Voting Rights

Voting Rights & the Common Good

- The 15th Amendment- The Women's Suffrage Movement- The Voting Rights Act of 1965- Literacy Tests- Voting

- Voter ID- Battle for IDs in Kansas- Democrats on the Issue- Pros and Cons of Voter ID- Supreme Court Decision

- Federal Government Sues the State of North Carolina- Voting Rights in North Carolina

Additional Resources:- ACLU- IDs by the Numbers- Should the US adopt Voter ID cards?

History of Voting Rights

The Case of North Carolina

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law passed to help enforce the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The 15th Amendment states that an American citizen shall not be denied the right to vote because of race or skin color. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed following disputes over voting rights in Alabama, Mississippi, and other Southern states.

The Common Good

The 15th Amendment

Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that an American citizen shall not be discriminated against in exercising the right to vote. It states that the federal and state governments cannot bar a citizen from voting because the person had been a slave or because of race.

Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor or private interest of any one man, family or class of men... John Adams 1776

Challenges to Voting Rights