Essay Example on Voting in US: From Early 1800s to Recent Elections

Voting has long been a crucial activity that is far respected by citizens since it ensures that a strong, reliable, and inspired future is created for every person by choosing influential leaders (Poole n .p). Over time, the voting methods in the United States have shown a tremendous change from the early 1800s to the most recent elections. The paper will discuss in detail the methods used in voting and how they changed populations among states.

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In American history, voting in the early 1800s was limited only to the white men of age from 21 and above and who owned land and property (Poole n. p). The U.S. constitution had initially left the states to determine who qualified to take part in the voting process during the elections. Some countries went to the extent of using religious tests so that only Christian men could participate in voting (Poole n. p). These barriers to voting were enacted to keep the fewer minority in the society from being part of the voting process. As the obstacles began to fade over the decades, still voter discrimination was experienced, especially among the black community, as they were still not allowed the right to vote. Later on, during the Reconstruction Period after the war, the Congress passed the 15th Amendment of the constitution which ensured that people are allowed to vote despite their race since many states had put up ballot taxes, literacy tests, and deception to eliminate the African Americans from voting (Bor 1560).

In early 1914, women were denied the right to vote in some states, but by 1920, the 19th Amendment of the U.S. constitution had allowed the women the nationwide right to vote and run for office. In 1923, the Washington state voters passed an initiative to abolish the ballot tax used to discriminate individual voters from voting in many states (Bor 1561). The abolishment of the poll tax was a relief to most citizens of America since, in 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act allowed the Native Americans to have voting rights and citizenship.

Despite the fight to gain equal voting rights, immigrants, people of low income, and the black population still experienced discrimination as a payment tax was even imposed in several states to keep them from voting. The Southern States of Alabama and Selma activists marched to Montgomery's capital state in the 1960s to protest as a call to eliminate these barriers that were targeted on them ( Bor 1560). These protests received attacks from the police, but after several complaints and attacks, on March 24th, thousands of black people managed to reach Montgomery, and their matters brought nationwide attention. The marches inspired the Congress, and the 24th Amendment saw the elimination of the taxes approved. The Voting Right Act was legislated in 1965, with the vote being bipartisan and decisive (Bor 1560).

The Voting Rights Act was embraced nationally and included that all states submit the new election changes for approval in the Justice Department to discourage local and state officers from erecting new barriers. With most States giving priority to voting for individuals above 21 years of age, several protests by students saw the voting narrowed down to 18 years of age in 1971. Still, under the Voting Rights Act, a section was added in 1975 to allow assistance. It translated voting materials in polling stations, mainly in areas where many citizens were non-English speakers. These were facilitated since voting before was limited to English speakers (Bor, 1561). The Voting Right Act extended another 25 years, which saw Congress extend voting rights to the elderly and the people with disabilities in 1982.

Despite the many amendments to include all personnel in the voting process, there still was low voter turnout. A law was passed in 1993 that ensured that every individual handed out a voter registration during the application for a driver's license. The implementation made a good number of people apply and renew their voter registration applications as it was readily available.

In the 2000 presidential election, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled out the electoral votes of Florida State as they were questionable based on damaged kits and low ballot models that led to a nationwide outcry to reform the voting process (Poole n .p). These reforms pushed Congress to pass the Help America Vote Act in 2002 to rationalize the country's election procedures. Outdated voting equipment was replaced in all local and state offices, and the ballots made it more accessible for the disabled to cast independent ballots (Bor 1560). In 2010, philanthropists embraced new reforms, and funds were raised to expand and advance voting rights among the underrepresented communities. Through 2013-2014, the states of North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Virginia, and Mississippi exercised the newly won power after the Voting Right Act of 1975. They were challenged in court following various voter discriminations among the black community.

Conclusion

In conclusion, today, despite the many and various changes and methods used in voting in the United States, many states still experience voter discrimination and racism in the election process. In 2018, the state of Georgia passed a bill to close voting hours early and on weekends in Atlanta as African Americans are mainly based there. Immigrant populations are still in fear as they risk their voting right power amidst the 2020 census.

Works Cited

Bor, Jacob. "Diverging life expectancies and voting patterns in the 2016 U.S. presidential election." American journal of public health 107.10 (2017): 1560-1562.

Poole, Keith T., and Howard Rosenthal. Congress: A political-economic history of roll-call voting. Oxford University Press on Demand, 2000.