Historical origins of equal voting rights in US and India

This month, we have witnessed two closely fought elections – first in the United States, and then in Bihar. Both these elections saw significantly high voter turnouts, despite the difficulties brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. In Bihar, women voter turnout was higher than men – in 166 out of 243 constituencies. In the US, there was a record voter turnout of 67% - which is the highest voting percentage in 120 years.

Such extensive democratic participation is possible only because both US and India have universal adult suffrage – which allows all adults to vote, and grants equal voting rights to both men and women. This parity in voting rights was not always present, and has been achieved after vigorous activism and debate. In this post, we shall revisit the historical origins of equal voting rights, in the US, and in India.

Historical origins of equal voting rights in the US

When the US Constitution was drafted in 1787, it did not envisage equal voting rights. The US Constitution legitimized the practice of slavery, where African-Americans (Blacks) were treated as the ‘property’ of their owners. Along with all African-Americans, even White women were denied the right to vote. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln pioneered the 13^th Amendment to the US Constitution, which abolished the practice of slavery. 5 years later, in 1870, Black men were granted the right to vote, through the 15^th Amendment. While the 15^th Amendment permitted all men to vote, it still did not grant voting rights to American women.

It took 50 further years of struggle for all American women to receive the right to vote – via the 19^th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1920. The 19^th Amendment was brought before the US Senate for the first time in October, 1918. The Amendment would require a two-thirds majority to be passed i.e. 54 votes in its favor. Despite having the backing of then US President Woodrow Wilson, it failed to pass the Senate by a small margin of 2 votes.

The amendment was brought before the Senate once again in June 1919. This time, the Amendment was passed by the Senate with a vote of 56-25 (56 in favor and 25 in opposition). This was just 2 votes more than the minimum number of votes required! Even after equal voting rights were granted on paper, the Southern States of America (such as Alabama and Texas) would continue to discriminate against Black men and women, and would devise additional criteria for voter eligibility, that would disenfranchise the Black community.

This was done through methods such as arbitrary registration requirements, payment of poll taxes, and literacy tests. ‘Poll taxes’ were a fee that eligible voters would have to pay, before being allowed to cast their ballot. While this fee would be relatively small, it would still be unaffordable for a large segment of the Black community.

Under the garb of conducting ‘literacy tests’, electoral registration officials in Southern States would deliberately ask African-Americans to recite the entire Constitution, and explain complex provisions of State laws. Even a small error on their part would give the electoral officer a reason for refusing to add their name to the list of eligible voters. This was a travesty, where Blacks would have to recite the entire Constitution before being ‘eligible’ to gain access to their constitutional rights.

These practices prevailed during what is known as the “Jim Crow era” – where the Southern States of US enforced racial segregation through their local laws. These local laws mandated separate public facilities for Blacks and Whites. This meant that there would be separate restaurants, schools, buses, housing apartments etc for Blacks and Whites. The facilities accessible to White Americans were undoubtedly better. But, Blacks would not be able to access these public facilities, as they were exclusively reserved for Whites.

The era of ‘Jim Crow’ laws continued until 1964. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, which put an end to racial segregation of public facilities. Even after the end of the Jim Crow era, Southern States like Alabama continued to discriminate against the Black community, and suppressed their voting rights.

In 1965, with the goal of ending suppression of the Black vote, civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began a movement for a national voting rights law – that would put an end to voter suppression methods such as literacy tests. Dr. King led three 54-mile marches in the State of Alabama. The first two marches were met with fierce resistance from State troops, as well as White supremacist groups. This left Dr. King with no choice but to retreat, as he feared large-scale violence.

Dr. Martin Luther King leads a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama - to demand the passage of the Voting Rights Act. 

But, his movement had the requisite impact, and President Lyndon Johnson announced that he would be introducing a new voting rights legislation in Congress, that would outlaw practices such as literacy tests. During his nationwide address, Lyndon Johnson remarked –

“Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negros (i.e. Blacks), but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome”.

