Voting Rights in the United States

Summary

The constitutional and statutory framework protecting the right to vote, from the Founders to the present.

Overview

Voting rights in the United States have expanded through a series of constitutional amendments and federal statutes. The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) prohibited racial discrimination in voting. The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) extended suffrage to women. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) is the most significant federal voting rights legislation, prohibiting discriminatory voting practices and requiring federal preclearance for jurisdictions with histories of discrimination. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18.

The Voting Rights Act

The VRA prohibits any voting qualification or practice that results in denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color. Section 2 applies nationwide and allows challenges to discriminatory voting practices. Section 5 required certain jurisdictions to obtain preclearance before changing voting laws, but the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) struck down the coverage formula, effectively ending the preclearance requirement. Section 3(c) provides a procedure for courts to impose new preclearance requirements after finding violations.

Contemporary Issues

Modern voting rights debates center on voter ID laws, voter purges, polling place closures, gerrymandering, and access to mail-in voting. Critics argue that certain election integrity measures disproportionately burden minority voters. The For the People Act (2021) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act represent recent legislative attempts to restore and strengthen voting rights protections at the federal level.