essay topics about voting rights

Voting Rights History and Challenges Essay

Democracy is always defined by the citizens’ right to vote meaning that it will not be in existence if they are denied such an aspect. In this case, they should be free to choose their leaders and government as a whole. The founders of America did not believe in universal suffrage as expected but this has been improving as time goes by.

In the initial stages, voters were required to own property and this therefore excluded 60% of the population from voting. As much as this was dropped, the 1800s saw a lot of women and slaves being excluded from voting (Stout, 2009, p. 29). The ratification of 1870 can be described as a major achievement because it secured voting in a broad way. The exclusion of women from voting continued up to 1920 when the country was able to grant all its citizens universal suffrage (Stout, 2009, p. 15).

This was mostly after the nineteenth amendment and later on the Indian citizenship act that gave a lot of people some citizenship rights. In this case, all Native Americans were grated some citizenship which was a big achievement. As much as this had been reviewed, people’s right to vote was still being governed by the state through different laws. Despite these developments, some states still barred Native Americans to vote.

In 1964, the qualifications for an individual to be eligible as a voter were reviewed. This means that various poll taxes and normal literacy tests were done away with. It should be known that this was enhanced by the twenty-fourth amendment.

Later on, in 1971 the legal age that was needed for a citizen to qualify as a voter was lowered. This meant that a person of 18 years of age was eligible to vote in any election. 1976 saw the voting rights act make a provision for translations to people who did not understand English as far as election materials are concerned (Finley, 2008, p. 35).

In relation to all these constitutional achievements, many people have come to appreciate the fact that United States provides for ultimate universal suffrage. As time has gone by, the law has insisted that any new state laws should be reviewed and approved by the country’s chief legal officer.

There is legal protection in relation to universal suffrage but the mentally incompetent have been excluded from voting which is acceptable. These are good developments that are likely to enhance universal suffrage but different people have argued that it is not enough. This means that all citizens should be effectively represented in government for long term sustainability in relation to democracy.

There are various challenges to fair and equal voting practices that need to be sorted out in elections at various levels. This can be either at the federal, state and local levels of elections. Representative democracy has emerged as a challenge that needs to be sorted out because there are people who might be chosen to represent the interests of voters as leaders yet they fail in their duties. Oppressive attitudes have been seen in various areas and this will limit equal voting rights in relation to administrative positions (Stout, 2009, p. 54).

Another challenge to fair and equal voting practices is political redistricting practices because this is likely to weaken the gains that have been made in the past years. It should be known that voters’ rights have been protected by amendments to the constitution but poll worker recruitment might end up challenging the minority vote (Finley, 2008, p. 68). There is an argument that equal and sustainable education has not been achieved in the country and this does not provide an equal electoral opportunity.

Reference List

Finley, K. (2008). Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight against Civil Rights, 1938-1965 . Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Stout, D. (2009). Justices Let Stand a Central Provision of Voting Rights Act. New York: The New York Times.

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• Failure in the Sarah Palin Election in US 2008
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Handout B: Background Essay: Voting Rights Amendments

When the United States was founded, states and localities determined who was eligible to vote. Nearly everywhere, only adult males who owned property could cast ballots. The history of the amendments to the Constitution is, in one sense, a history of the expansion of certain political rights, including voting.

The Founders saw governments as existing to protect natural (or “inalienable”) rights. Natural rights are rights people are born with, and which can be exercised without anyone else taking any action. Examples are freedom of speech and freedom of religious belief. Political rights, such as voting, require positive action on the part of others – if you have a right to vote, then someone else must have the obligation to set up a polling place, count the votes, and do other things to secure that ability.

Many believe they have a constitutional right to vote in our democratic republic, but there is actually no such right listed in the Constitution. Rather, several amendments to the Constitution list conditions that the states cannot use to stop people from voting.

The Constitution may one day be amended to guarantee the right to vote, but the current document only says what the government cannot do to “deny or abridge” your rights.

Former Male Slaves/African American Men: The Fifteenth Amendment

Many of the individuals who fought against the institution of slavery were among those who supported voting rights for former slaves. Frederick Douglass, an influential writer and lecturer who was also a former slave, believed that full equality could not come without the right to vote. He asked President Lincoln to fight for abolition, and he worked to recruit blacks to fight for the Union during the Civil War.

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified after the war, and provided that no state could deny equal protection of the law to its citizens. But many former slaves were still turned away when they tried to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment was written to clearly ban the denial of voting rights to former slaves. Ratified in 1870, it barred states from stopping people from voting on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Though former slaves could not constitutionally be barred from voting, many blacks who attempted to register to vote often faced harassment and violence. Fannie Lou Hamer, an African American woman from Mississippi, worked on voter registration drives in the mid-twentieth century. Guards at Montgomery County Jail beat her and fellow civil rights workers when she tried to register to vote in 1963. She spoke out at the Democratic presidential convention about people being illegally prevented from voting. A year later in 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, which many see as a fulfillment of the Fifteenth Amendment’s promise.

Women and the Seneca Falls Convention: The Nineteenth Amendment

The first American women’s rights convention was held in 1848 in Seneca Fall, New York. It was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and others. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were among the 300 people in attendance.

The delegates signed the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, which used the same wording as the Declaration of Independence, to list the ways women had been deprived of equal rights, including “the inalienable right to the elective franchise.” The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was signed by 100 people, including thirty-two men.

Women suffragists continued to campaign for the vote and other rights for the next eighty years. During that time, many states approved votes for women at the state level. After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, states could not stop people from voting because they were female.

Native Americans

No constitutional amendment secures the right to vote for Native Americans. Through American history, many states imposed severe restrictions on the ability of Native Americans to vote. Many states passed laws that excluded those Native Americans living in traditional American Indian culture, requiring that voters prove that they were “civilized.”

In other cases, laws that appeared fair on their face—requiring voters to be citizens, for example—had the intended result of stopping Native Americans from voting, as they were not granted citizenship rights until 1924 when Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act. After this law was passed, many states imposed other restrictions meant to keep Native Americans from voting. The last state to grant voting rights to Native Americans did so in 1947.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act was amended in 1975 and 1982 to include federal protections for Native Americans.

Washington, D.C., Poll Taxes, and Eighteen to Twenty-One Year Olds

When the District of Columbia was established, it was planned to serve merely as a seat of government. By the twentieth century, however, its population was greater than those of several states. The Twenty-Third Amendment gave the right to vote in national elections to residents of Washington, D.C. It did not, however, make the District of Columbia into a state.

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment prohibited states from stopping people who could not pay a poll tax from voting. Poll taxes had historically been used to keep poor African Americans from voting.

Finally, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen years of age. This amendment came during the Vietnam War in response to the objection that eighteen year-old men were being drafted into the military, yet had no right to vote.

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Image-Based Prompts

17. Online Video Games : Does more need to be done to make online gaming communities safer? 18. A Computer in Everything : Do “smart” devices worry you? 19. Snail Mail : Do you think handwritten cards and letters still have value in the digital age? 20. Cyberbullying : Should social media companies do more to prevent online harassment? 21. Phone Manners : Are there times when you think using your phone while you’re with other people is rude? 22. Alarm Clocks : Are there any “dumb” devices that you think are better than “smart” devices? 23. Phone Warnings : Should tech devices come with addiction advisories? 24. Phones in Church : Are there some places where phones just don’t belong? 25. Driverless Cars : What do you think about driverless cars? 26. Texting While Walking : Should looking at your phone while crossing the street be illegal? 27. Device Addiction? : As a society, are we too addicted to our devices? 28. ‘A Man Needs His Nuggs’ : What do you think of Carter Wilkerson’s quest, and its results? 29. Soothing Video Games : Can video games intended to calm the mind be fun? Worthwhile? 30. Our Lives on Social Media : How much do you think we can judge our collective happiness by what is posted on social media? 31. ‘Bracelet of Silence’ : Would you wear privacy armor? 32. Baby Yoda : What are your favorite memes? 33. Tesla’s ‘Cybertruck’ : What do you think of this “pickup of the future”? 34. The ‘Bird Box’ Challenge : What do you think of social media challenges like this one?

