<P> Eligibility to vote in the United States is established both through the federal constitution and by state law . Several constitutional amendments (the 15th, 19th, and 26th specifically) require that voting rights cannot be abridged on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age for those above 18; the constitution as originally written did not establish any such rights during 1787--1870 . In the absence of a specific federal law or constitutional provision, each state is given considerable discretion to establish qualifications for suffrage and candidacy within its own respective jurisdiction; in addition, states and lower level jurisdictions establish election systems, such as at - large or single member district elections for county councils or school boards . </P> <P> Beyond qualifications for suffrage, rules and regulations concerning voting (such as the poll tax) have been contested since the advent of Jim Crow laws and related provisions that indirectly disenfranchised racial minorities . Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, and related laws, voting rights have been legally considered an issue related to election systems . The Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that both houses of all state legislatures had to be based on election districts that were relatively equal in population size, under the "one man, one vote" principle . In 1972, the Court ruled that state legislatures had to redistrict every ten years based on census results; at that point, many had not redistricted for decades, often leading to a rural bias . </P> <P> In other cases, particularly for county or municipal elections, at - large voting has been repeatedly challenged when found to dilute the voting power of significant minorities in violation of the Voting Rights Act . In the early 20th century, numerous cities established small commission forms of government in the belief that "better government" could result from the suppression of ward politics . Commissioners were elected by the majority of voters, excluding candidates who could not afford large campaigns or who appealed to a minority . Generally the solution to such violations has been to adopt single - member districts (SMDs) but alternative election systems, such as limited voting or cumulative voting, have also been used since the late 20th century to correct for dilution of voting power and enable minorities to elect candidates of their choice . </P> <P> The United States Constitution did not originally define who was eligible to vote, allowing each state to determine who was eligible . In the early history of the U.S., most states allowed only white male adult property owners to vote . Freed slaves could vote in four states . Women were largely prohibited from voting, as were men without property . Women could vote in New Jersey until 1807 (provided they could meet the property requirement) and in some local jurisdictions in other northern states . Non-white Americans could also vote in these jurisdictions, provided they could meet the property requirement . By 1856, white men were allowed to vote in all states regardless of property ownership, although requirements for paying tax remained in five states . On the other hand, several states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey stripped the free black males of the right to vote in the same period . </P>

History of voting right in the united states