by Stephanie Moon

Throughout American history, various barriers have prevented people of color to vote. America embraces the ideals of freedom and equality, yet it is a nation that is filled with systematic racism. 

Before 1870, people of color did not have the right to vote; only white men did. After the 15th amendment was passed, granting African American men the right to vote, white men used many tactics to stop them from doing so. For example, intimidation- verbal or physical. Another was having a literacy test and a poll tax as a requirement to vote. Black people, during this time, were less educated because the majority were newly freedmen and were poor because of either a low wage job, unemployment, or sharecropping. Therefore, the poll tax and a literacy test were intentionally “designed” to prevent Black men from voting.  Also, even after the federal government ratified the 15th amendment, state’s rejected the amendment until as late as 1959 when Oregon officially ratified it. During this time, people who had gone to prison were often not allowed to vote. This targeted black people because of the exaggerated accusations that landed many in jail. This still continues today; in 2016, there were 6.1 million Americans (many POC) who were unable to vote due to a felony conviction. The 24th amendment banned poll taxes as a form of voter suppression. Despite this, in early 2019, Florida enacted a poll tax that targeted the state’s Black residents. 

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed after the gold rush when many Chinese people immigrated to America. This act prohibited Chinese immigrants from becoming American citizens and, therefore, prohibited them from voting. 

America owns the territories: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa, yet none of the residents from these territories have the ability to vote and have no representation in the federal government. Even citizens in Washington D.C. have no rights to vote for the U.S. House of Representatives or for the Senate and only have 1 presidential electoral vote. In 2016, 3.4 million American citizens were unable to vote because they either lived in Washington D.C. or a U.S. territory. 

In 2016, 18 percent of Black and Hispanic citizens were told they lacked the proper identification to be able to vote. Fifteen percent of Black citizens and 14 percent of Hispanic citizens were unable to find a polling location on election day in 2016. Additionally, many minorities struggle to find transportation to get to a polling location. In 2014, a study found that Black and Hispanic citizens were three times more likely than whites to not receive a requested absentee ballot. Local polling locations are also not providing translated materials which is another barrier for minorities in Asian American, Latino communities, and non-English speaking American citizens. A lack of funding also affects the efficiency of a voting system which creates a barrier for POC communities. There are also many states/communities that do not have access to early voting. 

People of color have been denied the right to vote for over a century. Simple measures should be taken to ensure that all American citizens- disregarding their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation- are able to equally participate in representing the American democracy.