35. Should Media Literacy Be a Required Course in School? 36. Should Schools Be Able to Discipline Students for What They Say on Social Media? 37. How Should Schools Hold Students Accountable for Hurting Others? 38. Should Schools Provide Free Pads and Tampons? 39. Can Empathy Be Taught? Should Schools Try to Help Us Feel One Another’s Pain? 40. When the Pandemic Ends, Will School Change Forever? 41. Should Schools Change How They Grade Students During the Pandemic? 42. Should Students Be Monitored When Taking Online Tests? 43. Should There Still Be Snow Days? 44. How Should Racial Slurs in Literature Be Handled in the Classroom? 45. Should Teachers Be Allowed to Wear Political Symbols? 46. Should Schools or Employers Be Allowed to Tell People How They Should Wear Their Hair? 47. Are Straight A’s Always a Good Thing? 48. Should Schools Teach You How to Be Happy? 49. How Do You Think American Education Could Be Improved? 50. Should Schools Test Their Students for Nicotine and Drug Use? 51. Can Social Media Be a Tool for Learning and Growth in Schools? 52. Should Facial Recognition Technology Be Used in Schools? 53. Should Your School Day Start Later? 54. Should Yearbooks Include Political News? 55. How Should Senior Year in High School Be Spent? 56. Should Teachers Be Armed With Guns? 57. Is School a Place for Self-Expression? 58. Should Students Be Punished for Not Having Lunch Money? 59. Is Live-Streaming Classrooms a Good Idea? 60. Should Gifted and Talented Education Be Eliminated? 61. What Are the Most Important Things Students Should Learn in School? 62. Should Schools Be Allowed to Censor Student Newspapers? 63. Do You Feel Your School and Teachers Welcome Both Conservative and Liberal Points of View? 64. Should Teachers and Professors Ban Student Use of Laptops in Class? 65. Should Schools Teach About Climate Change? 66. Should All Schools Offer Music Programs? 67. Does Your School Need More Money? 68. Should All Schools Teach Cursive? 69. What Role Should Textbooks Play in Education? 70. Do Kids Need Recess? 71. Should Public Preschool Be a Right for All Children?

72. Graduation in a Pandemic : Is your school doing enough to honor seniors? 73. Most Challenged Books : Are there books that don’t belong in schools or public libraries? 74. Mascot : If you could choose one mascot to represent your school, what would it be? 75. Math : How do you feel about math? 76. Sleep Deprivation : Do you think school should start later for teenagers? 77. Standardized Tests : Is there too much testing at your school? Why or why not? 78. Teacher Walkouts : Do you think teachers should be paid more? Why or why not? 79. Mermaid School : If there could be a special school that would teach you something you really want to learn, what would that school be?

Article-Based Prompts 80. What Weaknesses and Strengths About Our World Are Being Exposed by This Pandemic? 81. As Coronavirus Cases Surge, How Should Leaders Decide What Stays Open and What Closes? 82. How Should We Balance Safety and Urgency in Developing a Covid-19 Vaccine? 83. Do You Want Your Parents and Grandparents to Get the New Coronavirus Vaccine? 84. Do You Think People Have Gotten Too Relaxed About Covid? 85. How Do You Feel About Mask-Slipping?

86. Surge : How should the United States keep the coronavirus pandemic at bay? 87. Masks : What “civic rules” do you think we should all follow now? 88. Paid to Laugh : Would you attend a live TV show taping — if you got money for it? 89. Dolly’s Donation : How do you feel about celebrity philanthropy? 90. Crowds and Covid : How do you feel about crowds during the pandemic? 91. Going Nowhere Fast : Would you take a flight to nowhere?

92. Should Students Be Required to Take the SAT and ACT to Apply to College? 93. Should National Service Be Required for All Young Americans? 94. What Is Your Reaction to the College Admissions Cheating Scandal? 95. Is the College Admissions Process Fair? 96. Should Everyone Go to College? 97. Should College Be Free? 98. Are Lavish Amenities on College Campuses Useful or Frivolous? 99. Should ‘Despised Dissenters’ Be Allowed to Speak on College Campuses? 100. How Should the Problem of Sexual Assault on Campuses Be Addressed? 101. Should Fraternities Be Abolished? 102. Is Student Debt Worth It? 103. Do Other People Care Too Much About Your Post-High School Plans? 104. Should All Young People Learn How to Invest in the Stock Market?

105. Jack-of-All-Trades : Is it better to focus on one thing early in life and get really good at it?

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119. What Is Your Reaction to the Days of Protest That Followed the Death of George Floyd? 120. How Should Parents Teach Their Children About Race and Racism? 121. Is America ‘Backsliding’ on Race? 122. Should All Americans Receive Anti-Bias Education? 123. Should All Companies Require Anti-Bias Training for Employees? 124. Should Columbus Day Be Replaced With Indigenous Peoples Day? 125. Is Fear of ‘The Other’ Poisoning Public Life? 126. Justice Ginsburg Fought for Gender Equality. How Close Are We to Achieving That Goal? 127. What Should #MeToo Mean for Teenage Boys? 128. Should There Be More Boy Dolls? 129. Should the Boy Scouts Be Coed? 130. What Is Hard About Being a Boy?

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140. What Are the Greatest Songs of All Time? 141. Should Museums Return Looted Artifacts to Their Countries of Origin? 142. How Do You Feel About Censored Music? 143. What Role Should Celebrities Have During the Coronavirus Crisis? 144. Can You Separate Art From the Artist? 145. Are There Subjects That Should Be Off-Limits to Artists, or to Certain Artists in Particular? 146. Should Art Come With Trigger Warnings? 147. Should Graffiti Be Protected? 148. Is the Digital Era Improving or Ruining the Experience of Art? 149. Are Museums Still Important in the Digital Age? 150. In the Age of Digital Streaming, Are Movie Theaters Still Relevant? 151. Is Hollywood Becoming More Diverse? 152. What Stereotypical Characters Make You Cringe? 153. Do We Need More Female Superheroes? 154. Do Video Games Deserve the Bad Rap They Often Get? 155. Should Musicians Be Allowed to Copy or Borrow From Other Artists? 156. Is Listening to a Book Just as Good as Reading It? 157. Is There Any Benefit to Reading Books You Hate?

158. Hologram Musicians : Which departed artists would you like to see perform live? 159. Movie Theaters : In the age of digital streaming, are movie theaters still relevant? 160. ‘The Image of the Revolution’ : What is it about this photograph that makes it so powerful? 161. Book Covers : What are your favorite book covers? Why? 162. Fashion Trends : What are your favorite fashion trends? What trends do you hate? 163. Fashion Comebacks : What trends from the past would you like to see revived? 164. Murals : Can art be an act of resistance? 165. An 18-Karat Throne : Is this art? 166. A Hug Seen Around the World : Why do you think this image became so popular so quickly? 167. The Role of Public Broadcasting : Do you think programs like “Sesame Street” make the U.S. smarter, stronger and safer? 168. Best Books? : What have you read and loved this year?

169. Should Girls and Boys Sports Teams Compete in the Same League? 170. Should College Athletes Be Paid? 171. Are Youth Sports Too Competitive? 172. Is It Selfish to Pursue Risky Sports Like Extreme Mountain Climbing? 173. How Should We Punish Sports Cheaters? 174. Should Technology in Sports Be Limited? 175. Should Blowouts Be Allowed in Youth Sports? 176. Are Some Youth Sports Too Intense? 177. Does Better Sports Equipment Unfairly Improve Athletic Ability? 178. Is It Offensive for Sports Teams and Their Fans to Use Native American Names, Imagery and Gestures?

179. Brady’s Big Move : How do you feel about Tom Brady leaving the Patriots? 180. Tiger Woods Wins : What are the greatest comebacks in history? 181. Referees : Do sports officials deserve more respect? 182. $430 Million Deal : Is any athlete worth that amount of money? 183. Super Bowl Commercials : Was it smart for advertisers to steer clear of controversy in 2019? 184. Champions : What team in any sport would you like to see win a championship? 185. The Outspoken N.B.A. : Should all sports leagues treat political speech as a right for their players? 186. Gymnastics on Horseback : What is the world’s most difficult sport? 187. Tackle Football : Should children under the age of 12 play tackle football, in your opinion? 188. Breakdancing : Should dance be an Olympic event? 189. Coed Sports : Do you think women and men should compete against each other in sports? 190. Super Bowl Halftime Performer : Whom would you choose to perform at the Super Bowl, and why? 191. Colin Kaepernick’s Protest : What do you think of this protest?

