The Battle for Votes
In the old times, not everything was equal. The Constitution only allowed white men to vote. In 1789, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, immigrants, and women weren’t allowed to vote.
People still fought for the right to vote for hundreds of years. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of them. He stood beside protesters for the rights of all humans being able to vote.
The U.S. Constitution allowed every state to decide who could vote. (If you are 18 years old and a U.S. Citizen you can vote.) Congress has passed a series of amendments, so many people can vote.
Voters suppression is a way to help a political party’s chance of winning. One form of voter suppression is to make people pay to vote. Another is called gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is to change the boundaries of voting districts so that one political party would win.
We still have a lot of work to do.