East Texas Genealogical Society - The Ayes Have It: Finding Your Ancestors through Voting Records

The Ayes Have It - Discovering Your Ancestors Through Voting Records - In 1870, 150 years ago, the 15th Amendment was passed prohibiting the exclusion of citizens from voting based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. In 1920, just 100 years ago, the 19th Amendment was passed granting women the right to vote. And, in 1965, 55 years ago, the Voting Rights Act was passed prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. Each of these pieces of legislation increased the opportunity of US citizens to exercise their right to vote. Voting records are not one of the record sets that you generally think of going to for your genealogy research, but they could be a great resource if you are able to find them. Voting records are collected on a regular schedule and can be used as replacements for the 1890 US Census. They may contain a great variety of…