Drawing the Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Voting in America

The act of voting seems deceptively simple, in which an individual’s ballot is tallied with others until an equitable decision is reached. Here, debut creators Jenkins and Lacker show the truth to be a complicated series of historical compromises and outrageous manipulations. Pointing out pivotal junctures in which greed, commerce, and various self-interests motivated how and why voting changed, they bring fascinating connections to light. For instance, slave states wanting to count slaves as citizens but deny them the right to vote helped solidify the idea of the Electoral College with the Three-Fifths Compromise, the ramifications of which still effect election outcomes. Women’s suffrage, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Tea Party, and the 2016 Election all undergo exploration beneath the artistic microscope.