U.S. Constitution. States are given the power to regulate their voting laws, primarily enfranchising white, male property owners and taxpayers (about 6% of the population).
Naturalization Act of 1790. Free white immigrants can become U.S. citizens.
Free black men lose the right to vote in many northern states.
Maryland passes legislation enfranchising Jewish men, becoming the last state to remove religious restrictions to voting.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Citizenship is granted to Mexicans living in territory conquered by the U.S. but their vote is suppressed with discrimination and violence.
14th Amendment. Citizenship is granted to people born or naturalized in the U.S.
Supreme Court rules that Native Americans are not citizens as defined by the 14th amendment.
Chinese Exclusion Act. People of Chinese ancestry are barred from naturalizing as U.S. citizens.
Indian Naturalization Act. Native Americans can now apply for citizenship in a manner similar to other foreign nationals.
17th Amendment. Voters, rather than state legislatures, can directly elect their senators.
Native Americans who served in the U.S. military are given voting rights.
Supreme Court rules that people of Japanese and South Asian heritage are ineligible to become citizens.
Indian Citizenship Act. All Native Americans are enfranchised as U.S. citizens regardless of their tribe or nation.
Magnuson Act. Chinese immigrants are given citizenship and voting rights.
McCarran-Walter Act. Citizenship is open to all people of Asian ancestry.
23rd Amendment. Washington DC residents gain the right to vote in presidential elections.
The Warren Court establishes the “one man, one vote” system whereby states must redraw voting districts so that voting power remains relatively equal.
Voting Rights Act of 1965. Landmark legislation that tackles discrimination in elections, as well as provides protection for racial and language minorities to register and vote.
Supreme Court prohibits both tax payment and wealth requirements in state elections.
26th Amendment. Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in response to protests of the Vietnam War which argued that those old enough to be drafted should be eligible to vote.
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. Gives voting rights to Americans serving on bases and ships both at home and abroad.
National Voter Registration Act. Makes voter registration available at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Supreme Court rules that residents of U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa (over 4 million people), though citizens, cannot vote in presidential elections and have no representation in Congress.
Military and Overseas Empowerment Act. Establishes a more efficient means for expats and troops overseas to vote by mail or electronically.
Supreme Court rules that part of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional, removing a mandate that if states or local governments want to change their voting laws they must appeal to the federal government.
Next: A Chronology of Woman Suffrage Organizations >
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