By Ashley Hamilton 2025/2026 Power in Place Research Collaborator

Voter suppression has taken many forms throughout American history. Upon the United States declaring independence from Britain and becoming a new nation, citizenship and, therefore, voting rights were limited to free White men only. Mexican-American men were granted voting rights in 1848 after the passage of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which they were legally defined as White. Twenty years later, citizenship would be extended to anyone, of any race, born or naturalized in the United States, but voting rights would still be limited to men. Jovita Idar and the women like her recognized the inequality and unfairness of being tax-paying citizens without the ability to vote. The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 officially marked the beginning of the women’s suffrage movement. The convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. These two women made exceptional contributions to the suffrage movement, but the contributions of women of color are often left out of the narrative. Jovita Idar was a Mexican-American woman from Laredo, Texas, a small border town. She advocated for women’s right to vote and their right to be educated. Idar did much of her advocating through writing in newspapers and The Liga Femenil Mexicanista, an organization run by Mexican-American women that gathered for social and political causes. Jovita Idar did her activist work during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Eventually, the work of Jovita Idar and the other suffragists throughout the United States paid off, and women were granted the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment. This amendment prohibited the government from denying the right of citizens to vote based on sex. This amendment, in tandem with the 14th Amendment, virtually eliminated voter suppression in the United States. While it may have seemed that extending suffrage to people of color and women made voting rights equal, there were still barriers that existed for certain groups of people. These barriers were mainly in the form of poll taxes, literacy tests, and ballots only being offered in English. Jovita Idar’s activism did not only extend to rights for women, but also to rights for Mexican Americans. In the 1960s, Chicano rights groups formed and used similar methods to Idar to advocate for equal treatment. They created newspapers to inform the public about issues they faced, and they protested unequal treatment. One issue that they focused on was the voting barriers that were still in place and seemed to disproportionately affect low-income individuals and people of color. During this time, voting ballots were only offered in English, making it difficult for non-native English speakers to understand them. Literacy tests were protested for the same reason, and poll taxes were criticized because they inhibited those unable to afford the tax from being able to exercise their right to vote. Chicano rights groups, along with other civil rights groups, came together to get these barriers removed and to make elections freer and more equal. Eventually, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, which prohibited literacy tests, poll taxes, and required ballots to be offered in languages other than English. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 greatly increased the equality of voting rights in the United States. Elections in the country are still not perfect, however. Voter suppression in recent years has taken a different form and is “invisible” to most Americans. These barriers still primarily affect communities that consist primarily of people of color and low-income individuals. Low-income areas typically experience a lack of polling locations, meaning they have to travel farther distances to be able to vote. Some of these individuals may not have access to transportation to get to these polling locations. Another issue people often face is the inability to take time off from work to go vote. Election dates are held on weekdays, days when people are expected to work, and those who are paid hourly or who do not get paid time off may not be able to afford taking the day off to participate in the election. Modern efforts for voting rights activism look different from Jovita Idar’s methods due to the rise of social media and the declining popularity of newspapers. The public is typically informed of social injustices through social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, but public protests and boycotts have remained important tools for activists. There is currently no legislation in place or being proposed to combat these “invisible” barriers, but awareness is increasing due to activists’ efforts.

References

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