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Lee's Summit, MO —
Occasionally, I have to flag-wave to remind others that millions of American men and women from Concord to the mountains of Afghanistan have died for our priceless gift of freedom and our undeniable right to vote. The honor of voting is not a privilege, like owning a driver’s license, but a right, a Constitutional right, and enforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 15th Amendment that reads:
Section 1. 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Now that right – for mostly the elderly, the poor and minorities – is being threatened by two words, “photo identification,” a movement to show proof of American citizenship.
Sixteen states with some form of voter photo identification include: Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan and South Dakota.
Many of these states are being challenged, citing Constitutional validity.
A 93-year-old Pennsylvania grandmother, who has voted in every election since 1962, is suing Pennsylvania because she does not have a birth certificate or a driver’s license.
Texas is also being challenged and that case may be resolved in the Supreme Court.
Missouri is one of 16 states that do not require photo IDs. However, that may change by the next general election. Leading the fight for requiring all Missouri voters to have a photo ID is Republican state Rep. Shane Schoeller from Willard. Representative Schoeller told me that his bill (HB1104) was passed in the House but has been tabled in the Senate. Asked why such a bill is needed he said, “So every vote is protected.” He was concerned about voter fraud, even though there are few incidents in Missouri or nationwide. Schoeller cited Colorado, which had nearly 5,000 non-naturalized citizens voting in a recent election.
Say it isn’t so. Many pundits charge that states controlled by Republicans are championing such laws, under the guise of preventing voter fraud, and are preventing nearly 5 million eligible America voters from voting.
Whatever one’s political persuasion, the right to vote, that keystone of American democracy, should never be impeded for to do so would be “un-American.”
I give you President John Adams’ toast: Independence forever.
Occasionally, I have to flag-wave to remind others that millions of American men and women from Concord to the mountains of Afghanistan have died for our priceless gift of freedom and our undeniable right to vote. The honor of voting is not a privilege, like owning a driver’s license, but a right, a Constitutional right, and enforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 15th Amendment that reads:
Section 1. 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Now that right – for mostly the elderly, the poor and minorities – is being threatened by two words, “photo identification,” a movement to show proof of American citizenship.
Sixteen states with some form of voter photo identification include: Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan and South Dakota.
Many of these states are being challenged, citing Constitutional validity.
A 93-year-old Pennsylvania grandmother, who has voted in every election since 1962, is suing Pennsylvania because she does not have a birth certificate or a driver’s license.
Texas is also being challenged and that case may be resolved in the Supreme Court.
Missouri is one of 16 states that do not require photo IDs. However, that may change by the next general election. Leading the fight for requiring all Missouri voters to have a photo ID is Republican state Rep. Shane Schoeller from Willard. Representative Schoeller told me that his bill (HB1104) was passed in the House but has been tabled in the Senate. Asked why such a bill is needed he said, “So every vote is protected.” He was concerned about voter fraud, even though there are few incidents in Missouri or nationwide. Schoeller cited Colorado, which had nearly 5,000 non-naturalized citizens voting in a recent election.
Say it isn’t so. Many pundits charge that states controlled by Republicans are championing such laws, under the guise of preventing voter fraud, and are preventing nearly 5 million eligible America voters from voting.
Whatever one’s political persuasion, the right to vote, that keystone of American democracy, should never be impeded for to do so would be “un-American.”
I give you President John Adams’ toast: Independence forever.
