One of the central goals of the civic engagement program is to increase the number of citizens in the college and local communities who are actively engaged in the democratic process.

Your Rights…

The 14th Amendment (1868) granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US including former slaves.  The 14th Amendment greatly expanded the protection of civil rights to all Americans and established due process under the law.

The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, giving voting rights to all African American men.  However, race discrimination persisted through poll taxes, literacy tests and other means.  Most African Americans remained disenfranchised in the south for nearly 100 years; until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

-15th Amendment to the US Constitution

The 19th Amendment extended voting rights to women in 1920

The 26th Amendment guarantees the right to vote to 18-year-olds.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally exercised the 15th Amendment to its full extent by making poll taxes and literacy tests illegal.  It made the Department of Justice in charge of enforcing these important laws.

“No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard,
practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.”

-Voting Rights Act of 1965

Despite all of this, we do not take advantage of our right to vote.  Only 19% of NYS 18-24 year-olds voted in 2006.
Contact Molly at The POINT and register to vote!

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