We need a Constitutional Amendment with wording similar to the Second Amendment (one difference)

[DFW]

"The right of the people to VOTE shall not be infringed."

Sub-clause: if you are a citizen, you can vote. Citizenship means automatic voter registration. Denying a US citizen the right to vote is a felony. TRYING to deny a US citizen the right to vote is a felony. Refusing to accept or count the vote of a US citizen is a felony. Period. No exceptions.

Couch it in flowery patriotic language, so the legislatures of sparsely populated States and the southern states can ratify it and feel good about it. But make it ironclad. No ambiguity. Nothing that could give the right wing majority on the SCOTUS the wiggle room to make exceptions. Once it's in the Constitution, the SC has to uphold it.

[elleng]

1. YES!

[olegramps]

48. We need a law that imposses serious penalties for any restriction of the right to vote.

The right to vote and equal representation are keystones of our government. The very reason for our forefathers' rebellion. The penalty should be mandatory imprisonment for a lengthy time, i.e., for example 20 years with no parole. The same laws should apply for gerrymandering which is nothing more than vote rigging. A couple of convictions and the problem would become rare. If citzens were serious they could force the issue with a petion to have it placed on the ballot of state houses and the federal government.

[elleng]

49. Penalties, I agree.

It surprises many, however, that the 'right to vote' does not appear in the Constitution. (Neither does the right to privacy.)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. That sounds excellent, my dear DFW. Thank you!

[Wyatt513]

3. Still waiting for the ERA to pass

[DFW]

4. Godot will show up first n/t

[Joe941]

5. Also add election day as a national holiday....

Not having it is basically a form of voter suppression.

[DFW]

6. Either that

Or move it to a Sunday, as they do in Germany.

Agreed that keeping it on a Tuesday is a form of disadvantaging working folks.

[VOX]

20. Absolutely. Trying to work, herd a family, etc. makes it tough to vote on a workday.

You’re right, it should be a national holiday. It’s not 1958 anymore, when there was more time available, and life was much less complex for the average American.

In today’s world, it’d be a huge help in getting people to the polls if they could take just ONE day off to vote.

[Varaddem]

7. Still hoping

The ACLU gets involved in more of these situations. These secretaries of State are violating one of our fundamental rights. They should do so with fear of prosecution of two years for every Violation.

[DFW]

8. They do so because they can and know a Republican SCOTUS will provide them with cover

A constitutional amendment could remove that cover. It's a hard sell, and needs to be worded VERY carefully so that it appeals to the flag-wavers. "You shall never take this American birthright from me!" That kind of thing. The extremist right seems to thrive on perceived threats to take away some right given to them in the Constitution. Well, here is a REAL threat, so let them get worried about protecting America from evil folks coming to take THAT right away. It's all in the packaging. Let people like Jim Carville and Lawrence O'Donnell work on how to word the campaign--give it universal appeal.

[safeinOhio]

9. That may take a long time, in the mean time

we can work to make every state a Right-To-Vote State.

We can use the same tactic the right wing has used to get anti-union, right-to-work laws passed.

[DFW]

10. It would take years for a constitutional amendment, probably at least five

And that's assuming we could get the process started at all. Plenty of Republicans would be out there screaming how unnecessary it is, and our arguments of "then what do you have against it?" would be met be "you libs are just wasting taxpayer money unnecessarily" etc etc etc, you know the drill. They have their script already printed to read from (those that CAN read, that is).

And yes, we could try for a state-by-state effort, but then we're right back to where we are now, with corrupt secretaries of state enforcing the law to the hearts' content (which often means not at all)

[safeinOhio]

14. Will see what happens in Michigan this November

There is a vote on ending political gerrymandering on the ballet.

[unblock]

11. i like it and am supportive, but i don't think it will help much.

i think the main problem is not in the defining of the rights, but in the application.

we already have certain constitutional protections, such as equal protection, but the courts don't seem bothered by things like strategic placement (or non-placement) of voting precincts or voting machines (long travel times and long lines in selected areas to discourage voting). similarly for voting roll purges.

if the courts are willing to treat the nearly non-existent "voter fraud problem" as a huge problem, i'm not sure how a constitutional amendment changes things.


one thing it would do, as stated, is that it would end the felony disenfranchisement crap, which is a pet peeve of mine. governments should not be able to choose their own voters, and this country has a history of using that power to disproportionately disenfranchise black people (including the crack vs. powder cocaine disparity).

unfortunately, i fear even that might not hold, because during the ratification process, someone would likely add a clause to allow disenfranchisement of felons and it would become difficult to keep it out because unfortunately i think i'm in the minority on this issue.


what we really need is a higher standard of civics, and more politicians who act like statesmen.

[uponit7771]

12. This could be a campaign issue winner

[DFW]

13. Probably too late for 2018, but maybe 2020

Carefully worded, we could box the Republicans into a corner.

"WHAT? Your party is against Americans voting? Why? Are you a bunch of Communists or something?"

[brooklynite]

15. Bearing in mind that you have NO RIGHT to vote for President.....

[needledriver]

16. It could be something like:

“A well educated citizenry being necessary to the function of a democratic republic, the right of the people to vote, shall not be infringed.”

