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First Presidential Election
The first presidential election in the United States was held in Feburary of 1789. George Washington was unanimously elected by 69 electors representing Massachusets, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. North Carolina and Rhode Island were ineligible to participate as they had not yet ratified the constitution, and New York failed to appoint its allotment of electors. -
removal of religious exclusions
The Delaware Constitution of 1792 stated, "No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State." -
voting rights extended to Jewish Americans
In Maryland, voting rights and eligibility as candidates were extended to Jewish Americans with the passage of "An Act for the relief of Jews in Maryland." -
14th amendment: voting for naturalized citizens
The 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. As such, voting rights are granted to all white men age 21 and up who are citizens. Section two of the amendment says if any of these citizens have their voting rights abridged, "the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." -
15th amendment: voting for all races
The fifteenth amendment extended voting rights to all men age 21 and up, and prohibited the denial of suffrage based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
19th amendment: voting for women
The 19th amendment, which extended voting rights to women, was ratified 41 years after it was first drafted and introduced by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. -
26th amendment: voting for age 18 and up
The 26th amendment extended voting rights to individuals between the age of 18 and 21. It was adopted as a result of student protests during the Vietnam War that young men could be drafted to serve but not vote for our country's leaders.
