Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment Gathers Steam Please Help By Taking Action Today

by Right to Vote Blog, Rob Richie, Jo McKeegan // Published July 22, 2011

Nothing is more fundamental to democracy that a fully protected right to vote. That’s why voters belong at the polls on Election Day -- and why a right to vote belongs in the U.S. Constitution. That's why we are so pleased to share good news. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has introduced HJR 28, the right to vote amendment.

As our blog readers know, currently we have no constitutional right to vote. While many amendments eliminate discrimination in voting on account of gender, race, taxes, or age, no amendment actually grants the right to vote. The Supreme Court restated this fact during its 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore. HJR 28 would enshrine in the Constitution a right to vote for all Americans.  

Our lack of a constitutionally enumerated right to vote directly disenfranchises millions of Americans and weakens opportunities to exercise voting rights for literally tens of millions more. Some Americans are clearly disenfranchised, including citizens living in our territories and the District of Columbia, and citizens living in states that ban people with felony convictions from voting. Others are more covertly silenced. For example, some 25% of all overseas military ballots went uncounted in 2008, and some six million votes were lost due to correctable administrative errors in the 2000 election.

If we had a right to vote, groups such as the elderly, the disabled, absentee and military voters would have better access to polls. In a country where voter turnout is routinely less than 50%, it is foolhardy to turn away people who actually want to participate and have a voice in government. In fact, the difficulty of navigating U.S. election laws related to turnout makes our turnout rate 139th among 172 nations worldwide.

The United States is one of only 11 democratic nations without a right to vote. The Help America Vote Act has improved voting in many respects, but we continue to do far too little to stand up for secure voting rights for all -- with barely two-thirds of eligible voters registered to vote, faulty voting equipment, poorly trained poll-workers and more.

You can help buy taking a few moments to help build support HJR 28, which in past years earned the sponsorship of more than 60 Members of Congress. Please click here to write your representative and tell them you would like them to join you in supporting a right to vote in the Constitution.

Without such a right specifically enumerated in our Constitution, politicians will continue to toy with who can vote and who cannot. That decision should belong only with each of us.

 

Comments currently closed for Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment Gathers Steam

  • Regarding overseas military ballots, Democrats block those all the time. But of course the press make no mention of it. They're more concerned about the poor and minorities, who they don't really care about anyway. Regarding those in prison and with felony convictions, I do not favor this, but practically 99% of those would vote Democrat, so no wonder Jesse Jackson, Jr., wants this bill passed. Regarding territories and DC, this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of our election process. Territories are not states, neither is DC. But, the 23rd Amendment gives DC residents the right to vote for President anyway, even though they are not supposed to by design. The reason those in territories cannot vote for President is because the President is elected by the states, not the people. Regarding elderly, disabled, and absentee voters are concerned, I'm not sure what it is that prevents them from voting. Plenty of organizations provide free transporation to those who have difficulty getting to the polls. Then again, there's always voting absentee, where all you have to do is put it in the mail. The "difficulty of navigating U.S. election laws related to turnout" has nothing at all to do with our low turnout. The cause of low turnout is voter apathy. Something that is handed to you, that you don't think about regularly or even less than often, has no value to most people. They're more interested in who wins "American Idol" because in school they were never engaged in caring about their country. So, making it a Constitutional right isn't going to do anything to affect turnout. People already believe its a Constitutional right. Regarding poorly trained poll workers and faulty machines, the only problem with those is the fact that unions who are openly backing one candidate over another are put in charge of distributing, maintaining, and data collection for these machines. Case in point: The re-election of Harry Reid in Nevada in 2010. Nothing about it in the "mainstream" news media. This is the unfair and unjust manipulation of our democratic process. So no, I am against this bill.
    Posted by Paul, 2012-01-17 23:36:14 (1 year ago)