In the beginning, the Founding Fathers of this great nation believed that only property owners should have the right to vote. This belief was carried over from Europe and did not fit in with the growing nation. As the middle class grew, they slowly demanded and gained a stake in the future of their country. This can be seen in the expansion of the voters between 1812 and 1840. To begin with, between 1812 and 1840, the percentage of states allowing voters to choose presidential electors more than doubled, rising from 44.4 to 95.8 percent (Document A).
With twenty-seven amendments in existence, each broadens protections that were not previously covered. Within these twenty-seven are several major ones that strongly influence the dynamic in which Americans vote. The fourteenth and nineteenth coexist in a manner that allows them both to strongly control who votes, and how. Ratified on July 9, 1868, the fourteenth amendment expanded citizenship to all born on U.S. soil and sought to expand national rights to all, regardless of race (Fourteenth). This amendment included the expansion of citizenship to anyone truly born in the U.S., regardless of who their ancestors were-granting citizenship to former slaves.
The twenty-second amendment now limits the president to serve only two terms, this was created so that the presidents did not become too powerful. The twenty-sixth amendment deals with voting rights. The change in 1971 gave the right for people eighteen years and older to
“The right to vote gives every eligible American a voice in our electoral politics. There's too much at stake to stay silent as this right is eroded. ”(Martin O'Malley).Voting is supposed to be a guaranteed right to all but in reality, this is not the case. It is to be expected that the political parties running for office enjoy the process behind the Electoral College. The political parties influence the American citizens to vote for their candidate as the next President in order to benefit from the candidate's power.
The Importance of the 24th Amendment and Effects. The U.S. Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times since ratified on June 21, 1788. These Amendments have been crucial to the up-keeping of America and its constant changes. The most of important of which being the 24th Amendment, which protected voting rights from taxes. The 24th amendment reads as followed “The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax”.
This became possible because of the Voting rights act. The voting rights act made it possible for all citizens of the United States can vote. The Act stated that “shall be entitled and allowed to vote at all elections,
Good evening Prime Minister, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am honoured to be here today, to present five artefacts that expose the overlooked Australian army nurse experiences. These five artefacts must be included in the Australian War Memorial as they move beyond Charles Bean 's conventional Anzac Legend and display a different perspective of the Great War experiences. They reveal that nurses endured chauvinistic constraints, traumatic conditions and perpetual anguishing impacts on their lives.
The process of making this law took place during the Vietnam War. People who were for the amendment thought that if 18 year olds can serve and die for our country they should also be given the right to vote. People demonstrated in the streets chanting “Old enough to fight, Old enough to vote.” At this time, women’s rights were still being restricted too and many people supported equality for everybody. Amendment 26 was introduced to the supreme court in 1970 for a decision through the Oregon vs Mitchell case.
Since the beginning of the United States, the right to vote has been forever changing. Society has come a long way from when only white men, who owned land, could vote to today where any citizen over the age of 18 can cast a vote on Election Day. The right to vote has been a challenge for some and has caused many issue throughout history. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton stormed the streets of New York attempting to attain the right to vote in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. They risked everything to be able to have an impact on who would get elected.
I belive the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. With Americas voter turnout percentage so low, the only logical step toward a brighter and more involved country is to decrease the voter age. In doing so, I think people who are opposed to this veiwpoint would see the benefits greatly out-weighing the cons. While some things about the argument to keep the voting age the same are true, such as, younger people being less involved in such activites as voting and the percentage of younger people who would acually go out of their way to vote going down, although, with modifications to the system, we could increase the percentage vastly. Modifications such as; online voting, readily available voting areas, easier access to these areas and less
I think the voting age should be kept at age 18. As stated in the above passage, lowering the voting age would cause participation percentage to drop. . Younger voters don't pay attention to the world around them. Younger voters often don't bother to vote. The elderly voters make informed decisions.
Should the legal voting age be changed to16? Firstly i do not think that the legal voting age should be changed. I believe that the age of 18 is still a young age to voteand most people in that age group barley participate. Most 18yr olds are barley getting out of high school at this time in there life.
Many have argued about whether or not the voting age of 18 should be maintained or lowered. To be fair, some of the people opposing to the change in the voting age are concerned about how mature and interested a 16 year old can be to take such a responsibility like voting and thats understandable. However, in my opinion lowering the voting age to 16 wouldn't cause a drastic change in the amount of people not voting. If anything it can actually help bring up the percentage of younger individuals who vote when having the influence to do so. Allowing voters in the age group of 16-18 a right to vote will cause a positive influence in young voters.
Should the voting age be lower than 18? The age for voting should not be lowered to under 18. Although it would bring more awareness to voting, many younger poeple have no interest in politics. Lowering the voting age woud decrease the chances in participation. Also, not many younger voters keep up on current events which could result in unknowledged voting.
What do I mean by that? In America, only people who are American citizens are able to vote,
