Proposed constitutional amendment for voting and election rights

[Heywood J]

Given the timing of the upcoming Congressional and Presidential elections, I'd appreciate feedback on this. Some of it would probably have to be defined by statute or case law, but that's the same for any amendment. I've tried to condense it down as much as possible, to match the length of other amendments.

Section 1. All elections for federal office or the Electoral College conducted within the boundaries of the United States or its territories and dependencies shall be completed on simple paper ballots. Ballots must be intuitively understandable to anyone with a secondary education, and accompanied by simple directions.

Section 2. At least two public hand-counts of all ballots shall occur, the second count occurring one week after the completion of the first. No results shall be certified for any candidate and no offices shall be awarded until all counts are completed and verified. Ballots shall be publicly archived by the federal government for a period of no less than twelve years after the last count.

Section 3. Ballot-counting must always be open to public scrutiny. No part of the election or tabulation process shall at any time be concealed from public observation. Any proceeding that violates a provision in this amendment shall be considered void.

Section 4. It shall be forbidden to use any machine to mark or count a ballot. This does not apply to aids for the disabled and elderly, or supplemental technology to aid public scrutiny of the electoral process.

Section 5. All non-incarcerated citizens and those not convicted of election-related offenses shall have the right to vote in federal elections. Each eligible citizen shall have the right to have one vote counted per office and to cast a ballot until proven ineligible. No company, corporation, or other organization shall have the right to vote in federal elections.

Section 6. No President or Governor shall have the power to pardon, grant clemency, or grant reprieve to anyone convicted of election-related offenses until a period of twelve years has passed. Pre-emptive pardons and clemency shall not be given to individuals or organizations under official suspicion, investigation, or indictment for election-related offenses.

Anything overlooked or forgotten (bearing in mind that this is a proposed amendment, not a public law)? Any grammatical, structural, or other errors? Any comments? Thanks!

[baldguy]

1. Partial counts, tabulation or polling shall be sequestered until the final vote count is verified.

[Heywood J]

2. I'm curious why you feel the count process should be sequestered.

We heard all sorts of howling when Ohio counties declared "states of emergency" to close their doors during the vote count, that it allowed any of those overseeing the count to substitute numbers that might not correspond to the actual ballots, and prevent this from being detected.

[baldguy]

6. I'm not talking about the process - that should be free & open to public scrutiny.

I'm talking about the actual numbers and the speculation about the horse race as who's winning and who is losing.

Remember back to 2000 - as Florida's vote count came in and it became clear that Gore would likely win any count or recount, the GOP and their operatives threw up endless roadblocks to the count, tried to undermine the the whole counting process, threatened to disenfranchise the entire state if Bush didn't "win", and finally brought suit to stop counting the votes. We didn't get a final, accurate vote count until many months later - when we learned that Gore won in fact and that the Bush Presidency was illegitimate in fact - but by then it was too late.

[verges]

3. It looks to me like

in section 5 your giving children the right to vote.

[Heywood J]

4. In theory, the 26th amendment takes care of that, but you're right in that

it should probably be made clearer since it's only a one-word change. Thanks!

Section 5. All eligible non-incarcerated citizens and those not convicted of election-related offenses shall have the right to vote in federal elections. Each eligible citizen shall have the right to have one vote counted per office and to cast a ballot until proven ineligible. No company, corporation, or other organization shall have the right to vote in federal elections.

[harkadog]

5. Section 5 takes away the right to vote for hundreds of thousands.

People who have been arrested but not convicted and are in jail awaiting trial have the right to vote in most states. Also those convicted and serving time in a jail for a misdemeanor have the right to vote. Section 5 would take away their right to vote.