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Title: You have no right to vote
Source:
Salon
URL Source: http://www.salon.com/opinion/featur ... 1/no_right_to_vote/index1.html
Published: Oct 4, 2006
Author: By Garrett Epps
Post Date: 2006-10-04 21:32:52 by Zipporah
Keywords: None
Views: 29
The Constitution doesn't guarantee it, the Republicans know it, and real democratic values in our country are under assault. 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having="having" he="he" his="his" i="I" id="ID" id.="ID." id]="ID]" identification="identification" ids,="IDs," if="if" if,="if," impact="impact" in="in" include="include" including="including" increases="increases" incumbent="incumbent" inspire="inspire" is="is" is.="is." isn't="isn't" it="it" it.="it." its="its" jean="Jean" jim="Jim" judge="judge" kind="kind" kinds="kinds" know="know" large="large" last="Last" law="law" lawfully="lawfully" learned="learned" legislature="Legislature" legitimizing="legitimizing" license="license" like="like" majority="majority" make="make" margin="margin" married="married" meet="meet" mere="mere" middle-class="middle-class" might="might" minor="minor" minorities="minorities" minorities,="minorities," missouri="Missouri" missourians="Missourians" most="Most" name="name" name.="name." names="names" national="national" nations,="nations," need="need" neighborhoods="neighborhoods" neither="neither" news="news" news.="news." nor="nor" not="not" noted="noted" november="November" number="number" number.="number." numbers="numbers" obvious,="obvious," of="of" often="often" on="on" one="one" only="only" only,="only," or="or" our="our" out.="out." passed="passed" passport,="passport," past="past" people="people" percent="percent" photo="photo" poll-watcher="poll-watcher" polls="polls" polls.="polls." poor="poor" poor,="poor," powerful,="powerful," predictably="predictably" present="present" privilege="privilege" produce="produce" proof="proof" properly="properly" proposition.="proposition." protection="Protection" purred,="purred," re-election="re-election" read="read" realize="realize" really="really" red="red" reduce="reduce" registrar="registrar" registration="registration" reminded="reminded" republican="Republican" republicans="Republicans" required="required" requirement="requirement" requirements="requirements" result,="result," right="right" right,="right," right.="right." running="running" same="same" saw="saw" scary="scary" scott,="Scott," scrutiny="scrutiny" seek="seek" seem="seem" seemed="seemed" self-government.="self-government." sen.="Sen." sept.="Sept." she="she" should="should" show="show" showing="showing" shows="shows" significant="significant" small="small" smiling="smiling" smoking="smoking" solicitously="solicitously" some="some" southern="Southern" spark="spark" sponsor,="sponsor," src="http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/09/21/no_right_to_vote/story.jpg" state="state" state-issued="state-issued" sure="sure" sweetly.="sweetly." talent="Talent" that="that" that's="That's" that,="that," the="the" their="their" they="they" thing.="thing." this="this" those="those" tickets.="tickets." times="times" to="to" traffic="traffic" travel="travel" u.s.="U.S." under="under" unpaid="unpaid" up="up" use="use" victory="victory" virginia="Virginia" vote,="vote," vote.="vote." voter="voter" voters="voters" voting="voting" voting.="voting." warning="warning" was="was" week,="week," well="well" well.="well." were="were" when="when" whether="whether" which="which" white="white" whites="whites" who="who" why="why" widespread="widespread" will="will" without="without" women="women" worth="worth" worthy="worthy" would="would" would-be="would-be" wrong="wrong" you?"="you?"" |="|"> Intriguingly, the Republican sponsors of the Missouri bill weren't really able to argue that it was needed to prevent fraud as such. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't find much evidence of fraudulent voting. So they argued instead that the law was needed because without it, solid Missouri citizens -- the kind of people who vote Republican, for example -- might be tempted to think there was fraud at the polls. Gov. Matt Blunt explained that the bill would "restore Missourians' confidence in state elections." (Blunt's margin of victory in 2004 -- certified by himself as secretary of state -- was 3 percent of the vote.) The Springfield News Leader, which supported the bill, said it would provide "peace of mind for voters who want to know that cheaters aren't improperly influencing an election." But on Sept. 14, Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan blocked the law from taking effect. Callahan pointed out that Article VII of Missouri's Constitution says that "All citizens of the United States ... who are residents of this state ... are entitled to vote at all elections by the people." The ID rule, he reasoned, would allow the Legislature to add an onerous qualification to those spelled out in the Constitution. The judge's decision squares with common sense, as well as with the text. And it highlights the lack of a similar provision in the U.S. Constitution. As a result of this lack, other states -- mostly those in which Republicans currently run the legislature -- are adding such requirements. Former Bush campaign officials last year launched a new conservative advocacy group, the oxymoronically titled American Center for Voting Rights, designed to push such legislation at both the state and federal levels. So far, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Florida and Ohio have passed or tightened photo ID laws. Democratic governors in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania vetoed such laws earlier this year, and state and federal courts have both blocked the Georgia law. Throughout our history, Americans have been profoundly ambivalent about the vote. The Constitution of 1787 left the issue of federal voting rights entirely to the states, which could disenfranchise their voters more or less as they chose. Today, even though "the right to vote" is by now mentioned five times in the amended Constitution, the federal courts continue to insist that voting is mostly a state matter. The Supreme Court restated the point in 2000, in Bush v. Gore. "The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States," said the Court, rather breezily, "unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College." Meanwhile, virtually every other advanced democracy already has an explicit guarantee of the right to vote. Ironically, whenever the United States imposes a constitution on another (conquered) nation, we tend to insist that they include in those documents a right we do not ourselves possess. Afghans have "the right to elect and be elected," Iraqis have "the right ... to vote, to elect, and to nominate," and the Japanese enjoy "universal adult suffrage." Since the fiasco in Florida, a number of scholars and activists have been working to generate a constitutional fix for this problem. American University law professor Jamie Raskin (who was elected last week to the Maryland state Senate) in 2001 proposed an amendment that would say, in part, "Citizens of the United States have the right to vote in primary and general elections ... and such right shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State." At the time, Raskin noted that "only Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Pakistan, Singapore, and, of course, the United Kingdom ... still leave voting rights out of their constitutions." Raskin's call has been echoed by other scholars. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., has championed such an amendment, and http://FairVote.org, an advocacy group, is fighting for national and local reforms that would make clear that it is the government's responsibility to ensure that all eligible voters have a chance to cast a ballot. But with Republicans in charge in many state capitals and Washington, the momentum in practical terms is moving the other way. On Sept. 14, the U.S. House Administration Committee approved by a straight party vote a proposed bill that would require all voters nationwide to obtain IDs by producing a birth certificate or passport. This argument is too crucial to democracy, and too easy to win, for progressives to let it slide. Voting is not a privilege for which citizens must qualify by showing their ability to dodge bureaucratic hurdles. If fraud really is a concern, state elections officials could be authorized to update voter lists and follow up on changes of address. That's what happens in most other democratic countries. Real democratic values in this country are currently under assault. Day after day, we must justify concepts that were once accepted as givens. We are forced to discuss whether a free country really needs the rule of law, or freedom of speech, or an executive subject to legislative oversight. It would be nice to begin campaigning for measures that would do more than just get democracy out of its defensive crouch -- that would actually make democracy stronger. A right to vote might be one of them. When the argument is truly joined, who can be against it?
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