ipl-logo

Barriers To Voting In The United States

680 Words3 Pages

Voting is an important activity which is helpful in expressing the insights, ideologies and motivations of a mass for political parties. Voter eligibility in both national and state election has boundaries and limitations. In some states, only adult white male property owners having certain religious believes had the privilege to vote. As a result, only five percent were eligible to vote in 1790. There were other obstructions such as white only primaries, literacy tests, race, gender and age. After the fifteenth Amendment was passed, a number of states adopted grandfather clause which allowed only adult males to vote whose grandfather is eligible to vote. African American women also struggled from exercising the franchise to voting. Because of poll tax, less wealthy citizens were discouraged from registering. …show more content…

Contemporary barriers to voting vary among age, racial, social and economic groups. Younger people for instance have no time to vote particularly if there is a long line at the polling station. This barrier of inconvenience makes people lazy to a point they do not care enough to make an effort. Some feel they have little or no impact in the outcome of the election. Language is another contemporary barrier to voting. If for instance, we are to inform voters, we must communicate in a language they understand. How can a potential voter judge a candidate whose speech they cannot possibly understand? Potential voters who are not proficient in English may be overwhelmed by the terminology to an extent that they ignore

Show More
Related
677 Words | 3 Pages

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was created, by Lyndon B. Johnson, to further enforce the 15th Amendment of the United States. The purpose of the act was to ensure democracy within the United States by giving everyone an equal ability to practice their rights. Throughout the history of the United States, African Americans have been denied of their basic freedoms as citizens. The Voting Rights Act made it harder for states to further deny African-Americans, and other

Read More
431 Words | 2 Pages

(Document B) It is good that anybody can vote including the poor but they were limited with rights such as they counted people's votes in two different votings Century assembly and a Tribal assembly. The Century assembly was defined, “by wealth and the equipment they could provide for military duty. Voting started with the wealthier centuries, whose votes outweighed those of the poorer.” (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Read More
573 Words | 3 Pages

Every citizen has the right to vote, but not everyone does these days. It’s important that all people vote in the country and compulsory voting will assure that, because voting is not just a right, it’s a responsibility like Jury duty. Throughout the history voting laws had changed from time to time and from country to country and till now 30 countries around the world had used compulsory voting and got effective results and their countries developed due to good elections that were built in people’s opinion. Voting is considered like paying taxes nowadays, even though it is a responsibility and a duty for them to do towards their country, some people support it and others don’t. The advocates of the compulsory voting argue that

Read More
512 Words | 3 Pages

Moreover, Andrew Jackson made a successful effort to change who was eligible to vote. For many years after the Revolutionary War, there were certain requirements a person had to meet in order to be able to vote. During most circumstances you had to be white, male, own property, and pay taxes. Basically the only people trusted to vote were those in a certain social class. One of Jackson 's goals was to abolish these regulations.

Read More
563 Words | 3 Pages

The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

“ While compulsion of any kind is a restriction, so is the compulsion to drive only on the right side of the road.” ( “Is It Time To Consider Mandatory Voting Laws? Worsening Voting Statistics Make a Strong Case.” by John W. Dean.) One way voter turnout can increase is by compulsory (required) voting.

Read More
640 Words | 3 Pages

Democracy is a foundation of a country’s success. The idea of mandatory voting goes against the democracy of the United States. Mandatory voting is a violation to our civil rights and will become a law in the United States. Although many people believe that mandatory voting helps to strengthen a democratic government by making more voters participate in political process. However, mandatory voting violates the democratic United States by restricting people’s rights.

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

In the world of politics, voting is one of the most vital aspects to politicians, the local community, and the state. It gives the people who live in the communities a chance to let their voice and opinions be heard through their choice of who they want to represent them in political office or to take care of their town or city. Although many share this opinion, there are people who do not care to vote and do not get involved in politics. What is the underlying reason for this group of people to distance themselves from political affairs? Registering to vote can be a deterrent for many people because it requires effort to file all the correct paperwork and stay in good standing, which may be the cause for low voter turnout within Texas.

Read More
1821 Words | 8 Pages

Even though the government adopted the Voting Rights Act in 1965, African Americans’ suffrages were still restricted because of southern states’ obstructions. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was important for blacks to participate in political elections, but before this act was passed, there were several events led to its proposal. The government gave African Americans’ the right to vote by passing the 15th Amendment, but in the Southern States, blacks’ suffrages were limited by grandfather clauses, “poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions” (ourdocuments.gov). As times went on, most African Americans couldn’t register their votes.

Read More
447 Words | 2 Pages

Many are too busy and do not have time. Others are registered, or at least they think they are, and find out on election day that there’s a problem and sometimes they cannot vote that day. Sometime voters are not aware and educated of the voting system and can get caught up by what social media/ news have to say about the parties and their candidates. As a result, they get caught up and end up not voting because they cannot decide who to vote for because of the influences that surround them. Many people also believe that their vote does not make a difference and as a result, don’t even bother to register.

Read More
940 Words | 4 Pages

The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations.

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

An examination of the voter turnout percentages of the U.S. presidential election demonstrates how the voter percentage was once around 80%, but has dropped to around 60% within the last century. (Appendix A). An examination of voter turnout by age demonstrates how the younger an individual is, the less likely they are to vote (Appendix B). According to the Center for Voting and Democracy, the voter turnout rate are affected by four main factors: demographics, voting laws, election types, and electoral representatives. Demographics is the most important.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever asked yourself "how would the world be if there was no structure to allow people to vote for the person who is leading their country?". How about "Does my vote really count ?" or "does the opinion and choice of me, one person, really make a difference?". These questions aren't simply answered but should be seriously thought of by anybody who is a citizen of a country which has an established government and truly cares about the wellbeing and future of the country that they live in. I will be focused on the importance of voting for the president themselves is important. Individuals whom are over the age 18 and have a vailidated citisenship of the country they wish to vote on, have the opretunitiy to vote on several different ascepts of the government.

Read More
587 Words | 3 Pages

To make the United States significantly more democratic, a new system would need to be implemented encourage voter participation. To be a democracy, you must have most eligible voters participate. While we are a republic, we are still democratic currently. Compared to many other democratic nations, the U.S. has a very low voter turnout. While we may be considered a democratic society, we do not involve enough of our citizens in the democratic process.

Read More
1151 Words | 5 Pages

It is clear that American voters tend to avoid local elections and off-year elections. Run-off elections are also likely to register lower voter turnout as compared to first-round elections. The larger the gap between first round elections and run-off elections, the higher the decline in voter turnout. Moreover, there are lower percentages of young people voting as compared to the older population. This is an important point to note since it highlights that young people do not have information guiding them on the importance of voting.

Read More

More about Barriers To Voting In The United States

Related Topics

Open Document