Seeking Suffrage
How can citizens participate in
politics?
 Voting
 Volunteering for a campaign
 Joining an interest group
 Lobbying the government
 Writing to government officials
 Running for office
Who is allowed to vote?
American citizens
18 years of age
and older
Including all races
And both genders
18+
Right to Vote?
 Which of the following countries does not
constitutionally guarantee its citizens the right to
vote? Is it:
 (A) Iran
 (B) Libya
 (C) The United States
 (D) All of the above.
Historically
 Constitutional Silence on the Right to Vote. Instead the
Constitution bans the restriction of voting based on certain
factors.
 Comparatively, South African constitution has an express right to
vote .
 When the US Constitution was written, only white, male, adult
property owners were allowed to vote.
 Property ownership and tax requirements were eliminated over
the next 50-60 years.
 Literacy tests and poll taxes were implemented in many states.
Discriminatory practices. (1850’s-1880’s)
 Took until the 1970’s and 1980’s to eliminate literacy tests and poll
taxes throughout the country.
Where do we get our voting rights?
SCAVENGER HUNT!
 Using a copy of the Constitution, locate the Amendments
that address voting rights in some way.
 Once you have identified the Amendment:
 Summarize the content
 Identify the groups impacted
 State the year each Amendment was ratified
Which Amendment is it?
As the description of the
Amendment is presented on the
slide, raise you hand if you think
you know which Amendment is
being discussed.
AMENDMENT XXVI (26)
Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
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.
After the Vietnam conflict in the
1960’s, many felt that if you are old
enough to be drafted (18+) to fight
in the U.S. military, you should be
able to vote.
AMENDMENT XIX (19)
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
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
sex.
The Nineteenth
Amendment
of the U. S. of
Constitution
banned the restriction of voting based on
sex/gender.
Timeline of Women’s suffrage
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1893 New Zealand
1902 Australia1
1906 Finland
1913 Norway
1915 Denmark
1917 Canada2
1918 Austria, Germany, Poland, Russia
1919 Netherlands
1920 United States
1921 Sweden
1928 Britain, Ireland
1931 Spain
1944 France
1945 Italy
1947 Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan
1949 China
1950 India
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1954 Colombia
1957 Malaysia, Zimbabwe
1962 Algeria
1963 Iran, Morocco
1964 Libya
1967 Ecuador
1971 Switzerland
1972 Bangladesh
1974 Jordan
1976 Portugal
1989 Namibia
1990 Western Samoa
1993 Kazakhstan, Moldova
1994 South Africa
2005 Kuwait
2006 United Arab Emirates
2011 Saudi Arabia3
Bad Romance: ‘Til We Have Suffrage
AMENDMENT XIV (14)
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.
Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment
repealed the 3/5 clause of the
Constitution which only counted 3/5 of
each slave towards the population of
eachshall
state.be apportioned among
Representatives
This means that slaves were now freed
the several
States according to their respective
based on the Thirteenth Amendment and
numbers,
counting
whole number of
made full citizens
under the
the Fourteenth
Amendment.
persons
in each State…
It also distinguished
…the right to vote in any election
male
the voting
age as 21
limited to male
inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one
citizens.
years of age, and citizens of the United States
AMENDMENT XXIV (24)
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
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The right of citizens of the United States
Some states instituted taxes,
to vote…shall not be denied or
or fees, that had to be paid in
abridged by the United States or any
order to vote, knowing that
State by reason of failure to pay poll
many poor people would be
tax or other tax.
unable to afford the fee. This
practice was stopped by the
24th Amendment
AMENDMENT XV (15)
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.

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
The Fifteenth
Amendment
of the U.S.
Constitution
previous
condition
of servitude-banned the restriction of voting based on race or
previous servitude. Only applied to men.
AMENDMENT XIII (13)
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude…shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.
Slaves were considered property and were not
considered American citizens. This meant they were
restricted from voting.
Once the thirteenth amendment was passed, they
were still not permitted to vote – just because slavery
was illegal, it did not make them citizens..
Put it on the line!
 In your group, create a timeline of voting rights.
 Include:
 The year
 The Amendment Number
 A summary of the Amendment
 The group impacted*
 An illustration of the Amendment
Seeking Suffrage Timeline
AMENDMENT XIII (13)
Ratified December 6,
1865.
Abolished slavery
AMENDMENT XV (15)
Ratified February 3,
1870.
Banned the restriction
of voting based on
race.
AMENDMENT XIV (14)
Ratified July 9, 1868.
Established that all former slaves
were considered full citizens;
repealed the 3/5 compromise.
Also set the voting age at 21+.
Seeking Suffrage Timeline
AMENDMENT XIX (19)
Ratified August 18, 1920.
Banned the restriction of
voting on the basis of
gender.
AMENDMENT XXVI (26)
Ratified July 1, 1971.
Voting age lowered to 18.
AMENDMENT XXIV (24)
Ratified January 23, 1964.
Poll taxes were banned.
Citizens would no longer
have to pay to vote.
18+
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
 Prior to this Act, Native Americans had been
denied the right to vote due to the fact that
they were not counted as citizens because
they were citizens of their tribe and did not
pay taxes to the United States government.
 It was required Native Americans to give up
their tribal citizenship in order to become full
citizens of the United States.
 The Indian Citizenship Act declared all noncitizen Native Americans born within the
United States citizenship, thus granting them
the right to vote.
What if these amendments had never
been added to the Constitution?
Who would be unable to vote?
 African Americans
 Female citizens
 Native Americans
 Citizens who are poor
 Citizens who are uneducated
 Citizens under the age of 18
What do you think? Who should not
be allowed to vote?
 Those under the age of 18
 Non-citizens residing in
the United States
 Illegal aliens
 Prisoners
This includes in some
states those who are
incarcerated and recently
released from prison.
This means you!
This could include
those in the United
states who are
studying abroad or
working in the
United States on a
visa
This refers to those who live
in the United States illegally
What do you think?
 On your See It My Way handout, you will
need to tell about the group that is not
allowed to vote in the United States.
 Provide arguments for and against
allowing these populations to vote.
 Be sure to explain your position very clearly!
 Anyone else?
Who would you target?
 If you could propose a constitutional amendment to
ban discrimination of certain groups, who would you
target?
 If you could propose an amendment to the
Constitution to not allow certain groups to vote, what
would you propose?
Compulsory Voting
 Should we require citizens to vote?
 With such a low percentage of persons in the United
States who actually vote, what would happen if we
amended the Constitution to require everyone to
vote?
 Some countries have such a requirement. What are
the pros and cons of such a policy?