“We the People”: The Evolution of Voting Rights in the United States

Description

As the United States celebrates its 250^th anniversary in 2026, this presentation describes how voting rights have evolved over time through the 15^th, 19^th and 26^th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which extended voting rights to African American men in 1870, women in 1920 and 18-20 year-olds in 1971; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; which removed discriminatory barriers to voting; and recent actions by the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress and state legislatures. It includes statistics on who has voted in recent elections by age, sex and race/ethnicity as well as information on how to be a registered and informed voter.