Dr. King followed this up with his third march across the State of Alabama, which further fortified his demands. Subsequently, in August 1965, the US Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which provided for federal oversight of voter registration, and also prohibited practices like voter literary tests.

While the situation has improved considerably after the enactment of the Voting Rights Act, certain States continue to take advantage of America’s decentralized election system, to devise new ways of suppressing the Black vote. This is done through stricter Voter ID requirements, photographic identification procedures, and by placing curbs on voter registration drives. Hence, while the US has made significant progress to fructify equal voting rights, a lot more needs to be done to ensure that Blacks and minorities can vote without harassment.

Historical origins of universal adult suffrage and equal voting rights in India

Through Article 326 of our Constitution, the Indian Constituent Assembly guaranteed universal adult suffrage – which meant that everyone above the age of 21 was eligible to vote after the Indian Constitution came into force. [In 1988, this voting age was reduced from 21 to 18].

In the Constituent Assembly, some members did express concerns with respect to whether universal adult suffrage should be granted immediately – as around 85% of the Indian population was illiterate. The members also debated on whether it would be better to gradually give voting rights to different segments of the population. The Assembly ultimately agreed on granting universal adult franchise immediately upon the founding of the Republic - as parliamentary democracy would be meaningless if segments of the population lacked the right to elect their representatives. They also felt that illiteracy shall be eventually tackled through steps taken by the Government.

While the Constituent Assembly granted us universal adult franchise right from the founding of the Republic, demands were also made to secure equal voting rights for men and women, during the British Raj. During the British Raj, the right to vote in local and provincial elections could be availed only by those who owned property, and satisfied other criteria relating to educational qualifications, place of residence etc. Until 1921, women were not permitted to vote in these local and provincial elections. This made social reformers like Annie Besant and Sarojini Naidu push for equal voting rights for women.

In 1921, Madras became the first Legislature of British India to grant women the right to vote. The Bombay Legislature followed soon thereafter. Among the princely States, the Kingdom of Travancore was the first to grant voting rights to women. This voting right was not universal. Just like male voters, women could vote only after they fulfilled the qualification criteria laid down by the provinces - which were based on educational standards, place of residence, ownership of property etc.

Along with social reformers and activists, an Indian bureaucrat of the British Empire also made a significant contribution to secure equal voting rights. This bureaucrat was V.P. Menon – who later played a crucial role in integrating the princely States into the Indian Union, along with Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

V.P. Menon 

In 1935, as an Under-Secretary in the Reforms Department of the British Raj, V.P. Menon was tasked with implementing the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935. Under this law, elections were scheduled to be held in 1937 – in provincial legislatures such as Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. V.P. Menon began work on constructing an electoral role, and also made a recommendation that the name of every adult women should be put on the electoral roles.[1] While this recommendation was not accepted in its entirety, the 1937 provincial legislature elections had significantly enlarged the size of the electorate.

Menon also got his superiors to approve a clause that allowed women whose marriages had been dissolved to retain their names on the electoral roles – deeming them eligible to vote.[2] While V.P. Menon’s contribution in integrating princely States such as Hyderabad, Kashmir and Junagarh has been well-documented, his contribution in expanding the scope of the right to vote has largely been forgotten.

While the Constituent Assembly granted us universal adult suffrage, the seeds of equal voting rights were sown during the final years of the British Raj itself – due to contributions made in different capacities by V.P. Menon, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant etc. These initial steps were taken forward by the Constituent Assembly, which agreed to make a specific provision in Article 326 of the Constitution, that would secure non-discriminatory access to voting.

The high percentage of women voter turnout that we witnessed in Bihar is a salute to this vision of our founders. This vision can now be taken forward, and sufficient steps must be taken to make the polling booth even more accessible to the Indian voter – irrespective of caste, gender and economic status.

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[1] Narayani Basu, V.P. Menon – The Unsung Architect of Modern India, Simon & Schuster Publishers (2020), Pg. 97.

[2] V.P. Menon – The Unsung Architect of Modern India, at Pg. 120.