192. Should Parents Track Their Children? 193. Who Should Decide Whether a Teenager Can Get a Tattoo or Piercing? 194. Is It Harder to Grow Up in the 21st Century Than It Was in the Past? 195. Is Childhood Today Over-Supervised? 196. How Should Parents Talk to Their Children About Drugs? 197. What Should We Call Your Generation? 198. Do Parents Ever Cross a Line by Helping Too Much With Schoolwork? 199. What’s the Best Way to Discipline Children? 200. What Are Your Thoughts on ‘Snowplow Parents’? 201. Should Stay-at-Home Parents Be Paid? 202. When Do You Become an Adult?

203. Household Chores : Do you think children should help out around the house? 204. Spy Cams : Should parents use smart devices to keep tabs on their children when they’re home alone? 205. Adults With Rainbow Hair : Are there some trends adults just should not try? 206. Parenting Skills : Should parents say “no” more often when their children ask for new things?

207. Should Students Be Monitored When Taking Online Tests? 208. What Makes a Great Leader? 209. Is It OK to Laugh During Dark Times? 210. Is It Immoral to Increase the Price of Goods During a Crisis? 211. Would You Allow an Ex-Prisoner to Live With You? 212. Would You Return a Lost Wallet? (What if It Had Lots of Money in It?) 213. Is It Wrong to Focus on Animal Welfare When Humans Are Suffering? 214. Is Animal Testing Ever Justified? 215. Should We Be Concerned With Where We Get Our Pets? 216. Is This Exhibit Animal Cruelty or Art? 217. Should Extinct Animals Be Resurrected? If So, Which Ones? 218. Why Do Bystanders Sometimes Fail to Help When They See Someone in Danger? 219. Is It Ethical to Create Genetically Edited Humans? 220. Should Reporters Ever Help the People They Are Covering? 221. Is It OK to Use Family Connections to Get a Job? 222. Is $1 Billion Too Much Money for Any One Person to Have? 223. Are We Being Bad Citizens If We Don’t Keep Up With the News? 224. Should Prisons Offer Incarcerated People Education Opportunities? 225. Should Law Enforcement Be Able to Use DNA Data From Genealogy Websites for Criminal Investigations? 226. Should We Treat Robots Like People?

227. World’s Big Sleep Out : What lengths would you go to in support of a worthy cause? 228. Tipping : Do you leave a tip whenever you’re asked to? 229. Cash Reward : Should you accept a cash reward for doing the right thing? 230. Cheating : Would you tell if you caught your classmates cheating? 231. Do Not Resuscitate : Should doctors have tried to revive this man? 232. Hitler and History : Should the bunker where Hitler killed himself be a tourist attraction? 233. Solving Global Problems : As the head of a global foundation, what problem would you solve?

234. Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished? 235. If You Were a Member of Congress, Would You Vote to Impeach President Trump? 236. Who Do You Think Should Be Person of the Year for 2020? 237. Should the United States Decriminalize the Possession of Drugs? 238. What Would You Do First if You Were the New President? 239. Does Everyone Have a Responsibility to Vote? 240. How Should We Remember the Problematic Actions of the Nation’s Founders? 241. Do You Care Who Sits on the Supreme Court? Should We Care? 242. Is the Electoral College a Problem? Does It Need to Be Fixed? 243. Are Presidential Debates Helpful to Voters? Or Should They Be Scrapped? 244. Is Your Generation Doing Its Part to Strengthen Our Democracy? 245. Should We All Be Able to Vote by Mail? 246. What Issues in the 2020 Presidential Race Are Most Important to You? 247. Do You Think the American Dream Is Real? 248. Should Plastic Bags Be Banned Everywhere? 249. Does the United States Owe Reparations to the Descendants of Enslaved People? 250. Do You Think It Is Important for Teenagers to Participate in Political Activism? 251. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? 252. What Should Lawmakers Do About Guns and Gun Violence? 253. Should Confederate Statues Be Removed or Remain in Place? 254. Does the U.S. Constitution Need an Equal Rights Amendment? 255. Should National Monuments Be Protected by the Government? 256. Should Free Speech Protections Include Self Expression That Discriminates? 257. How Important Is Freedom of the Press? 258. Should Ex-Felons Have the Right to Vote? 259. Should Marijuana Be Legal? 260. Should the United States Abolish Daylight Saving Time? 261. Should the U.S. Ban Military-Style Semiautomatic Weapons? 262. Should the U.S. Get Rid of the Electoral College? 263. What Do You Think of President Trump’s Use of Twitter? 264. Should Celebrities Weigh In on Politics? 265. Why Is It Important for People With Different Political Beliefs to Talk to Each Other? 266. Should Athletes Speak Out On Social and Political Issues?

267. Government Buildings : Should they all look like the Lincoln Memorial? 268. Oprah for President : Would you vote for her if you could? 269. Peaceful Protesting : In what ways can you demonstrate peacefully to express your views? 270. Student Climate Strikes : What issues do you think deserve more attention? 271. Pennies : Should the United States get rid of the penny? 272. Mandatory Voting? : Should citizens who are 18 or older be required to vote? 273. Dabbing in Congress : Should this teenager have dabbed in his father’s official swearing-in photo? 274. Baby Bonds : Should the government give money to babies?

275. We Document Life’s Milestones. How Should We Document Death? 276. Does Reality TV Deserve Its Bad Rap? 277. Do Marriage Proposals Still Have a Place in Today’s Society? 278. Should We Rethink Thanksgiving? 279. How Do You Decide What News to Believe, What to Question and What to Dismiss? 280. Should the Week Be Four Days Instead of Five? 281. Should Public Transit Be Free? 282. How Important Is Knowing a Foreign Language? 283. Is There a ‘Right Way’ to Be a Tourist? 284. Should Your Significant Other Be Your Best Friend? 285. What Do You Think of the #WalkUpNotOut Movement?

286. Teenage Drivers : What do you think of Georgia’s decision to issue driver’s licenses without road tests? 287. Snow Days : How do you feel about winter weather? 288. Fortune Tellers : Do you believe in psychics? 289. Big City, Small Town : Which would you rather live in? Why? 290. Game Show Winner : Would you ever want to be a contestant on a game show? 291. Fast-Food Buffet : Is this the feast of your dreams or your nightmares? 292. Public Libraries : Are libraries still relevant and important today? 293. Trans Fats : Should trans fats be banned around the world? 294. Dolls : If you could have your favorite toy company make a doll of someone, who would it be and why? 295. Creepy Clowns : How do you feel about clowns? 296. Tattoos : How do you feel about tattooing in general? 297. Brushing Beagle : What are the best dog breeds, in your opinion? 298. U.F.O.s : Do you believe that U.F.O.s are signs of alien life? 299. Small Talk : Do you have the gift of gab? 300. Lottery Winnings : Would you want to win the lottery? Why or why not?

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Why is Voting Important

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Best United States Essay Examples

Voting rights.

646 words | 3 page(s)

Since 1787, when the Constitution of the United States was formally created, the right to vote was considered an inalienable one. That being said, although we are justified in considering the Constitution to be the bedrock of our republic, the Constitution was far from perfect in its early days. From the time of the Founding Fathers to the present, numerous critical factors have changed the voting process. Firstly, it is important to consider who was allowed to vote in the first place. Although the Confederation set out to protect American rights, numerous American citizens were barred from voting, including slaves and women. About 6% of the 3.9 million people making up the population of the United States were eligible to vote, the 6% represented by white, upper-class men who owned land. Today, by contrast, everyone who is conferred American citizenship and who is aged 18 years or older can legally vote.

As such, we must pay attention to the historical progression of voting rights and eligibility concerns. Since the Civil War, thanks to the proactive and liberal-minded attitude of Abraham Lincoln, the Constitution has been amended to disallow limiting voting rights based on gender, age, race and wealth. Secondly, it would be useful to us as historians to consider the widened pool of people who gradually were permitted to vote. A number of key events need to be underlined. In 1848, a rallying speech by Frederick Douglass stirred people to action and to adopt a resolution stating the need for voting rights for women, which was finally granted in the 1900s. By 1870, the 15th Amendment is passed, explicitly forbidding a state to deny a citizen the right to vote based on race. These examples serve to juxtapose the past to the present and to highlight changes that we may not be aware of in today’s relatively democratic society where every American citizen aged 18 years or older can vote (thanks to the 26th Amendment).

