The right to vote is a continuing political struggle

The right to vote is the foundation of democracy. In voting, we are all equal: one person, one vote is the standard. Yet, in the United States, the right to vote is not written in the Constitution. Who has the right to vote and whether the right would be restricted or extended - has caused bitter, partisan battles across our history.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to protect the right to vote for citizens in the states with a history of voter discrimination - largely in the South. It outlawed literacy tests, set national standards, and required pre-clearance for changes to voting rights by the Justice Department. When the Supreme Court gutted the Act in 2013 - erasing the preclearance standard - it opened the floodgates to efforts to make registration and voting more difficult, particularly for minorities and for the young.

The right to vote once more has become a partisan issue. Republicans increasingly seek to make registration and voting more difficult - often on the grounds of stopping voter fraud despite the fact that there is no evidence that it exists. Democrats have become the party pushing for voter reforms--that would make it easier to register and vote. The result is laws that vary dramatically from state to state.