The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During this period, the Democratic Party controlled southern state legislatures and most local, state and federal officeholders in the South were Democrats. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, Southern Democrats disenfranchised nearly all blacks in all the former Confederate states. This resulted in a one-party system, in which a candidate's victory in Democratic primary elections was tantamount to election to the office itself. White primaries were another means that the Democrats used to consolidate their political power, excluding blacks from voting.
Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction era in the United States, especially in the Southern United States, was based on a series of laws, new constitutions, and practices in the South that were deliberately used to prevent black citizens from registering to vote and voting. These measures were enacted by the former Confederate states at the turn of the 20th century. Efforts were also made in Maryland, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. Their actions were designed to thwart the objective of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1870, which prohibited states from depriving voters of their voting rights based on race. The laws were frequently written in ways to be ostensibly non-racial on paper, but were implemented in ways that selectively suppressed black voters apart from other voters.
The 1956 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 6, 1956. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. For the previous five decades Virginia had almost completely disenfranchised its black and poor white populations through the use of a cumulative poll tax and literacy tests. So restricted was suffrage in this period that it has been calculated that a third of Virginia's electorate during the first half of the twentieth century comprised state employees and officeholders.
The 1952 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 4, 1952. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1948 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 2, 1948, throughout the 48 contiguous states. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1932 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 8, 1932. Voters chose eleven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1928 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 6, 1928. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1924 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 4, 1924. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1920 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 2, 1920. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was also the first presidential election after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote throughout the United States, including Virginia.
The 1916 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 7, 1916. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1912 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 5, 1912. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1896 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 3, 1896, as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1900 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 6, 1900, as part of the 1900 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1908 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 3, 1908, as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1904 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 8, 1904, as part of the 1904 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1904 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 8, 1904, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1888 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 1888, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1904 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 8, 1904, as part of the 1904 United States presidential election. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1904 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 8, 1904. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1904 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
The 1904 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 8, 1904. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1904 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
