Don’t take the right to vote for granted. It is hard-won. More than that, it’s your Constitutional right. Make sure you get to the polls this year.

The Right to Vote

Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution established the need for regular elections. The problem was it did not outline who was eligible to vote, at least not right away. That left the states to decide, and quite frankly, they did a terrible job. Some states only allowed white male property owners to vote, others limited voting rights to Christians and rarely freed male slaves. Women, fuggedaboutit.

• 1870 — The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV) put an end to anyone denying the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.
• 1920 — The 19th Amendment (Amendment XIX) prohibited the federal government and states from denying the right to vote to citizens “on account of sex”.
• 1971 — The 26th Amendment (Amendment XXVI) lowered the voting age to 18 years old.

Barriers to Voting

Even though people technically had the right to vote, there were often barriers that kept people from being able to get to the polls. There still are.

At one time, poll taxes kept people with lower incomes from voting. The 24th Amendment (Amendment XXIV) eliminated those taxes in 1964. Literacy tests excluded people less educated, but the Voting Rights Act of 1965 stopped the practice. U.S. military personnel and other citizens living on U.S. bases overseas got the right to vote in 1986 by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

There are plenty of issues that disenfranchise people from voting even today. Take homelessness as one of many examples. More than 580,000 people are homeless on any given night. Residency is needed to prove that a citizen lives in the district they are going to vote. Not only that but some states require an address so that a voter ID card can be mailed to them. The card must be presented on Election Day. Some states are flexible with what they consider to be an address (a street corner or a shelter) but others have stricter requirements.

Only 22 states and D.C. allow same-day registration and some states require at least a 30-day residency before registration. Find out the rules in your state.

Your Vote Counts

No matter what anyone tells you, every vote counts. Look at the 2016 Presidential election to see why.

• Democratic votes: 65,853,514 (48.59%)
• Republican votes: 62,984,828 (46.48%)
• Third-party votes: 6,678,550 (4.93%)

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump earned more electoral votes, 304 to 207. The race was so tight it pivoted on key battleground states — Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — where Trump won the electoral votes by margins of 1 point or less. Had even a portion of those third party votes gone to Clinton, it’s possible the United States could have had its first female president that year.

Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, this year’s vote means more than ever — especially when it comes to protecting Medicare and Social Security, not to mention a woman’s rights to bodily autonomy.

Pizza to the Polls

People are passionate about their candidates, and that means you are likely to face long lines at the polls. Don’t let that be a deterrent, even if your stomach starts grumbling during the wait.

That’s where Pizza to the Polls comes in. This 501(c)(4) nonprofit nonpartisan organization delivers free pizza to people waiting in lines at the polls! When it started in 2016, Pizza to the Polls raised more than $40,000 and delivered over 25,000 slices of pizza to more than 100 polling sites across 24 states. In 2020, they raised $1.5 million and delivered more than 70,000 pizzas to more than 3,000 polling sites across 48 states.

Want to help? All you have to do is let them know when and where there are long lines at the polls, and they will do their best to get those voters fed. They have a submission form on their site. They’ll ask for an address and a picture to show the long lines. You can even give a donation or consider volunteering. The more people that vote the better for you and our country.

 

1st Article of the U.S. Constitution. National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i

15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xv

19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xix

24th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxiv

26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxvi

Pizza to the Polls. https://polls.pizza/about/

Presidential Election of 2016. 270toWin.com. https://www.270towin.com/2016_Election/

Same Day Voter Registration. National Conference of State Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx

State of Homelessness: 2022 Edition. National Alliance to End Homelessness. https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/

Voter Registration Rules. Vote.org. https://www.vote.org/voter-registration-rules/