1. _The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude._
It is thus forever proclaimed, in unmistakable terms, that _to vote is a
right_ of citizens of the United States.
Were it an immunity, or even were it a privilege, to vote, those who
possess it could not be deprived of it by any State, for the State is
bound to protect every citizen within its jurisdiction in the exercise
thereof. It being declared by the XV. Amendment that citizens of the
United States have the right to vote, the next step to determine is, Who
are citizens? This is also definitely, though for the first time,
determined by Article XIV. of Amendments to the Constitution as follows: