Undeniably the Constitution of the United States protects the rights of all qualified citizens to vote in state as well as federal elections....It has been repeatedly recognized that all qualified voters have a constitutionally protected right to vote, and to have their vote counted....it is equally unquestionable that the right to have one's vote counted is as open to protection ..as the right to put a ballot in a box. Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U. S. 533 (1964); United States v. Mosley, 238 U. S. 383 (1915). Since the law library is closed, I have not had the opportunity to Shepardize these cases. I am assuming that they are still valid. Reynolds v. Sims, Supra. is considered to be a landmark case.
Although I have not been able to find the citation to the case, I have also read that the U. S. Supreme Court has interpreted Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution to mean that the right to vote is a fundamental right. This opens the door to rights and liberties guaranteed by the penumbral areas of the Constitution.
In his concurring opinion Justice Douglas opined ...The right to vote is inherent in the republican form of government envisaged by Article 4 Section 4 of the Constitution. ... The right to vote in both federal and state elections was protected by the judiciary long before that right received the explicit protection it is now accorded by 1343(4) (reference to 28 USC 1343 (4). Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962).
The history of the 15 amendment is kind of interesting. It was part of a series of post civil war reforms. The 13 amendment ended involuntary servitude. The 14 amendment granted citizenship to the former slaves. The 15 amendment granted them the right to vote. It also empowered the federal government to create laws to enforce voting rights. After the 15 amendment was ratified in 1870 there was still a gap to be filled. Although it granted former slaves the right to vote, enforcement was another matter. When I participated in the voter registry drive I heard stories that were absolutely incredible about voters being terrorized to stay away from the polls, exorbitant poll taxes to exclude them, literacy tests indiscriminately applied which no one could pass and reapportionment of voting districts to dilute their votes if they were lucky enough to be able to cast a ballot. Therefore the voting Rights Act of l965 was enacted 95 years later. This is why there was a drive in the southern states for a number of years to register voters.
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