Right to Vote Amendment

Right to Vote Amendment

Everyone should have the right to vote in free and fair elections regardless of who they are or where they live. To that end, FairVote advocates for enshrining an affirmative right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. In pursuit of that ideal, FairVote works to enact policies at the federal, state, and local levels that are consistent with our conviction that voting is not a privilege, but a right.

 The Future of the Voting Rights Act - Intro & Panel 1: http://youtu.be/ZEyKiEvSxM4 via @youtube

Why We Need It

The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy. Yet most Americans do not realize that we do not have a constitutionally protected right to vote. While there are amendments to the U.S. Constitution that prohibit discrimination based on race (15th), sex (19th) and age (26th), no affirmative right to vote exists.
The 2000 Presidential Election was the first time many Americans realized the necessity of a constitutional right to vote. The majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, in Bush v. Gore (2000), wrote, "The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States." The U.S. is one of only 11 other democracies in the world with no affirmative right to vote enshrined in its constitution.

Because there is no right to vote in the U.S. Constitution, individual states set their own electoral policies and procedures. This leads to confusing and sometimes contradictory policies regarding ballot design, polling hours, voting equipment, voter registration requirements, and ex-felon voting rights. As a result, our electoral system is divided into 50 states, more than 3,000 counties and approximately 13,000 voting districts, all separate and unequal.

The Right to Vote Would . . . 

• Guarantee the right of every citizen 18 and over to vote
• Empower Congress to set national minimum electoral standards for all states to follow
• Provide protection against attempts to disenfranchise individual voters
• Ensure that every vote cast is counted correctly

Many reforms are needed to solve the electoral problems we continue to experience every election cycle. The first is providing a solid foundation upon which these reforms can be made. This solid foundation is an amendment that clearly protects an affirmative right to vote for every U.S. citizen.

Four Reasons to Support the Right to Vote Amendment

Nearly every state, as well as most counties, design their own ballots, pursue their own voter education, and have complete authority over their state voting policies and procedures. Voters and potential voters are  much more likely to cast a counted vote in some states, some counties, and some are areas of the country than others, simply based on the difference in standards for each election. Elections in many states are rife with lost and incorrectly counted votes, and many voters are  incorrectly told they cannot cast a ballot...[more]

Constitutional Right to Vote Resources

Four Reasons to Support R2V
PromoteOurVote.com
Sign the Stand with Voters Pledge
Representative Jamie Raskin on the Right to Vote
Journalist John Nichols: Guarantee the Right to Vote
History of a Right to Vote

Where We Are and Where We Need to Go

History of the Right to VoteWhy it took a Constitutional Amendment to end the Poll Tax
Right to Vote F.A.Q.

Legislative Corner

Amendment proposal in Congress, 2011-2012
View Co-Sponsors/Supporters
Contact your Representative or Senator

Event: The Future of Voting Rights

On June 30th, over 100 people attended "The Future of the Voting Rights Act," a morning conference cosponsored by the New America Foundation and FairVote. The conference featured some of the nation's top voting rights experts, who came together to review the recent Supreme Court decision known as NAMUDNO and its impacts, and to think more expansively about voting rights and representation in the United States.
[click here to watch the entire event]