Most Americans believe that the "legal right to vote" in our democracy is explicit (not just implicit) in our Constitution and laws. However, our Constitution only provides explicitly for non-discrimination in voting on the basis of race, sex, and age in the 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments respectively.
Even though the "vote of the people" is perceived as supreme in our democracy because voting rights are protective of all other rights Justice Scalia in Bush v. Gore constantly reminded Al Gore's lawyers that there is no explicit or fundamental right to suffrage in the Constitution. The Supreme Court majority concluded: "the individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States." (Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 104 (2000)
Voting in the United States is based on the constitutional principle of states' rights. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the State, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Since the word "vote" appears in the Constitution only with respect to non-discrimination, the so-called right to vote is a "state right." Only a constitutional amendment would give every American an individual affirmative citizenship right to vote.
Our states' rights voting system means there are approximately 13,000 separately administered voting jurisdictions in the United States. Our "states' rights" voting system is structured to be separate and unequal.
According to a joint study by Cal-Tech and MIT, somewhere between four and six million votes were not counted in 2000 because many states had similar problems to what occurred in Florida.
Without the constitutional right to vote, Congress can pass voter legislation and Congressman Jackson supports progressive electoral reform legislation but it leaves the "states' rights" system in place. Currently, Congress mostly uses financial and other incentives to entice the states to cooperate and comply with the law. It's one reason there have been so many problems with the recently passed Help America Vote Act and why many states still have not fully complied with the law.
Attorney General John Ashcroft sent a letter to the National Rifle Association. In it he wrote: "Let me state unequivocally my view that the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms." Surely the right to vote deserves to be treated as second to none, and deserves every protection of our American Constitution. If the right to vote is the most important right of the American people, then we should have the wisdom and political will to codify it in the form of a constitutional amendment. House Joint Resolution 28 (H. J. Res. 28) is such an amendment!
What are the advantages of fighting for human rights and constitutional amendments? Human rights and constitutional amendments are:
- non-partisan they are neither Democratic, Republican, Green or Libertarian. They benefit all Americans, regardless of party or affiliation.
- non-ideological they're not liberal, moderate, or conservative
- non-programmatic they don't require a particular means, approach or program to realize them, and
- non-special interest they're for all Americans.
Drawing on our shared commitment to the American ideal of democracy, we can find the best means of fulfilling such a constitutional right!
a modern voting
To fulfill the democratic ideal, an affirmative voting rights constitutional amendment still lies in the future. According to Harvard's Constitutional Law Professor Alexander Keyssar one-hundred-and-eight (108) of the one-hundred-and nineteen (119) nations in the world that elect their representatives to all levels of government in some democratic fashion explicitly guarantee their citizens the right to vote in their Constitution. Both Afghanistan's Constitution and Iraq's interim legal document contains a right to vote.
The United States is one of only eleven democratic nations in the world that doesn't provide an explicit right to vote in its Constitution.
YOU can help to change this!
It's easy to find out whether your member of the House of Representatives is a co-sponsor of House Joint Resolution 28:
- Go to http://thomas.loc.gov
- Where it says "Bill Number", enter H J Res 28
- Click Search, then click "Bill Summary & Status
- Click "Cosponsors" to see if your Representative is already on the list.
Remember, the Capitol Hill switchboard is 202-224-3121. Write that number down and keep it handy. Voters DO have a voice. Use yours to strengthen democracy in America!