One of the fiercest battle cries leading up to war of independence from Britain in the American colonies was “no taxation without representation.” America won the war and we will celebrate our Nation’s 250th birthday year. Yet, when our forefathers wrote up the new voting guidelines, they initially only included the English-speaking, white, land-owning Protestant men such as themselves, about 6% of the population. Women, slaves, free Blacks, Native Americans, other linguistic, ethic and religious minorities, immigrants and renters were not included. So the remaining 94% had to keep fighting to win their own right of representation and I am highlighting several of these dates here.
Property ownership used to be a requirement, so the ability to own land was not only financially powerful but politically powerful as well. Many Northern states began allowing free black men and widowed women to own property and subsequently vote, as early as 1789 in New Jersey. I love New Jersey!
The Naturalization act of 1790 allowed free white persons born outside of the US to become citizens, yet each state still controlled the voting. As states were added to the country, voting rights varied. Vermont allowed all men to vote regardless of color or property ownership in 1791.
New Jersey took away voting for black men and white women in 1807. I hate New Jersey!
The Financial Panic of 1819 leads to calls to loosen up the property ownership requirement in ten states by 1830. They lost their shirts and their ballots.
Maryland was the last state to remove religious restrictions, allowing Jews to vote in 1828.
As the population grew, Pennsylvania barred free Black men from voting in Pennsylvania in 1873. So much for the Liberty Bell.
By the presidential election of 1840, 80% of white males were included in the voting. Great job guys!
Rhode Island loses the property restriction but introduces a poll tax in 1843. Sorry poors!
In the Western US territories, the former Mexicans are declared citizens by the Treaty of Hidalgo in 1848, but many are discouraged from voting.
In 1887, women lose the right to vote in Utah and Washington, but gain it in Arizona, Montana, the Dakotas and New Jersey.
In 1856, North Carolina was the last state to get rid of the property ownership requirement. Unfortunately, there were still states at this time where the majority of people were still considered property themselves.
Wyoming included universal women’s suffrage in 1869. That was only for a thousand women at the time, but still a good start.
Following the Civil War and the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, the denial of voting rights is lifted for race, color, or previous condition of servitude, however accessible voting will continue to be an issue.
The Supreme Court declared that Natives are not considered American citizens and therefore cannot vote in 1876.
Chinese immigrants lose the right to citizenship and the right to vote by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
The Dawes Act of 1887 allowed Native men who dissociated from their tribes to be citizens, but many Southern states still rejected non-whites from voting, barring Greeks, Irish and Italian descendants as well.
In the territory of Hawaii, only English- and Hawaiian-speak men can vote and the islands aren’t allowed to decide for themselves in 1899. This excluded women and the significant population of Asian immigrants. Full voting rights were not obtained until statehood in 1959.
Poll taxes are included in many southern states in the early 1900s while more Western states included women voters each year.
The Nineteenth Amendment granted the right of women to vote in all states in 1920. This is the same year my grandmother was born!
Texas passes a white primary law, only allowing whites who had paid poll taxes to vote in primaries in 1923. It was declared unconstitutional in 1944 by the Supreme Court.
The Twenty-Third Amendment allowed residents of the District of Columbia to vote in presidential elections in 1961.
Violence and voter intimidation led to Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowing federal oversight of voting.
Alaska ends the use of literacy tests and Natives living on reservations in Colorado are allowed to vote in 1970.
In response to the Vietnam War draft, 18-21 year olds are allowed to vote after 1971. “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”
The Voting Rights Act is modified in 1975 to include Native and minority languages in voting materials.
In 1985, Texas repeals lifetime voting restriction to people with felonies to two years after serving sentence.
Oregon expands mail-in ballots in 1987 to the whole state, making voting more accessible for those who can’t easily get to the polls and rural residents.
The National Voter Registration Act makes registration to vote more accessible in 1993 as inconsistent rules were keeping people confused and disenfranchised.
In 2007, Florida restores voting for people convicted of non-violent felonies. Approximately 10 percent of the people in Florida have felonies including 20 percent of the Black population.
California allows people in jail to vote in 2016. Eighty percent of the incarcerated people in California are minorities.
Most recently, Texas has limited the ability of precincts expand voting options.
This is not a complete list of all rules and restrictions to voters for all states and territories, but a demonstration of how long and hard it has been to gain and maintain equitable political participation in the country we all call home.
