The right to vote is not stated in a clear, singular way in the US Constitution. Rather, it's scattered piecemeal throughout the main body and amendments leaving the courts to interpret just how the hell it's supposed to function. Originally, the Constitution only dealt with voting as it related to elections of the President, Vice President, and members of both houses of Congress. The states were allowed to set their own rights, requirements, and restrictions for voting. At first, the right to vote varied wildly from state to state. In some cases, this led to progressive experimentation, as when various states gave women the right to vote in local elections. In other cases, the result was far more regressive. Cases of the states restricting the right to vote were most obvious during the period between the Revolution and the Civil War. In the early days, most states limited the right to vote to white, male, (mostly wealthy) property owners. Since the Civil War, the states' definitions of the right to vote in local election have come more into line with the right to vote in national elections and with the rights in other states. But there are still exceptions.
About the only time that you hear about states restricting the right to vote these days is in the case of imprisoned and released felons. A few states never remove the right to vote; convicted felons are allowed to cast their votes in prison. Most states revoke the right to vote for felons during their time of incarceration. The biggest variety in state laws is in how they treat released felons. Some immediately restore the right to vote as soon as felons are released from captivity. Others restore the right only when all of the terms of their sentence (such as parole or probation) have been fulfilled. Quite a few never restore the right to vote. This issue comes up every election cycle and is used by the Republicans as a partisan cudgel to bash Democrats. Their argument is that Democrats are pro-crime, love criminals more that victims, and hope to bad the election roles with evil people who will, of course, vote for the pro-crime party.
Lost in all of this noise are several other groups of people who do not have the right to vote. Browsing through one of my old atlases the other day, I came across this table in Cram's Atlas of the World 1902 edition showing who could and could not vote in each state. It's interesting to see where things stood approximately half way between the ratification of the Constitution and the present. For each of the forty five* states the chart give the "Requirements as to Citizenship" in that state and the "Persons Excluded from Suffrage."
Alabama
Citizenship Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded Convicted of treason or other crime punishable by imprisonment, idiots or insane.
Arkansas
Citizenship: Citizen or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of felony until pardoned, failure to pay poll tax, United States soldiers on duty in state.
California
Citizenship: Citizen by nativity, naturalization, or Treaty of Queratero.
Excluded: Chines, insane, embezzlers of public moneys, convicted of infamous crime, person unable to read the Constitution in English and to write his name.
Colorado
Citizenship: Citizen or alien, male or female, who has declared intention 4 months prior to election.
Excluded: Under guardianship, insane, idiots, or imprisoned. Person unable to read the Constitution or statutes.
Connecticut
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of felony or theft unless pardoned. Person unable to read the Constitution or statutes.
Delaware
Citizenship: Citizen who has paid registration fee of one dollar.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, paupers, felons. Person who cannot read the English language and write his name.
Florida
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States
Excluded: Insane, under guardianship, convicted of a felony or any infamous crime.
Georgia
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States who has paid all his taxes since 1877.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of any crime punishable by imprisonment until pardoned, failure to pay taxes.
Idaho
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States, male or female.
Excluded: Under guardianship, idiots, insane, convicted of a felony, treason, or embezzlement of public funds, polygamists, or bigamists.
Illinois
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of felony.
Indiana
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention and resided 1 year in United States and 6 months in state.
Excluded: Convicted of crime and disenfranchised by decision of the court. United Stated soldiers, sailors, and marines.
Iowa
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, or convicted of infamous crime.
Kansas
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention or treaty with Mexico.
Excluded: Felons, insane, duelists, rebels not restored to citizenship, under guardianship, embezzlers, offering or accepting a bribe.
Kentucky
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Treason, felony, or bribery at election.
Louisiana
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared his intention.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of treason, embezzlement of public funds, all crime punishable by imprisonment in penitentiary, persons not able to read and write, and not owning property in the state assessed at $300, and not the son or grandson of a citizen of the United States prior to January 1, 1867, person who has not paid the poll tax.
Maine
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers, persons under guardianship, Indians not taxed, and in 1893 all new voters who cannot read the Constitution or write their own names in English.
Maryland
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of larceny or other infamous crime, unless pardoned, persons convicted of bribery. Illiterates as defined.
Massachusetts
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers and persons under guardianship, person who cannot read the Constitution in English or white his own name.
Michigan
Citizenship: Citizen or inhabitant who has declared intention under United States laws 6 months before election and lived in state 2 1/2 years.
