Which amendment prohibits denying the right to vote based on race?

• A. Fifth Amendment.
• B. Thirteenth Amendment.
• C. Fifteenth Amendment.
• D. Seventeenth Amendment.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is voting rights free from racial discrimination. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, states that 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. This directly prohibits denying the vote because of race, making it the constitutional protection against racial voting barriers. It was enacted during Reconstruction to secure voting rights for newly freed African Americans, though in practice many barriers persisted for years and required later laws and court actions to enforce more fully. For context, other amendments address different issues—one abolishes slavery, another protects due process and against self-incrimination, and another changes how Senators are elected—so this one specifically targets race-based voting discrimination.