Talk:Voting rights in the United States

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[edit] Right to Vote?

The Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments prohibit the States from various restrictions on voting right, but exactly where does the Constitution actually grant the right to vote? If it does not, perhaps this article should address that omission. El charangista 01:03, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

The Constitution mentions in several places that the states handle the election process. Such as in Section 4. Then there's the concept that the people have all the rights and they grant only some tasks to the government. (SEWilco 18:11, 13 April 2007 (UTC))
The Constitution never explicitly grants ANYONE the right to vote. There is a requirement that each state has a democratically-elected state government. There is a statement that members of the House of Representatives are to be elected by the people. It was left to the states to determine the electorate. The 15th, 19th, and 26th (and to some extent, the 14th) amendments merely limit what restrictions the states can place on voting rights. Schoop 17:24, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

I was doing some cleanup on the Suffrage article, and moved an external link (here) which relates to this. There should probably be a paragraph on this - perhaps as a subsection of an "other initiatives" section, another of which could be the DC paragraph. - David Oberst 00:28, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

In an article about the "right to vote" there must be some mention of the source of that right. In fact, the American constitution, which provides many rights to its citizens in the Bill of Rights, does not provide any right to vote. The American Revolution did not extend the franchise any more than it ended slavery. Voting in America is a privilege. --The Four Deuces (talk) 09:21, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Property Based Voting Rights

It probably should say something on this page about when the right to vote was extended to the working class -- i.e. when restrictions on owning property was removed. Was the right there all along? Surely somebody must know! Mozric 01:01, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Under "National milestones of franchise extension", it says "Landless white men: 1856" but that's it. The article should spell out if there was always a property qualification before that. Grant | Talk 14:40, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
Is there any proof or citiation for the assertion that landless white men were given suffrage only in 1856. I want to delete that point, if there is no sufficient proof.Balajiviswanathan (talk) 00:06, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
Hmmm..., try pages 13 and 15 of this and page 90 of this as arguments against the 1856 date. Also see this, particularly the second paragraph, which might bear on this. -- Boracay Bill (talk) 04:10, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] nonresident citizens?

I think this bit is confusing, but don't know how to clear it up:

US Citizens residing overseas who would otherwise have the right to vote are granteed the right to vote in federal elections by UOCAVA. [1]
U.S. Citizens who do not meet residency requirements (e.g., insular area residents and nonresident expatriates) are not afforded congressional representation, and are not enfranchised to vote in federal elections.

I added the first paragraph to make it clear that just being overseas doesn't remove your right to vote, but I'm not sure what to do about the 2nd; I think there is a class of citizens described there, e.g. Puerto Ricans maybe, but it's confusing to include "nonresident expatriates" in the description unless that's a technical term somehow. --69.235.245.41 13:52, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Speaking as a layman, and adding emphasis to point up certain bits of the following -
  • Article One of the United States Constitution says, in Section 2, Clause 1 :"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature."
  • That same article says, in Section 2, Vlause 1: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote." However, the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution says, in Section 1: "The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures."
  • Article Two of the United States Constitution says, in Section , Clauses 1 and 2: "The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector."
  • The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution says, in Section 1: "The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment."
As I read that, voting for elective federal offices may only take place via the several states or via the DofC. Accordingly, implementation of UOCVA appears to be via each individual U.S. State (see the section in this document headed "GOVERNORS' REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGES IN STATE LAW MADE UNDER FEDERAL VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM"). The question, then, is whether each of the 50 U.S. States and the DofC considers a person who acquired Jus soli U.S. citizenship through birth within the jurisdiction of that U.S. State or the DofC to be, for voting purposes, a person of that state (or district) and whether each U.S. State and the DofC has implemented mechanisms whereby such persons may vote by absentee ballot.
Take my own case for example—I personally am a U.S. Citizen expat who does not maintain a residence in any of the U.S. states or in the DofC. I was born in Chicago, and now make my home in the Philippines. I am neither a U.S. Government employee nor a member of the U.S. Uniformed Services. As far as I can find, I do not have the right to vote in Illinois unless the Illinois General Assembly has made special provision for my case (i.e. born in Illinois but no longer resident there). (see Article 3, Section 1 here.) AFAICT, no such provision has been made by the Illinois General Assembly.
Other relevant expat situations besides mine may exist (e.g., expats who are naturalized citizens, expats who are Jus soli citizens born in incorporated territories or unincorporated territories, possibly other cases). -- Boracay Bill 23:03, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proportion of African Americans in southern states

African Americans were voting in southern states during Reconstruction, even where they were in a majority. They did not elect only African Americans to office, and whites continued to dominate state legislatures during Reconstruction. It's true that whites feared their political power, but the statement as written is confusing. Whites wanted to reduce their power and return to white supremacy.--Parkwells (talk) 21:37, 4 May 2008 (UTC)