5.7: Conclusion

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After Reconstruction ended, formal discrimination emerged in a Jim Crow period of legal segregation. Formal discrimination in voting included poll taxes and the all-White primary. Both formal and informal barriers systematically controlled minorities in Texas’s history of disenfranchising voters. A timeline of some of the more recent important court cases and legislation underscores the underlying discrimination of minorities in Texas.

1944: Supreme Court overturned Grovey v. Townsend in Smith v. Allwright, which ruled the all-White primary violated the Fifteenth Amendment.
1954: Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate schools for Blacks and Whites was unconstitutional, overruling the segregation enshrined by Jim Crow laws.
1954: Hernandez v. Texas: Argued Fourteenth Amendment equal protection that Hispanics are a class apart; U.S. Supreme Court upheld this ruling; upended Jim Crow segregation for Mexican Americans.
1965: Voting Rights Act passed during Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration that required preclearance of changes to electoral laws in states with a history of discrimination.
1966: Supreme Court rules poll taxes in Texas are unconstitutional in United States v. State of Texas.
2009: Twenty-Fourth Amendment outlaws poll taxes in 1964; Texas does not officially ratify it until 2009.

While these represent the historic barriers to political participation in Texas, barriers to voting continue to exist in Texas today that include some of the country’s strictest voter ID laws as well as socioeconomic factors, obstacles to mail-in voting, voter fatigue, and one-party dominance. Traditionally a low voter turnout state, voter registration has increased, younger voters are becoming more active, and elections have become more competitive—and expensive! Megadonors, gerrymandering, and the partisan redistricting expected after the 2020 census are likely to lessen Democratic inroads from demographic change. And even though urban areas are now largely Democratic, statewide and national offices continue to be Republican strongholds.

Key Terms and Concepts

absolute majority

all-White primary: a primary where only Whites could vote in the Primary election. This was overturned in Smith v. Allwright.

Black Codes

Citizens United

closed primary: a preliminary election in which only registered members of that party can vote.

general elections: a final election where candidates representing their respective political party are elected to office.

gerrymandering: a process where geographical boundaries are drawn in a biased way to favor one party or class.

grandfather clause

incumbent: the current holder of a political office.

Jim Crow: national and state laws passed to disenfranchise African Americans by preventing them from voting, getting an education, working, and other opportunities. There were nearly 30 Jim Crow Laws passed in Texas.

literacy test

midterm elections: the congressional elections that occur in the even-numbered years between presidential election years, in the middle of the president’s term.

motor-voter law

open primary: a preliminary election in which any registered voter can vote regardless of party affiliation.

plurality

Political Action Committee (PAC): vehicles for massing funds, then spending them on strategic actions their leaders hope will influence elections.

poll tax: an amount of money (a tax) that an individual had to pay in order to be able to vote. Usually, the receipt had to be attached to the ballot.

primary elections: a preliminary election where voters select candidates to represent the party in the general election.

redistricting: the drawing of geographical boundaries to proportionally distribute the population.

runoff election: an election when no single candidate receives a majority of votes in the primary, so the two top vote-getters run again.

secret ballot: a voting method where the vote is cast anonymously. This is done to prevent attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote-buying. Also known as the Australian ballot.

special elections: elections used for constitutional amendments, fill vacancies between elections, and other non-reoccurring issues.

straight-ticket voting: voting for all one party’s candidates usually by checking a box designating the political party.

Super-PACS: The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. FEC (2010) made it much easier for people and organizations to donate anonymously to campaigns. The ruling let individuals, unions, and corporations donate on a large scale to PACs.

voter fatigue

voter registration

voter ID laws

voting by mail