VOTE

“”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, “”- U.S. Declaration of Independence

I hear, quite often, from my friends on the Right, that we are a Constitutional Republic...and “Not a Democracy”...
I counter with the perfectly obvious, that we are Both....we choose who will Represent Us Democratically.
How else to measure what the Governed Consent to?
In the last couple of years...longer if you want to include the Purges in Florida, in 2000...Republicans have been very busy attempting to gut the Right to Vote.
They do this with a Straw Man: the Myth that there is widespread Voter Fraud(hey, it works against welfare,lol)
Of course, they can provide no evidence of such widespread Voter Fraud, because there is practically None...save for the shenanigans that the GOP has engaged in, in 2000, in 2004(Ken Blackwell, I'm looking at you) and in the various scandals regarding “Voting Machines” that suddenly “Flip” to the GOP side.
Now, there are various groups(Right Wingers love their “Grass Roots” Groups) whose sole purpose is to agitate and spread manure all over Voting Rights.
In one highly ironic instance, the Right found a few “Activist Judges” on the Supreme Court(Shelby) who did their bidding and gutted the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1964.
The reason given, in a nutshell, was that Racism is over.(yay)
Immediately, various Republican controlled States implemented draconian Voter ID laws and engaged in other sundry suppression techniques.
I think everyone would agree that showing an ID at the polls would be just fine...but these states simultaneously restricted which ID's were acceptable and limited(due to budget cuts) the places where such ID's were to be had.
This had the predicted effect: Democratic Voters were hardest hit.
This was the Intention of all these laws and rule changes...to limit Democratic Suffrage.
Turns out that Republicans' electoral successes are inversely proportional to the number of people who turn up to vote...so it's in their interest to limit the number of folks who do so.
They simply cannot compete without cheating...which says a lot.
Here's a few overviews of what has happened...it's shocking, really:
http://rolandmartinreports.com/blog/2012/04/roland-s-martin-gop-voter-suppression-is-real-and-must-be-stopped/
http://billmoyers.com/2014/10/24/voter-discrimination/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/jim-greer-florida-voting-laws_n_2192802.html

The Google Machine turns up lots of information on the Right to Vote.
It is only Implied in the Constitution.
But it is Implied very Strongly...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consent_of_the_governed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/what-does-the-constitution-actually-say-about-voting-rights/278782/

Ergo...I (and others, it turns out) propose a Constitutional Amendment Guaranteeing the Inalienable Right to Vote.
There is simply no reason not to, unless you don't like fair elections, for some reason.

http://www.fairvote.org/reforms/right-to-vote-amendment/

https://www.aclu.org/aclu-factsheet-voting-rights-amendment-act-2015-house

Here's one of the founders of the Right Wing Counter-Revolution, saying very clearly, and without subterfuge, that the Right doesn't want folks to vote, because they can't win that way:


https://action.aclu.org/secure/congress-repair-voting-act
http://www.fairvote.org/reforms/right-to-vote-amendment/
http://www.fairvote.org/assets/FairVotes-Perspective-on-a-Right-to-Vote-Amendment-03.13.2014update.pdf



I am pleased as pudding that Hillary has had the Stones to come out so forcefully on this issue.
I'll still vote for Bernie in the Primary, but it's good to see some spine in the Democratic Frontrunner.
Let the Republicans squirm.
Let them come out and explain why an Amendment to the Constitution Guaranteeing the Right to Vote is a bad idea...and why We the People cannot be trusted with such a Right.
The GOP...especially their Governors...have been soft-balled on this issue for long enough.
They say confusing things, like how they want “Free and Fair Elections” and talk at length about “the Integrity of Our Elections”...But at the same time, they present no evidence that the Voter Suppression, Anti-Suffrage Laws they have signed will do anything to ensure such Integrity.
Indeed, I allege that they don't really want that, at all.
What they really want is for folks who tend to vote for Democrats excluded from Elections.
Again, there is no Evidence of widespread Voter Fraud.

Come clean, Republicans.
All the rest of you...hold their feet to the fire.
The Right to Vote should be Sacrosanct...you cannot have a Legitimate Representative Republic without it.
It should be easy and automatic.
At 18, you get an ID that is also your Voter Registration Card.
The President could probably make Passports function in this way, and make it cheaper and easier at the same time.
It should cost next to nothing.
Let there be Fingerprints to please the Rabid Right.
So that there is no question.

In Wesberry v Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 17; 84 S. Ct. 526; 11 L. Ed. 2D 481 (1964) , Justices said:
“[N]o right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”3
Here we are, once again, fighting for the maintenance of the Social Contract...which is not even in the Curriculum where I live.
(“sounds like socialism” )
Representative Government requires that Our Representatives be chosen by the Majority of Voters in a given District.
It's how We choose County Commissioners, and City Council Members and Mayors, and who shall be in various and sundry Governmental and even Quasi-Governmental Offices.
It is how We in Texas Ratify the numerous Amendments to the Texas Constitution that come before us every so often.
“Consent of the Governed” means just that...you have to ask the People.
This is most effectively done by Elections, wherein the People Vote.
Otherwise such Government has no Legitimacy.
“True the Vote” should mean, “Make damned sure that the People can be Heard”.
Enough with the Doublespeak!
Let the GOP defend themselves.