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Voting Rights and Practices in the
USA
Developed by The Florida Law Related Education Association, Inc.
www.flrea.org
Could you pass the test ?
• Complete the test
provided at your table.
• Do you think you passed
the test?
Throughout the history of our country, some states
implemented literacy or knowledge-based tests to
determine eligibility for voting. What if your
ability to vote was based on this test?
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Topics Addressed in Today’s
Presentation
• Who should be allowed to vote and who
should have the power to decide
• History of voting discrimination in the
United States
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Current challenges and dilemmas
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Voting Restrictions
What do you think?
Should everyone be allowed to
vote in this country?
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What if the question was
changed to:
Should all citizens of voting
age be allowed to vote?
Why or why not?
Who should and should not be allowed to vote and who should
have the power to decide?
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HISTORY OF VOTING
DISCRIMINATION IN THE
UNITED STATES
Disenfranchised Groups in
History
• White males that did not
own property;
• Racial, Ethnic, and
Religious Minorities;
• Female citizens;
• Native Americans;
• Citizens who were poor;
• Citizens under the age of
21;
• And others…
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Voting rights
• When the Constitution was written, most of the
Framers did not believe in universal suffrage.
The original Constitution didn’t have much to say
about voting rights.
• Throughout the history of the United States,
voting rights have been expanded by
constitutional amendments and legislation.
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The Right to vote?
• The words “right to vote” appear five
times in amendments to the United
States Constitution.
• 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th
amendments.
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th
15
amendment
“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.”
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Obstacles to Voting Rights
 Even with amendments to the Constitution prohibiting
race-based discrimination in voting, there were still
significant obstacles to voting in some states.





Literacy tests (similar to the one provided as a handout)
Harassment and intimidation
White primaries
Poll taxes
Bureaucratic measures
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Voting Rights
1940
Only 3% of eligible African
Americans in the South were
registered to vote.
Jim Crow laws like literacy tests
and poll taxes were
implemented to keep African
Americans from voting.
1964
AMENDMENT XXIV (24th)
The 24th Amendment bans
the poll tax as a
requirement for voting in
federal elections.
1944
US Supreme Court outlaws “white
primaries” in Smith v. Allwright (Texas).
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Voting Discrimination
• “Voting discrimination against AfricanAmericans was so entrenched and
pervasive in 1965 that less than 7% of
African-Americans of voting age in
Mississippi had registered to vote. In
contrast, 70% of white citizens of voting
age were registered. A gap of 63
percentage points.”
-Chief Justice John Roberts, Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
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Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs
the Voting Rights Act into law. *
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Voting Rights Act of 1965
– Landmark federal legislation designed in response
to discrimination of African American voters and to
enforce the Fifteenth Amendment.
– Included some provisions that treated states
differently based on specific history of
discrimination.
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Key provisions
• The Voting Rights Act provided two ways to
challenge discriminatory voting laws and practices.
• Section 2 (permanent provision of the VRA);
prohibits discrimination in voting and is enforced
through litigation. The federal government (US
Attorney General) or private individuals (who have
been harmed by voting laws) can file suit to
challenge existing discriminatory voting practices.
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Key provisions
• Section 5 is the "preclearance" provision
of the law. It requires states to obtain
federal permission BEFORE enacting
changes to voting laws or procedures.
Prohibits discriminatory changes affecting
the right to vote.
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Determining which states
have to be precleared
• Section 4 of the VRA of 1965 established a
coverage formula to identify which
states/jurisdictions must obtain permission
from the federal government to make
changes to voting laws.
• Section 4 utilized criteria such as did the
state/jurisdiction have a voting/literacy test in
1964? Did it have less than 50 percent voter
registration or turnout in the 1964 election?
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The Voting Rights Act since
1965
Certain parts of the Act, including Section 5, were
originally enacted for five years as a temporary
measure, but have been continually renewed by
Congress.
