Voting History

By: Nicole B.

In America, there were many steps and important dates to finally allow citizens to vote for the things they believe in most. The voting history of the Untied States of America has been a long and tiring one with many Amendments and laws passed to finally get to where we are today, a strong republic government with democratic traditions

The timeline of US voting history is wide spread. Starting in 1787 right after we won the war for our independence against Great Britain, we were able to make our own laws. This is when the Constitution first gave land owning white men the right to vote if they were 21 years of age or older. This meant that only one in fifteen people could vote, compared to more than 225 million people who were able to vote in 2008. This continued until the time frame of 1800s to the 1850s when religious qualifications were eliminated and almost all white males could vote. This meant that Jews, Quakers or Catholics were not given the right to vote or run for office. By the 1870s, the 15^th Amendment was ratified. Which protected any citizen from being denied the right to vote because of race or color, but people were not happy and African Americans were being threatened and even killed. 

By the 1920s, the 19^th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote because half of the states did not allow women to vote. Women in New York and many western states were given the right to vote before the 19^th Amendment however. This was ratified because of the Suffrage Movement and two key women in the movement, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In the 1960s, the 23^rd Amendment and 24^th Amendment were ratified. These added voters from DC to the presidential electorate and eliminated poll tax. These came after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which helped to eliminate the poll tax and also the literacy tests. Finally, in 1971, the 26^th Amendment was ratified stating that people who were 18 years of age or older had the right to vote. There are however, 19 states that are allowed to vote at the age of 17 years old for primary elections if they will be 18 years of age by Election Day. These states are in the dark purple below.

Also, check out a short video on voting history: 

 So who has the right to vote now? People who are legal residents of the state where they want to vote are given the right to vote. This prevents non-citizens to come in and vote because they may be unfamiliar with the candidates. In order for people to vote in Wisconsin, they need to be a citizen here for at least 10 days before they can vote. Also, No state can set the minimum age for voting in any election at more than 18 but states can set the age for voting lower than 18. In order to vote, you must be registered within the state as well; every state except North Dakota requires this to be done before voting. Wisconsin allows people to register on the same day to vote where most states require at least 20-30 days before the voting. Finally, states no longer have the ability to not allow people to vote based of their abilities to read and write.   

Here are some facts about Wisconsin’s voting history. Wisconsin is in fact considered a swing state in the president elections and is also granted 10 electoral votes. It became a state in 1848 and was mainly republican through 1928 until the Great Depression and World War II happened. In the last 10 elections, Wisconsin voted republican 3 times and democratic 7 times. People also voted with the overall winning candidate 7 out of the ten times. According to multiple Presidential Polls in Wisconsin this year, Obama seems to be winning over our state. Rasmussen Reports says that Obama is leading 50% to 48%. While the well known Marquette University Law School Poll says that Obama is winning 49%-48%.

It is important that kids like us get informed about our voting history and rights to make decisions for our country. Soon enough, we will be able to vote and have a say in our government. So many years ago, people were not as fortunate as we are now to have the right to vote. It is a gift that we have and we should not take it for granted.