RANT & CHAT - Politics Allowed

[thepennyking]

There is no constitutional right to vote in presidential elections

At least according to this article:

http://us.cnn.com/2000/LAW/12/columns/fl.dorf.righttovote.12.13/

"Whatever the resolution of these delicate questions, the Supreme Court's Palm Beach County decision has spotlighted a substantial deficiency in our Constitution as currently understood: We have no constitutional right to vote for president -- or even for presidential electors. That should change.

Of course, in many parliamentary systems of government, the people do not directly vote for the head of government, and so there is nothing inherently undemocratic about an indirect choice (through elected legislatures, not direct vote). But there is a substantial difference in national self-understanding.

We do not live under a parliamentary system of government, and presidents often claim authority -- a "mandate" -- for their actions on the ground that they alone have been chosen by the whole body of the American people. It is time for a constitutional amendment that makes the truth of that claim more than a matter of state legislative whim."

Wouldn't you agree?