Final answer:
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that voting rights cannot be denied on grounds of race, color, or previous servitude. Ratified in 1870, it focused on providing voting rights to African Americans after the Civil War.
Step-by-step explanation:
The amendment that states voting cannot be denied because of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude is the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ratified in 1870, it was one of the significant changes during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
Its primary focus was to ensure that the newly freed African Americans and other citizens could exercise their right to vote without discrimination based on racial factors.
Section 1 of the 15th Amendment reads, "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." While this amendment was a critical step in voting rights, it left room for states to impose other non-racial qualifications, which effectively prevented many African Americans and other marginalized groups from voting due to mechanisms such as literacy tests and poll taxes.