TOLERANCE.ORG
© 2020 TEACHING TOLERANCE from Democracy Class: The History of Voting Rights (Rock the Vote and Teaching Tolerance)
TEACHING
TOLERANCE
VOTING RIGHTS TIMELINE
1776–1789
The Articles of Confederation
and the Constitution leave to
the states the power to decide
who gets to vote.
In the early years of the new Republic, states develop their own
constitutions outlining who has citizenship—and, by extension, who
has the right to vote.
After 1789, the U.S. Constitution leaves to the states the power de-
cide who can vote for Congressional representatives. States set laws
that generally favor Protestant Christian men over the age of 21
who meet property requirements.
1790
Enslaved men and women are
denied the right to vote in all 13
states.
Free women are denied the
right to vote in 12 of 13 states.
Free men of color are denied
the right to vote in 3 of 13
states.
Women have the right to vote in New Jersey.
Free men of color have the right to vote in Connecticut, Delaware,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
1790–1820
Four states change their laws,
taking the right to vote away
from men of color.
Massachusetts changes its
laws, taking the right to vote
away from most Native Ameri-
can men.
New Jersey changes its laws,
taking the right to vote away
from women.
C
onnecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts and New
Jersey deny some people the vote based on race, sex and/or place
of resi-dence.
• Most Native American men are now denied the right to vote in all
five of these states.
• Free Black men are now denied the right to vote in Connecticut,
Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.
• Women are now denied the right to vote in New Jersey and, by
extension, throughout the U.S.
© 2020 TEACHING TOLERANCE
2
1821–1830
States change their laws,
expanding the right to vote for
white men.
In 1828, Maryland is the last state to stop denying white men the
right to vote based on their religion.
•White, male citizens can vote in every state if they meet property
requirements and haven’t been convicted of certain crimes.
1831–1844
Three more states change their
laws, taking the right to vote
away from Black and Native
American men.
North Carolina and Pennsylvania enact new requirements to vote
based on race.
• Free Black men are now denied the right to vote in North Carolina
and Pennsylvania.
Rhode Island enacts new voting requirements.
• Members of the Narragansett Tribe are now denied the right
to vote.
1845–1864
States expand voting rights for
white men. The last property
requirement for white men is
lifted.
New York votes to keep
property restrictions in place
for Black voters.
North Carolina is the last state to change its laws, lifting its property
requirements for white men in 1856.
• White men can now vote across the U.S. unless they’ve been con-
victed of a crime or they are classified as “paupers.”
Free Black men can vote in five states: Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont (though New
York maintains a property requirement for Black voters).
In 1860, New Yorkers vote deny the right to vote to Black men who
don’t meet the property requirement.
1848
The federal government ex-
pands voting rights for some
Mexican Americans living in
some Southwestern states and
territories.
The treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ends the Mexican War. Mexican
Americans living in the state of Texas and the territories of Arizona,
California, New Mexico and Nevada are granted citizenship. Mexi-
can Americans in the state of Texas can vote in federal elections.
Despite the treaty, the right to vote is still based on race. The Cali-
fornia Constitution of 1849, for example, gives the right to vote to
“every white male citizen of the United States and every white male
citizen of Mexico who shall have elected to become a citizen of the
United States under the treaty.”
© 2020 TEACHING TOLERANCE
1870
The 15th Amendment is
ratified: Black men gain the
right to vote throughout the
United States.
The United States changes its Constitution. It is now illegal to re-
strict voting based on race.
• Black men now have the right to vote in every state.
• Between 1865 and 1877, Black men serve in capitols across the
South, and in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
More than 600 Black men serve in state legislatures.
•
Mexican
American men now have the right to vote in every state.
• Because Native Americans and Asian Americans don’t have citi-
zenship, they are still denied the right to vote in most states.
• Women are still denied the right to vote in every state.
1865–1874
States in the South find ways
to deny the right to vote to
Black men.
In 1871, Georgia introduces the first poll tax, requiring citizens to
pay to vote. These laws are eventually passed throughout the former
Confederacy. Poll taxes target Black voters by including a “grandfa-
ther clause” excusing those from the tax whose grandfathers voted.
Because only white men could vote in the South prior to 1870, these
clauses essentially limit the poll tax to Black men.
1875–1885
Congress denies voting rights to
Chinese-American men.
The Supreme Court upholds
the denial of voting rights to
Native American men.
The Chinese Exclusion Act and its amendments refuse citizenship—
and through it, the vote—to all Chinese Americans, no matter their
country of origin.
John Elk, a Winnebago man who moved to Omaha, Nebraska, sues
the state for his right to vote. The Supreme Court rules against him.
1886–1900
Former Confederate states
continue to deny the vote to
Black men.
States deny voting rights to
more people convicted of
crimes.
Louisiana revises its constitution to include poll taxes and a literacy
test, which requires citizens to take a test to vote. The state also im-
plements a grandfather clause to ensure white men aren’t excluded
from voting.
• The eect of the new constitution on Black voters is clear: In 1896,
130,000 Black people were registered to vote in Louisiana. In 1904,
that number was 1,342.
In the 35 years after the Civil War, 13 states (of 38) pass laws taking
the vote away from people convicted of felonies.
© 2020 TEACHING TOLERANCE
1901–1919
Every former Confederate state
now denies Black men their right
to vote through a poll tax.
Western territories and states
deny voting rights to people who
don’t speak English.
Western states and territories
(along with Michigan and New
York) expand voting rights
for women.