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In Chapter VII, Gitelson lays out numerous factors that influence voter choice and voter participation in presidential elections. Gitelson argues that the length of campaigns, the size of voting population, and television advertising time are some choice examples that allow one candidate to win an election over another. But the question remains- who votes in presidential elections and who is shoved aside? Gitelson convincingly argues that voter turnout rates fluctuate due to a number of trends.

For example, the common consensus among pollsters is that 18-to-24-year olds are politically disengaged and rarely vote. Gitelson takes issue with this opinion, writing that interest in politics is rising among young American citizens. To back up his argument, Gitelson informs us that the voter turnout rate was 42% in 2004 and that 25% handed out money or actively participated in campaigns. On the flip side, we may see this trend being quickly overturned due to a number of reasons. A growing gap between the Republicans and the Democrats is furling bitterness and resentment among the younger population, especially those who backed up Barack Obama in 2008. Young American citizens of Mexican origin who may have witnessed their family members or friends being deported due to Trump’s draconian law may also feel disinclined to vote in the future. In light of this information, it may come as little surprise to learn that voter turnout has historically been low among ethnic minorities, especially since 2008 when the voter turnout rate was much lower among Hispanics and Asians if compared to that of Caucasians.

Income levels and educational background affect voter turnout rates. Experts have estimated that citizens with a university degree are three times more likely to vote than citizens who have obtained a high school diploma.

In light of this information, as Gitelson repeatedly reminds us, there are many myths about the American political system and voting rights that need to be exposed.

• Gitelson, Alan. American Government: Myths and Realities. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

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Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights

The topic of interest is voting rights as a fundamental part of any democratic society, and the two lenses selected are social sciences and humanities. From the perspective of the social sciences, many issues and subjects can be explained from the point of view of human behavior as well as societal forces at varying levels. On the basis of the lens of the social sciences, voting rights are heavily impacted by current ballot access challenges and legislation on voting, which can be discriminatory against specific social groups. The prime hinderers of voting rights include voter identification laws, voter roll purges, and felon disenfranchisement (Yang, 2019). For example, people who were incarcerated, inactive, relocated, or voters without IDs can be excluded under the current legislation (Yang, 2019). Thus, the lens of the social sciences provides insight into how voting rights can selectively exclude some groups through laws, which disproportionately affects the balance of power in society.

From the humanities lens, the issue of voting rights can be better illuminated through art, literature, and philosophy. It is important to note that these rights were not always accessible to everyone, such exclusion of women. For example, in response, the first-wave feminist movement used in the UK used the color white to symbolize the British Suffrage Movement to fight against oppression (Wahl, 2018). The connection can be drawn between the meaning, context, and essence of the color white to express widespread dissatisfaction with a patriarchic rule imposed on women.

Both lenses regard the issue of voting rights from the human perspective and outline how specific groups are impacted by the voting legislation. The social sciences lenses focus on the discriminatory practices in voting rights that exist nowadays, while the humanities perspective outlines the historical context within which these rights were denied to specific social groups. At the same time, both approaches disregard the stages of development of voting legislation in the US and abroad and the latest steps take to maximize the representation of different groups in the voting process. As far as differences are concerned, the social sciences lens outlines current legislative blocks that prevent many people from exercising their voting rights, while the humanities lens places the issue in historical context.

Looking at the topic of voting rights from two different perspectives, I have understood how different approaches may change the way people perceive diverse issues and how these lenses can be used by outside forces to persuade people of one point of view or the other. However, looking at the issue at a deeper level, one can conclude that all approaches reflect diverse facets of a single whole that remains unchanged no matter from what perspective one looks at it (Imbert). Some of the benefits of further research may lie in uncovering further perspectives of looking at the issue of voting rights which would serve to add to a coherent picture of the topic. At the same time, it would be interesting to analyse how these different lenses correlate with the ones I have uncovered and whether new information is able to change the overall picture of the development of voting rights in the US.

Imbert, E. One Topic Different Perspectives. Web.

Yang, E. (2021) Ensuring access to the ballot box. American Bar Association . Web.

Wahl, K. (2016). Purity and parity: The white dress of the suffrage movement in early twentieth-century Britain. Colors in Fashion, edited by Jonathan Faiers and Mary Westerman Bulgarella, 21-34.

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LawBirdie. (2023, August 24). Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights. https://lawbirdie.com/social-sciences-and-humanities-lens-on-voting-rights/

"Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights." LawBirdie , 24 Aug. 2023, lawbirdie.com/social-sciences-and-humanities-lens-on-voting-rights/.

LawBirdie . (2023) 'Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights'. 24 August.

LawBirdie . 2023. "Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights." August 24, 2023. https://lawbirdie.com/social-sciences-and-humanities-lens-on-voting-rights/.

1. LawBirdie . "Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights." August 24, 2023. https://lawbirdie.com/social-sciences-and-humanities-lens-on-voting-rights/.

Bibliography

LawBirdie . "Social Sciences and Humanities Lens on Voting Rights." August 24, 2023. https://lawbirdie.com/social-sciences-and-humanities-lens-on-voting-rights/.

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Essay on Voting Rights in India: 500 Words in English for Students

• Updated on  
• Apr 18, 2024

Voting rights are essential to India’s democracy . They allow every Indian citizen who is 18 or older to cast their vote in their respective constituency. In India, gaining the ability to vote at the age of 18 signifies a substantial turning point in adulthood and civic duty. This guarantees that young adults will have the chance to participate in the country’s political process as adults by choosing their representatives and casting ballots for the causes they believe in. Today, we will be discussing an essay on voting rights in India. Stay tuned!

Table of Contents

• 1.1 History of Voting Rights
• 1.2 Universal Adult Franchise
• 1.3 Importance of Voting Rights
• 1.4 Conclusion
• 2 Additional Reads: Definition and Significance of Voting Rights 

Essay on Voting Rights in India in 500 Words

As the country moves towards becoming an open and participatory democracy, India’s voting rights have changed dramatically over time. Voting rights in India have a rich history that highlights democratic government and equality, from the pre-independence struggle to the introduction of universal adult franchises.

History of Voting Rights

Voting rights were a highly contentious matter before independence. Mahatma Gandhi advocated the practice of universal voting during the national freedom struggle . He, along with other nationalist leaders, saw voting as an essential civic obligation for all residents as well as a political right. 

The foundation of this campaign was the belief that for India to become a genuinely democratic country, every person should be able to cast a ballot, irrespective of gender, caste, or creed.

As a direct result of their work, independent India accepted the Universal Adult Franchise (UAF). All adult Indian citizens now have the right to vote, irrespective of their social or economic status, thanks to the 1950 passage of the Indian Constitution . This action was uncommon in a post-colonial nation where extreme poverty and a dearth of knowledge were the norm.

Quick Read: One Nation One Election Essay

Universal Adult Franchise

India adopted a universal adult franchise. Every citizen, who is 18 years of age and above irrespective of their caste or education, religion, colour, race, or economic conditions, is free to vote.

India’s adoption of UAF was a landmark decision, setting it apart from many other nations. Unlike countries that restricted voting rights based on property ownership or educational qualifications, India embraced the principle of “one person, one vote” from its inception. This bold step reflected the commitment to inclusivity and empowerment of its diverse population.

Several other democracies, inspired by India’s example, also transitioned towards a universal adult franchise, recognising its inherent fairness and representation of the people’s will.

Importance of Voting Rights

The importance of voting rights in India cannot be overstated:

• Expressing Sovereignty: One of the main ways that citizens can exercise their sovereignty is through voting. Voting allows people to directly influence the policies and governance of their nation.
• Ensuring Representation: Voting promotes inclusion and social justice by guaranteeing that the government reflects the varied interests and goals of the whole population.
• Leader Accountability: Political leaders are answerable to the people through elections. The public interest is the mandate of elected politicians, who are subject to democratic processes for replacement.
• Strengthening Democracy: By encouraging civic involvement, political understanding, and a sense of duty among citizens, voting helps to reinforce the democratic fabric.

Voting rights have evolved in India from being a distant ideal to a vital aspect of democracy. India has developed into one of the biggest and most active democracies in the world, thanks to Gandhi’s idea of adult universal voting rights and its implementation. Voting rights are important because they affect the destiny of the country and go beyond just the act of casting a ballot. Voting rights must be preserved and improved in India as it navigates its democratic transition to create a society that is more just and equal.

