Should you vote?

With the fall election quickly approaching many of you may be thinking, Should I vote? Does my voice even matter? Is it important to vote? All of those questions are completely valid thoughts. Hopefully after reading this essay, you have your answer. Voting in America dates back to 1776. This may seem like forever ago but 247 years is really not that far away, especially with it just being the beginning. On July 4th, 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote what we now know as The Declaration of Independence. This document was the first formal statement justifying separation from Great Britain. It was on August 2nd of the same year that The Declaration of Independence was signed stating “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.” From the start, voting rights were based on property ownership and required a person to be 21 years old. As a result the only group who could vote were white protestant males.

After the adoption of the Constitution in 1788, states were granted the ability to determine voter rights, thus leaving things unchanged. It wasn’t until 82 years later after the ratification of the 13th amendment banning slavery in 1865 and the ratification of the 14th amendment in 1868 granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people, that the 15th Amendment in 1870 passed, granting African American men the right to vote. This particular amendment stated: “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.” However this wasn’t fully the case. Some states (mostly southern) continued to suppress black votes by use of poll taxes, grandfather clauses and literacy tests until decades later in 1965. In 1877, Jim Crow Laws were also passed in many southern and border states to enforce racial segregation making it harder for black men and women to feel truly equal.

It took America 147 years since the signing of The Declaration of Independence to grant citizenship to Native Americans in 1924. This was done through the Indian Citizenship Act. However as we can see there is a pattern of things sounding too good to be true. The right to vote was left up to the states, which caused laws to be passed prohibiting Native Americans to vote, similar to Jim Crow laws. Just 3 years ago in 2021, Secretary Debra Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, spoke at a White House conference on Native American voting rights. She stated that “In some states, Native Americans were openly excluded from participating in the electoral process until the ‘50s. Unfortunately, systematic barriers to accessing the ballot box for Native people living on Tribal lands still exist today”. A century later there are still systematic barriers in place.

Throughout the decades leading up to 1965 and even before the banning of slavery in 1865, the women’s suffrage movement began, starting back in 1848 with the very first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. It took America 144 years since the signing of The Declaration of Independence and 50 years since the right to vote was granted to African American men, to finally in 1920 after almost a century of protesting, the 19th Amendment was passed granting women the right to vote. It stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” However we must not ignore that this was not entirely true for African American women. It wasn’t until 1964, 44 years later, that the 24th amendment was ratified, banning poll taxes from elections as well as the voting rights act being passed in 1965, banning literacy tests for voters, that African American women and men were able to fully exercise their voting rights.

Asian Americans were not granted the right to obtain citizenship until 1952. That means it took America almost 176 years to do just that. This was done through The Immigration and Nationality Act, which extended immigration quotas and removed racial restrictions to obtaining American citizenship. But like we have noticed before, the pattern we see in American history is that on the outside it may look like things were moving in the right direction but it is again not necessarily the case. Although The Immigration and Nationality Act was a step in the right direction, the majority of the immigration quotas were for European countries. Meaning Asian countries still made up a small fraction of the quotas. They were also the only ones tracked by their race. It wasn’t until 1965, through the Voting Rights Act, that these quotas were abolished.

Multiple positive changes to voter accessibility occurred between the years 1971-1993. In 1971, the legal age to vote was lowered from 21 to 18 years old. This was through the ratification of the 26th Amendment which stated “the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.” This was due to men at the age of 18 being sent off to serve in the Vietnam War while also not being able to have their voice heard by their own government. Almost 10 years later The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act was passed. This act required polling locations to be accessible to elderly and disabled individuals. Finally, in 1993 The National Voter Registration Act was passed, making voting easier to access for Americans by allowing voting to take place at individuals local Department of Motor Vehicles.

Even as America entered the 2000’s, voter accessibility was still a conflict of concern for many. Months before the Presidential election in 2000, it was ruled by the federal court that residents of U.S colonies (example: Puerto Rico, Guam) were considered U.S citizens but did not have the right to vote in any Presidential election. Not only are they unable to vote, they are also not entitled to hold a seat in the Senate or House of Representatives. This is still true today.

Voting rights had a hit again when in 2006 Indiana became the first state to require voters to present a government-issued ID card at polls. Because of this, more states followed suit. Many believe this prohibits low income communities from voting as these individuals might not be able to afford an ID card. Today a total of 36 states either request or strictly require an ID card present at voting polls. The remaining 14 states use other means to identify voters, Kentucky is one of them.

