Timeline of Voting Rights
Who was able to vote from the start?
White men who owned land
Can all U.S. citizens vote?
No
How old do you have to be to vote in the U.S.
18 years old
What gender and race did you have to be to vote in 1776?
White and male
True or false: Voting barriers for certain groups are still present in the U.S.
True
Which came first, black men's right to vote or women's right to vote?
Name one group of U.S. citizens who still cannot vote in the presidential election.
-Residents of U.S. territories
-Convicted felons in some states
What amendment made black people eligible to vote?
True or false: all Christian men could vote in 1776
False
Name the 3 voting barriers that were in the hula hoop activity
Literacy tests, character tests, polling taxes
What did the 19th Amendment do?
Gave women the right to vote
Can residents of Hawaii and Alaska vote?
Yes
True or False: American Indians are not eligible to vote
False, they can vote but face many voting barriers
How old did you have to be to vote in 1776?
21 years old
What is one voting barrier that I faced while registering to vote in college?
-I did not pay utilities at my dorm
-I did not have an Ohio ID
-I had to fill out complicated paperwork if I wanted to either register to vote in Ohio or vote as an absentee in Illinois
-There was no information about how to vote on my campus
Why was the voting age lowered from 21 to 18?
Those old enough to fight in a war (the Vietnam War) should be able to vote
When do felons in Massachusetts gain their voting rights back?
After they are released from prison
Describe someone who is eligible to vote in the U.S. for a presidential election
Someone who is of any gender, race, or religion, at least 18 years old, who has U.S. citizenship and lives in one of the 50 states
What branch of Christianity could not vote in 1776?
Catholic
What is one main barrier that American Indians face while registering to vote?
-They don't have addresses, just P.O. boxes
-The polling places are far from them
What was the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
It was a law that banned racial voting barriers and granted black people the right to vote (corrected the 15th amendment)
What is the law called when current/past felons don't have the right to vote?
Felon-Disenfranchisement Laws
Is a person who was born in Guam who then moved to Massachusetts eligible to vote in a presidential election?
Yes
Why weren't women allowed to vote in 1776?
-Men made their decisions for them
-Women were believed to not have the mental capacity to vote
-People thought women were too busy taking care of children and running the house to pay attention to politics
What are current voting barriers that affect people of color more than white people?
-Lack of same-day registration
-Lack of early registration
-Voter ID laws