At various times in U.S. history, the right to vote has been granted or denied on the basis of such criteria as wealth, gender, ethnicity, and race. Through both analysis and documentation, this volume introduces the reader to the history of vote denial and dilution and the landmark court opinions that both created and ended these practices.

Four narrative chapters survey voting rights from colonial times to the 2000 presidential election, focus on key court cases, and discuss the prospects for voting rights in the new century. An extensive collection of key documents is provided, along with a glossary of names, events, and concepts; a chronology; a table of cases cited; an annotated bibliography; and a comprehensive index.