美国有线新闻 CNN 纵观美国选举权的演变史

When it was signed in 1787, the U.S. Constitution didn't lay out specifics on citizen voting. It left decisions about that up to the states but it also left the door open for Congress to make laws about voting. In practice, the right to go to the polls was originally limited to white men over age 21 and they were supposed to own land as well.

美国宪法在1787年签署，当时并未规定公民投票的具体内容。宪法将决定权交给各州，同时也为国会制定有关投票的法律敞开了大门。实际上，投票权最初只限于21岁以上的白人男性，他们还需拥有土地。

But in 1868, the 14th Amendment¹ was ratified². It extended citizenship³ and voting rights to all men born in America as long as they were 21. And the 15th Amendment ratified in 1870 specifically protected the right of citizens to vote regardless of their race.

但在1868年，第14条修正案被批准。其将公民身份和投票权扩大到年满21岁的所有在美国出生的男性。1870年批准的第15条修正案特别保护了公民不分种族的投票权。

There was still discrimination at the polls like poll taxes and literacy tests that prevented many African Americans from voting. Meanwhile, the right of women to vote wasn't constitutionally protected until 1920. Before that, they could only go to the polls in certain states but the 19th Amendment guaranteed women's voting rights in all states.

但投票时仍然存在着诸如人头税和识字测试等歧视，这使许多非裔美国人无法投票。女性的选举权直到1920年才得到宪法保护。在此之前，她们只能参加某些州的投票，但第19条修正案保证了所有州女性的投票权。

Poll taxes were abolished by the ratification⁴ of the 24th Amendment in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act, a Federal law passed the next year abolished literacy tests. So this helped ensure Americans would have the right to vote regardless of their race, religion or level of education. But they still had to be at least 21 years old until 1971.

1964年通过的第24条修正案废除了人头税，次年通过的联邦法律《投票权法案》废除了识字测试。因此，这有助于确保美国人不论种族、宗教或教育程度，都享有投票权。但在1971年之前，投票人仍需年满21岁。

That's the year the 26th Amendment was passed and that's the amendment that protected the right of 18-year-olds to vote. Historically speaking, turnout by America's younger voters has been lower than it has been by older groups. But this year, there are indications that voters between 18 and 29 years old are casting significantly more ballots⁵ than they did in 2016 at least as far as early voting is concerned.

就在那一年，第26条修正案获得通过，这项修正案保护了18岁公民的投票权。从历史上看，美国年轻选民的投票率一直低于老年选民。但今年，有迹象表明，18岁至29岁选民所投的选票明显多于2016年，至少就提前投票而言是如此。

1 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

2 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

5 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》