Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

dickmilde, Project Vote, encourage the young to be involved and to vote. Is that a progressive bad to you?

What do you believe the voting age should be? Reference .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=55101800 ..

Does the voting literacy test idea have any attraction for you? You know how that jibes with history.

Voting rights in the United States ..

The issue of voting rights in the United States has been contentious over the country's history. Eligibility to vote in the U.S. is determined by both Federal and state law. Currently, only citizens can vote in U.S. elections (although this has not always been the case). Who is (or who can become) a citizen is governed on a national basis by Federal law. Absent of federal law or constitutional amendment, each State is given considerable discretion to establish qualifications for suffrage and candidacy within their own jurisdiction.

Over time, the federal role in elections has increased through amendments and enacted legislation, such as the Voting Rights Act. At least four of the fifteen post-Civil War Constitutional amendments were ratified specifically to extend voting rights to different groups of citizens. These extensions state that voting rights cannot be denied or abridged based on

* The no religious test clause of the United States Constitution is found in Article VI, section 3.

* "Race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (15th Amendment, 1870)

* "On account of sex" (19th Amendment, 1920)

* "By reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax" (24th Amendment, 1964)

* "Who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age" (26th Amendment, 1971).

In addition, the 17th Amendment provided for the direct election of United States Senators.

The "right to vote" is explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution in the above referenced Amendments, but only in reference to the fact that the franchise cannot be denied or abridged based solely on the aforementioned qualifications. In other words, the "right to vote" is perhaps better understood, in layman's terms, as only prohibiting certain forms of legal discrimination in establishing qualifications for suffrage. The "right to vote" may or may not be denied for other reasons.

For example, many States require eligible citizens to register to vote a set number of days prior to the election in order to vote. More controversial restrictions include those laws that prohibit convicted felons from voting or, as seen in Bush v. Gore, disputes as to what rules should apply in counting or recounting ballots .. links and more .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States

I'll just throw this one on voter registration in .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registration

Bottom line is that Stossels comment that the young are two stupid to vote since some of them
are not 'informed enough' (take that as suggesting 'the young' are those of 18) .. is stupid.

What is your position on who should be allowed to vote?