Grandfather Clauses

A grandfather clause is a statement in law or policy granting specified exceptions to new regulations, based on preexisting practices or guarantees.

The term in its original usage specifically addressed free male U.S. voting rights in the 19th century. In their initial form, grandfather clauses in states such as Louisiana exempted voters who may have otherwise failed to meet either literacy or property requirements necessary to vote. A male voter whose father or grandfather voted prior to January 1, 1867, or was a war veteran, was exempt from these stipulations. Such clauses were often referred to as “old soldier” or “grandfather” clauses.

Thus, the terminology of “being grandfathered in” derived from the practice of allowing landless or perhaps illiterate white males the right to vote while disenfranchising African Americans male voters. The practice would stifle not only black voter representation in the south; it would also disenfranchise several thousand poor, white [Page 984]voters. Along with numerous other strategies, undesirable voters of many ethnicities would be affected by such clauses. Suppression of their votes would have a lasting effect on the American political process and would not be adequately addressed until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.