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Politics : The Castle -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (3256)	4/7/2004 7:51:17 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7936

When trying to decide if I would want an amendment to create such a constitutional right I would first have to decide if I think that having such a constitutional right would be a good thing and then if it is important enough to amend the constitution for. My first quick thought was that it would be a good idea to have an affirmative individual constitutional right to vote. Then I thought about what that would mean. Does it mean everyone? Do 5 year olds and convicted felons get to vote? I suppose you could have the constitution put in place something very similar to the current legal structure. (18+ year olds who are not convicted felons get to vote, or at least most of them do their may be other limitations). Also if the right to vote may not be abridged based on race, sex, or age (except for those under 18), or on having paid a tax (Amendment XXIV), I wonder what it would be abridged based on. Hair color?, or just for a specific person (congress deciding they hate me so they vote that Tim Fowler doesn't have the right to vote), or place of birth (people born in New York can not vote for president)? As a practical matter I think such laws would be nullified by the courts. And at least the specific law about me would probably be an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder. I still lean towards saying a specific right to vote would be a good idea, and I haven't found it in the Constitution (other then the amendments outlawing certain forms of discrimination about who can and can not vote). I'm not sure whether I would support an amendment or not. It would depend on the wording of the amendment and perhaps the reason for the perceived need for an amendment. Tim