Value The Vote
We need to vote and show just how much support our candidates have here in Minnesota.
Primary Voting
Not only does voting in the primary select a candidate, but it also shows how much support the candidates have.
Maybe you sometimes think, primary voting doesn't matter? Maybe you've thought you don't care how it turns out, that you're okay either way?
There's a lot we learn from the outcomes of primary voting, including the effective efforts to get out the vote.
Do you ever think it's just one vote- your one vote doesn't matter? But your vote is additive, so each and every vote counts and is importan t.
The right to vote has not been universal in US history, and it has been hard fought for. Your participation today values the efforts to secure our rights.
- Valuing the vote includes being an educated voter- do your homework on candidates- in all races.
- Participating in all municipal races - school board and city council races are as important as Presidential races.
- Voter participation includes serving as an election judge.
- Teens 16-18 can be an election judge in training, where they can learn more about how elections work.
Voting History
There are 3 key Constitutional Amendments which frame our current voting rights in the United States
- The 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote in 1870.
- The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)
- In 1920 Women gained the right to vote through the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Each of these Amendments were a result of hard work, sacrifice, and even war. We honor this history by actively participating in voting and the voting processes as citizens. These Rights come with responsibility of active engagement. Do you Value the Vote?
15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870)
This Amendment granted African American men the right to vote in 1870.
Former abolitionists and the Radical Republicans in Congress who worked on Reconstruction after the Civil War, creating the 15th Amendment, which was enacted in 1870. This Amendment appeared to signify the fulfillment of all promises to African Americans. Set free by the 13th amendment, with citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, Black males were given the vote by the 15th Amendment. In retrospect, it can be seen that the 15th Amendment was in reality only another step in the struggle for equality that would continue for more than a century before African Americans could begin to participate fully in American public and civic life.
Did you know that the Republican Party was formed in the 1850s, when members of various political groups held a political convention dedicated to opposing the extension of slavery in the United States?
Republican President Ulysses S. Grant, during the post-Civil War era, oversaw the Reconstruction, especially in the south, and the passage of the 15th Amendment which allowed all citizens to vote irrespective of their race.
17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)
The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, made the Senate an assembly where the states would have equal representation. Each state legislature would elect two senators to six-year terms. Late in the 19th century, some state legislatures deadlocked over the election of a senator when different parties controlled different houses — Senate vacancies could last months or years. In other cases, special interests or political machines gained control over the state legislature. Progressive reformers dismissed individuals elected by such legislatures as puppets and the Senate as a "millionaires' club" serving powerful private interests.
One Progressive response to these concerns was the "Oregon system," which utilized a state primary election to identify the voters' choice for senator while pledging all candidates for the state legislature to honor the primary's result. Over half of the states adopted the "Oregon system," but the 1912 Senate investigation of bribery and corruption in the election of Illinois Senator William Lorimer indicated that only a constitutional amendment mandating the direct election of senators by a state's citizenry would satisfy public demands for reform.
More history of the 17th Amendment can be seen here.
This year, voters in Minnesota will be able to directly elect one of our US Senators, thanks to this Constitutional Amendment.
In 1920 Women gained the right to vote through the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote.
Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Very few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920.
You can make a difference!
Participate in Caucus 2024- Be an election Judge- Be an engaged voter!
