I read that yesterday President Obama “suggested” that the Constitution be changed to make voting mandatory. Now let that sink in for a moment. My initial knee jerk reaction was one of disbelief, immediately followed by abject panic. Could he really be serious? I concluded that, yes, he was. He said he “thought it would be ‘fun’ for the U.S. to consider amending the Constitution ………. But don’t hold your breath.” Such ‘fun’ should scare the bej
eebers out of any thinker, senior or otherwise.
I could go into a long treatise on how such actions, with mathematical certainty, would absolutely destroy the actual fabric upon which our nation was conceived and built. I will leave that to another time, sooner rather than later.
I have read the Constitution, and keep a copy in my office for periodic reference, and no where does it mandate that all must vote. In my opinion too high a percentage of current voters are not qualified to vote, nor do they have knowledge of the issues upon which they are voting. The Constitution addresses this with the following examples:
- The Constitution seems to be pretty clear that electors should be qualified (although it doesn’t list what that qualification should be) – See Art. I-Sec 2.1 – “Electors in each state shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors……”; and Art. XVII -1.1 The Electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite……… (An elector is defined in Dictionary.com as a person who elects or may elect, especially a qualified voter.)
- Other Articles state only that the vote cannot be denied or abridged due to age (Art. XII-2 and Amendment XXVI); race or color (Art. XV); Sex (Art. XIX); or payment of taxes (Art. XXIV-1)
- Notice that it doesn’t say that those things are qualifications, but merely that the vote cannot be denied to those persons for those reasons. Maybe we should start determining a realistic “qualification” for voting rather than a mandatory voting with no qualifications. Again, to use the President’s own words, this “would completely change the political map in this country,” and would be “potentially
transformative.”
Lately, politicians on both sides of the isle have been playing Russian Roulette with the Constitution – blurring the lines between the Judicial, Legislative and Executive Branches of Government.
In a later post I will spend more time developing the concept of qualifications for voting and other concepts that seem so basic yet never see the light of day in the aisles of Congress. As they say in radio……..stay tuned.
I would like to hear about any of your hot buttons on these subjects, and would be happy to post any that have real merit. Let me hear from you.