voting rights
“Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power! Don’t freely give it away.”
-Denard
The Issue:
States across our country are excitedly passing voting restriction laws under the guise of “voting integrity” following consistent, and false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 elections. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, false claims of fraud continue to inspire the passage of laws that have the very objective impact of disenfranchising predominantly black and brown voters. The U.S. Government has an obligation to ensure that ALL of its eligible persons have equal access to free and fair elections. The U.S. Government must release itself from the adherence to, and upholding of procedural vestiges of voter disenfranchisement and white supremacy in order to more fully become a Democratic nation.
Precedent:
Constitutional Authority:
Article IV, Sec. 4 [Article IV] of the United States Constitution dictates that The United States guarantees a republican form of government:
“The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislatures, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence”
Amendment 14 [Amendment 14] of the United States Constitution dictates that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. It goes on to prohibit states from making or enforcing any law that would abridge the privileges of the citizens of the United States. Section 1 concludes by stipulating that states may not deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Amendment 15 [Amendment 15] of the United States Constitution outlines the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
benefit to California:
The United States of America has a responsibility to ensure that its citizens have equal representation within the Government. By continuing to delay action while States continue to disenfranchise predominately black and brown communities, the United States fails to meet that obligation. This not only weakens our Democracy, but it is also makes the United States complicit in this voter disenfranchisement. We cannot continue to call ourselves a Democracy; the people’s government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people, if we do not give ALL the people a voice.
Ensuring that American voters have free and fair elections benefits 24.8 million eligible California voters, and would theoretically help inspire the remaining 2.7 million eligible Californians to register to vote. Passage of this legislation moves our country a step closer to being not just a more perfect Union, but a more equitable Union as well.