Project Civic Act

Lesson Module: The Impact Of Barriers To The Ballot

Restrictions to voting are nothing new in U.S. History. As we move through 2021, we are seeing a resurgence of tightened restrictions on voting and ballot access that are sure to impact young and future voters all across the country.

Objectives

The materials sourced here are intended to benefit focused conversations about voting, barriers to the ballot box and how civic engagement is impacted by such policies as the ones we’re seeing move through various state legislatures nationwide.

Students should be encouraged to engage in open discussion on these potential challenges to civic engagement and in what ways they see these challenges shaping our communities at the local, state or national level.

Adaptable for grades 6th - 12th

KEY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Discuss the challenges with ballot box access that Americans have faced throughout history and what the struggle looks like today.

1. We often think of voter suppression as something applied with malicious intent and a historically violent effort. Voter suppression was also however frequently laid out in the policy details, often appearing as race neutral even as the effects were disproportionately felt by Black voters and communities of color.
   * What were some of the policies that blocked ballot access leading up to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s?
   * What are some of the policy details we see being enacted today that have a disproportionate effect on vulnerable groups of voters? Are there similarities between past and current voting rights fights?

2. How do you think blocked access to the ballot could impact a voter? Their family or household? Their community?

3. What do you think the generational impact is for witnessing and being part of civic engagement like voting? (How does it affect families, youth and communities to be part of that kind of engagement?)

4. Do you think voter suppression can have a generational impact on families and communities? Why or why not?

Read

• How Voters With Disabilities Are Blocked From the Ballot Box

• Voter suppression has haunted America since it was founded

• What If They Held an Election and Everyone Came?

• Voting Rights For Blacks And Poor Whites In The Jim Crow South

Watch

Check out the selection of videos below to use in your discussions
—

Plus Retro Report lesson unit here

More Resources And Lesson Plans

• Who Gets to Vote? Teaching About the Struggle for Voting Rights in the United States (lesson unit)

• Voting Rights In The U.S. - What barriers to voting do Americans face and why does it matter? (lesson unit)

Got Feedback Or A Suggestion?