History and importance of women, youth, minority votes
The 19th Amendment was passed 102 years ago, but the importance of the vote is the same a century later. Graphic by Alison Carpino.
The University of Rhode Island Suffrage Centennial Committee is hosting “Getting Out the Vote,” a virtual seminar that will examine modern efforts to encourage political participation, this Thursday at 7 p.m.
‘Getting Out the Vote’ will talk about the impact of women, youth and minority constituents on voting. The event will feature Rhode Island Rep. Justine Caldwell, writer and analyst Stella Rouse and campaign strategist Kate Coyne McCoy.
Evelyn Sterne is the coordinator of the event, a professor at URI, a member of the Suffrage Centennial Committee and the director of URI’s Center for Humanities. Last year, Sterne and others launched the Suffrage Centennial Committee to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the 150 year anniversary of the 15th Amendment.
Passed in 1920, the 19th Amendment prohibited the United States government from denying citizens the right to vote based on gender. Fifty years prior, the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote.
Sterne said that there is still a need to encourage disenfranchised groups to use their right to participate in elections, however.
“These are groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in politics,” Sterne said. “Even though the 19th Amendment is a historical milestone, there are so many implications for the present day. As we saw in the last election, every vote counts.”
Sterne said the widespread attempts to delegitimize the vote, as well as movements by legislatures across the country to restrict access to votes in the 2020 election, are not a new trend.
Emily Lynch, a professor of political science at URI, acknowledged additional obstacles that have caused a struggle for certain demographics.
“Although the constitution allowed disenfranchised African American men and then women to vote with the 15th and 19th Amendments, it wasn’t immediate that all of these groups were able to vote,” said Lynch.
Taxation barriers and other restrictive measures remained legal until 1964, when the adoption of the 24th Amendment and the passing of the Civil Rights Act banned such restrictions. Still, racial and ethnic minorities continue to vote at lower rates in comparison to white Americans. Additionally, data has shown that women are more reluctant than men in deciding whether or not they should run for office, according to Lynch.
“If you are not participating, then it’s easy for legislators to not prioritize your issues,” Lynch said. “Elected officials are listening to their core constituency, those who consistently go out and vote, if they see that young adults are not going out to vote, then why should they discuss more federal financial aid for higher education? Why should that be one of their priorities in office?”
On the contrary, if people of 60 years old or older are the most prevalent voting demographic, politicians will prioritize issues such as social security, Lynch said. Invariably, politicians and their campaign strategists have access to voter demographics.
In 2018, Justine Caldwell was elected to represent District 30 of Rhode Island. Caldwell used contemporary campaign strategies, a topic she will be discussing during the seminar on Thursday. Caldwell’s campaign gained the support of District 30 citizens and was victorious against Antonio Giarrusso, the incumbent representative who had held office for the six years prior.
One of Caldwell’s campaign strategies included personally addressing letters to voters to inform them on the different candidates. Caldwell and her team mailed letters to voters under the age of 30, as they understood that young voters were concerned with modern policy issues including gun control and climate change. These letters analyzed Giarrusso’s policies and highlighted the way he would vote on matters in the future, based on comments he had made in the past.
“I have sent out a lot of mail, and nothing has ever gotten a response close to what the youth letter got,” Caldwell said. “I had young people calling me, thanking me for it and asking me questions.”
Caldwell said that although young people are motivated and interested in politics, they can be disillusioned with the political process.
“If they don’t really trust the government, they don’t really trust politicians or their representative elected officials,” Caldwell said. “Part of engaging them is making sure that you involve them in the process, and make sure that they have all of the information they need.”Register to attend ‘Getting Out the Vote’ and future lectures up by visiting uri.edu/suffrage.