By 1904, every former Confederate state has also passed a poll tax
to deny Black men the right to vote. While some of these laws are
repealed over time, poll taxes remained legal—and in eect—in Ala-
bama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia until the passage of
the 24th Amendment in 1964.
Laws in Arizona, California, Wyoming, Washington, Arizona and
Oklahoma require voters to prove they can read in English.
Women gain the right to vote in 11 states and territories.
1920
The 19th Amendment is ratified.
The United States changes its Constitution. It is now illegal to re-
strict voting based on sex.
• White women now have the right to vote in every state.
• Black and Mexican American women now have the right to vote in
every state, but Jim Crow laws requiring poll taxes or literacy tests
prevent them from exercising that right in many states.
• Because Native Americans and Asian Americans don’t have citi-
zenship, they are still denied the right to vote in most states.
1921–1940
Jim Crow laws continue to deny
Black men the right to vote
throughout the South.
Court cases and some state laws
continue to refuse the right to
vote to Native Americans.
Jim Crow laws, reinforced with violence against registering voters
or encouraging voting, severely limit African American voter regis-
tration. In the South, 97% of eligible Black voters are not registered
to vote in 1940.
The 1924 Indian Citizenship Act grants citizenship to Native Amer-
icans born in the United States, but many states continue to deny
Native Americans the right to vote.
1941–1960
New federal laws open citizen-
ship to Asian Americans.
States throughout the country
restrict voting rights with literacy
tests; The Supreme Court rules
that this is constitutional.
Between 1943 and 1952, a series of laws opens pathways for Asian
Americans to become citizens.
In 1959, in Lassiter v. Northampton County Board, The Supreme
Court upholds the constitutionality of literacy tests.
© 2020 TEACHING TOLERANCE
1961
The 23rd Amendment is ratified.
The United States changes its Constitution. Residents of
Washington,
D.C. can now vote in federal elections.
Residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam are
still denied the vote in federal elections unless they move to the
mainland.
1964
The 24th Amendment is ratified.
The United States changes its Constitution. States can’t require
citizens to pay a tax to vote.
• The last states with poll taxes—Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi,
Texas and Virginia—abolish them.
This makes voting easier for men and women of color throughout
the South, but literacy tests and other voter suppression tactics are
still common.
1965
The Voting Rights Act Passes:
Black men and women can exer-
cise their right to vote through-
out the South for the first time.
Federal law makes it illegal for states to discriminate against
groups of voters. States and localities with histories of “denying
or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color” must
have any future changes to voting laws approved by the federal
government.
• Black women in the South can freely exercise their right to vote
for the first time.
• Black men in the South can freely exercise their right to vote for
the first time since the 1870s.
The law has an immediate impact. In Alabama, for example, more
than 250,000 new Black voters are registered by the end of 1965.
1971
The 26th Amendment is ratified.
Men and women age 18 and older can now vote in every state
and Washington, D.C.
1970–1975
The Voting Rights Act is
expanded: People who don’t
speak English have their right to
vote protected.
The Voting Rights Act is expanded to prevent discrimination based
on language.
Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hawaiians and Latinx people
can exercise their right to vote in every state.
1984
Federal law expands voting rights
for people with disabilities.
Precincts are required to provide accessible polling places or
provide accommodations for voters with disabilities to ensure they
can exercise their right to vote on election day.
© 2020 TEACHING TOLERANCE
2000
The Supreme Court rules against
allowing Puerto Ricans to vote
for President.
Gregorio Igartúa sues for the right for Puerto Ricans to vote for
President, and loses. The First Circuit Court of Appeals rules
against Igartúa. Residents of U.S. territories are denied the right to
vote for President and Vice President.
2002
The U.S. Senate votes not to
expand the right to vote to those
convicted of felonies.
The Senate votes down an amendmentment to the Voting Rights
Act of 2001 that would have restored voting rights to people
convicted of felonies, leaving that power to the states. While
criminal convictions have been used to justify the denial of the vote
since colonial times, the disenfranchisement of everyone convicted
of a felony only became common after the Civil War, when Black
men were granted the right to vote.
Today, state laws fall on a spectrum—in two states (Maine and
Vermont), voting rights are independent of conviction history.
In most states (21), voting rights are restored only at the end of
probation. And in two states (Iowa and Kentucky), people
convicted of felonies are automatically denied their right to vote
for life.
2000–present
Voter ID requirements expand
across the U.S.
The first voter ID law was passed in 1950, and in the 50 years
following, 14 states adopted laws requesting ID to vote. Since 2000,
20 additional states have passed voter ID laws, and 10 states have
revised or passed new laws requiring—not requesting—ID to vote.
2013
The Supreme Court overturns
some parts of the Voting
Rights Act.
The Supreme Court rules in favor of Shelby County in Shelby v.
Holder. The ruling allows states restricted by the 1965 Voting Rights
Act to change their laws without federal approval.
2014–present
States formerly restricted by
the Voting Rights Act pass laws
restricting voting.
Almost immediately following the Supreme Court ruling in 2013,
states began passing laws restricting voting: closing polling places,
purging voter rolls, strengthening ID laws and limiting or ending
early voting.
2015–present
States allow automatic voter
registration, registering voters
when they interact with
government agencies like public
assistance programs or the
Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV).
These policies expand registration, ensuring that more Americans
are prepared to vote. Since 2015, Automatic Voter Registration
(AVR) has been adopted in 13 states and the District of Columbia.