• 1970: President Richard Nixon signs 5-year
extension
• 1975: President Gerald Ford signs 7-year extension
• 1982: President Ronald Regan signs 25-year
extension
• 2006: President Bush signs extension for another
25 years
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Other key provisions
• Requires that certain state and local
jurisdictions provide assistance in
languages other than English to voters
who are not fluent or literate in English.
(Added after 1965)
• Gives the US Attorney General the power
to send federal examiners and observers
to monitor elections.
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Impact of the Voting Rights
Act
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The impact of the voting
rights act
• Remember the 7% voter registration figure
for African-Americans in Mississippi in 1965?
• In 2004, it was 76%
• As for the gap of 63 percentage points
between African-American and white voter
registration in that state in 1965, there was a
gap in 2004 of about 4%, but it was in favor
of African-American registrations.
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US Census Bureau
• African Americans voted at higher rates
than whites in 2012 according to census
data. Despite increasing population, the
number of white voters declined for the
first time since 1996.
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THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
AND THE UNITED STATES SUPREME
COURT: IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL?
Voting Rights Act in the
Supreme Court
• From 1965 to 2012, there were multiple
challenges to the Voting Rights Act of 1965
before the United States Supreme Court.
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Current Case
• Shelby County, Alabama initiated the case.
• Challenged the federal preclearance
provision (Section 5) and the coverage
formula (Section 4) used to identify which
states/districts would be subject to
preapproval.
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Shelby County v. Holder, 2012
Decided 2013
• Challenged Sections 4 & 5 of the Voting Rights Act
– Section 5 (preclearance) specific states and counties with a history of
discrimination must receive federal preclearance or approval before they
implement any change affecting voting.
– Section 4(b) (coverage formula) defines the eligible districts as ones
that had a voting test in place as of November 1, 1964 and less than 50%
turnout for the 1964 presidential election.
•
Section 4 ruled unconstitutional in a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court
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Decision
• The coverage formula in section 4 violates
the Constitution and cannot be used to
decide which jurisdictions are subject to
preclearance.
• The formula was determined to be
outdated as it looked to conditions as they
were more than 40 years ago.
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Opinion of the Court
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
“Any racial discrimination in voting is too much, but our country has
changed in the past 50 years. In the last election, the percentage of
African-Americans turning out to vote exceeded white voter turnout in five
of the six states originally subject to the preclearance requirement. The
gap in the sixth state was less than one half of one percent.
When taking such extraordinary steps as subjecting state legislation to
preclearance in Washington and applying that regime to only some
disfavored states, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes
speaks to current conditions.
The coverage formula, unchanged for 40 years plainly does not do so and
therefore we have no choice but to find that it violates the Constitution.”
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Concurring Opinion
Justice Clarence Thomas
“I join the Court’s opinion in full but write separately to
explain that I would find §5 of the Voting Rights Act
unconstitutional as well... Today, our Nation has
changed. “[T]he conditions that originally justified [§5]
no longer characterize voting in the covered
jurisdictions.” While the Court claims to “issue no
holding on §5 itself,” its own opinion compellingly
demonstrates that Congress has failed to justify
“‘current burdens’” with
a record demonstrating
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Dissenting Opinion
Justice Ginsburg, with whom Justice Breyer,
Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan join
“First, continuance would
facilitate completion of the
impressive gains thus far made; and second, continuance
would guard against back sliding.
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.
Beyond question, the VRA is no ordinary legislation. It is
extraordinary because Congress embarked on a mission
long delayed and of extraordinary importance: to realize the
purpose and promise of the Fifteenth Amendment.”
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Case Impact
• With the Supreme Court ruling in Shelby v.
Holder, states that were previously required to
have election laws and policies preapproved or
authorized by the federal government are no
longer required to do so.
• What is the impact? What other options exist?
