Voting, Obstacles to

THE DEVELOPMENT OF American voting patterns and practices evolved from inherited traditions embodied in English common law and past Greek and Roman civic procedures. In light of this context, voting in America unfolded, following the precedents and circumstances of historical eras. As such, obstacles to voting varied with time and place as well as through regional practice. The obstacles encountered formed part of the nation's progress. Paramount in the American colonial heritage was the generally held belief that restrictions on the civil liberties of criminal and civil offenders were fully justified. Offenders might lose all rights, including property and the right to participate in the community as a whole. They suffered what was essentially a “civil death” and disenfranchisement was a prominent penalty if, indeed, they were qualified to vote in the first instance. Convicted felons were but one group that faced suffrage restrictions in the colonial era. Women, African Americans, those without property, and illiterates were also unable to vote.

During the long colonial period the idea of a full voting democracy was highly suspect. Society feared unleashing the rabble by allowing universal voting, would allow mob rule and produce societal breakdown. Therefore, in the 13 original colonies, voting was regulated as a right of those who had a role in society defined by their ownership of land and property or through the paying of taxes. There were also religious tests that excluded Catholics and Jews from voting, even if they met other property criteria. In practice, colonial voting was restricted to white males. However, even with the existing restrictions, participation rates could include 70–80 percent of frontier males with perhaps only 50 percent qualified to vote in the cities.

The coming of the American Revolution and eventual Independence after 1783 expanded democratic ideals and, in particular, the notion of the need for a broader-based representative government and the [Page 845]belief that legitimacy in public affairs could only be derived from the consent of the governed. Although general property qualifications remained common, some areas, such as Vermont, eliminated all qualifications for white males, and, by 1790, religious restrictions were ended throughout the original colonies. In six states (Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) voting rights were extended to free African-American males. There was also an extension of suffrage to those who had served in the colonial military.