Voting and Elections

Elections have consequences. If you want a say in the political future of our nation, it is up to you to get involved. Luckily, there are many ways to accomplish this. Listen to learn how!

In this episode we learn about two political processes that directly involve the people: referendums and recall elections.

Learn about methods that allow citizens to participate in direct democracy in their states on today’s episode of the podcast!

The principle of "one person, one vote" means that each congressional district in a state must have a roughly equal population as those in other states. This applies only the House, however. The Senate is based on equal representation, with each state receiving two senators.

Why does it matter that we have a peaceful transition of power in a democracy? We'll hear from David Levine, an Elections Integrity Fellow from the bipartisan Alliance for Securing Democracy. This is the final episode in our series on election security with David Levine.

The states make many decisions regarding voting rights, and most states require citizens to register before voting. Although voter turnout has surged in the 2020 presidential election, in recent years there has been a steady decline in voter participation in elections.

Should legal permanent residents be allowed to vote? On this podcast, we look at both sides of the issue.

The Electoral College might seem like a complicated method of choosing a president, but on this episode of 60-Second Civics, we'll explain how it works.

What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College? Find out on today's podcast.

Elections in the colonial era and in the early American republic were rather uncivilized compared to today's standards. Explore the differences between then and now in today’s episode!

Two incidents in 1970 galvanized the movement to lower the voting age to eighteen: the Kent State and Jackson State shootings of anti-war demonstrators.

"Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" originated during World War II. The argument has resonance with the Declaration of Independence, which says, "the just powers of government are derived from the consent of the governed."

The countercultural movement of the 1960s and the Vietnam War provided the cultural context to the movement to lower the voting age to 18.

Before the adoption of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, young men could be drafted and serve in Vietnam, but could not vote. The Oregon v. Mitchell Supreme Court case in 1970 gave added motivation for supporters of lowering the voting age to push for a constitutional amendment to reduce the national voting age to 18.

The Vietnam War motivated the states to take up the ratification process for the Twenty-sixth Amendment with a sense of urgency.

The Twenty-sixth Amendment mandates that federal and state legislatures not interfere with the right to vote of citizens eighteen years of age or older in federal, state, and local elections.

Learn how Shelby County v. Holder changed the Voting Rights Act.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a step in the right direction, but it did not protect voting rights. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits discrimination based on race, eliminates literacy tests, poll taxes, and discriminatory voter registration practices. It also requires voting materials and assistance in appropriate languages in places with significant numbers of voters who do not speak English.

Both the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 were meant to eliminate interference with the right to vote. Both of the acts paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Native Americans were often deprived of their right to vote until Congress took action.

In several states, Native Americans are viewed as an increasingly important voting bloc. Only in 1924 did the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 extend the right to Native Americans, but the states continued to block Native access to the polls until at least 1965.

The Framers of the Constitution considered Native Americans to be members of their tribes, not citizens of the United States, and were not allowed to vote.

As the United States entered World War I, pressure to recognize the right of women to vote increased. After the war, women launched a national campaign that included huge parades, demonstrations, picketing, and civil disobedience in Washington, D.C. The Nineteenth Amendment was finally adopted in 1920.

Women in the United States gained the right to vote only in small increments. Plenty of excuses were offered for not recognizing the right of women to vote.

In 1869 Wyoming, while still a territory, gave women the right to vote. By 1918 more than half the states had enfranchised women.

The road to winning the right to vote for women was long, and suffragists faced many setbacks.

During the middle years of the nineteenth century the struggle for freedom and equality for African Americans was closely linked to the campaign for woman suffrage. Many abolitionists worked for woman suffrage, just as many women worked to end slavery.

Literacy tests were designed to disenfranchise African American voters. They did not disappear entirely until 1970.

Until discriminatory laws and Supreme Court rulings took effect, millions of African American men were added to the voting rolls, and some were elected to public office.

In theory, the Fifteenth Amendment granted the right to vote to African American men. But discriminatory laws, physical intimidation, and economic reprisals kept African Americans from exercising that right.

Thomas Paine, with his characteristically sharp wit, pointed out some problems with the property requirement for voting.

The term "gerrymandering" is named after a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. His political party drew a partisan electoral district designed to give them victory. A newspaper editor pinned the blame on Gerry, naming the salamander-shaped district "gerrymander." Gerrymandering now means drawing an electoral district to favor one political party.

Why does it matter that we have a peaceful transition of power in a democracy? We'll hear from David Levine, an Elections Integrity Fellow from the bipartisan Alliance for Securing Democracy.

Today we are joined by a very special guest, David Levine, who is an Elections Integrity Fellow from the bipartisan Alliance for Securing Democracy. David talks about election security, elections officials, signature verification, and what to do if there are any problems casting your vote.

Mexican American men faced discrimination and violence in Texas when they tried to exercise their right to vote.

Rhode Island was the only state after 1840 that did not have universal enfranchisement of white men. So, Thomas Wilson Dorr convened a "People's Convention" to draft a new state constitution that allowed all white men to vote. This led to a brief civil war in the state.

The countercultural movement of the 1960s and the Vietnam War provided the cultural context to the movement to lower the voting age to 18.