In a number of the States the right
to vote was restricted to taxpayers. In Pennsylvania every freeman
of 21 years who had resided in the state two years next before the
election and within that time had paid a State or a county tax could
vote.
There is today a wide divergence in the qualifications required in
the various states to entitle one to vote. In a few States there
are educational qualifications, as in California, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Washington and North Carolina. In some States one
cannot vote unless he has paid certain taxes, almost always poll
taxes. In certain States Indians who are not members of any tribe can
vote. And in a number of the States every male of foreign birth,
21 years of age, who has declared his intention to become a citizen
according to the naturalization laws of the United States can vote.
These differences exist because the Constitution remains, so far as
this subject is concerned, as it was originally adopted, except that
the Fifteenth Amendment provides that "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.
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