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Originally Posted by politicophile
False. The Constitution prevents you from barring someone from voting because of:
-Their race
-Their previous condition of servitude
-Their gender
-Their failure to pay a poll tax
-Their age, if it is 18 or greater
If the country, or a state, decided to prevent people from voting for a different reason than the ones listed above, it would only be unconstitutional if the courts decided it violated Amendment 14. Otherwise, I don't see how it could be overturned.
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I did say the Constitution AND Amendments. You are wrong tho, the Const. did not bar anyone from voting. The individual states did.
Amend. 14 is the only place where it says "male" and thusly if females did vote it became illegal.
However, the 15th Amend. states:
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Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
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It also gave Congress the right to:
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Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation
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And the 19th gave the right to women.
The 24th stated:
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Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation
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the 26th stated:
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Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation
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So the Constitution pretty much covers whoi can vote..... which is anyone over 18 and a citizen of the USA.
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If you want to bring the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other legislation into it as well, though... things turn out differently.
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This was a power given to Congress by the many amendments and therefore impossible to overturn, unless it infringes on the rights.... which the VRAof1965 does not.
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I also wanted to say that the slippery slope argument above was very funny. "If you start requiring literacy as a qualification for voting, there will be a violent revolution!"
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Laugh if you will but there are plenty of people who believe that government is too strong and if you took their right to vote away.... I think that may be the straw that breaks the back. I don't think a small revolt is too far away anyway. It's not a question of if but rather when.