March 29, 2016

THE BASICSTopic: Voting Rights

Articles “Voting Rights Institute Receives Prestigious MacArthur Grant” (3/23) (Georgetown Law) “Voting Rights 2016: Native Americans Struggle to Overcome Barriers Ahead of Arizona

Elections” (3/22) (International Business Times) “Kentucky Senate approves bill to clear path for felon voting rights” (3/21) (Cincinatti’s WLWT5) “North Carolina Exemplifies National Battle Over Voting Laws” (3/10) (The NY Times) “Democratic Group Called iVote Pushes Automatic Voter Registration” (11/9/15) (The NY Times) “Nine Years Ago, Republicans Favored Voting Rights. What Happened?” (8/12/15) (The NY Times)

Questions to Consider

What is the right to vote? Where is this right listed? Who are eligible voters? What groups are not allowed to vote? Do the federal and state governments both control voting? Why? Why is voting the most important action of a citizen? Why is voting considered a civil right? What is Oregon’s Motor Voter Act? Is there a connection between ease of registration and voting

rights? What is the history of voting rights in the United States? Should felons who have completed their sentences be allowed to vote? Should a past criminal

conviction prevent voting permanently? Why or why not? Should voting be required? What is gerrymandering? How do decisions about the shape of Congressional districts affect

voting? Is voting less available to minorities? Why or why not?

How can suppression of voting rights be stopped? “Voting Rights Act, 1965 and Beyond”

o What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 say?o Why was the Voting Rights Act necessary? What effects has it had?o Why have some people challenged the Voting Rights Act in recent years?o How are voting rights threatened today? How can we protect those rights?

THE EXTRASPre-teaching, Extensions & Further Reading

“U.S. Voting Rights” (Timeline from 1790-2015) (infoplease.com) “Voting Rights Act – Major Dates in History” (timeline w/ pictures) (ACLU) “Disenfranchised: A series examining the ongoing effort to roll back the protections of the Voting

Rights Act” (The NY Times) “Voting Rights Act: After Supreme Court Ruling, 2016 Election Could Endanger Black, Latino

Rights” (1/28) (International Business Times) “Professor analyzes consequences of ‘gutted’ Voting Rights Act” (3/25) (The Daily Campus, UConn)

Lesson Plans

“Who Can Vote in the United States?” (grades 9-12) (Citizens, Not Spectators) “Congress Protects the Right to Vote: The Voting Rights Act of 1965” (The Center for Legislative

Archives) “Voting Rights” (iCivics)

What’s the Connection? Constitutional

“Roles of Race and Partisanship in Legislative Maps Argued at Supreme Court” (3/21) (The NY Times)

“Details on Shelby County v. Holder : In Plain English” (SCOTUS blog)Oregon

“Automatic Registration is the Latest Chapter in Fight Over Voting Rights” (NPR)

“Your Voting Rights In Oregon” (Oregon Education Association) Students

“Student Voting Guide” (Brennan Center for Justice)

Oregon State Social Science Standards8.14. Explain rights and responsibilities of citizens.8.20. Analyze the changing definition of citizenship and the expansion of rights. 8.26. Examine a controversial event, issue, or problem from more than one perspective. HS.34. Explain the responsibilities of citizens (e.g., vote, pay taxes).HS.35. Examine the pluralistic realities of society (e.g., race, poverty, gender, and age), recognizing issues of equity, and evaluating need for change. HS.59. Demonstrate the skills and dispositions needed to be a critical consumer of information.HS.60. Analyze an event, issue, problem, or phenomenon form varied or opposing perspectives or points of view.

CCSS Anchor Standards2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. 8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

We the People Lesson ConnectionsMiddle School, Level 2

Unit 5, Lesson 25: How has the right to vote expanded since the Constitution was adopted?

Unit 6, Lesson 29: What are the rights and responsibilities of citizenship? Unit 6, Lesson 30: How might citizens participate in civic activities?

High School, Level 3 Unit 6, Lesson 34: What is the importance of civic engagement to American

constitutional democracy? Unit 6, Lesson 35: how have civil rights movements resulted in fundamental political and

social change in the United States?