Historical Facts
In 1968 Liechtenstein held a vote to determine whether women should be allowed to vote. Women were allowed to participate only in this vote, because until then women were not allowed to vote. The result of the vote was that women were not allowed to vote.
In Switzerland, women weren’t allowed to vote until 1971. In the United States, it was 1920.
First U.S. Presidential Election: Only about 6% of the U.S. population was eligible to vote in the 1789 election. African-Americans, even though freed, were not allowed to vote in most states. White people had to be males over twenty-one years old, and not only that, they had to own real estate. It’s amazing that the United States wasn’t heavily skewed toward advantages for rich white men. Wait, maybe it was!
The U.S. voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971 with the 26th Amendment.
Native Americans Couldn’t Vote Everywhere Until 1962: Although granted U.S. citizenship in 1924, some states still restricted their voting rights.
The Secret Ballot Wasn’t Always Used: Many early U.S. elections used voice voting or color-coded ballots.
The 15th Amendment Didn’t Guarantee Voting Rights: Despite granting African American men the right to vote in 1870 (five years after the Civil War), discriminatory practices like literacy tests still suppressed Black voters for decades.
Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968.
The U.S. Almost Had a “None of the Above” Option: Some states have considered adding this choice to ballots.
Five U.S. presidents have won with the help of the Electoral College, without winning the popular vote.
Unusual Voting Laws and Practices
In Some States, You Can Register on Election Day: Several states allow same-day voter registration.
Felony Voting Rights Vary: Some states allow felons to vote while incarcerated, while others permanently bar them.
Unlike many other countries, Election Day in the United States is not a federal holiday.
In Australia, Voting Is Mandatory: Citizens must vote or face fines.
Since 2000, Oregon has conducted elections exclusively by mail-in ballots.
Absentee Voting Dates Back to the Civil War: Soldiers were allowed to vote remotely during the war.
NASA astronauts can cast ballots while orbiting Earth.
One State Uses RCV for Presidential Elections: Maine uses ranked-choice voting to determine its presidential election outcome.
RCV stands for Ranked-Choice Voting. It is an electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting just one. If a candidate wins more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they are elected. If no one gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to the next choice on those ballots. This process repeats until a candidate reaches a majority.
Key Benefits of RCV:
Reduces “spoiler effect” (where similar candidates split votes, leading to an unintended winner).
Encourages more positive campaigning (since candidates want to be voters’ second or third choices).
Ensures majority support rather than just a simple plurality.
RCV is used in Maine for federal elections, some city elections in places like New York City and San Francisco, and even in some political party primaries.
Strom Thurmond won a U.S. Senate seat in 1954 as a write-in candidate. Mr. Thurmond is also the record-holder for the longest filibuster: 24 hours and 18 minutes. He did this in 1957 in an attempt to block the Civil Rights act which provided expanded protection for African-American voting rights.
A filibuster is an attempt to block a vote in the US Senate. If a speaker can continue long enough, the hope is the Senators will lose interest and move on to other business rather than passing a bill.
Some Countries Have “None of the Above” as a Choice: India, Greece, and Russia offer voters the option to reject all candidates.
Modern Trends and Surprising Stats
The U.S. has lower turnout than many developed countries, averaging around 55-60% in presidential elections.
Historically, the 18-24 age group has the lowest voter turnout.
In most elections, women tend to vote more than men.
Ballot Design Can Change Outcomes: Poor ballot design, like the infamous “butterfly ballot” in Florida in 2000, can lead to confusion and miscounts.
The “butterfly ballot” was a controversial ballot design used in Palm Beach County, Florida, during the 2000 U.S. presidential election. This design placed candidate names on two facing pages, with punch holes aligned in the center, resembling butterfly wings. Voters were required to punch holes next to their chosen candidate’s name, but misalignment led to confusion. Many voters intending to select Democratic candidate Al Gore mistakenly voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan or invalidated their ballots by selecting multiple candidates.
The design’s complexity resulted in an unusually high number of votes for Buchanan in a predominantly Democratic county, as well as numerous spoiled ballots. Analyses suggest that these errors potentially influenced the election’s outcome, given the slim margin of victory in Florida.
Studies show that states with mail-in voting have higher voter participation.
Your Vote Matters More in Local Elections. Local races, such as city councils and school boards, often have very low turnout, meaning each vote has a bigger impact.
