Voting is a fundamental tenet in the United States, as both a simple decision-making tool and a manifestation of democracy.  This ballot box could be for an early frontier Congressional race, 7th-grade class officers, or a neighborhood street light project.  As a symbol of an American narrative, the box shows signs of wear over long use but is now framed by danger.

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Although voting rights of free white males are contained in the U.S. Constitution, Black men did not gain suffrage until the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, which was later undermined during Jim Crow Era poll taxes, unfair literacy tests, and property ownership to prevent Blacks from voting.  Women did not win the right to vote until 1920 with the Nineteenth Amendment, the fight for which had begun in the mid-1800s. Native Americans, not considered citizens until 1924, sought voting rights state by state through 1962, when all states conceded. 

Full enfranchisement provisions were enshrined in the 1965 Voting Rights Act which prohibited “discrimination on account of race, color or language minority” and prevented any jurisdiction from abridging the right to vote -- but was later weakened by a Supreme Court decision in 2013.  Even after the 1965 Voting Rights Act, people of color – both men and women – often were actively discouraged from voting.

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Foreign interference has sought to undermine the integrity of our election process -- an attack on democracy.  With recent postal restrictions and given efforts at voter suppression in some states, the universal right to vote is at risk.  It is for Congress to restore voting rights and protections.  Every vote is a voice heard.

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The City of San Jose's Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Commission selected this painting for their Holding the Moment project -- part of a display at the SJ Airport.

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The City of SJ Independent Police Auditor's Annual Report 2021 included VOTE in the cover art.