The right to vote is fundamental to the functioning of a democracy, yet the history of the United States is riddled with efforts to suppress voters, particularly those from marginalized groups.

Voter suppression has taken many forms throughout the nation’s history, from legal disenfranchisement to intimidation and manipulation. Over time, various laws have been passed to combat these tactics, but voter suppression remains a challenge to full democratic participation.

Let’s explore the history of voter suppression, the tactics employed, the laws enacted to address the problem, and an analysis of how effective these measures have been. Understanding this history is key to ensuring that voting rights are protected for all citizens in the future.

1. Early Voter Suppression: The Birth of Exclusionary Tactics

The roots of voter suppression in the U.S. date back to the country’s founding. Originally, voting rights were limited to white male property owners, effectively excluding most Americans from participating in elections. As the nation expanded, so did suffrage, but with each expansion came new efforts to limit access to the ballot box.

Literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses were early tactics used after the Civil War, particularly in the South, to disenfranchise newly freed Black Americans. Southern states, unhappy with the passage of the 15th Amendment (1870)—which guaranteed Black men the right to vote—designed these barriers to disproportionately affect African American voters.

• Literacy tests required voters to pass reading and writing exams, which were intentionally made difficult for Black citizens.
• Poll taxes imposed fees on voters, which many poor Black and white citizens could not afford to pay.
• Grandfather clauses exempted people from these barriers if their ancestors had been eligible to vote before the Civil War, ensuring that only white voters were unaffected by these laws.

By 1900, almost all Southern Black men had been disenfranchised, as these measures were backed by violence and intimidation from groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

2. The Civil Rights Movement and Landmark Voting Legislation

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s brought widespread attention to the injustices of voter suppression, particularly in the South. Civil rights activists, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., led efforts to register Black voters and fight against voter suppression tactics like literacy tests and intimidation. These efforts were met with violent resistance, but they ultimately resulted in significant legal victories.

The most important legal development in the fight against voter suppression was the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the act aimed to eliminate racial discrimination in voting. Key provisions of the Voting Rights Act included:

• Abolition of literacy tests and other discriminatory barriers.
• Federal oversight of election laws in states with a history of voter suppression, requiring those states to get federal approval (preclearance) before changing their voting procedures.
• Federal examiners were sent to register voters in areas with severe suppression.

The Voting Rights Act was a landmark achievement, and it led to a dramatic increase in African American voter registration and participation. In the decade following the act, Black voter registration in the South increased by more than 50%.

Another key law in this period was the 24th Amendment (1964), which banned poll taxes in federal elections, followed by a Supreme Court ruling in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966) that struck down poll taxes in all elections.

3. Modern-Day Voter Suppression Tactics

Despite the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, new forms of voter suppression emerged in the late 20th and 21st centuries. Many of these tactics are subtler than the Jim Crow-era barriers but still disproportionately affect minority, poor, and young voters.

Some of the most common modern tactics include:

• Voter ID Laws: These laws require voters to present government-issued identification to vote. Proponents argue that they prevent fraud, but critics point out that these laws disproportionately affect poor and minority communities, who may not have easy access to IDs.
• Voter Roll Purges: Some states have aggressively purged voter rolls, removing people who haven’t voted in recent elections or whose names are thought to be similar to others. This has led to legal voters being improperly removed from registration lists, often without notification.
• Reduction of Early Voting: Cutting early voting periods and closing polling locations, particularly in minority neighborhoods, creates long wait times and makes it harder for people with inflexible work schedules to vote.
• Gerrymandering: While not strictly a voter suppression tactic, gerrymandering—the manipulation of electoral district boundaries—can dilute the voting power of certain groups, ensuring that their votes have less impact on election outcomes.
• Felony Disenfranchisement: Some states permanently disenfranchise individuals convicted of felonies, disproportionately affecting communities of color, given the racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

4. The Erosion of Voting Protections

In 2013, a major blow to voting rights protections came with the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The Court ruled that the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was outdated and unconstitutional. This ruling effectively gutted a key provision of the act that required certain states to seek federal approval before changing voting laws. Since the ruling, many states have enacted new voter ID laws, purged voter rolls, and closed polling locations, disproportionately affecting minority voters.

The rollback of these protections has led to a renewed push for voting rights legislation, such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which aims to restore the preclearance provisions of the original Voting Rights Act.

5. Effectiveness of Voting Rights Legislation

While the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 24th Amendment were monumental in combatting voter suppression, recent trends suggest that new and more insidious forms of suppression are taking hold. Although the Voting Rights Act initially increased voter registration and participation for marginalized communities, the Shelby County decision in 2013 has reversed some of those gains.

According to a 2019 Brennan Center for Justice report, states that were previously subject to preclearance have enacted nearly twice as many voting restrictions since the Shelby decision. These include stringent voter ID laws, cuts to early voting, and purges of voter rolls. Despite new efforts to combat voter suppression, like the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, these bills have stalled in Congress, leaving many communities vulnerable to modern forms of disenfranchisement.

Key Takeaways:

1. Voter suppression has a long history in the U.S., targeting marginalized groups, particularly African Americans, through tactics like literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation.
2. Landmark legislation like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 24th Amendment made significant strides in combating voter suppression.
3. Modern voter suppression tactics include voter ID laws, voter roll purges, reduced early voting, gerrymandering, and felony disenfranchisement.
4. The Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013 weakened federal protections against voter suppression, leading to a resurgence of restrictive voting laws.
5. There is a need for renewed legislative efforts to protect voting rights, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Conclusion and Recommendations:

The history of voter suppression in the United States demonstrates a persistent effort to limit the political power of marginalized groups. While landmark legislation like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made significant progress, the erosion of these protections, particularly in the wake of the Shelby County v. Holder decision, has led to new forms of voter suppression. To preserve the integrity of U.S. democracy, it is essential that Congress pass stronger protections, such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, to restore and expand the voting rights protections that have been weakened in recent years.