Question

which two details, one from each excerpt, show how the two excerpts treat the concept of voting rights similarly?
passage 1
the fifteenth amendment to the united states constitution (1870)
resolved by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled ..., that the following article be proposed . . . , which, when ratified by three fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as part of the constitution, namely:
article xv.
section 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—
section 2. the congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
and, further, . . . that the amendment to the constitution. . . has been ratified by the legislatures of . . . all twenty - nine states.
passage 2
excerpt from united states supreme court decision in smith v. allwright (1943)
lonnie e. smith, an african american from texas, sued to overturn a 1923 state law declaring that only white citizens could vote in texas’s democratic party primary elections. lower courts had ruled that political parties were private organizations and could make their own rules. the supreme court’s landmark decision held that texas’s all - white democratic party primaries were unconstitutional.
the united states is a constitutional democracy. its organic law grants to all citizens a right to participate in the choice of elected officials without restriction by any state because of race. this grant to the people of the opportunity for choice is not to be nullified by a state through casting its electoral process in a form which permits a private organization to practice racial discrimination in the election. constitutional rights would be of little value if they could be thus indirectly denied.

Explanation:

To determine similar treatment of voting rights, we analyze both excerpts:

1. Passage 1 (Fifteenth Amendment): Section 1 prohibits denying/abridging voting rights “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It establishes a federal guarantee against racial discrimination in voting.
2. Passage 2 (Smith v. Allwright, 1944): The Supreme Court struck down Texas’s all - white Democratic Party primaries. The case addressed racial discrimination in voting (specifically in party primaries), where a private organization’s racial restriction on voting was ruled unconstitutional, reinforcing the principle that racial discrimination in voting (even by private entities) is invalid.

Both excerpts focus on combating racial discrimination in voting: the amendment provides a constitutional ban, and the court case enforces this ban by invalidating a state - sanctioned (via legal process) racial restriction in a primary election.

Answer:

• From Passage 1 (Fifteenth Amendment): The detail is 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.”
• From Passage 2 (Smith v. Allwright): The detail is that the Supreme Court ruled Texas’s all - white Democratic Party primaries were unconstitutional, as the U.S. is a constitutional democracy with a right to participate in elections without racial restriction, and private organizations’ racial discrimination in elections (enabled by state law) was invalidated.