If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Some states continue to push needless restrictions on the ability of citizens to participate in elections, and voters and their advocates must remain vigilant against any such efforts. Still, the trend is unmistakable: After years of backsliding, states are embracing free, fair, and accessible elections.
North Carolina is one of the latest examples of this effort, where Republicans are attempting to pass bills that would require voter ID at the polls, reduce early voting hours and eliminate same day voter registration.
On May 11, the world's second most populous Muslim country, Pakistan, marked a historic election. But as Pakistanis rushed to the polling stations to cast their vote, more than 4 million people sat home, separated and disenfranchised.
There are some rights that are so fundamental to our society that you'd think the public debate would be closed on them. The right of every American citizen to vote -- regardless of age, race, or income level -- is one of them. Yet today, this fundamental right is under attack.
Last week, the Delaware State legislature approved a constitutional amendment to allow people with nonviolent felony convictions to vote after their release from prison. This is a major step forward for a nation still struggling to heal old racial wounds.
Americans need to push back strongly against anyone who would weaken the Voting Rights Act or who propose electoral policies that are at best simply divisive, and at worst direct attacks on the ability of people to participate in the process.
Now comes word that on Monday night, Scalia told a group of students that the provision is an "embedded" form of "racial preferment." Even aside from improperly commenting on a pending case, Scalia is wrong.
For the right-wing, shooting must be protected from any restrictions. Voting, however, must be as restricted as possible.
This week, the Takoma Park city council passed a charter amendment by a 6-1 vote on first reading that, if approved when before the council again in the coming month, will be in the best tradition of cities and states leading the nation in advancing voting rights.
Protecting our democracy starts with protecting the fundamental right to vote. The U.S. is one of only eleven of the 119 democratic countries in the world that do not explicitly provide the right to vote in their Constitutions.
At a time when this country needs to pull together, when the world is embroiled in difficult financial and life-changing struggles there are states that are trying to rip our democracy apart.
Rising civic participation among young voters should be greeted with the same bipartisan joy with which the 26th Amendment passed. But instead, it's been met with the opposite: a barrage of state-level laws meant to make it harder for young people to vote.
Life is increasingly busy. People are spending more time working, traveling and trying to make ends meet in a rough economy. What better timing for policymakers to make seemingly innocuous changes to something as important as voting rights and slip them past a preoccupied electorate?
Friends in D.C. often greet me with, "What the hell is going on down in your home state?" I'm getting awfully tired of trying to defend the state as a whole by writing those in the legislature in Raleigh off as ideologues. It is getting harder and harder to do so.
Every Opening Day I reflect on all the hope that lies ahead for my team, and the zen of the ballyard that makes life worth living. So today, here are six lessons from America's pastime for American democracy.
Why don't we make this easy and agree that equal rights belong to all Americans, and then legislate and litigate accordingly? Fair enough?
Most Popular
