Race and Voting Behavior

Barriers to Voting

Poll taxes, grandfather clauses, registration requirements, literacy tests, residency requirements, the institution of white-only primaries, as well as a host of intimidation tactics have kept minorities from the polls and effectively disenfranchised them. Such devices prevailed despite the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, which guaranteed all races the right to vote in all elections. It was not until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the promise of the right to vote began to be fulfilled. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, most recently renewed in 2006 by President George W. Bush, along with its various amendments, slowly removed the barriers that had been created in the southern states to keep minorities from exercising their constitutional vote. The removal of these barriers to the voting booth [Page 690]increased voter registration for African Americans from 12 percent to 62 percent in southern states over approximately 20-years.

However, the barriers to voting for minorities were not completely removed by this act. The basic requirements inherent in the voting system still keep many individuals from voting in federal and state elections. For example, the requirement of registration prior to being able to vote often limits participation because of the fact that individuals have a deadline by which to be registered in order to be able to vote in a particular election. Often people do not become interested in an election until it is very close to the actual vote. Interest drives the willingness to participate, but a lack of interest in the months prior to the election means registration to vote may not have occurred by the deadline date and therefore people are prevented from going to the polls.

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