The Document Based Question/essay prompt You, the Voter was prepared in 2017 and the resources have not been updated since that time. For more information about recent legal developments, consult national and state newspapers, legal databases, and your librarian.
Voting rights have evolved since the inception of the United States. Once a privilege of the elite, voting became a right of all citizens. However, recent events highlight the fact that there are still barriers to “one person, one vote.” We ask the questions, How far have we come? Is the journey over?
This activity meets the following guidelines of New York State’s Common Core Social Studies Framework (2017):
- Rights, Responsibilities, and Duties of Citizenship: 12.G3b
- Political and Civic Participation: 12.G4a, 12.G4b, 12.G4d
Below is a list of the 2017 resources in a searchable table. Search by theme of resource: winning the right to vote, barriers to voting, and election district boundaries.
Fear of Gridlock Coming True for New York’s Redistricting Panel
The Albany Times Union In 2014, a constitutional amendment passed that reformed the state's redistricting process -- though critics had ...
America’s Flawed Democracy: The Five Key Areas Where It is Failing
The Guardian This article examines the "five most glaring flaws exposed during the [2020] election cycle." It recognizes that some ...
Early Voting Lines are so Long, People are Fainting. That Harms Democracy
The Guardian In Georgia, some voters had to wait over two hours to cast their ballot in the heat. The ...
Drawing the Line on the Most Gerrymandered District in America
The Guardian The Supreme Court will review the long-running battle over line-drawing, but many fear that voters' voices may be ...
Securing Indian Voting Rights
Harvard Law Review This article asserts that Indians routinely face hurdles in exercising the right to vote and securing representation ...
50 Years of the Voting Rights Act: An Asian-American Perspective – Timeline & Report
Asian Americans Advancing Justice An article describing how the 1965 Voting Rights Act addressed voting discrimination against Asian-Americans, along with ...
Racial Quotas in Partisan Gerrymandering
University of Cincinnati Law Review An in-depth look at gerrymandering. Read More ...
The New Attack on Hispanic Voting
The New York Times Magazine How tactics to suppress minority voting flourished following the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby ...
Native Americans Move to Frontlines in Battle Over Voting Rights
Reuters A growing number of Native Americans have become embroiled in court battles over changes to voting laws. Read More ...
Section 2 of Zero-Sums: How SCOTUS Misconstrued Voting Rights Act, Limits Minority Representation, and Pits Minorities Against Each Other
Stanford Law Review The author claims that the U.S. Supreme Court misconstrued the Voting Rights Act, limiting minority representation and ...
Protecting Voting Rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives: Video
U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General Eric Holder criticized election practices that adversely affect the ability of American Indian and ...
U.S. v. Susan B. Anthony: The Fight for Women’s Suffrage
Federal Judicial Center In the federal election in November 1872, Susan B. Anthony, a New York advocate of women's suffrage, ...
Drawing the Line: How Redistricting Turned America from Blue to Red
The New Yorker This New Yorker article examines the history of gerrymandering and David Daley's book Ratf*cked, which examines the legacy of the Redmap ...
Politicization of Voting Laws: The Impact of Voter IDs and Other Restrictions
Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review This article suggests that although the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby decreased the ...
Jim Crow in New York
Brennan Center for Justice This article focuses on the historical disenfranchisement of African-Americans in New York. Read More ...
A Dream Undone
The New York Times An in-depth article on the circumstances that led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the ...
Understanding Congressional Gerrymandering: ‘It’s Moneyball Applied to Politics’ – Audio & Transcript
NPR An interview with David Daley, author of a book about the 2010 Republican efforts to target state legislative seats ...
The House Isn’t Competitive in 2016. But Gerrymandering is on Trial
The Washington Post A short article indicating that supporters of taking politics out of redistricting got a win when the ...
What’s Behind the Voter Fraud Witch Hunt?
Brennan Center for Justice This article examines whether the voter fraud allegations that underlie the new voter identification laws are ...
A History of Voting Rights: Video
The New York Times A video on the significance of the 1965 Voting Rights Act produced in reaction to the ...
Campaign 2016 and Voting Rights: Video
C-SPAN This video focuses on the 2016 election and voting rights, including court cases on voter identification laws and the ...
Voter Identification Requirements
National Conference of State Legislatures A descriptive listing of the states with voter identification laws. Read More ...
Gerrymandering: How Drawing Jagged Lines Can Impact an Election – Video
TED-Ed From "packing" a district to "cracking" a district, learn how the shape of districts impacts political parties during election ...
The Supreme Court’s Identity Crisis on Voting Rights
The New York Times Linda Greenhouse notes that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby has cut the heart out of ...
The Fight for the Right to Vote: Video
TED-Ed This video from Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) traces the history of the right to vote in the United ...
Judges Find Wisconsin Redistricting Unfairly Favored Republicans
The New York Times A panel of judges found Wisconsin's 2011 remapping to be unconstitutional. Read More ...
How New Voter ID Laws May Affect the 2016 Presidential Contest: Video
PBS Since the Shelby decision, States no longer to have clear changes to voting laws with the Department of Justice. This has ...
Image Citation: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-hec-24529.