Excluded: Indians, duelists, and accessories.
Minnesota
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention and civilized Indians.
Excluded: Convicted of treason or felony, unless pardoned, under guardianship or insane.
Mississippi
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Insane, idiots, Indians not taxed, felons, persons who have not paid taxes, persons who cannot read or understand the Constitution.
Missouri
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention, not less than 1 year or more than 5 before offering to vote.
Excluded: United States soldiers and marines, paupers, criminals convicted once until pardoned, felons and violators of suffrage laws convicted a second time.
Montana
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Felons unless pardoned, idiots, insane, United States soldiers, seamen, and marines, and Indians.
Nebraska
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Convicts.
Nevada
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, unpardoned convicts, Indians, Chinese.
New Hampshire
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers (except honorably discharged United States soldiers and sailors), persons excused from paying taxes at their own request.
New Jersey
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention 30 days prior to election.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, paupers, persons convicted of crimes (unless pardoned) which exclude them from being witnesses.
New York
Citizenship: Citizen who shall have been a citizen for 90 days.
Excluded: Convicted of bribery or any infamous crimes, Indians under tribal relations.
North Carolina
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States
Excluded: Convicted of felony or other infamous crimes, idiots, lunatics, persons unable to read or write, unless lineal descendant of citizen of the United States prior to Jan. 1, 1867, nonpayment of poll tax.
North Dakota
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention 1 year, and civilized Indians.
Excluded: Under guardianship, persons non compos mentis, or convicted of felony and treason, unless restored to civil rights.
Ohio
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Felony unless pardoned, idiots, insane, United States soldiers and sailors.
Oregon
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention one year preceding election.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of a felony, United States soldiers and sailors, Chinese.
Pennsylvania
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States at least one month, an if 22 years old or more, must have paid tax within 2 years.
Excluded: Convicted of some offense whereby right of suffrage is forfeited, non-taxpayers.
Rhode Island
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers, lunatics, persons non compos mentis, convicted of bribery or infamous crime until restored to right to vote, under guardianship.
South Carolina
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of treason, murder or other infamous crime, dueling, paupers, insane, idiots, person who has not paid poll tax, who cannot read or write any section of the State constitution, or can show that he has paid all taxes on property within the State assessed at $300.
South Dakota
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Under guardianship, idiots, insane, convicted of treason or felony, unless pardoned.
Tennessee
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States who has paid poll tax of preceding year.
Excluded: Convicted of bribery or other infamous offense.
Texas
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Idiots, lunatics, paupers, convicted of felony, United States soldiers and sailors.
Utah
Citizenship: Citizen, male and female.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of treason or violation of election laws.
Vermont
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Those who have not obtained the approbation of the board of civil authority of the town in which they reside.
Virginia
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States, able to understand and explain the State Constitution. Confederate soldiers and their sons exempt from education requirement.
Excluded: Idiots, lunatics, convicted of bribery at election, embezzlement of public funds, treason, felony, petty larceny, duelists and abettors, unless pardoned by the legislature.
Washington
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Indians not taxed, idiots, insane, persons convicted of infamous crimes.
West Virginia
Citizenship: Citizen of the State.
Excluded: Paupers, idiots, lunatics, convicted of treason, felony or bribery at elections.
Wisconsin
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Insane, under guardianship, convicted of treason or felony, unless pardoned, Indians having tribal relations.
Wyoming
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States, male and female.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, persons convicted of infamous crimes unless restored to civil rights, unable to read State constitution.
A number of details about the social attitudes of the time stand out. On the rights side of the ledger, the most interesting revelation for most will be how many states allowed resident aliens to vote. That's one aspect of the good old days that would probably make Pat Buchanan's head explode. The presence of duelists on the list of those denied the franchise is probably a relic of the early nineteenth century. As a practice, dueling died out before the Civil War. The emphasis on treason is odd. In the entire history of the United States there have only been about forty treason trials. Although some of the leading politicians of the Confederacy were arrested, none stood trial for treason. The repeated presence of embezzlement and bribery as offenses that could lose one the right to vote probably reflect the culture of the robber baron era, or Gilded Age as Henry James dubbed it. I'm not sure if the laws addressed an actual need or just a perception in each of those states. The presence of polygamy and bigamy among the exceptions in Idaho was aimed at the larger Mormon minority there.
