Voting is important to American Democracy because it provides people an opportunity to voice their opinion and vote for what they believe in, it holds elected officials accountable for their behavior while in office, and it prevents a minority from dictating the policies of a majority. The 15th Amendment has made the American voting process more democratic, African Americans could not vote because of their skin. When the new year began in 1869, the Republicans were ready to introduce a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the black man’s right to vote. For two months, Congress considered the proposed amendment. Several versions of the amendment were submitted, debated, rejected and then reconsidered in both the House and Senate. In 1868, the Republican party went further and called for a Fifteenth Amendment that would prohibit states from denying the vote based on race or previous condition of servitude. In 1890, Mississippi initiated new methods to prevent African-Americans from voting. Southern states reduced black voting by poll taxes, literacy test, etc. on August 6, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited literacy tests and sent federal examiners to seven Southern states to register black voters. …show more content…
16 to 17 year olds know less informed decisions than voters in their 20’s. Frontal lobes of adolescents may not be fully developed, their judgement may not be as mature as it will be when they are older. I think an amendment should be able added to the constitution that would change the minimum voting age from 18 to 16. 15 to 17 year olds performed better than 24 to 25 year olds on a variety of political questions. Thirty seven percent of 15 to 17 year olds got the question correct, while twenty eight percent of 24 to 25 year olds got it