Elections & terms
suffrage
The right to vote. The Constitution never granted it in general terms; it added prohibitions on specific grounds for denying it, one amendment at a time.
In full
Eligibility is set by the states, subject to federal floors: no denial by race (Fifteenth), by sex (Nineteenth), by poll tax (Twenty-Fourth), or for anyone eighteen or older by age (Twenty-Sixth). The franchise is the same thing under a different word. Because the baseline is state law, who may vote still differs across state lines, most visibly for people with felony convictions.
Also written as: the franchise, right to vote
Where to go next
Keep going
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.