Voting Rights and Suffrage/US implicit
Has it been interpreted as being implicit in the US Constitution?
While certain amendments explicitly address voting rights, the broader interpretation of voting rights as being implicit in the United States Constitution has evolved significantly through judicial decisions and legislative actions. The Supreme Court and other judicial bodies have played a critical role in interpreting these rights and ensuring their protection.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a pivotal piece of legislation in the fight to protect voting rights. It aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented Black Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment. However, the 2013 Supreme Court Case Shelby County v. Holder successfully challenged the constitutionality of parts of the VRA. The case disputed the constitutionality of Section Four (the Coverage Formula) and Section Five (Preclearance of Changes in Election Laws) of the VRA, which outlined a mandate for states with a history of racial discrimination in voting to “pre-clear” changes in the election process with the Justice Department (Congressional Research Service 2015, 16). The attorneys believed these mandates impeded states’ rights to determining voter eligibility. Ultimately, they won based on an argument that the coverage formula was outdated (Congressional Research Service 2015, 1).
The constitutions that do make explicit references to voting rights are state constitutions. Whereas the US Constitution utilizes negative mandates to govern who the government may not disenfranchise, state constitutions directly list who is eligible to vote (Douglas 2014, 89). Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution grants states the power to determine voting eligibility (Douglas 2014, 90). Former Supreme Court Justice Scalia asserted that the Elections Clause “empowers Congress to regulate how federal elections are held, but not who may vote in them” (Douglas 2014, 91). What provides this implication of voting rights is that “the U.S. Constitution mentions individual voting rights seven times – in Article I, Section 2 and in the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments – but none of those provisions actually grant a right to vote to U.S. citizens” (Douglas 2014, 95).
The interpretation of voting rights as implicit in the Constitution has been significantly shaped by judicial decisions and expanded understanding of constitutional amendments. Legislative actions, such as the Voting Rights Act, have further reinforced these rights, although challenges and debates continue regarding their scope and protection. These elements underscore the Constitution’s role in both explicitly and implicitly protecting the right to vote as a pillar of democracy.
References Congressional Research Service. “The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Background and Overview.” (2015). https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43626/15#:~:text=The%20Voting%20Rights%20Act%20was,preclearance%20of%20new%20laws%20in.
Douglas, J. “The Right to Vote Under State Constitutions.” Vanderbilt Law Review 89: 89-149 (2014). https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol67/iss1/1.
Persily, N and Mann, T. “Shelby County v. Holder and the Future of the Voting Rights Act.” Brookings (2013). https://www.brookings.edu/articles/shelby-county-v-holder-and-the-future-of-the-voting-rights-act/. U.S. Constitution. https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/constitution.htm.