01 November 2014 (04:35 UTC-07 Tango)/08 Muharram 1436/10 Aban 1393/09 Yi-Hai 4712
How many times have you heard civil rights groups say we have a “fundamental right to vote”? I’ve even heard political science professors claim there is a U.S. Constitutional right to vote.
In a classic example of ignorance of their own federal United States Constitution the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens believe they have a right to vote. But wait, I checked the Bill of Rights (the first ten inalienable Rights in the U.S. Constitution) and there is no mention of any ‘right’ to vote!
Mention of a “right to vote” is only found in revokable amendments, I believe starting with Amendment 15. This is key, the first ten “inalienable” Rights are not revokable (a right that cannot be taken away, denied, or transferred), this is what makes them true Rights. Supposedly it would take a meeting of a ‘Continental Congress’ to write a completely new Bill of Rights in order to revoke the one we have (there are ‘western’ countries out there that change their constitutions every freaking year! And never mind that your ‘elected’ officials and the Supreme Court has circumvented the Bill of Rights many times). All other amendments starting with number 11 are revokable at anytime, and in regards to the ‘right’ to vote the U.S. Supreme Court did just that in 2013.
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme court declared the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act to be “unconstitutional”! But that’s my point, since the end of the War between the States, there have been several revokable amendments regarding the privilege of voting (even though it’s referred to as a ‘right’ in the amendments). If there was an inalienable right to vote why are there so many revokable additions to that ‘right’? These federal amendments do not actually create a federal right to vote, but are focused on making sure that each state that allows voting does so without discrimination.
Yes, the Bill of Rights makes no mention of any right to vote, all other ‘rights’ are delegated to the member states to decide. The history of the U.S. states and voting is convoluted, many states granted the privilege to vote to women and former slaves, only to revoke those ‘rights’ just a few years later.
Prior to the middle 20th century many former slaves who were granted the privilege of voting were counted as only three fifths human. Many former pro-slave states required that former slaves had to prove literacy before they could vote, of course most couldn’t read. States got away with this because there is no federal right to vote!
Current state level voter ID laws do not violate any federal right to vote because there is no federal right to vote. The only way voter ID laws can be challenged is if they are proven to violate the revokable federal anti-discrimination amendments.
Here’s a history of revokable federal voting laws, and U.S. states granting and/or revoking the privilege of voting:
1776: The majority of the original 13 states limited the ‘right’ to vote to only ‘white’ landowning men. After all, the Bill of Rights does not dictate a ‘right’ to vote.
1787: The federal government officially delegates the decision to grant the privilege to vote to the states.
1789: Elitist George Washington elected by only 6% of the population!
1848: Former Mexican citizens now living in the territory captured by the United States (during the Mexican American War) are denied the privilege to vote!
1856: The states ratify a new law giving all ‘white’ men, regardless of income, the privilege to vote!
1868-1870: Federal 14th & 15th amendments passed to give former male slaves the privilege of voting, however many states create restrictions such as their vote counts as only three fifths that of a ‘white’ man, they must prove literacy and even pay a tax to vote!
1876: U.S. Supreme Court denies the privilege of voting to Native Americans!
1887: New federal law (Dawes Act) allows Native Americans the privilege to vote, if they officially deny their heritage!
1890: The Indian Naturalization Act adds the additional requirement of ‘becoming’ a U.S. citizen before Native Americans can vote!
1919: Native Americans who serve in the U.S. military can apply for citizenship.
1922: U.S. Supreme Court denies U.S. residents of Japanese heritage the ability to become citizens, thus denying them the privilege to vote! (this also shows you that the Japanese living in the United States and placed into U.S. concentration camps during World War 2 were never considered ‘Japanese Americans’, but alien immigrants)
1923: U.S. Supreme Court denies Indians (from India) the ability to become U.S. citizens, thus denying them the ability to vote!
1924: Federal government allows Native Americans to become citizens, however many states still refuse them the privilege of voting.
1947: A lawsuit brought by a Native American (and ex-Marine) forces states to allow American Aborigines to vote!
1952: People with Asian ancestry are allowed to become U.S. citizens, and vote!
1964: Revokable 24th Amendment passes barring the charging of voting taxes, in federal elections.
1965: Federal Voting Rights Act passed.
