Vote!

“In order to form a more perfect union…”

There is little disagreement or debate that from the time of its inception and implementation that the United States Constitution was flawed, and did not completely or accurately reflect the intent of the framers and the founders.

What is also not in dispute was that the men who wrote our founding documents held a firm belief that the American citizen would understand their fundamental constitutional rights and exercise them at will- the thought of abdicating them was anathema to them.

Today, either through ignorance, self serving political motivations or outright stupidity politicians and media commentators are trying to hoist the canard that somehow fringe elements from throughout the political spectrum will try to suppress the vote of the American electorate by creating nefarious scenarios that cannot exist.

This is not possible if the electorate has even a cursory understanding of and an understanding of the history behind the right to vote under the Constitution.

Initially the Constitution afforded the right to vote only to white men. This was based upon the mores of the time; it was not an attempt to disenfranchise the populace.

The march towards that more perfect union then began with amending the constitution.

The fifteenth amendment extended that right to all men, regardless of race, color or condition of servitude, language specifically written to allow for the right of former slaves to vote. That right did not effectively become inclusive until almost 100 years later, with the Civil Rights voting Act of 1964.

The nineteenth amendment further expanded the right to vote to women, forbidding exclusion based upon gender.

Certain areas of the nation attempted to circumvent the federal protections afforded the electorate by imposing poll taxes upon the citizenry. This ridiculous attempt to suppress the free exercise of the fundamental tenet of a democracy was permanently removed by the passage of the twenty-fourth amendment. It strictly forbids any type of poll tax or any financial encumbrance in order to vote.

The most recent constitutional amendment to extend the inclusive nature of the vote was the enacting of the twenty-sixth amendment, lowering the age to participate in the electoral process to those who have attained the age of eighteen.

These four amendments have by their design had the intent of expanding the size of the electorate and insuring that the right to vote cannot be limited by anything other than the Constitution.

The health and well being of a thriving democracy lays solely within its populace exercising their democratic rights. There can be no suppression to vote unless by an individual choice of apathy.

Recent legislative activity has diminished the sense of responsibility that comes with United States citizenship. Attaching the enrollment to vote with the department of motor vehicles is absurd on the face of it yet it is now the accepted norm. Once a fundamental right is so diluted, it can be manipulated at will and we as a nation must not allow the voting booth to become a vestigial organ in the body politic.

We must as a nation stand up and declare that each and every citizen has a right to vote, and that they must exercise that responsibility at every opportunity, be it for dog catcher or president.