The Rights Of Voting And The Fourteenth Amendment

The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments from the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights was written by James Madison on December 15, 1791. The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to address the rights of the individuals that the Constitution did not specified correctly and it also was written to protect the rights of the individuals liberties even if the majority wanted to take them away.

Voting is a right that is given to all citizens by the 15th Amendment of the Constitution. Although the 15th amendment was ratified in 1870. It was not until The Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed that African Americans got to exercise their right to vote under the 15th amendment at the state and local level; which overcame the legal barriers that existed at those levels that was in place to prevent African Americans from voting.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".

They knew if they took it to court they would win the presidency. The U.S Supreme Court said the they would not allow a recount and named Bush the 2000 president.

Millions of people go to court to fight for something they believe in or disagree with, but don't get their voices heard. The constitution made amendments to ensure fairness and it's not right if we don't have those fairnesses. In Brown v board of education and Plessy v Ferguson they were fighting to have rights and fairness, but Plessy v Ferguson got their rights heard right away and the Brown v board of Education didn't get there voices heard in till many years after they went to court. In the 1890's Plessy got on the wrong train car and decided he didn't want to move. The authorities said that Plessy would have to pay $25 or go to jail for 20 days, so when he refused they put him in jail. This violated the 14th amendment because, its unequal that white children had better things. In 1950-1951 segregation was a big problem even with little kids going to different schools just because of the

The election of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore showed flaws in the electoral college voting system. For example, the US Supreme Court had to make decisions that have never been made before due to “irreparable harm”. In regards to Bush, irreparable harm meant that the court cases created by the Democratic Party were harming his election. The election was decided on the state of Florida. Originally, Bush won the state with 1,784 but the margin of victory was 0.3%. A machine recount begun and completed on 10 November, but most counties did not legitimately recount the ballots. Gore requested a hand recount and was given a deadline to complete all hand recounts by Katherine Harris, Secretary of State. Before the deadline was met, she declared

Shaw provides a good point when he states: “Going through rehabilitation and reintegration, ex-felons become part of a law-abiding society with the same privileges as others in the society, proponents for voting rights argue.” If they go through these things to become a part of society again, then why are they not allowed the right to vote? This must be an upsetting process for those felons that want to become a part of society again and actually care to make a difference. All that they want to do is to be granted one of the basic fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens. I mean that’s the least they should get after going through the process that they do. It is only fair for them to obtain the right to vote again because at the end of the day they did what was required of them to become a part of society again and what is the use of that if they cannot even vote?

The decision made by the Supreme Court was unjust. On the contrary to the Court’s decision, the Voting Rights Act is still extremely important and is needed even wider today, the 21st century, to realize the promises of equality in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The Act played a very important role in increasing black voter rates and against voting dilutions during its service. As discrimination is still a common ideology today and still has impact on legislation, without

Voting in a democratic country is one of the various ways to let the people have a say. It wasn't until 1870 when the fifteenth amendment was passed permitting African American men to vote regardless of nationality or origin. Later again in 1920 when the nineteenth amendment was passed, allowing women to have a say in the elections. Throughout history, people fought for the rights to speak concerning what they believe. The first amendment states that Congress shall make, "no law abridging the freedom of speech or the press." being qualified to vote is considered freedom of speech. Americans should not be required to vote because compulsory voting would interfere with the consent of the governed, worse than good would come out of forcing citizens to vote in elections they want no part of, none intellectuals will be

"Section 5 of the Act contains a "preclearance" requirement that requires certain states and local governments to obtain a determination by the United States Attorney General or a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that changes to their voting laws or practices do not "deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group", before those changes may be enforced."(wiki)

During the 19th century there were laws that legalized segregation and limited the rights of innocent blacks. Segregation and discrimination was happening everywhere, schools, work, public places, and blacks weren’t allowed where the whites were able to be. Taxes were required for people to vote and so were literacy tests for people to be tested to see whether they were able to vote or not. If your ancestors voted before you did then you are eligible to vote but, if not then you were not eligible to vote before 1867. Court cases determined the outcome of laws and segregation laws.

The 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and was ratified February 3, 1870. The Amendment is label as the “Right to Vote”, however, there is deeper provision to this Amendment. Section 1, reads “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (NARA). Continued with section 2, “The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation” (NARA). The amendment was created to protect the rights of African American to vote, and has served as the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. One day after the ratification, “Thomas Mundy Peterson of New Jersey became the African American citizern to vote under the authority of the 15th Amendment” (History.com). Additionally, in the same year the first ever African American from Mississippi was elected to the U.S Senate.

In the United State there are 5.6 million people serving their time behind bars with many of their rights stripped away. Among these rights is the right to vote. Is this a right that the states can remove? This fact brings to light three main questions. First, do American inmates have the right to vote under American laws or the Constitution? Second, how would allowing inmates to vote change the face of elections? Finally, should inmates have the right to vote based on ethical premises? Today, we will attempt to answer these questions.

To Begin, Party in the electorate, or PIE, refers to the eligible voting population. The composition of the party in the electorate can help and hurt the candidates running for office, as the electorate can vote candidates either in or out of office. Over the course of American government, the most recent changes and influences to the electorate include the passage of the Voting Rights Act, as well as the recent Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

Young adults in current times have grown up with many rights that have not always been considered a right but instead a privilege. Voting is one of these rights that was once only considered a privilege, eligible for a particular gender and ethnicity. For many years this meant that the only group of people allowed to vote were white males. Today, things are different and everyone has the choice to vote after they reach the age of eighteen. The right to vote is a powerful right that we must take advantage of because not every country is lucky enough to have a say in their government. Today, in America we have the opportunity to decide if we would like to vote or not. Many Americans take pride in this right as it is considered a civic duty that has not always been eligible to everyone.