If the Democrats don’t accomplish another single thing this session, they must, absolutely, enact a bullet- proof voting rights law!. This should be done on two fronts: legislative, where an all- inclusive law would make it a Federal crime to suppress the vote in any way, directly or indirectly. The House should get this law passed and on to the Senate immediately, not sooner or later, immediately. There is no legislation more necessary to the survival of our constitutional democracy than that which protects and guarantees the voting right of all citizens, especially the poor and minorities among us. As long as Democrats can maintain some clout or control in Congress, (forget SCOTUS, it is already stacked in Republicans’ favor) it should be possible to protect the law from Republicans or “legislation from the bench” (such as the way SCOTUS gutted the voting rights act of 1968). But legislation, alone, is not enough. We must amend the Constitution to prevent future skin-head-type legislators from sneaking in suppression tactics, such as they are trying right now in various jurisdictions which they control. The amendment should read something like this: “It shall be a federal crime, punishable by imprisonment and fine, for any person or institution to take any action, direct or inshdirect, that will have the intent or the effect of suppressing the vote in a national election.” The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are generally referred to as the “Bill of Rights.” This amendment would be the most important right of all.
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>
Skip to content
A continuing tradition of being boring since 1998