The Trouble with Voting

Abstract

In 1870 the ratification of the 15th Amendment guaranteed that the right to vote would not be “denied or abridged…on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” and in 1920 the ratification of the 19th Amendment made the same guarantee with regard to “sex.”  Despite the promise of universal suffrage, inequality in voting has persisted.  During a critical election year, our panelists will mark the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment and the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with reflections on the troubled history of voting.

Chair: Nancy MacLean, Duke University

Panelist: Carol Anderson, Emory University

Panelist: Geraldo Luján Cadava, Northwestern University

Panelist: Liette Gidlow, Wayne State University

Panelist: Allan J. Lichtman, American University