Which amendment prohibits denial of voting rights based on race?

Which amendment prohibits denial of voting rights based on race?

• A. 26th Amendment
• B. 24th Amendment
• C. 19th Amendment
• D. 15th Amendment

Answer: (D)

Voting rights cannot be denied because of race. This protection comes from the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, which states that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was enacted during Reconstruction to secure Black men’s right to vote after the Civil War. Although it established the guarantee, many states found ways around it for decades, leading to later reforms like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that strengthened enforcement. Other amendments address different issues: one prohibits denying the vote based on sex, another bans poll taxes in federal elections, and another lowers the voting age to 18.

Voting rights cannot be denied because of race. This protection comes from the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, which states that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was enacted during Reconstruction to secure Black men’s right to vote after the Civil War. Although it established the guarantee, many states found ways around it for decades, leading to later reforms like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that strengthened enforcement. Other amendments address different issues: one prohibits denying the vote based on sex, another bans poll taxes in federal elections, and another lowers the voting age to 18.