Voting has long been held as a right of citizenship in the United States. However, how voting has been conducted has changed quite a bit over the course of our nation's history. The way we vote has changed several times and more importantly WHO gets to vote has evolved over the last 230 years. What is curious about these revisions is that very often they are created less out of standards of fairness and adherence to the lofty ideals of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence but are more about political benefit to one group over the other. These Machiavellian suffrage maneuvers continue still today as some again begin to question who exactly can vote, when people can vote, and how citizens can cast their vote.
Early in United States history voting was conducted in a few very different and inexact methods. One way was a method known as viva voce, which means voting by voice. Early on local officials would walk down roads past houses as eligible voters (white, land owning men) stood on top of their houses and shouted their vote as the local magistrate came by their house. This where the saying "shout it from the rooftops" comes from. In larger towns and cities, men would gather at the local courthouse or another central building in the area and would shout their preferences when they were asked how they would vote. Another way voting that was conducted early on would be for all of the men gather at the town square and were told to physically go to one side of the area or the other to show their voting preferences. Whichever side had the most men was the side that won. By the mid 1800s the United States began using paper ballots, however these paper ballots were very different from any paper ballot we would be familiar with now. Initially voters would simply write their choices on a paper and put them in the ballot box. However this was very limiting because knowing how to write was not a given at this time as well as corruptible because if you didn't know how to write you could have someone else write your choices for you and there was no guarantee that your surrogate elector would write out the choices you actually wanted. Eventually parties began to print their own pre-printed ballots with only their candidates names on the ballot. These ballots were then distributed to voters for them to cast. However, this was also corruptible because very often these ballots were distributed at the local saloons or party sponsored picnics which were nothing more than a bacchanalia of free alcohol. Which ever side provided the most free adult beverages would earn the support of the drunken voter.
With the arrival of the Progressive Era in the late 1800s voting reform came in the way of the "Australian Ballot", a pre-printed ballot with all of the candidates names listed and this ballot was only distributed from the local government, not from political parties. With this reform elections became much more fair and counting far more accurate. As our methods for voting have evolved for the better, the question of who could actually vote has always been a political football. Any notions of this question being one based upon the desire to fulfill the mandates of democracy, meeting the promises of the Constitution, or other equally noble aspirations is naïve at best. The question of who can vote and the ease of access has, and is still today, rooted in political gains for one side or, at the very least, politically damaging the opposition.
The first major change in who was able to vote in the United States occurred during the 1820s and 1830s during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson narrowly lost the 1824 election to John Quincy Adams. Jackson and his supporters- many of whom were poor, uneducated white men- cried foul and accused Adams and Speaker of the House Henry Clay of fixing the election in favor of Adams, the so-called "Corrupt Bargain". Jackson spent the next four years expounding on the rule of the "elites" (educated, land owning men) at the expense of the the "common man". Realizing that by extending the vote would benefit Jackson because there were far more "common men" than elites, Jackson supporters began to get states to repeal the land owning requirement to vote. In 1828, Jackson ran for office again, and with the expansion of voting to almost all white men, not just land owning men, Jackson won the election handily.
Following the Civil War, the franchise was extended to all former adult male slaves in the South. In the 1868 presidential election Republican U.S. Grant won the election thanks in large part to the large black vote for him in the South. Recognizing an opportunity to expand their voting base and possibly begin to dominate American politics, Republicans passed the 15th Amendment in 1870 extending the right to vote to all black men in the United States. As a result, Republicans did begin to dominate American politics as African-American men at that time overwhelmingly voted Republican.
American women suffragettes, who for a long time were also ardent abolitionists, were shocked and repulsed when the 15th Amendment was passed. After all, they argued, white women had always been viewed as citizens whereas African-American men had only been recognized as citizens beginning in 1865 and yet former male slaves got the right to vote before them. Thus, the women's suffrage movement, more motivated than ever, continued their push for the right to vote. This cause was advanced in the early 1900s by the Republican Party, who were growing alarmed at the continuing rise of the Democratic Party on the national level. It was on the vote of the Republican congressional members that the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920. The Republican Party again benefitted from supporting the expansion of the franchise as women overwhelmingly voted Republican in 1920 beginning a decade of Republican domination of American politics.
The next major expansion of voting was again done with eyes on political gain, however, those hopes were not initially realized. In 1971 the 26th Amendment was passed lowering the voting age to 18 years old. The argument was that if young people were old enough to be drafted and sent to war (which they were) and were old enough to drink beer (at that time the drinking age was 18) then young people were old enough to vote. This argument was championed by liberals who were alarmed at the war in Vietnam and the rising popularity of Richard Nixon. Advocates looked at college campuses and the unrest there among young people. If these young people could vote, it was theorized, the war in Vietnam would come to an end and the likes of Richard Nixon would not be elected. However, the hopes were dashed after the passage of the 26th Amendment. Young people who could vote in 1972, did not in large numbers and Nixon was re-elected in one of the greatest margins of victory in American history. In fact, despite having the right to vote for the last 50 years, it was not until the 2020 election that large numbers of young voters actually cast a ballot.
This leads us to the movement taking place today. Unhappy with the election, many Republicans are advocating for laws to restrict access to the ballot claiming this is in the name of "election security". Despite the fact there has not been any evidence produced that shows widespread voting irregularities or fraud. In fact the Department of Homeland Security, whose officials were all Republican nominees, proclaimed the 2020 election the "most secure election ever in the history of the United States". But because the election was a record turn-out (indeed more people than ever before voted in the 2020 election) and Joe Biden won, there of course must have been fraud. Therefore steps must be taken to ensure that all future elections are "safe" and maintain the integrity of our democracy. The way to do this? Restrict access to the ballot box. This is a curious path being taken because, as we have seen, usually political parties have viewed increasing the franchise as the way to increase their political power. Aside from the Jim Crow laws passed in the South following Reconstruction which were aimed at taking away the right to vote from African Americans, political parties have usually wanted to expand not limit the ability to vote. And yet here we are, limiting the number of ballot boxes and voting precincts, not allowing food or water to be given to those waiting in line to vote, and severely limiting if not outright denying early voting.
So, where do we go from here? I don't really know. I hope contraction is temporary. I hope that decisions are based on verifiable facts, not wild conspiracies. The right to vote is a basic American right. The right to vote shall not be abridged on account of race or sex.