Quick Read: Essay on the Role of Youth in Nation-Building

Additional Reads: Definition and Significance of Voting Rights 

• Voting rights are fundamental to democracy, ensuring citizens’ participation in governance and decision-making processes.
• They empower individuals to have to say in electing representatives who will shape the policies and laws.
• Voting rights promote inclusivity by allowing every eligible adult to contribute to the democratic process. 
• They are essential for holding leaders accountable and promoting transparency in governance.
• By exercising voting rights, citizens express their sovereign authority and influence the direction of their nation.
• Voting rights are a cornerstone of civil liberties, reflecting the principles of equality and political freedom.
• They enable citizens to voice their concerns, preferences, and aspirations through the ballot box.
• Voting rights have historically been championed as a means to achieve social justice and progress.
• They encourage civic engagement and political awareness among the population.
• Ultimately, voting rights empower individuals to actively participate in shaping the future of their communities.

#RollToPoll ✨🙌 Follow these simple steps,from verifying your name in the Electoral roll to casting your vote at polling stations. Watch this step-by-step video guide.👇 #LokSabhaElections2024 #ECI #ChunavKaParv #DeshKaGarv #Elections2024 pic.twitter.com/0rH8O1KWyC — Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) April 4, 2024

Ans. Election processes and complex constitutional arrangements make up electoral systems . The vote is transformed into a political decision by these elaborate voting procedures and constitutional structures.

Ans. Elections certainly contribute to limiting the authority of political leaders. This is a result of the fact that political leaders cannot afford to mistreat the public for fear of losing elections.

Ans. In India, the age of eighteen signifies the start of voting.

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Voting Rights Argumentative Essays Samples For Students

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UK Prisoners Right To Vote Argumentative Essay Example

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Martin Luther King Jr.: a Legacy of Achievements

This essay about Martin Luther King Jr.’s pivotal role in the American civil rights movement. It highlights his leadership in significant events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the historic March on Washington. King’s advocacy led to key legislative victories, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. His legacy extends globally, inspiring movements for social justice and nonviolent resistance. Despite facing opposition and personal sacrifices, King’s unwavering commitment to equality continues to shape the fight against injustice today.

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Martin Luther King Jr., a luminary whose utterances and endeavors echo across epochs, endures as one of the most consequential figures of the American civil rights crusade. Born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, King etched an enduring impression on American society through his relentless activism, commanding rhetoric, and steadfast dedication to justice. His achievements facilitated the emergence of a fresh paradigm for the United States and the world, anchored in parity and nonviolent opposition.

One of King’s nascent triumphs was his leadership role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956.

Provoked by the apprehension of Rosa Parks for declining to relinquish her bus seat to a Caucasian, the boycott signified a pivotal juncture in the civil rights tussle. King, then a youthful clergyman in Montgomery, Alabama, was tasked with leading the Montgomery Improvement Association and orchestrating the boycott. For over a year, the African American community in Montgomery eschewed public bus transportation, evincing remarkable resilience and solidarity. Their exertions culminated in a seminal Supreme Court decree that invalidated segregation on public buses, thereby solidifying King’s reputation as a dynamic leader.

King proceeded to co-establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, an entity dedicated to harnessing the potency of nonviolent dissent to effect societal metamorphosis. The SCLC emerged as a potent force in the civil rights campaign, amplifying King’s message of peaceful resistance and broadening the struggle for racial equality across the American South. Under King’s tutelage, the SCLC orchestrated marches, voter registration initiatives, and other manifestations of nonviolent protest, advocating for integration and rectitude.

One of King’s most conspicuous accomplishments was his role in orchestrating the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Over 250,000 individuals congregated at the Lincoln Memorial to advocate for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It was during this march that King delivered his seminal “I Have a Dream” address, expounding a compelling vision of a future where individuals would “not be evaluated by the color of their skin but by the essence of their character.” This address galvanized support for the civil rights movement and left an enduring impression on the American psyche.

King’s advocacy also played a pivotal role in the enactment of seminal civil rights legislation. His leadership and activism facilitated the momentum requisite for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which proscribed discrimination predicated on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, another epochal triumph, ensued shortly thereafter and sought to eradicate racial bias in voting, notably in the South.

Beyond these legal victories, King championed economic equity and dissented against the Vietnam War. He discerned the interwoven nature of racial and economic disparities and inaugurated the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968 to advocate for economic entitlements for all marginalized factions. This campaign, which aspired to establish a multiracial alliance of disadvantaged individuals, underscored the imperative to redress systemic impoverishment through governmental intervention.

King’s vision transcended geographical confines. In 1964, he attained the distinction of being the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his steadfast commitment to nonviolent resistance. His doctrine of nonviolent protest, influenced by the precepts of Mahatma Gandhi, emerged as a potent archetype for social movements globally. His legacy inspired activists combating apartheid in South Africa, advocating for civil rights in Northern Ireland, and beyond.

Despite encountering vehement opposition and personal sacrifices, King remained unwavering in his quest for equity and parity until his assassination on April 4, 1968. He bequeathed a legacy of achievements that persistently mold the contemporary struggle for civil rights. His endeavors propelled the cause of equity for African Americans and underscored the significance of nonviolent opposition in contesting injustice. King’s accomplishments endure as a testimonial to the transformative potency of fortitude and benevolence, reminding us that substantive metamorphosis can emanate from resolute conviction in a brighter world.

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Essay on My Vote My Right

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Vote My Right in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Vote My Right

Introduction.

Voting is a fundamental right of every citizen. It’s our way to voice our opinions and choose our leaders.

Importance of Voting

Voting is crucial for democracy. It allows us to select competent leaders and hold them accountable.

Responsibility of Citizens

As responsible citizens, we should use our voting rights wisely. It’s our duty to vote for the betterment of our society.

In conclusion, our vote is our right. We should value it and use it responsibly to shape our country’s future.

250 Words Essay on My Vote My Right

The significance of voting.

Voting is not just a right; it is a privilege and a responsibility. It is the most potent nonviolent tool or weapon in a democratic society. We make choices about the leaders who will shape the policy and direction of our communities, our countries, and our world.

The Power of a Single Vote

Many may argue that a single vote does not make a difference. However, history is replete with instances where the destiny of nations was changed by a single vote. It is the collective power of individual votes that shapes the outcome of an election. Every vote counts in the democratic process.

The Impact of Not Voting

When we choose not to vote, we surrender our voice. We let others decide our future. The consequences can be dire, leading to the election of leaders not aligned with our values or the enactment of policies that negatively affect our lives.

My Vote, My Right

The right to vote is a fundamental aspect of civil liberties and human rights. It is a direct way for citizens to influence governmental decisions. It is our right to vote that safeguards our democracy, ensuring that power truly belongs to the people.

The act of voting is a declaration of our commitment to democracy, to one another, and to the principles of liberty and justice. It is an affirmation that we value our right to make choices about who governs us and how we are governed. My vote, indeed, is my right.

500 Words Essay on My Vote My Right

Introduction: the power of a single vote.

The right to vote is a cornerstone of any democratic society. It is through this right that citizens participate in the democratic process, choosing representatives who align with their beliefs and values. The phrase “My Vote, My Right” encapsulates this principle, emphasizing the personal power and responsibility inherent in the act of voting.

The Concept of Voting Rights

Voting rights are more than just a legal entitlement; they are a reflection of a society’s commitment to equality and justice. They ensure that all citizens, regardless of their socio-economic status, race, or gender, have a say in the political direction of their country. In essence, voting rights are a manifestation of the democratic principle that power ultimately resides with the people.

Historical Perspective and Struggle

The struggle for voting rights has been a long and arduous journey. From the suffragette movement that fought for women’s voting rights to the Civil Rights movement that sought to end racial discrimination in voting, history is replete with instances of people battling for this fundamental right. These struggles underscore the importance of voting rights and serve as a reminder that they should never be taken for granted.

The Impact of a Single Vote

The power of a single vote should not be underestimated. There have been numerous instances in history where elections have been decided by a handful of votes. Each vote contributes to the final outcome, and hence, each vote matters. It is through the collective power of individual votes that societal change is brought about.

