2012/10/31 aGREATER.US <[email protected]> > Hello Jameson, > > Thank you for your thoughtful response. I REALLY like "first step" > actions. May I post this on aGREATER.US as its own unique policy? >
Absolutely. > > Cheers > Jon > > > you wrote... > << > For me, the universal rule I would start from is: the right to vote and to > have that vote counted if possible. > > This right is not explicitly enumerated in the constitution; the closest > it comes is "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this > Union a Republican Form of Government". In an Luther v Borden, an 1840 case > in which reformers in Rhode Island were arrested for trying to organize a > state constitutional convention (!), this clause was held to be outside the > purview of the courts — which puts it directly under the purview of the > legislative branch. This interpretation was upheld during Reconstruction > and after. > > Congress could therefore pass a law saying "Each citizen has a right to > vote, to have that vote counted, to have the voting process be free of > fraud; and that the public has a right to verify these rights are upheld. > Voting rules which circumscribe one of these rights are acceptable only if > they proportionally increase another of them." >> > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 31, 2012, at 9:47 AM, Jameson Quinn < <[email protected]> > [email protected]> wrote: > > > For me, the universal rule I would start from is: the right to vote and to > have that vote counted if possible. > > This right is not explicitly enumerated in the constitution; the closest > it comes is "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this > Union a Republican Form of Government". In an Luther v Borden, an 1840 case > in which reformers in Rhode Island were arrested for trying to organize a > state constitutional convention (!), this clause was held to be outside the > purview of the courts — which puts it directly under the purview of the > legislative branch. This interpretation was upheld during Reconstruction > and after. > > Congress could therefore pass a law saying "Each citizen has a right to > vote, to have that vote counted, to have the voting process be free of > fraud; and that the public has a right to verify these rights are upheld. > Voting rules which circumscribe one of these rights are acceptable only if > they proportionally increase another of them." > >
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