1. Friday, February 24, 2017
Objective: Students will be able to analyze the changes in voting rights throughout our nation’s history.
Purpose: Voting rights have significantly changed in our history and have changed recently due to political reasons.

2. History of Voting Rights
By 1810, all states removed religious requirements needed to vote
By 1850, all states removed the property ownership requirement needed to vote
1870, 15th Amendment: intended to protect any citizen from being denied the right to vote because of race or color

3. History of Voting Rights
19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote
24th Amendment eliminated all poll taxes in 1964
25th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18

4. Civil Rights Era Changes
1957: creation of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, which was to look into claims of voter discrimination
also gave the attorney general the power to seek federal court orders to prevent interference with any person’s right to vote in any federal election
1960: provided for the appointment of federal voting referees, who were to help qualified persons to register and vote in federal elections

5. Suffrage was gradually expanded over nearly 200 years
Suffrage was gradually expanded over nearly 200 years. How did the American electorate change over time? What effect might this have on elections?

6. After the 15th Amendment extended suffrage to all races, some States enacted laws requiring African Americans and other minorities to pay poll taxes in order to vote.

7. Women could vote in several States before the 19th Amendment was adopted in What percentage of States or territories granted women full suffrage in 1919?

8. Voting Rights Act of 1965
No voting law may be used to discriminate against certain groups of people
Banned the use of literacy tests
Preclearance: no new election laws and no changes in existing election laws, could go into effect in certain States unless first approved by the Department of Justice
Only those new or revised laws that do not dilute the voting rights of minority groups can survive the preclearance process and take effect

9. Voting Rights Act of 1965
Preclearance was required for changes to the following:
the location of polling places
the boundaries of election districts
the deadlines in the election process
the qualifications candidates must meet in order to run for office

10. Voting Rights Act of 1965
Any State or county subject to the voter examiner and preclearance provisions can be removed from the law’s coverage through a “bail- out” process
That relief can come if the State shows the United States District Court in the District of Columbia that it has not applied any voting procedures in a discriminatory way for at least 10 years
The law’s voter-examiner and preclearance provisions were also broadened in 1975 to cover any State or county where more than 5 percent of the voting-age population belongs to certain “language minorities.”

12. The Voting Rights Act sought to equalize access to voting
The Voting Rights Act sought to equalize access to voting. What generalization can be made about the effect of this act on the number of elected black officials?

13. The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2006
The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and What was the goal of the tactics shown here? Why did the tactics change over time?

14. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/2ox5xp/the-colbert-report-voting- rights-act

15. Shelby County v. Holder
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court declared the need for states to get preclearance to be unconstitutional
"Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy the problem speaks to current conditions."

16. The controversial ruling in Shelby County v
The controversial ruling in Shelby County v. Holder caused a storm of reaction across the country. According to this cartoon, what might the ruling mean for voters?