Submitted by J Thompson on August 13, 2012 - 9:09pm.
The US Constitution may not explicitly guarantee it (though since
it is mentioned elsewhere, it's probably included as a right that is
not to be disparaged by not being explicitly stated).
However, the MINNESOTA Constitution says this:
| ARTICLE VII
| ELECTIVE FRANCHISE
| Section 1. Eligibility; place of voting; ineligible persons.
| Every person 18 years of age or more who has been a citizen of the United States for three months
| and who has resided in the precinct for 30 days next preceding an election shall be entitled to vote
| in that precinct. ...
So, the same as in many other states, we *are* guaranteed the right to vote.
Submitted by Adam Minter on August 14, 2012 - 4:01am.
What an ugly and ignorant comment. The Constitution of the United
States affirmatively guarantees - four times! - "the right of every
citizen to vote" via the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments - each of
which is designed to protect or expand that right against state
encroachments.
Submitted by Cecil North on August 14, 2012 - 9:14am.
So, the 2nd Amendment grants the "feckless, too mentally disabled
or chemically dependent, or simply disconnected" an unfettered right to
own guns, supposedly to protect themselves from our own government, but
they have no such right to simply vote for the government of their
choice? Talk about your "dirty secrets".
Submitted by Paul Udstrand on August 13, 2012 - 9:30pm.
Dennis asks:
"But how do they expect to find any cases of voter impersonation when people are not required to identify themselves?"
Every voter's identity is verified as part of the voter registration
process. The fact that you don't show an ID at the poll on election day
does not mean you have not been identified. You have to register to
vote, and every registration is verified... every single registration.
Zero cases of voter impersonation, and 10 cases of in person voter fraud
in 12 years NATIONWIDE.
Mr. Swift is actually expressing his own dirty little secret that of
many Republicans and conservative: they don't actually believe in
democracy. They don't trust it, they don't believe in universal
suffrage, and they don't want people who don't vote they way vote... to
vote at all.
Submitted by Ray Schoch on August 14, 2012 - 4:51pm.
Having read all the comments, I have to agree with Paul:
“…Mr. Swift is actually expressing his own dirty little secret that
of many Republicans and conservative: they don't actually believe in
democracy. They don't trust it, they don't believe in universal
suffrage, and they don't want people who don't vote they way vote... to
vote at all.”
What Mr. Swift alleges is boilerplate right wing hysteria, fueled
largely by racism, and perhaps somewhat by other cultural prejudices.
Most of his comment is essentially a children's rant against people he
doesn't like, and to whom he ascribes quite a few negative
characteristics without, of course, any supporting evidence at all.
If significant election fraud were a genuine issue, perhaps voter ID would be a sensible response.
It isn't, and it isn't.
The push for voter ID as a requirement for voting has grown out of
right-wing paranoia created to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The
REAL problem, as Paul suggests, is that too many people are voting for
candidates of whom Mr. Swift, Mr. Tester, and others of their political
persuasion do not approve. Ergo, they must be not only wrong, but
criminally deceptive.
A particular shout-out to Adam Minter, who rather conclusively shows
that, as is often the case, Mr. Swift doesn't know what he's talking
about simply from the standpoint of facts.
However, the MINNESOTA Constitution says this:
| ARTICLE VII
| ELECTIVE FRANCHISE
| Section 1. Eligibility; place of voting; ineligible persons.
| Every person 18 years of age or more who has been a citizen of the United States for three months
| and who has resided in the precinct for 30 days next preceding an election shall be entitled to vote
| in that precinct. ...
"The right of the citizens of the United States to vote ..."
Guns yes, votes, no.
Dirty secrets and finding fraud
"But how do they expect to find any cases of voter impersonation when people are not required to identify themselves?"
Every voter's identity is verified as part of the voter registration process. The fact that you don't show an ID at the poll on election day does not mean you have not been identified. You have to register to vote, and every registration is verified... every single registration. Zero cases of voter impersonation, and 10 cases of in person voter fraud in 12 years NATIONWIDE.
Interesting commentary
If significant election fraud were a genuine issue, perhaps voter ID would be a sensible response.
It isn't, and it isn't.
The push for voter ID as a requirement for voting has grown out of right-wing paranoia created to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The REAL problem, as Paul suggests, is that too many people are voting for candidates of whom Mr. Swift, Mr. Tester, and others of their political persuasion do not approve. Ergo, they must be not only wrong, but criminally deceptive.