The last major change for voting rights in the U.S was in 2013 with the Shelby County v. Holder case. This was a petition in which Shelby County, Alabama stated that Section 5 of the Voting Rights act (established in 1965) violated their 10th Amendment and Article IV. Alabama was one of the states section 5 of the Voting Rights act required to obtain federal preclearance before making any changes to election laws. This was to ensure states did not make laws that would prohibit Americans from being able to vote. It was aimed towards getting minority voters to the polls without barriers. Alabama was among the 15 states that had federal preclearance due to history of discrimination in voting. In 2010 Shelby County sued the state’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, arguing that section 4(b) (which determined which states fell under section 5) and section 5 of the Voting Rights Act were unconstitutional. Their argument was that times have changed and based on recent voting data there was no need for federal preclearance because discrimination in voting was no longer occurring. At first Shelby County was not sided with, once by John Bates, a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and again by the court of appeals. That didn’t matter though, because Shelby County appealed for the second time, which meant the case was sent to the Supreme Court. It was then on June 25th in 2013 that the Supreme Court sided with Shelby County by a vote of 5v4. The Supreme Court agreed that section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. This was because the formula which grouped the 15 states who had a long history of discrimination in voting was over 40 years old, so it wasn’t accurate to present time. The court did not strike down section 5 but without section 4(b) no state could be subjected to a federal preclearance unless Congress established a new formula, which they haven’t since. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the majority agreeing that federal preclearance is no longer needed. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg opposed the change arguing that yes, times have changed but that it was because of the Voting Rights Act. She stated “ Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet”.

Even today, almost 10 years later, Shelby County v. Holder remains a controversial decision. Some people argue that the ruling has only made it easier for state officials to make it more difficult for people of color to vote. The fact of the matter is since the ruling, states that previously had to obtain preclearance under the Voting Rights Act have indeed passed laws that have made it more difficult to vote. This includes states getting rid of early voting, same-day voter registration and enforcing photo ID laws. Since the verdict in 2013, it is known that over 1,000 polling locations have closed, most of which were located in counties populated mostly with African Americans.

Most recently in 2019, The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was introduced. This Act would restore the original protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while also modernizing the section 4(b) formula to determine which states have a history of discrimination. It’s stated that it would ensure voters of last-minute voting changes as well as allow the federal government to send federal observers to polling locations with a history of discrimination to avoid risk. In 2019, the bill passed in the House but did not get enough votes in the Senate. This year in February 2024 it was reintroduced to the Senate with no recent updates on the ruling.

Our history of voting rights in America have come a long way since the beginning. It is important to recognize the hard work it took for people to fight for their right to vote, many of whom died before ever obtaining that right. Everyone’s voice deserves to be heard and it took way too long for many to be. As we enter the Presidential election this fall and after revisiting the most prominent voting rights events in American history through this essay, the main takeaway is how much of a privilege it is to be able to exercise your vote today. No change can occur without a voice being heard and voting is that voice.

If you have a sudden spark for learning more about the process of voting or more into the history of voting in America then the library is the perfect place. Browse our catalog on our website at scottpublib.org or give us a call for more assistance at (502) 863-3566. If you’re interested in specifically the electoral college, then on Thursday, September 19th at 6:30pm the Scott County Public Library will be having a presentation titled “Choosing a President: Understanding the Electoral College.” This presentation made possible by partnership with the Kentucky Humanities, will be held by Dr. Carolyn Dupont, a professor of history at Eastern Kentucky University. Through this presentation Dupont will identify and challenge myths about the Electoral College. For more information please visit scottpublib.org.

A friendly reminder that the Scott County Clerk office is reserving space at the Scott County Public Library for early voting taking place from October 31st-November 2nd (Fri, Sat, Sun) from 8:30am-4:30pm. On election day, November 5th, Scott County Public Library will also be one of the 12 voting locations in Scott County open to vote from 6am-6pm. For more information please visit https://scottcountyclerk.com/election/voter-registration/.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAu2APOafvw

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/27/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-before-a-meeting-on-native-american-voting-rights/

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/effects-shelby-county-v-holder

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/john-r-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/pass-john-r-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act

https://nynj.adl.org/files/2020/11/Voting-Rights-Timeline-Resource.pdf

https://www.naacpldf.org/three-reasons-to-vote/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/elections-and-voting/

https://www.history.com/news/voting-rights-timeline

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/declaration-of-independence

https://www.flaglerelections.com/Voter-Outreach/History-of-Voting