Voting Rights on Trial

Charles L. Zelden is associate professor of history at Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

The strange career of voting in the United States -- The right to vote: a short history of a contested right -- Vote denial : democracy's dark secret -- The courts say no to expanded votings rights -- The fall of the all-white primary -- Victory and defeat in the lower federal courts -- The one person/one vote standard -- The Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the attack on race-based vote denial -- Vote dilution, redistricting, and the shift from at-large elections to single-member districts -- The conservative reaction to expanded voting rights -- Equal protection or equal effect? Voting rights in the Twenty-first Century -- The election the judges resolved : Bush v. Gore and the debate over the nationalization of voting in America -- Foundations : the Constitution of the United States -- The courts say no to expanded voting rights : Elk v. Wilkins and Minor v. Happersett -- The fall of the all-white primary : Smith v. Allwright -- Victory and defeat in the lower federal courts : Terry v. Adams -- The one person/one vote standard : Reynolds v. Sims -- Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- Vote dilution and the shift from at-large to single-member districts : Allen v. State Board of Elections -- The conservative reaction to expanding voting rights : dissents in Reynolds and Allen ; majority in Shaw -- The debate over nationalization of voting rights : Bush v. Gore.