1971: Voting age dropped to 18. This is the result of public protests pointing out that a male who turns 18 years of age is considered an adult and is drafted against their will to fight in Vietnam, yet they were not allowed to vote!
1993: Federal Voter Registration Act passed. The intent is to make registration easier for “eligible” citizens. Note that the key word used is “eligible”, revealing that not every U.S. citizen has the ‘right’ to vote, proving my point that it’s a privilege. Many U.S. states deny the privilege of voting to citizens convicted of felonies.
2000: A federal court revokes the ‘right’ of people living in U.S. territories (like Guam & Puerto Rico) to vote for U.S. president, even if they are full fledged U.S. citizens! This court decision came one month before federal elections, and affects at least 4.1-million residents living in the Territories!
2013: U.S. Supreme Court declares parts of 1965 Voting Rights Act to be “unconstitutional”!
Alaska U.S. Territory: 1913, grants women the privilege of voting.
Alabama: 1929, ‘Black’ women are beaten by ‘white’ election officials for trying to vote.
Arizona: 1912, grants women the privilege of voting.
California: 1911, grants women the privilege of voting.
Colorado: 1893, grants women the privilege of voting.
Idaho: 1896, grants women the privilege of voting. The Constitution of Idaho states in Article 1 “RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE GUARANTEED.” But then in Article 6 states “The legislature may prescribe qualifications, limitations, and conditions for the right of suffrage…” One of those rules is 34-435 which states “…the county clerk shall immediately cancel the registration of any elector who did not vote at any primary or general election in the past four (4) years.” Vote recounts are rare in The Gem State because Idaho law requires those who are challenging the count to pay for the recount. This explains the ‘dynastic’ political families and entrenched political parties in the state.
Illinois: 1913, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Indiana: 1917, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Iowa: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Kentucky: 1837, grants women the privilege of voting but only in local school district elections (although not all cities allow it). 1902, revokes the privilege of women voting in school district elections. 1912, grants women restricted voting privilege in local school district elections.
Kansas: 1861, grants women the privilege of voting but only in local school district elections. 1912, grants women the privilege of voting.
Maine: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Michigan: 1918, grants women the privilege of voting.
Minnesota: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Missouri: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Montana U.S. Territory: 1914, grants women the privilege of voting.
Nebraska: 1917, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
New Jersey: 1776, granted the privilege of voting to women who had a minimum of $250 to their name. 1807, revoked the privilege of voting from women.
New York: 1917, grants women the privilege of voting.
Nevada: 1914, grants women the privilege of voting.
North Dakota: 1917, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Ohio: 1894, grants women the privilege of voting but only in local school district elections. 1917, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Oklahoma: 1918, grants women the privilege of voting.
Philippine U.S. Territory: 1925, Filipinos must serve three years military service before becoming citizens and being able to vote!
Puerto Rico U.S. Territory: 1929, grants women the privilege of voting.
Oregon: 1912, grants women the privilege of voting.
Rhode Island: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
South Dakota: 1918, grants women the privilege of voting.
Tennessee: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Utah U.S. Territory: 1870, grants women the privilege of voting.
Washington U.S. Territory: 1910, grants women the privilege of voting.
Washington DC: 1961, residents of the U.S. capital city are allowed to vote for U.S. president for the first time!
Wisconsin: 1919, grants women the privilege of voting but only for the U.S. president.
Wyoming U.S. Territory: 1869, grants women the privilege of voting.
By the way, it was the British empire country of New Zealand which created the first national law granting women the privilege of voting, in 1893. The revokable U.S. 19th Amendment barring discrimination against women and voting was ratified by 1920. Notice I used the word “ratified”, that’s because voting is not a inalienable federal ‘right’, each U.S. state had to ratify the 19th Amendment and Tennessee was the holdout finally accepting the anti-discrimination law in 1920.
This isn’t meant to dissuade you from voting (there are many other reasons for that) but to instill in you the realization that voting in the U.S. is not an inalienable right, but a privilege that could be (and has been) revoked. In other words, “Use it before you lose it”!
However, I agree with the Great George Carlin: “I have solved this political dilemma in a very direct way: I don’t vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, ‘If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,’ but where’s the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote, who did not even leave the house on Election Day, am in no way responsible for what these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that YOU created.”
12 Myths of Western Capitalist “Democracy”