Challenges to Voting Rights

Despite the importance of voting rights, they are often under threat. Voter suppression, disenfranchisement, and gerrymandering are some of the tactics used to undermine the democratic process. It is the responsibility of every citizen to stay vigilant against such threats and to fight for the preservation and expansion of voting rights.

The Role of Youth in Upholding Voting Rights

As the future leaders of society, college students play a crucial role in upholding voting rights. They can do this by educating themselves and others about the importance of voting, participating in peaceful protests against voter suppression, and most importantly, by exercising their right to vote. By doing so, they can ensure that the democratic process remains robust and representative of the people’s will.

Conclusion: My Vote, My Right

In conclusion, the phrase “My Vote, My Right” is not just a statement of a legal entitlement, but a declaration of personal power and responsibility. It is a call to action for every citizen to participate in the democratic process, and a reminder that the power to shape society lies in our hands. Whether we choose to exercise this power or not, the consequences will be ours to bear. Therefore, let us not take our voting rights for granted, but instead, use them to create a society that reflects our values and aspirations.

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Voting Awareness Essay

The voting awareness essay is an article that discusses voting and its importance. It provides information about voting and how to be a responsible voter. A lot of people want to vote, but many are not aware of its need and how to cast it. This is where voting awareness comes into play. The idea of voting awareness is to help people understand the importance of voting. Voting is an important way for voters to control their government. It is a method for citizens to express what they want from their leaders by raising awareness about voting. This will lead to better governance and what everyone wants – a democracy that is free, fair and representative.

Voting helps citizens become more involved in their government and keep it accountable. To vote, you must meet specific requirements. In addition to voting, there are a few laws that ensure fair elections around the world. BYJU’S short essay on voting awareness helps us understand the vote’s significance.

Importance of Voting

Voting is an integral part of democracy, and it is necessary for people to have a voice. Everyone has the right to vote, which means that all Indians can vote for the Prime Minister of their choice. By voting, you can create change and make a difference in your community. It is also important to vote because you can only repeal a law if most citizens agree with it.

Voting is one way to be more civically engaged with your government. It is vital to make a difference in the world by having your voice heard and representing the views of people who don’t have a voice. If you want to create change, voting is an excellent way. Voting in election helps citizens ensure that the country is granted better rights and protection.

Voting is an important civic duty that can significantly impact the future of our country. Voting helps keep politicians accountable for their actions and creates the framework for our democracy. Voting also ensures that public officials are paid with the tax amount from the people who can afford to pay them. The most consequential decision of all is how to spend tax – voting ensures that there is accountability for what goes into our government’s budget. The last thing we want is for politicians to be able to spend public money without being held accountable by the public’s vote.

To conclude, this is BYJU’S voting awareness essay for kids to help them understand the significance of voting in a democracy. Voting gives citizens a voice and an opportunity to participate in the democratic process. Voting also allows everyone to contribute to the shared democracy and make the government more representative of the people. For more kids learning activities like worksheets , poems etc., visit BYJU’S website.

Frequently Asked Questions on Voting Awareness Essay

At what age can a person vote in india.

In India, a person can start voting once they turn 18.

Why should we vote?

We should vote to let our voices be heard and ensure that what we want is put into effect. Voting is one of the fundamental rights our country offers us.

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Can we end the Supreme Court's assault on voting rights? This legal scholar says there's hope

Law professor joshua douglas on "the court v. the voters," and a bipartisan solution that might actually work, by paul rosenberg.

Joshua Douglas is an optimistic guy. He's a law professor at the University of Kentucky, where he teaches election law and voting rights. While the country as whole has been wracked by a wave of anti-voting rights legislation in the wake of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection, Kentucky managed to pass a new bipartisan law that both expanded voting rights and addressed Republicans' supposed security concerns. So Douglas, who is acutely aware of how recent Supreme Court decisions have eroded voting rights and democracy itself, wanted to write a book about reversing that erosion, proposing a “grand election compromise” that would both strengthen democracy and reform the court in ways both Democrats and Republicans could support.  

“That's great, I love it. That's your conclusion,” Douglas says his agent told him. He and others who follow the courts closely already know that the Supreme Court has been terrible on voting rights, but the general public still wants to imagine the high court as a defender of rights. So Douglas needed to explain the problem, his agent said, before providing the solution. So was born “ The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights .” 

Each chapter focuses on a case in which the Supreme Court has eroded voter rights in some way. Where two or more cases have eroded rights in similar ways, those are presented in order, offering a grand overview of how the court has undermined democracy. Some are well known and infamous decisions, like Citizens United and Bush v. Gore, and others are well known to voting-rights activists, such as Shelby County v. Holder. Others are more obscure, but they all played a role in bringing us where we are today, with individual voting rights dramatically diminished from a high point under Chief Justice Earl Warren's court during the 1960s. Yet Douglas' book is anything but a dry, analytical legal brief. The stories of individuals involved in these cases feature prominently in each chapter, bringing the issues vividly alive. I recently spoke with Douglas via Zoom. This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.    

Your first three chapters describe a trio of cases that eroded the protections that voting rights had gained with the Warren court — what is known as “strict scrutiny.” How did that begin with Anderson v. Celebrezze, a case out of the 1980 election? 

The book has some cases that many people have heard of, but others that no one's heard of are perhaps more important for voting rights. Anderson is one of these. This case involved John Anderson's run for president as an independent in the 1980 election. He was too late to get on the ballot and so he sued in five states, including Ohio, which went up to the Supreme Court. 

I put this in Chapter 1 because it falls back on that "strict scrutiny" test, as you mentioned. Previously, in the 1960s, the court had robustly protected the right to vote by scrutinizing state laws, making states prove the need for a particular law that impacted voters. Anderson is the case that begins to pull back on that, where instead of saying to the state, “Give us a good enough reason and that's what we're going to test,” now the court says, “We're going to balance the rights of voters and the burdens they face with the state's need to regulate its election.” This case is the first in which you start seeing the court methodically giving states greater rights and providing less scrutiny on states.

The second case,  Burdick v. Takushi, had to do with write-in voting. What happened there? How did it make matters worse? 

This is one of the most interesting cases in the book, to me. It deals with Alan Burdick, who wanted to write in a candidate in Hawaii. He was unsatisfied with the candidates for state representative and he wasn't allowed to cast a write-in vote. He said, “I want to write in” and the poll worker said, “Well you can't. The machines won't allow it.” He half-joked that he didn't know if it was the actual voting machines that wouldn't allow a write-in vote, or the political machine that was trying to make sure that there was no dissent outside their established candidates. 

It's also interesting in that this was not cause litigation, like you see in a lot of voting rights cases. This is just a guy who was upset that he couldn't write in a candidate, so he sued. What he told me was that write-in voting is an important outlet for voters who don't like the chosen candidates selected by the parties. So not allowing him to write in a candidate, he felt like, took away his right to vote. 

The court, however, rejected his lawsuit and in doing so furthered that test from Anderson that gives states more leeway to regulate their elections as they want. The Warren court had said states must prove why they needed a law that impacts voters. The combination of Anderson and Burdick meant a state can say things like, “Well, we want to have good election administration,” or “We’re worried about election integrity,” and in Burdick the court basically said, “We're going to give the state credit for just saying they want easy election administration, without scrutinizing whether that's a valid concern in this situation and whether the law actually achieves that goal.” 

The third case, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, had to do with voter ID, which was justified as protecting against voter fraud — something for which there was no evidence. How did it build on Anderson and Burdick?  

Here you not only had the court applying this balancing test, but the thumb started getting pushed even further on the side of states. Before, the voter could say, “Look, this law is denying my right to vote,” and the state would have to provide evidence to show either that it wasn't denying the right to vote or that there was a good enough reason. After Crawford, the voter has to provide a ton of evidence about the ways the law impacts the right to vote, and the state has to provide no evidence whatsoever that there's actual fraud it's trying to prevent. 

So the Crawford case completes the trilogy, after Anderson and Burdick, by placing the thumb even more firmly on the side of states, and deferring to states in how they conduct their elections, which in fact is the last thing we should do. If there's any area in which we should trust politicians the least , it's on voting rights. 

The court ruled "that this tiny little phrase in Section 2 of the 14th Amendment allows felon disenfranchisement, even though that phrase was intended to ensure that the former Confederate states could not deny the right to vote to newly freed slaves."

