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First Stage of the Struggle
Religious qualifications, instituted in colonial days, quickly disappeared. No state has had a religious test for voting since 1810. Then, one by one, States began to eliminate property ownership and tax payment qualifications. By mid-century, almost all white adult males could vote in every state. -
Second Stage of the Struggle
The 15th amendment, ratified in 1870, was intended to protect any citizen from being denied the right to vote because of race or color. Still, for nearly another century, African Americans were systematically prevented from voting, and they remainded the largest group of disenfranchised citizens in the nation's population. -
Third Stage of the Struggle
The 19th Amendment prohibited the denial of the right to vote because of sex. Its ratification in 1920 completed the third expansion of suffrage. Wyoming, while still a territory, had given women the vote in 1869. By 1920 more than half of the States had followed that lead. -
Fourth Stage of the Struggle
A fourth major extension took place during the 1960s. During that time, federal legislation and court decisions focused on securing African Americans a full role in the electoral process in all States. With the passage and vigorous enforcement of a number of civil rights acts, especially the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its later extensions, racial equality finally became fact in polling booths throughout the country. The 23rd amendment passed in 1961, added the voters of the District of -
Fourth Stage of the Struggle Continued
Columbia to the presidential electorate. The 24th Amendment ratified in 1964, eliminated the poll tax (as well as any other tax) as a condition for voting in any federal election. -
Fifth Stage of the Struggle
The fifth and latest expansion of the electorate came with the adoption of the 26th Amendment in 1971. It provides that no State can set the minimum age for voting at more than 18 years of age. In other words, those 18 and over were given the right to vote by this amendment.