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ELECTIONS: A FEDERAL
OR STATE ISSUE
Election policies and procedures
"We have 13,000 election jurisdictions in this country
that run elections 13,000 different ways. Election
officials get to do different things from one place to
the next. Some voters vote on different kinds of
ballots from others and so we have different rules
about who can register and who can’t from state to
state. And it’s really not one America when it comes
to voting. "
Judith Brown-Dianis
Co-Director Advancement Project
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Are the rules, policies, and procedures
Election
policies
and
procedures
for voting a state or federal issue?
“With its ruling today on the Voting Rights Act, the High
Court has dealt a victory for states' rights - The Chief
Justice, writing on behalf of the majority, reiterated this
important point in today's ruling. He said, ‘the Framers of
the Constitution intended the States to keep for
themselves, as provided in the Tenth Amendment, the
power to regulate elections.’ …Simply put, decisions that
affect states should be left to states.”
- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer
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The
th
10
Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Who should have the authority to establish voting
and election policies, practices, and procedures?
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Elections: A State Or
Federal Issue ?
Level of Government
tateFederal
ulate
tions as
ty ofState
an
beyond
ents in
on and
Local
Elected Officials
Authority/Qualifications
President
Congress
U.S. Constitution
Federal Acts (Federal
Elections Campaign Act;
Motor Voter Law, etc.)
Governor
State Representatives
Other state level elected positions
State constitutions
State law
Mayor
Sheriff
City and county elected positions
State and local policy
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VOTING IN FLORIDA
Suffrage in Florida
Article VI – Suffrage and
Elections
SECTION 2. Electors.—Every citizen of the United
States who is at least eighteen years of age and who
is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as
provided by law, shall be an elector of the county
where registered.
History.—Am. proposed by Constitution Revision Commission, Revision No. 11, 1998, filed
with the Secretary of State May 5, 1998; adopted 1998.
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Suffrage in Florida
Article VI – Suffrage and Elections
SECTION 4. Disqualifications.—(a) No person
convicted of a felony, or adjudicated in this or any
other state to be mentally incompetent, shall be
qualified to vote or hold office until restoration of
civil rights or removal of disability.
History.—Am. by Initiative Petition filed with the Secretary of State July 23, 1992; adopted 1992.
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Registering to Vote in
Florida
Able to provide a current and
Florida Resident
valid Florida driver’s license
Voter Information Card
number, Florida ID number. If you
18 YearsAddress
old, Not have been
Voter
Name
and
Residence
do not have a Florida driver’s
16 to preconvicted of a
license number or a Florida
identification card number then
register
felony without
you must provide the last four
civil rights
digits of your Social Security
Citizen
having been
Number. If you do not have any of
of the United
these items, you must write
restored
Precinct Number Date Registered Date of
Birth
“none” in the box or field.
States
Not now be adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting
Florida
Voter Registration
in Florida or any other state
without
having theNumber
right to vote restored
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What do you think?
• Who should be allowed to vote (or not allowed to vote) in the US?
• Who should decide who is allowed to vote?
• Should voting practices/procedures and eligibility requirements be
uniform throughout the country OR should state and local
governments be allowed to have their own specific
voting/election requirements?
• What changes if any would you recommend? Should all states be subject
to preclearance? Would you change the formula for how some states would be subject to federal
scrutiny in their voting practices? What criteria would you suggest? Would you broaden the right to
vote so that suffrage is more universal OR would you restrict eligibility to vote to more groups?
Should all states be required to submit changes for approval to the federal government? Should some
states be required to submit changes for approval?
– What changes if any would you recommend?
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Photo Credits
•
Slides 7, 8, 21, 24, 25, 38
–
–
–
–
–
•
•
Photo from https://www.aclu.org/files/aclu90/img_vr_373.jpg
Photo from http://blogs.archives.gov/prologue/?p=10785
Photo from www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/black%20percentage_0.pdf
Photo from Public Domain
Photo from Public Domain
Slide 14
LBJ Library photo by Robert Knudsen
http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/photo-archive.html
Slide 15
LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto
http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/photo-archive.html
Slide 18
–
Photo credit: https://www.aclu.org/timeline-history-voting-rights-act
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