Next you deal with felon disenfranchisement in a 1974 case, Richardson v. Ramirez. You explain that the Warren court strengthened the right to vote based on the 14th Amendment, but voter disenfranchisement was also rooted in the 14th Amendment. How did that unfold and how is it mistaken?

This is a question I get all time. Why are states allowed to disenfranchise individuals who have been convicted of a felony when the Constitution protects the right to vote? The answer is this Richardson case from 1974. This was cause litigation, unlike Burdick. Some California lawyers were looking for plaintiffs to challenge California's voting rules, and Ramirez was a good example. He had gotten into a bar fight in Texas 15 or 20 years prior and had a conviction, but had served his sentence and was living a happy life. He moved to California, he was a farmworker with a wife and kids, and he heard about this lawsuit. 

What's interesting to me about this case is that once it got to the Supreme Court, the case completely changed. The case was litigated as a right-to-vote case: Is there a right to vote in the Constitution, and does this felony disenfranchisement law infringe upon it? It gets to the Supreme Court and the case totally changes to: Does the Constitution also allow felony disenfranchisement, through this forgotten clause in Section 2 of the 14th Amendment, known as the "reduction in representation clause"?

Without getting too much into the legal weeds, the big takeaway is that the court says that this tiny little phrase in Section 2 of the 14th Amendment allows felon disenfranchisement, even though that phrase was intended to ensure that the former Confederate states could not deny the right to vote to newly freed slaves. This was never intended to allow a lifetime ban on individuals with a felony conviction. If you just looked at the history of the 14th Amendment, the court twists it and applies it in a way that was never intended, and says, yes, the 14th Amendment, Section 1, includes a right to vote through the equal protection clause, but that's taken away for some people by Section 2.

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Citizens United is well known, but it's less well known that it overturned past precedents as recent as seven years earlier. How did it change the court's approach to campaign finance, how was it justified and what did the court ignore or dismiss in the process?

I write about Citizens United not only as a campaign finance case but also as a voting rights case. In terms of the law, it overturned a case called McConnell v. FEC from 2003. But the legal change is our understanding of corruption, and the court's understanding of corruption. In Citizens United, the court narrowly defined corruption as quid pro quo: I give a sum of money to a candidate directly, and the candidate is then going to do my bidding. The court said that's the only kind of corruption that the government can prohibit, instead of the broader and, I think, better understanding of corruption: I'm going to do something for you, but maybe not give you money directly, and I expect you to do something for me when you're in office. And the thing I'm doing for you that's indirect is that I'm spending my own money on my own campaign, trying to support your candidacy. 

So that's the campaign finance side. My focus is on the voters, in that it skews democracy by giving wealthy interests the loudest voices. That makes it harder for voters to understand what the politician's message actually is, and makes it harder for voters' voices to be the loudest.  

Next you deal with the notorious Bush v. Gore decision that decided the 2000 election, which explicitly said it was only applicable to that one case. You argue that it had profound harmful effects that continue to this day, even contributing to the Jan. 6 insurrection. So explain that argument. I think it's powerful and might surprise some people.

Although the court said that case was good for one time only, the politicians haven't thought so and lower courts haven't thought so either. It's been cited a bunch by the lower courts. Politicians haven't thought so because, essentially, any time there's a close election now, politicians think they can just challenge it. In the chapter I go through, basically, that in every four-year cycle there have been post-election challenges. In 2004, it was the governor's race in Washington state, and in 2008 it was the U.S. Senate election in Minnesota. Those elections came down to a few hundred votes out of millions, so it makes sense that there were recounts. But there's a sentiment now that an election is never really over on election night, or when the results are certified a few weeks later. 

Citizens United "skews democracy by giving wealthy interests the loudest voices. That makes it harder for voters to understand what the politician's message actually is, and makes it harder for voters' voices to be the loudest." 

This was exploited to very harmful effect by Donald Trump and his supporters, because that was not a close election in 2020, and yet they filed dozens of lawsuits all around the country to try to challenge aspects of the election results. And they can look at Bush v. Gore and say, well, you know, Al Gore challenged the election results in Florida in 2000. So it's contributed to this idea that post-election litigation can be a routine part of a campaign, or at least planning for it is something that every campaign does — and that the courts are an important part of the decision-making process when it comes to elections. That's dangerous because even when an election is not close, like 2020, you whip up your supporters to think it is, and you see what happened on Jan. 6. 

After Bush v. Gore, the next two chapters deal with cases undermining voting rights. The first is Shelby County vs. Holder . What did the courts do in that case, and why was it so consequential?  

This case involves Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which is this pre-clearance mechanism, this idea that certain states with a history of discrimination on the basis of race in voting had to seek what was known as pre-clearance before enacting any voting changes. Basically, Congress said, "We can’t trust you to pass laws that won't discriminate, so we need a mechanism to make sure that the laws you pass aren't going to have a discriminatory effect."

The court had upheld this pre-clearance mechanism four times, and yet Shelby County overturned it. It overturned not the pre-clearance idea itself but the coverage formula Congress had created to decide which jurisdictions were subject to this process. Everyone knew that by ruling that section — Section 4(b), the coverage formula — unconstitutional, it would kill off Section 5, which was pre-clearance. 

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The reason that is so controversial or so wrong is epitomized by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's quote in her dissent, which I use for the chapter title, which is that taking away the pre-clearance mechanism because it's working so well — which was true; studies showed that these places were no longer passing egregious, discriminatory voting laws — was like throwing away your umbrella during a rainstorm because you're not getting wet. I think she was right. In the 10 or 11 years since Shelby County came down, you can see a retrenchment in voting rights in various areas. A recent study looked at the turnout gap in previously covered jurisdictions and showed that minority individuals are turning out at a lower rate, as compared to white individuals, in those 10 years. So it's concerning because of the retrenchment it caused on minority voting rights. 

Following that was Brnovich v. DNC — and in that case, you write, Justice Samuel Alito "made up the law.” What happened there, and what do you mean by that?

This is a case involving two Arizona laws that the plaintiffs argued hurt voters. One was about who could deliver someone's ballot, letting groups or individuals collect ballots to deliver, and the other involved what happens if you show up at the wrong precinct to vote, basically saying that any vote cast there will not count. The plaintiffs showed that these laws had some disproportionate effect on minority voters, particularly the ballot collection ban, which harmed Native American voters. So this was challenged under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which says you can't have any laws that have an effect of racial discrimination. 

The court rejected the challenge under Section 2, but doesn't just throw out the plaintiff's lawsuit. It creates a whole new test for how to use Section 2 on a vote-denial case — laws that make it harder for people to cast their ballot. And as I say, Alito made up the law, creating what he calls five guideposts that plaintiffs must satisfy to bring a successful claim under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. These guideposts come out of thin air: There's no citations for them, and every single one of them will make it harder for plaintiffs to bring a successful case. Talk about judicial activism! This is not in the statutes, it's not in the legislative history. Alito just thinks these are good guideposts for plaintiffs to have to prove, so he creates them. Every single one lessens the protection of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by making it harder for plaintiffs.

Your next two chapters deal with gerrymandering. Only the first chapter title is tied to a particular case, Rucho v. Common Cause . What happened in that case and why was it significant?

Here you have two cases, one from North Carolina, and one from Maryland. One is Republicans severely gerrymandering the North Carolina map, while in the other, Democrats severely gerrymandered a district in Maryland. The lawyers brought claims under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. They brought First Amendment claims, they brought claims attacking the map statewide, they brought claims attacking just one district. They basically tried to give the court every possibility to rule that there's got to be some check from the courts on politicians drawing maps to help keep themselves in power. 

"Justice Alito, as I say, made up the law by creating what he called five guideposts that plaintiffs must satisfy to bring a successful claim under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Talk about judicial activism!"

The court rejected all of that, and said that federal courts are not in the business of policing partisan gerrymandering — that it's up to the voters, essentially, to vote the bums out. Of course it makes it a lot harder to vote the bums out if the bums are drawing district lines to insulate themselves in power. The common phrase is that the politicians are choosing their voters, not the other way around. 

The court had grappled with this question for decades in a handful of different cases in which it tried out different tests to police partisan gerrymandering, and we basically had the best test that the courts had seen. Numerous lower federal court judges had applied this test to root out the worst abuses, not to question most maps but the extreme outliers — the North Carolina example was really an extreme outlier — and the court rejected it. What does that do? It lets the politicians run wild in drawing maps however they want, knowing that there will not be judicial oversight, at least not from the federal courts. 

