The Right to Vote is Meaningless Without Political Competition
Voters all across our country are angry and calling for political change. The newly formed Tea Party slogan is, “Take our county back.” Tea Party members are not calling for a rebellion against
The Right to Vote is Meaningless Without Political Competition
Voters all across our country are angry and calling for political change. The newly formed Tea Party slogan is, “Take our county back.” Tea Party members are not calling for a rebellion against a foreign nation that is unjustly ruling our country. Instead the Tea Party wants Americans to take their country back from the self-serving politicians who are ruining American cities, counties, and states.
A few isolated incidents of political discontent are one thing, but the growing number of people across America who are fed up with American politics and politicians signals serious problems with our political system.
The tampering of Chicago elections for 16 years during the Daley administration is just one of countless examples why the United States needs civil rights and election reforms. Besides municipal elections and the rigging of elections in Chicago, we have been subjected to tainted elections for Cook County and Illinois state offices as well as the U.S Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and even the presidency of the United States.
Presidential candidates initially seek the support of local political organizations, just as President Obama first acquired the support of the Chicago political machine before he sought help from local political organizations outside of Illinois. Local political organizations that operate throughout the U.S greatly influence national politics. When regional politicians and political organizations unduly sway local voters in support of their favored presidential candidate, it tarnishes the race and office of U.S. president.
The fact that three additional constitutional amendments to protect voters were necessary shows that our founders in 1791 did not put enough protection for voters into America’s original Constitution. In 1870, which was 79 years after the Constitution was signed, the 15th Amendment prevented the denial of the right to vote on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude.
Even then, from 1870 until the signing of the 1964 Voters Rights Act, the 15th Amendment was not enough to prevent African Americans from being denied their right to vote. Elected officials used literacy tests and poll taxes to disenfranchise African Americans of their voting rights. The 24th Amendment which banned poll taxes, was ratified the same year as the 1964 Voting Rights Act stopped the use of literacy tests.
American women were denied their right to vote on the basis of gender for 129 years from the time the Constitution was ratified. The 19th Amendment guaranteed women their voting rights in 1920.
The first political candidates and leaders were white males. By denying African Americans and women the right to vote, white male political leaders automatically retained their political power. The disenfranchising of voters goes on today just like it has since the Constitution was ratified in 1789. Today, however, disenfranchising voters is done in more subtle ways.
Current politicians do not discriminate against a specific class of voters as they did with African Americans or women. Instead, incumbents and political parties use campaign financing, non-existent or weak ethics laws, and self-serving election rules to limit political competition from outsiders, reformers, or critics. A few reform candidates are lucky enough to be elected, but the current political system is too big and entrenched for any major political change to occur.
The Constitution does not require the United States to have a Democratic and a Republican party. Yet the two major political parties retain their power because the