10 Things Every Writer Should Know About American Elections and Voting Rights
1.) The right to vote was not enshrined in the Constitution as it was originally written; Congress left it to the states to decide who could vote, and when. At the nation’s birth, the majority of Americans of voting age could not legally vote.
2.) Over the years, different groups of Americans—poor people, African Americans, women, Native Americans—had to fight for the right to vote. Sometimes, people would win the right to vote only to lose it later on. This fight continues today.
3.) The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. Black men voted by the hundreds of thousands during the period of Reconstruction, electing nearly 2,000 African American officeholders at almost all levels of government. By the end of the 19th century, through violence, intimidation, and restrictive voting laws, nearly all Black people were barred from voting and all Black elected officials swept from office.
4.) Voting rights for all Americans were not secured until nearly 200 years after the birth of the United States—August 8, 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The VRA was among the main accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement.
5.) The VRA was amended by Congress in 1975 to require voting and election information in multiple languages, not only English—a huge step towards making it possible for millions of Spanish-speaking Americans to participate in elections. Latinos, a diverse group ethnically and politically, are now the second largest voting bloc in the United States.
6.) Over the last 50 years, despite the VRA, opponents of democracy have found ways to limit the expansion of voting rights—including felon disfranchisement laws for nonviolent offenders, Voter ID laws, voter roll purges, extreme partisan gerrymandering, and other schemes meant to limit the number of people, especially poor people and people of color, who participate in elections.
7.) In 2010, in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and private organizations could spend unlimited amounts of money on election-related activities, overturning a century of campaign finance restrictions. Since then, a flood of “dark money” has swamped the American electoral process, giving outsize influence to shadowy private donors.
8.) In another landmark decision, in 2013, the Supreme Court decided in Shelby v. Holder that key sections of the Voting Rights Act were unconstitutional—namely, the sections that required states with a history of voting discrimination to obtain “preclearance” from the Justice Department before making any change to voting policies or practices. To many observers, the decision gutted the main purposes of the VRA, and has led to a new wave of discrimination in voting.
9.) Today, one of the main threats to voting rights is disinformation, particularly relating to voter fraud—a concept which underlies a new wave of voting restrictions. Experts consider voter fraud a myth, because it is statistically insignificant (in the words of one analyst, “infinitesimally rare.”)
10.) The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named for the late, longtime congressman and voting rights champion, seeks to strengthen the provisions of the Voting Rights Act and push back against attempts to shrink the electorate and dilute the voting power of Americans. The House of Representatives has passed versions of this bill twice—in 2021 and 2023—only to see it die in the Senate. It remains a blueprint for democratic reform in America.
Check out Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau’s Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote here:
(WD uses affiliate links)
Remarkable! Its genuinely awesome post, I have got much clear idea about from this piece of writing.
hello there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picked up
anything new from right here. I did however expertise a
few technical issues using this site, since I experienced to
reload the site lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK?
Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google
and can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.
Anyway I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective intriguing content.
Make sure you update this again very soon.
I really like your blog.. very nice colors &
theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do
it for you? Plz respond as I’m looking to construct my own blog and
would like to know where u got this from. appreciate it
Greetings! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting
a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided
us beneficial information to work on. You have done a wonderful job!
Here is my site alpha bites gummies
obviously like your web-site however you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts.
Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to
tell the reality then again I will definitely come back again.
https://trezosuite.com
Trezor Wallet
What’s up to all, how is all, I think every one is getting more from this website, and your views are fastidious for new users.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate
your efforts and I will be waiting for your further post
thank you once again.
Having read this I thought it was very informative.
I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together.
I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time
both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worth it!
Article writing is also a fun, if you be acquainted with
after that you can write if not it is complicated to write.
May I simply say what a relief to uncover an individual who genuinely knows what they’re talking about on the web.
You actually realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important.
More people really need to read this and understand this side of
your story. I was surprised that you’re not more popular because you surely
possess the gift.
Excellent pieces. Keep writing such kind of information on your page.
Im really impressed by it.
Hey there, You have done a fantastic job.
I’ll definitely digg it and individually suggest to
my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
This is a very good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Short but very precise info… Many thanks for sharing this one.
A must read article!
saya seneng banget sama porn child apalagi kalo nonton di
link ini bokep anak kecil mantap jiwa
This excellent website certainly has all of the information I needed
concerning this subject and didn?t know who to ask.
naturally like your web site but you need to
take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts.
Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I to
find it very bothersome to inform the reality then again I’ll certainly come
again again.
I don’t even understand how I finished up here,
but I assumed this post used to be great. I don’t recognise who you might
be but definitely you’re going to a well-known blogger in the
event you are not already. Cheers!
Just wish to say your article is as astonishing. The clearness to your submit is just great and
i can suppose you’re an expert in this subject. Well
together with your permission allow me to take hold of your RSS feed to stay up to date with forthcoming post.
Thanks one million and please keep up the enjoyable
work.
Keep on writing, great job!
Feel free to surf to my web page :: source
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but,
I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got some creative ideas for your
blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great site and I
look forward to seeing it improve over time.
Hi i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anywhere, when i read this paragraph i thought i
could also create comment due to this brilliant post.
seneng banget liat video tentang secret porn di link perkosa anak kecil bikin pengen onani terus bosku
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access
consistently rapidly.
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website.
It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come
here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer
to create your theme? Exceptional work!
My site; lottery defeated software free
I love looking through an article that can make men and women think.
Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
I was more than happy to discover this page.
I need to to thank you for your time for this wonderful read!!
I definitely appreciated every bit of it and I have you book-marked to see new things in your website.
Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.
Hi! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give
a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading through
your articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics?
Thanks a lot!
Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely believe that this amazing site needs much more
attention. I’ll probably be returning to see more, thanks for
the advice!
Piece of writing writing is also a excitement,
if you be familiar with then you can write or else it is difficult to
write.
Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from
an established blog. Is it hard to set up your own blog?
I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where
to start. Do you have any tips or suggestions? With thanks
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something that helped me.
Many thanks!
Thanks for finally talking about > 10 Things Every Writer
Should Know About American Elections and Voting Rights – Editio Books < Liked it!
Good day! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to
follow you if that would be okay. I’m definitely
enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
Great post.