Your next chapter is called “The Next Looming Case.” What are you dealing with there?

That chapter is mostly about the Moore v. Harper case from last year, involving the so-called independent state legislature doctrine. It connects to both Bush v. Gore and Rucho, in that it's also about North Carolina gerrymandering. Here, the state's top court had used the state constitution to strike down the map. It ties back to Bush v. Gore because the independent state legislature theory, which basically holds that federal courts can overturn state court rulings on state constitutions, ties back to Chief Justice Rehnquist's separate opinion in Bush v. Gore. 

It's a very fringe theory. A lot of people thought the court would run with it and say, “Yes, we have the power to overrule state courts even when it comes to state constitutions.” Normally you'd say the state's highest court has the final say, just like the U.S. Supreme Court is the final say on the U.S. Constitution. The court surprised a lot of people by rejecting the most robust use of this theory, but also said there might be situations when a state court goes too far that we do want to question. So it gave itself more power, but didn't say when it might use that power. It just said there might be an egregious example “when a state court transgresses the bounds of ordinary judicial review.” But the court didn't say what that means. The court will get to decide. 

"There's a theme throughout the book: The court will plant a seed in one case, let that seed blossom into a deadly weed in a future case and then say, 'Well, we're just following precedent,' and cite the previous case."

To me, the next looming case is when a state court protects voting rights, and someone challenges it and brings it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Is it going to be a situation where the court says, “Well, this is one where we want to scrutinize what the state courts have done”? We don't have a case that has done this yet. This is a good example of a theme throughout the book: The court will plant a seed in one case, let that seed blossom into a deadly weed in a future case and then say, “Well, we're just following precedent,” and cite the previous case. I think the Moore v. Harper case is one where the seed is potentially planted. 

You’ve just outlined all these judicial horrors undermining voters’ rights, but in your conclusion you turn optimistic. You think we can fix this. So what do you advise?  

I'm an optimistic person by nature, I have a new podcast and radio show called “ Democracy Optimist .” My first book, “ Vote for Us ,” was an optimistic book. I didn't want to leave the reader with all these negative connotations. We can either lament how the Supreme Court is undermining voting rights and throw up our hands, or we can think about ways to fix it. So I point to a handful. One is, let's try to avoid the court altogether by coming up with bipartisan solutions, which is something we've done here in Kentucky to some success. It's not going to work in every place and certainly not going to work in some of the most contentious swing states. But perhaps we can get to some reasonable solutions where we can avoid the court.

But beyond that, we do need institutional reform at the Supreme Court. I'm not a fan of court-packing, because I think that leads to a political tit-for-tat, so I don't think that's a smart idea. Instead, I think we could look at what the federal courts of appeals do, and have the justices sit in randomly selected panels. We can impose 18-year term limits on the justices so that there's a regular rotation. Every four-year presidential term gets two nominations. I think we could have district court and court of appeals judges sit by designation on the Supreme Court. The goal here is to lower the temperature of Supreme Court nominations, make it less important which individuals get on the court or when they decide to retire or when they die. And therefore get the focus back on the rule of law and less on the identity of justices on the court. 

about the Supreme Court and democracy

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• In a year of ethics scandals, these Supreme Court rulings let marginalized Americans down

Paul Rosenberg is a California-based writer/activist, senior editor for Random Lengths News and columnist for Al Jazeera English. Follow him on Twitter at @PaulHRosenberg.

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Breaking 'the bronze ceiling': Arizona Capitol statue honors leader of women's right to vote

Frances Willard Munds stands tall among the statues and monuments on the east end of the Arizona Capitol.

A suffragist, leader of the drive to give women the vote, and the state's first female state senator, Munds is now honored with a towering bronze statue.

It is the first time a real woman has been memorialized at Wesley Bolin Plaza in its nearly 50 years of existence, according to Melanie Sturgeon, president of the Arizona Women's History Alliance.

"We finally broke the bronze ceiling!" Sturgeon proclaimed at a dedication ceremony on a warm May morning.

While other memorials represent women as a group, this is the first woman to be singled out for recognition on the plaza for her accomplishments.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

The Munds sculpture was years in the making, the fundraising and organizing efforts slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a way, the efforts to bring the statue to fruition parallel Munds' efforts to win the vote for women. There were setbacks and dry spells, but persistence won the day, Gloria Cuádraz said. Her words about the early 20th-century drive for women's suffrage seemed also appropriate for the Munds memorial. Cuádraz is a board member of the Women's History Alliance.

Mary Melcher, a committee member who worked to create the monument, chronicled Munds' efforts at the dedication ceremony, which included some of Munds' relatives.

Munds led suffragist movement, became first female state senator

Frances Willard was born in Franklin, California in 1866, but moved to Arizona where she taught in rural Yavapai County schools. She married John L. Munds, a cattleman and later Yavapai County sheriff.

She became interested in the suffragist movement in the late 1890s. While raising three children, she joined efforts to secure the vote for women in what was then the Arizona territory. Munds became president of the Women’s Suffrage Association in 1909, Melcher said, bringing a "less traditional view" of the role than her predecessors.

“She was frustrated with women's traditional role," Melcher said.

Reading from a 1903 writing from Munds, Melcher said: "So many noble women have been crushed beneath conventionality and though their fear of doing something out of their sphere. They have allowed their superior intellect to become dwarfed because of misuse. When I think of this so-called women’s fear, my blood boils to think of the opprobrium she meets when she dares step over the limit.”

Munds emphasized equal treatment, striking an egalitarian theme in her appeals to convince male politicians to give women the vote.

But efforts to get a law through the territorial Legislature failed. So did efforts to convince the delegates to the 1910 state constitutional convention to put women's right to vote in the constitution of what would soon become the 48th state.

So Munds changed tactics. She took the appeal for the vote directly to the very people who could make it happen: men.

The 19th Amendment: The Arizona women who led the effort in the Legislature

To get support, the suffragists created clubs all over Arizona. They talked wherever they could find an audience: homes, schools and opera houses, Cuádraz said as she continued the Munds' story. They staffed a booth at the state fair in the summer of 1912, weathering the heat in heavy petticoats and restrictive corsets.

“These women persisted and their efforts paid off," Cuádraz said.

On Nov. 5, 1912, the women's right to vote passed with 68% of the vote — all from men.

The next election cycle, in 1914, voters elected Rachel Berry to the House and Frances Willard Munds to the Senate. They were the first women to ever serve in those chambers.

The organizers were quick to note not all women got the right to vote.

The same ballot that contained the women's suffrage initiative also contained a measure that deemed only people who were U.S. citizens and who could read English could vote. That didn't happen for all classes of women until 1953, as noted in inscriptions on the base of the statue.

Artist Stephanie Hunter created the Munds sculpture and lived with it for years.

“I was quarantined with Frances in my living room," told the audience at the dedication ceremony. “I feel like I’ve been pregnant with her for five years. It’s been a long pregnancy. I just hope you think my baby is beautiful.”

The statue shows Munds holding a flag in her right hand, symbolizing forward progress for the cause, Hunter said. In her left hand, she holds the leaflet suffragists would distribute to promote the vote, outlining the reasons to vote "yes." It included such reasons as "those who obey laws should hae something to say as to their making," and "Remember this! Arizona women struggled as mightily as men in building the State."

Hunter used her speech to encourage greater exposure for women in public monuments, as well as wider exposure for female sculptors.

Fontes highlights 'how hard our foremothers fought for the vote'

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who gave opening remarks, noted while other states were ahead of Arizona in granting women the right to vote, Arizona was the first to do it by popular vote.

That came seven years before women nationally got the right to vote, due to the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Fontes lauded the hard work of the suffragists in canvassing for their cause. Melcher, in her remarks, echoed that praise and said women should draw inspiration from their predecessors' efforts.

“These women I’ve been discussing made many sacrifices to gain the vote," she said. “As we worked these last six years to make this statue a reality, their persistence was a model for us. They would not give and neither would we.

"Today, in May of an election year, it’s important for all women to remember how hard our foremothers fought for the vote. We need to take our place in this democracy.”

Reach the reporter at  [email protected]  or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter  @maryjpitzl .

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