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American voting requirements at the beginning of our country

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American voting requirements at the beginning of our country

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Voting is one of the rights that you get as an American Citizen. The constitution says that a person born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen of the United States. But the Constitution gave little protection for voting rights, and who could or couldn't vote depended on various state laws. Before the many Amendments that changed voting requirements, the only people who could vote were mainly white, land owning men.

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On February 3rd, 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified. It says that 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." This was intended to ensure that people of color would be allowed to vote, because they were given citizenship because of the 14th Amendment. Unfortunately, certain areas, primarily in the south, were able to find loopholes and prevent African Americans from voting.

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On April 8, 1913, the 17th Amendment modified Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. Before, Senators were chosen by State Legislators. This Amendment was created over worry that the Senators elected were just puppets of the State Legislature, which could be influenced by private interest groups.

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The 19th Amendment guarantees American women the right to vote. Between 1978 and 1920, women, and even some men, all over the United States championed the cause. They held vigils, protests, marches, and even hunger strikes.On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment, and two weeks later, the Senate followed. When Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920, the amendment was adopted.

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The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924, granted U.S. citizenship to all Native American Indians. It was enacted partly as a tribute to American Indians who had fought in World War I. While it granted Native Americans citizenship, it did not grant them the right to vote.

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On March 29, 1961, the U.S. Congress passed the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment gives District of Columbia residents the ability to vote for the country’s president and vice president. Prior to this, residents of the District of Columbia were not able to vote because they did not reside in a state.

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The 24th Amendment eliminated poll taxes. These taxes made people pay before they could cast a ballot. Action was taken because the system had been used in some states to prevent Black people from voting in federal elections.

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This Act disallowed voter discrimination based on race or ethnicity and required some places to provide ballots in languages besides English. Additionally, it made it so that some states with a history of voter discrimination had to get federal approval before restricting voters, but this rule was removed by the Supreme Court in 2013. Action was taken to create this Act because voting places were discriminating against people, so that it was harder for minority groups to vote.

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The 26th Amendment affected young voters by lowering the voting age down to 18. This was put in place because of the Vietnam War, for which 18-year-olds were being drafted to fight. People in favor of the 26th Amendment said that if the youth were old enough to risk their lives in armed conflict, they were old enough to vote for who would lead the country.

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Remove state residency time requirement for voter registration

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Remove state residency time requirement for voter registration

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This law would allow people to register to vote in their state regardless of how long they have lived there. Usually, people cannot register to vote if they haven't lived in that state for a set amount of time. This is a barrier to voter registration, especially for those who have moved states and may be prevented or discouraged from registering to vote due to this time requirement. Thus, it should be removed from law.