The vote: Exercise your full citizenship rights

The right to vote is a privilege of United States citizenship.
As the colonies fought the yoke of British rule, the battle cry was, “No taxation without representation.” This single phrase has set the ideal that citizens must not be responsible for taxes and laws created by a governing body that is not duly elected by those citizens. Voting gives a citizen a voice in their government. By voting, the citizen expresses desires for a government that fairly represents and protects them from tyranny giving equal protection under the law. If voters believe this isn’t the case, then our U.S. Constitution provides the means for us to express our opinion and to elect those who make and change the laws expressing the will of the people.
• 15th Amendment, Ratified Feb. 3, 1870
• 19th Amendment, Ratified Aug. 18, 1920
• 24th Amendment, Ratified Jan. 23, 1964
• 26th Amendment, Ratified, July 1, 1971
The ratification of the amendments referenced above give the vote first to African-American men, second women, and lastly to 18 year old citizens. The 15th Amendment was a natural progression from the Emancipation Proclamation. Voting is a powerful tool of the citizenry. It provides powers to those who need it most. The right to vote for African-Americans has been long fought with many lives sacrificed to obtain access to this basic right of citizenship. With the passage of the 24th amendment, barriers to voting were expressly prohibited. This amendment stated that no laws or poll taxes were to inhibit access to voting by any citizen.
The 19th Amendment passed 50 years later, while not the result of an American Civil War, was no less passionate for the beliefs of women who wanted an equal say in their government and the laws of the land. The fight for women’s suffrage and the anti-slavery movement began in the 1840’s with each faction campaigning and meeting to end oppression. Many men and women such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote and spoke vehemently that none should be denied the right to vote based upon gender or color. There were those who were intensely opposed to women voting. The denial of Wyoming’s petition for statehood illustrates this. Twenty years after first petitioning Congress, Wyoming removed voting rights for women and statehood was granted.
Young men and women have fought for American freedom. From the time of the French and Indian Wars through Vietnam, 18 year olds were conscripted into service, received training, and fought domestically and in foreign wars. Regardless of the justification for entering any war or agreement of a just war, these citizens had no say in the governance of their country with many sacrificing their lives and future well-being. It was argued in the 1960’s that if you were worthy to lose your life for your country, you should be able to vote. This began the movement for the passage of the 26th Amendment.
Our citizens value the right to vote and our constitution reflects this with no less than four of our 27 constitutional amendments addressing voter rights and the protection of these rights. This alone illustrates the importance of voting and how many have strived and lost their lives to achieve these rights. Many received their rights long after what might be thought ethical. It was not until The Snyder Act of 1924 admitting Native Americans born in the U.S. to full U.S. citizenship that indigenous people of the United States had the right to vote enjoying the rights of the 15th Amendment.
Upon visiting the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina last year, I came to learn more about Civil Rights than any other time in my life. The docent who led the tour reminded me that civil rights provide access to the full enjoyment of American citizenship. These rights give me the right to vote and freedom. One hundred years ago, my great grandmother wasn’t an advocate of women’s voting rights but once she received the right to vote, she felt it was her duty and obligation to vote. My aunt was motivated to become a citizen because she wanted the right to vote. I choose to honor their legacy and all those who have fought so hard for these rights.
Each of us should exercise our full citizenship. We must vote regardless of our opinion or the political side of the fence upon which we stand.
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. Every truth we see is ours to give the world, not to keep for ourselves alone, for in so doing we cheat humanity out of their rights and check our own development.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton
“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.” John Lewis
Sue Crites Szostak is the director of the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library. Contact her at szostak@poplarbluff.org .