Voting rights have expanded and contracted throughout American history, and as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, that story is still being written. “When America was established, more people could vote here than anywhere else in the world, but it was still a fraction of the population of the United States,” explained Lisa Kathleen Graddy, a curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “So, everything after that becomes a quest by people who didn’t have the vote to get the vote and retain the vote.”It was a right initially reserved for property owners of a certain amount, a concept based on Great Britain’s hierarchical system, according to Graddy. “This idea that only wealthy property owners would vote lasted for a very short amount of time. This country had just fought a war to throw off hierarchy,” Graddy said. A patchwork of state voting laws emerged in the decades that followed, and those protesting for expanded ballot access adopted some interesting tactics to get their message across. A slogan-covered wagon, now on display at the Smithsonian, was taken on a publicity tour advocating for women’s suffrage around 1912. “They even had a hurdy-gurdy, an organ inside that would draw up a crowd, and they had two carrier pigeons that they would release to send to towns and come back to them. So, they caused quite a bit of spectacle,” Graddy said. Graddy said women were also the first people to picket the White House, which began in 1917 when then-President Woodrow Wilson refused to budge on women’s suffrage. She said many protesters were fined, and a little over 100 were locked up when they refused to pay. The women went on hunger strike and were forcibly fed, Graddy said. “Essentially, these women are being tortured in prison,” Graddy said. “Publicity gets bad, and in November of 1917, the women are all released.”Eventually, those women got their way. The 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920, barring the denial of voting rights based on sex. The 15th Amendment, which sought to protect the voting rights of Black men, was adopted into the U.S. Constitution decades earlier, in 1870. But even with those federal protections on paper, the battle over ballot access persisted. “Voting is not necessarily a right guaranteed to you in the Constitution. States set who will vote, states set voting districts,” Graddy said.In mostly southern states, laws like poll taxes and literacy tests continued to suppress the vote of Black and some poor white Americans in the Jim Crow era. The 24th Amendment was ratified in 1964, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in federal elections, but some states continued to charge those fees in state and local elections afterward. “A lot of people like myself couldn’t afford to pay that,” said Portia Haskins, who fought back in court against Virginia’s poll tax and dual voter registration system. “I felt like I was being mistreated.” A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1966 ultimately ended poll taxes for all levels of government. Around the same time, in 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which put guardrails on states to prevent racial discrimination in elections. The effort gained momentum after a bloody attack on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama. “So, it’s a radical change to increase voting of African Americans in the South and then ripples on through to other disenfranchised groups in the West,” Graddy said. Supreme Court decisions since then have rolled back those protections, paving the way for the elimination of Black-majority voting districts and a new wave of state laws that would otherwise have been subject to federal review under the Voting Rights Act. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, state legislatures enacted at least 32 restrictive voting laws in 2025, tying the highest total since the center began tracking this legislation in 2011. Supporters argue that these laws, such as voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements, are necessary to protect the integrity of elections and prevent fraud. President Donald Trump has called on Congress to pass these requirements nationwide. He also wants to limit mail-in ballots, except in cases of illness, disability, military service or travel. Critics argue that laws like these are designed to create barriers to the ballot box. Some have described the push as “Jim Crow 2.0.” “Things seem to be going backwards. So, we just need to step up,” Haskins said.
Voting rights have expanded and contracted throughout American history, and as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, that story is still being written.
“When America was established, more people could vote here than anywhere else in the world, but it was still a fraction of the population of the United States,” explained Lisa Kathleen Graddy, a curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “So, everything after that becomes a quest by people who didn’t have the vote to get the vote and retain the vote.”
It was a right initially reserved for property owners of a certain amount, a concept based on Great Britain’s hierarchical system, according to Graddy.
“This idea that only wealthy property owners would vote lasted for a very short amount of time. This country had just fought a war to throw off hierarchy,” Graddy said.
A patchwork of state voting laws emerged in the decades that followed, and those protesting for expanded ballot access adopted some interesting tactics to get their message across.
A slogan-covered wagon, now on display at the Smithsonian, was taken on a publicity tour advocating for women’s suffrage around 1912.
“They even had a hurdy-gurdy, an organ inside that would draw up a crowd, and they had two carrier pigeons that they would release to send to towns and come back to them. So, they caused quite a bit of spectacle,” Graddy said.
Graddy said women were also the first people to picket the White House, which began in 1917 when then-President Woodrow Wilson refused to budge on women’s suffrage. She said many protesters were fined, and a little over 100 were locked up when they refused to pay. The women went on hunger strike and were forcibly fed, Graddy said.
“Essentially, these women are being tortured in prison,” Graddy said. “Publicity gets bad, and in November of 1917, the women are all released.”
Eventually, those women got their way. The 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920, barring the denial of voting rights based on sex.
The 15th Amendment, which sought to protect the voting rights of Black men, was adopted into the U.S. Constitution decades earlier, in 1870.
But even with those federal protections on paper, the battle over ballot access persisted.
“Voting is not necessarily a right guaranteed to you in the Constitution. States set who will vote, states set voting districts,” Graddy said.
In mostly southern states, laws like poll taxes and literacy tests continued to suppress the vote of Black and some poor white Americans in the Jim Crow era.
The 24th Amendment was ratified in 1964, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in federal elections, but some states continued to charge those fees in state and local elections afterward.
“A lot of people like myself couldn’t afford to pay that,” said Portia Haskins, who fought back in court against Virginia’s poll tax and dual voter registration system. “I felt like I was being mistreated.”
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1966 ultimately ended poll taxes for all levels of government.
Around the same time, in 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which put guardrails on states to prevent racial discrimination in elections. The effort gained momentum after a bloody attack on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama.
“So, it’s a radical change to increase voting of African Americans in the South and then ripples on through to other disenfranchised groups in the West,” Graddy said.
Supreme Court decisions since then have rolled back those protections, paving the way for the elimination of Black-majority voting districts and a new wave of state laws that would otherwise have been subject to federal review under the Voting Rights Act.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, state legislatures enacted at least 32 restrictive voting laws in 2025, tying the highest total since the center began tracking this legislation in 2011.
Supporters argue that these laws, such as voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements, are necessary to protect the integrity of elections and prevent fraud. President Donald Trump has called on Congress to pass these requirements nationwide. He also wants to limit mail-in ballots, except in cases of illness, disability, military service or travel.
Critics argue that laws like these are designed to create barriers to the ballot box. Some have described the push as “Jim Crow 2.0.”
“Things seem to be going backwards. So, we just need to step up,” Haskins said.
