Constitutional right to vote by Ron Walters

[Democrats_win]

From Jesse Jackson Jr.'s website

http://www.jessejacksonjr.org/
(under Issues & Positions then Articles/interviews/speeches)

THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO VOTE
by Ron Walters, NNPA Columnist (National Newspaper Publishers Association)
Friday, December 9, 2004

The election of 2004 tells us at least one thing: our right to vote is not secure and so we need a federal right to vote with standards and the enforcement of those standards by the attorney general of the United States, rather than the patchwork, chaotic and unequal administration by states that we now have.

The lack of the integrity of the American system of elections is as suspect as the recent Ukranian election that brought out hundreds of thousands of people into the streets there. It also prompted President Bush to issue a statement characterizing the election as corrupt and poorly administered. He could have said the same thing about each of his own elections.

I applaud Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. for the vision to demand that there be an amendment to the Constitution that wipes away all ambiguity about the right to vote, even though there are legal scholars who assert that it exists, buried in the bowels of one arcane court decision or another. However, I also know that as of the last election, 31 of the governors in the 50 states are Republican, representing a party that has shown a peculiar fondness for states' rights in this era of history. So a Constitutional amendment that takes away the right of the political officials in their states to "administer" the elections would no doubt be opposed.

A case in point is the secretary of state in Ohio, Kenneth Blackwell, a Black Republican. Blackwell who, it has been reported, desires to run for governor, did everything that he could in that state to influence the election for George Bush. Initially, he proclaimed that voter registration forms would not be considered legal unless they were on 80-pound paper stock, a position that was reversed in the face of a public outcry.

He also ruled that people could not fill out provisional ballots in any other precinct than that in which they resided. And his underlings routinely instructed ex-felons that they could not vote - until the courts ruled otherwise. So onerous were his actions that at one point, a demonstration against him was held by various progressive groups involved in voter registration.

Continued at Jesse Jackson Jr.'s website under Issues/positions then Articles/interviews/speeches

[Demeter]

1. We Ought to Bring Suit Before the Supreme Court

OUr constitutional rights have been grossly violated. Every citizen has standing, and therefore there would be no excuse not to hear the case. We could get some real relief from unauditable voting machinery, inadequate voting facilities, and election officials with gross conflicts of interest.

[klyon]

2. what recourse do we have when

our elections are rigged, stolen and broken.

Do we take votes from candidates that suppress the vote? No

Do we arrest people that deny voters their right? No

Do we try to fix glaring problems in voter access to the polls? No

Can we see clearly how our vote was counted? No

The people that cheat our country are elected to higher office. It's not enough to change outcome so nothing happens. What were the principles we stood for again?

It is too late now, democracy is dead in america. We are all fascists now, it is for our own good.

KL

[indepat]

3. What constitutional rights? There are no constitutional rights....