of colour. The North Carolina law was just i of many like laws passed in the wake of the Supreme Court's June 2013 Shelby ruling. Texas officials, in fact, acted on the same day of the Shelby decision to institute a strict voter identification law that previously had been blocked under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Human action considering of its impact in suppressing the vote of low-income people and racial minorities. Later a lawsuit filed by civil rights groups and the U.South. Section of Justice, the Northward Carolina law was struck down by a federal judge who said it targeted African Americans with "virtually surgical precision." Officials in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Virginia before long joined the ranks of those intent on exercising their newly won power to plow back the clock to an earlier fourth dimension when election laws and practices in many places were marked by blatant bigotry and racism.
2014: The voting rights movement coalesces to fight suppression
Cuban Americans vote at a polling heart in Miami's Little Havana, Florida. (Photo: Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty Images)
In response to post-Shelby assaults on voting rights, voting rights organizations across the country stepped up their work to protect and advance the correct to vote and move usa closer to the vision of a nation of, by, and for the people. This work includes litigation to challenge unconstitutional barriers to voting, on-the-footing advocacy to advance pro-voter policies at the local and land levels, and nonpartisan efforts to register, educate and mobilize historically underrepresented populations so they can participate more actively in elections and civic life. The State Infrastructure Fund began convening a cohort of nonprofit public involvement litigation groups with the aim of streamlining and analogous the field's response to a fresh wave of policies to suppress the vote. Coordinated by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the collaborative of 12 organizations has played an essential role in pushing dorsum against strict voter identification laws, racial gerrymandering, and other tactics aimed at reducing the voting rights of underrepresented populations.
2016: Presidential election and claims of fraud
Kansas Secretarial assistant of Country Kris Kobach and U.Southward. Vice President Mike Pence attend the outset meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Marker Wilson/Getty Images)
After President Trump was elected despite losing the popular vote, he and his supporters fabricated claims that large numbers of people voted illegally. A Washington Mailanalysis was able to observe only four documented cases of voter fraud in the 2016 election out of 135 meg ballots cast. The narrative about fraud ultimately resulted in President Trump convening the Presidential Committee on Election Integrity, which disbanded in January 2018 without presenting any evidence or findings. Continued false claims of rampant voter fraud have added fuel to the fire and prompted even bolder efforts to suppress the vote. Adding to the problems, government at all levels has largely failed to make the necessary investments in elections (from technology to poll worker training) to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the electoral system.
October 2018: State, local officials keep erecting new barriers to voting go on
A long line forms outside the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. (Photograph: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A 2018 USATodayanalysis found that election officials recently have closed thousands of polling places, with a disproportionate impact on communities of color. The polling place closures are just one case of how states and localities have continued to try to suppress the votes of targeted populations. In 2018, for example, the Georgia Senate passed bills cutting voting hours in Atlanta (where African Americans are 54 percentage of the population) and restricting early voting on weekends. The latter mensurate was seen past many as a non-so-subtle attempt to target nonpartisan "Souls to the Polls" events organized past blackness churches to get their parishioners to vote on Sunday after church. Both Georgia measures were subsequently defeated in the state Assembly.
Nov 2018: Election draws record number of voters just issues remain
A woman and her children vote at a polling station during the 2018 midterm elections in Lorton, Virginia. (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
According to early estimates, 116 million voters—nearly half the eligible voting population (49.7 percent)—bandage ballots in the 2018 elections. Non simply did voter turnout set up a 100-twelvemonth record for midterm races, simply the election saw tape numbers of women and candidates of color running at all levels. In addition, voters approved a number of important state ballot measures aimed at expanding the electorate and making it easier to vote, including a law in Florida that lifts the permanent ban on voting for people with a felony criminal record. The numbers for 2018 were especially impressive given that many states continue to take aggressive steps to make information technology harder for people to vote. According to the nonpartisan coalition Election Protection, 23 states created new obstacles to voting in the decade preceding the 2018 ballot.
2019: Voting rights groups prepare for the 2020 Demography and redistricting
Protestors phase a rally confronting gerrymandering during the U.Due south. Supreme Court hearings in March 2019 on landmark redistricting cases out of North Carolina and Maryland. (Photograph: Sarah Fifty. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In the same way that partisan interests and those in ability have used voting rights laws and policies to suppress the vote, they also accept attempted to employ the U.Southward. Census and the subsequent congressional redistricting process to advance their political goals. The Trump administration, for example, fought unsuccessfully for 2 years to add a question to the 2020 census asking if someone is a citizen of the Usa. Voting rights and civil rights groups said this was a transparent attempt to instill fear in immigrant communities, with the result of undercounting the immigrant population and reducing its political ability and voice. Other concerns almost the 2020 census include chronic underfunding for the work of accurately counting everyone in the nation. To the extent that the census cuts corners, there is a well-founded belief that it will outcome in an undercount of already underrepresented populations, including low-income populations and people of colour.
For further background and how we can protect the right to vote, read our report, Voting Rights Under Fire
Source: https://www.carnegie.org/topics/topic-articles/voting-rights-timeline/
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