Rarely, if ever, in past years have I seen a victory at the level of a state legislature over a proposed "voter I.D. law." Nebraska is now such a state. The Brad Blog reports that opponents of a proposed voter I.D. law in Nebraska have killed the proposal outright, taking advantage of Nebraska's unicameral non-partisan chamber.
The reason mentioned for the successful squelching of the bill is the same reason in every state -- insufficient grounds. Nebraskans seem content with the philosophy that if a system isn't broken, don't fix it.
No Constitutional Right
Meantime, there is no Constitutional right to vote as such -- even after all these years, and there never was.* Most people do not realize that the right to vote is right not explicitly stated in the Constitution.
The Constitution set up a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. There were good reasons at the time, and there continue to be good reasons, why the average citizen is not able to take the time to get all the necessary facts in order to make good law. I support the representative form of government. At the same time, the Constitution makes no mention whatever of the profit system and certainly not the egregious system of corporatized strangulation we have today.
* Wikipedia has this statement which I regard to be meritorious and essentially correct: The "right to vote" is not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution except in the above referenced amendments, and 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. States may deny the "right to vote" for other reasons. See: < http://www.ask.com/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States?lang=en >
Nebraska Voter I.D. Victory -- Brad Blog
The reason mentioned for the successful squelching of the bill is the same reason in every state -- insufficient grounds. Nebraskans seem content with the philosophy that if a system isn't broken, don't fix it.
No Constitutional Right
Meantime, there is no Constitutional right to vote as such -- even after all these years, and there never was.* Most people do not realize that the right to vote is right not explicitly stated in the Constitution.
The Constitution set up a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. There were good reasons at the time, and there continue to be good reasons, why the average citizen is not able to take the time to get all the necessary facts in order to make good law. I support the representative form of government. At the same time, the Constitution makes no mention whatever of the profit system and certainly not the egregious system of corporatized strangulation we have today.
* Wikipedia has this statement which I regard to be meritorious and essentially correct: The "right to vote" is not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution except in the above referenced amendments, and 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. States may deny the "right to vote" for other reasons. See: < http://www.ask.com/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States?lang=en >
Nebraska Voter I.D. Victory -- Brad Blog
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