Then people would argue endlessly whether a “well educated citizenry” or “the people” have the right to vote.

[sarisataka]

24. That is an interesting

Can of worms

[eppur_se_muova]

17. Oh, heck --- just EDIT the 2nd Amendment ! Replace "bear arms" with "vote" and be done with it. nt

[FeelingBlue]

18. Ezzackly

Not 15 minutes have passed since I was thinking the very same thing. The time has come.

[LiberalFighter]

19. I would love an automatic death penalty for anyone attempting to deny the right.

[sarisataka]

22. Will this be a summary execution?

On the spot would truly send a message

[Mr. Big]

23. By disembowlement.

we can get creative each time.

But I'm also anti-death penalty. But intervening with voting rights should allow the voter to shoot the moron on sight and on the spot.

[lastlib]

34. "Stand your voting booth".......... has a ring to it.....

[DFW]

25. How about a mandatory, unparolable year in jail for every vote denial attempted

Think of those hired Republican sleazebags "registering" people off the street in cities, and then dumping the registrations of people who chose to register as Democrats in the trash dumpster. One of them in Virginia dumped a few hundred registrations in the trash. He might see the light of day again if he was a close relation of Methuselah. Except that all voters would be automatically registered.

Still computer hackers could make people disappear from the rolls, Secretaries of State could team up with the manufacturers of electronic voting machines (which should be abolished anyway), like Kenneth Blackwell did in 2004, to have a pre-programmed statewide result. These people need to know that if they are caught, they go away forever

[oasis]

21. Great idea.

[PoliticAverse]

26. And based on the current intrepetation of the second amendment it would be ok to require...

someone to produce ID in order to exercise the right to vote as that is considered a "reasonable restriction" by the Supreme Court.

[hughee99]

30. Shhhh. We don't want to get into that. Nor do we want to get into "Shall issue" versus "may issue"

election ballots.

[rzemanfl]

38. Enjoy your stay. n/t

[marble falls]

39. All it needed was an alert.

[rzemanfl]

40. Thank you. n/t

[marble falls]

42. You caught him first!

[rzemanfl]

41. MIRT made the poster vanish. n/t

[forgotmylogin]

27. Right!

The mechanism should go the other way than it does now - citizens shouldn't need to register and prove they CAN vote, the authorities should need to prove when they CAN'T.

And fucking with the voter registration database without legal cause should be a crime. Disenfranchising a person should be a singular specific legal process for each person with checks and balances, not just global-search-and-delete anyone with the last name "Lopez".

[Fresh_Start]

28. My number one priority for new congress, fix voting rights

enact legislation where it is a criminal offense to deprive someone of their right to vote.

[DFW]

33. To make it a priority of the two chambers of Congress

THAT will be the real trick. Maybe if Jerry Nadler becomes House Judiciary committee chairman, there will come a major wind change.

[former9thward]

46. Already a law.

52 U.S. Code § 10101 - Voting rights

(1) All citizens of the United States who are otherwise qualified by law to vote at any election by the people in any State, Territory, district, county, city, parish, township, school district, municipality, or other territorial subdivision, shall be entitled and allowed to vote at all such elections, without distinction of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; any constitution, law, custom, usage, or regulation of any State or Territory, or by or under its authority, to the contrary notwithstanding.

(b) Intimidation, threats, or coercion
No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, Delegates or Commissioners from the Territories or possessions, at any general, special, or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any such candidate.

[lastlib]

29. "The right to Vote *and be counted* shall not be infringed."

There. Fixed it.

[Gumboot]

31. Very important detail.

Thank you.

[DFW]

32. Quite right

That should be implied, but recent history has shown us all the need to specify it.

[NotASurfer]

35. It's in the 14th, with a penalty for states that disenfranchise any eligible voters

After the Civil War they figured former Confederate states might simply disenfranchise newly-freed slaves outright. The 14th Amendment was worded so that it is unconstitutional to disenfranchise any eligible voters in statewide or Federal elections

When it happens, the penalty is loss of Representatives, and I think since Electoral votes are based on that as well, that state should have less say in the next Presidential election to boot

Never been put into play to my limited knowledge but it's about time

[DFW]

36. I read through the 14th Amendment again

The wording is quite vague. Congress could always squirm around it, saying no threshold had been reached.

[Byte606]

43. Right to Vote Amendment

You covered it perfectly. I would add one element:

It is the responsibility of the State and Federal governments to assure turnout in elections.

[brertom]

44. 14th 2nd

The 14th amendment, article 2 provides that states that infringe on voting rights can be reapportioned to lose Congressional and Electoral representatives in direct proportion to the number of voters disenfranchised. So, we have that. Now get you Senator or Congresman to ENFORCE the constitution.

[former9thward]

45. Felons in prison could vote?

No thanks.

[DFW]

47. An exception could be made there, but exceptions are a dangerous route to go

Not only are we a country with one of the highest per capita rates of incarceration, but in general--if we make an exception, then the Republicans will want ten. Had an abortion? You can't vote. See where that might lead?