The first time I saw this table, it was the harsh repetition of the terms "idiot," "insane," and "under guardianship" that struck me. Two of the three terms had some measurable meaning in 1902. An insane person was someone institutionalized (though as I'll point out in a minute, even that distinction had it's problems). A person under guardianship, that is whose rights had been transferred to someone else; this also appears fairly clear. The problem with these two terms comes out of the social order of 1902 America. The people who were most likely to be institutionalized or put under the guardianship of another were not just the helpless and incapacitated, but the socially powerless as well, especially women. In many states it was possible for men to commit unhappy wives or difficult children for no reason other than that they were inconvenient. Many states committed "immoral" women (i.e. poor women on their own who got pregnant out of wedlock). These laws and attitudes opened the door for the eugenics laws of the next half century.
"Idiot" is the obviously difficult term. Leaving aside the un-PC-ness of the term, the biggest problem with the concept then and now is that it involves a subjective judgment, as later courts have recognized, but not remedied. In 1902, they didn't even have the fig leaf of flawed IQ tests to fall back on (Alfred Binet's scale, which has been the basis of all testing since, wasn't published until 1908). Someone, usually a low level functionary such as a county clerk or polling place worker, had the power to say "this person should not because I think they're not smart enough to." Despite the crassness and muddiness of the term "idiot," it is still in several states' constitutions and law codes. In 2007, New Jersey removed that language from its constitution (leading to all of the obvious jokes). News reports at that time listed at least six other states with the same language still on the books.
Rehabilitating "idiots" and the "insane" brings out conflicts that break along the familiar fault lines of contemporary politics. For every mental health advocate who wants to get rid of these overly broad categories and empower as many people as possible, there is a counterpart who wants to more rigidly enforce laws that will keep the "wrong" people from voting.
The elements of Jim Crow are pretty easy to see if you're looking for it. Poll taxes, grandfathering, literacy tests, property requirements, and other tools designed to keep African-American men from voting had become formalized along with legal segregation in the last years of the nineteenth century. What many might find surprising is that these laws were not restricted to the South. California and most of the states of New England used literacy tests to keep power in the hands of the old white elite.
What isn't mentioned often enough in discussions of Jim Crow laws is that, as far as voting was concerned, the laws weren't aimed only at African-Americans. Many of these tools were turned against other minorities, immigrants, and lower class whites just as easily as they were used against African-Americans. When subtlety didn't work (if those tricks could really be called subtle), some states turned to outright banning of entire nationalities. California, Nevada, and Oregon (and, by extension, Alaska) all denied the right to vote to Chinese immigrants and usually prevented them from becoming citizens no matter how long they lived here. Several states made a point of denying Indians the right to vote, but, for the most part, writing it down was a mere formality. As a group, Native Americans did not gain citizenship until 1924.
One group denied the vote that will appear puzzling to most will be soldiers, sailors, and marines. Except right after a victorious campaign, men in the military were generally held in low regard. They were viewed as rowdy, dangerous men and an imposition on most towns near bases. It was common practice for towns to try to keep military men on base and away from their daughters. Even bars sometimes banned the military. The relationship was similar to the town vs. gown conflicts around universities with the added dimension of rank and file military men being lower class. But that's what's being reflected here. The justification for denying military men the vote was the perception that they were resident aliens, that the bases weren't really part of the state, and that the inhabitants of military bases had no vested interests in the communities they were stationed near. On a more abstract level, for most of our history, a standing army has been an uncomfortable institution in the US. At the time of the revolution, a standing army was seen as a tool of royal repression. Some founding fathers argued against having an army, preferring to have citizen militias as the only defense force. With the example of a seemingly endless succession of military coups in our southern neighbors, later Americans became wary of the military becoming a class or interest group in politics. To counter that danger, many in the military thought it best to stay scrupulously aloof from politics. The best way to do that, they reasoned, was not to vote. Even today, you can find older officers who have never voted because they were taught that it was improper for them to do so.
As I said, the list is a snapshot of America halfway between the ratification of the Constitution and today. From day one, there has been a tension and conflict between the progressive urge for equality that aims to spread right to as many people as possible and the conservative for correctness that aims to reserve rights only to the deserving. It's a conflict that shows no sign of ever going away.
I brought all of this up for no particular reason except that I've been thinking about voting and constitutions lately.
* Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907, through the amalgamation of two territories (Oklahoma and the Indian Territory). The Arizona and New Mexico territories became states in 1912. In 1902, Alaska wasn't even a territory and used Oregon law since it had no legislature to make laws. It became a state in 1959. Hawaii, only recently annexed when the atlas came out, became a territory in 1901 and a state in 1959.
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