Voting rights???

With the election coming up, states have been struggling to pass their voter ID laws prior to 90 days before the election.  Now that it is within 90 days, the voter registration lists are set.  The President and Department of Justice have filed suit against a number of states because they feel the voter ID laws discriminate against minorities.

We can look to previous court cases to determine exactly what authority the states have in the matter, and what authority the federal courts have.  An early case came in 1875 shortly after the passage of the 15th Amendment.  We also have amendments that cover voting for women and anyone over the age of 18 that have passed since.  All in all the Constitution now protects the rights of people based on race, age, and sex.  Otherwise voter rights are left up to the laws of the state.  United States v. Reese confirmed this.

Reese found "The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution does not confer the right of suffrage, but it invests citizens of the United States with the right of exemption from discrimination in the exercise of the elective franchise on account of their race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and empowers Congress to enforce that right by "appropriate legislation."

It also finds "The third and fourth sections of the Act of May 31, 1570, 16 Stat. 140, not being confined in their operation to unlawful discrimination on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, are beyond the limit of the Fifteenth Amendment and unauthorized."

What does this mean for today?  It means that if a state doesn't willfully discriminate against age, sex, or race in its voting laws that they are legal.  Asking a voter to provide an ID does not discriminate based on any of these because the states that have enacted the law will give a free ID to anyone who can prove they are a legal citizen of the state.  Those are the only people with a right to vote anyway. 

We could take it a step farther.  The Constitution prohibits poll taxes.  It also guarantees the RIGHT to bear arms.  We have a great many laws which require lawful gun owners to pay a fee and they have to go through restrictive background checks.  Using the same logic the left wing people have applied to the 2nd Amendment, we could say the courts would have to uphold the voter ID even if the voter has to pay for the ID.  What works for the goose works for the gander.

I don't favor restricting any right by having to pay for it.  What I do favor is limiting who can cast a vote in our country.  The word "democracy" isn't used in a single founding document.  Only in a democracy is voting access unrestricted.  We are in fact, as guaranteed by the 4th article of the Constitution, a republic.  There is nothing in the Constitution to limit someone from voting who receives government stipends, works for the government, is mentally handicapped, does not know the issues, lacks an education, or a multitude of other problems. 

I urge you to look at the facts before you make a decision on what the courts should do to the states.  Pay attention to the Constitution and what has been decided by our courts in the past.  Perhaps you may change your mind.

Robert Petrowsky