It's one of the greatest rights afforded to us as Americans: the right to vote.
It's the foundation of any democracy, which is a type of government for the people by the people.
Generally speaking, the laws surrounding who can vote in the U.S. are pretty straightforward.
You must be a citizen of the United States.
You must be a resident of a U.S. state or Washington, DC.
And you must be 18 years or older.
But voting in the U.S. didn't always look this way.
When it came into effect in 1789,
the Constitution of the United States granted states the power to set their own voting requirements.
And generally, states limited this right to white men who owned property,
accounting for only 6% of the U.S. population at the time.
So much for a representative democracy...
Gradually during the early 1800s, as new U.S. territories and states formed in the west,
the right to vote was expanded to include all white men aged 21 and older in most states.
As a result, the voter turnout soared during the 1830s,
reaching approximately 80% of the adult white male population in the 1840 presidential election.
Following the end of the Civil War, states ratified the 14th Amendment in 1868,
which granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States.
That meant that all former slaves were now citizens of the U.S.
But this didn't grant them the right to vote.
In 1870, with the ratification of the 15th Amendment, federal and state governments
could no longer deny a citizen the right to vote based on race.
On paper it looked like suffrage, or the right to vote, had been extended to all men.
But in practice, African Americans would have to fight nearly 100 more years for these rights to be realized in southern states.
In the decades following the Civil War, southern states passed a series of restrictive measures
that limited the freedoms of African Americans and former slaves.
This system, known as Jim Crow, permitted racial segregation and disenfranchised blacks as well as poor whites from voting.
Let's take a look at what these laws looked like in Georgia.
In 1877, Georgia enacted a poll tax which required people to pay to vote.
It also required citizens to have all past voting taxes paid off before casting a ballot.
Unable to make this entire payment at one time, most poor blacks and many poor whites were unable to vote.
But in some cases, the poll tax was waived for poor whites.
Then in 1900, the Democratic Party established the White Primary.
Because the conservative Democratic Party was the dominant political party in Georgia at the time,
most major political decisions took place during the primary election.
The White Primary prevented African Americans from voting in these all-important elections.
Literacy tests, added to the Georgia Constitution in 1908,
also were used to prevent blacks from voting.
Access to education for blacks and poor whites was extremely limited,
and many Georgians could not read or write.
As a result, these disadvantaged men could not pass the literacy tests.
Some poor whites were granted passes by polling officials,
but many educated blacks were told that they failed the tests and would not be allowed to vote.
Many literacy test questions were intentionally written to be confusing,
and one wrong answer could result in an automatic failure.
Another major voting amendment in Georgia was the Grandfather Clause.
This stated that if a person's father was able to vote before the Civil War
or if a person was a descendant of a U.S. or Confederate veteran, then they could vote.
The Grandfather Clauses provided an exception for many white men who couldn't pay a poll tax
or pass a literacy test, but it did not help African Americans.
At the same time laws were passed to disenfranchise African Americans,
the women's suffrage movement was gaining traction on a national level.
Wyoming was the first state to give women full voting rights in 1890.
Other states--mostly in the west--permitted full women's suffrage in the decades that followed.
But resistance remained in the southern region of the United States.
It wasn't until 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment that women across the U.S. were given
the right to vote.
Well, white women that is.
Restrictive voting laws that applied to black men were now extended to black women.
With poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency requirements,
it was essentially impossible for blacks to exercise their right to vote in certain states.
In fact, between 1920 and 1930, out of 370,000 only about 10,000 African Americans were able to
vote in Georgia.
That means that less than 3% of eligible black voters cast a ballot during
this 10-year period.
This situation remained the standard for years until a 1945 Supreme Court case
ruled that white primaries were unconstitutional.
However, the enforcement of poll taxes and
literacy tests, along with threats of violence and intimidation, remained a significant barrier
to most black voters in southern states until the 1960s.
Major voting rights legislation finally swept the country in the 1960s,
20 years into the modern civil rights movement.
The 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution permitted residents of Washington, DC to vote in
presidential elections.
The 24th Amendment, which was ratified in 1964, prohibited Congress and
states from using a poll tax as a means to access a ballot.
But hurdles like literacy tests still remained.
In protest to these practices, civil rights advocates organized a voting rights march
from Selma, Alabama, to the capital of Montgomery.
On March 7, 1965, these peaceful protesters were met by Alabama State Troopers
who attacked them with night sticks, tear gas, and whips after they refused to turn back.
The incident was captured on national television.
In the wake of the shocking event, President Lyndon B. Johnson called for comprehensive
voting rights legislation.
On August 6, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
Hailed as one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in the United States,
the Voting Rights Act banned the use of literacy tests and other barriers that prevented African Americans
and other minority groups from voting.
That meant that any citizen over the age of 21 could vote in the United States.
States still maintain a level of control when it comes to deciding who can vote.
Some states have restricted voting rights to convicted felons and those deemed mentally incompetent.
In 1943, Georgia amended its constitution to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years old,
making it the first state to do so.
The slogan "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote"
was used in the campaign for this amendment.
It referenced the fact that at the time young adults were fighting in World War II.
It wasn't until 1971--during the height of the Vietnam War--
that the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified to give all citizens
18 and older the right to vote.
When it comes to casting a ballot, it is largely left up to the states on how to vote.
In Georgia, the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's office
organizes and oversees all election activity.
They handle voter registration and all local state and federal elections.
The Elections Division is also responsible for selecting voting machines,
controlling voter ID requirements, scheduling early voting dates, and issuing absentee ballots.
In Georgia, any registered voter can go to the polls to vote early or on election day.
Or they can request an absentee ballot and vote by mail.
In some states, a voter must have an excuse to vote by mail.
Commonly accepted reasons include being away from home on Election Day,
having an illness or disability, or observing a religious holiday.
Other states eliminate the need for absentee voting by conducting all voting by mail.
Today, while citizens of the United States have far greater access to the polls
and multiple ways to exercise their right to vote, voter turnout during presidential elections still
remains below 60%.
Groups with lower turnout include young people, high school dropouts,
and those living in poverty.
If we truly want a government for the people elected by the people,
how can voter turnout be increased?
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