Fair Elections Fading Fast!

Fair Elections Fading Fast!

When the architects of this nation "ordained and established" the Constitution, they realized government by "consent of the governed" required discretion in who would be granted voting rights - the sacred right to choose who would best represent our values, and how those values would be expressed.  Recognizing there would be great diversity in determining what criteria should be applied in granting sovereignty to "the people", they added the 10th amendment to both allow and ensure broad diversity in granting suffrage.  The abiding concern was always two-fold; maximizing the rights of citizens to participate in self-government; and ensuring the caliber and competence of those who would mold our government.

"When the country was founded, in most states, only white men with real property (land) or sufficient wealth for taxation were permitted to vote. Freed African Americans could vote in four states. Unpropertied white men, almost all women, and all other people of color were denied the franchise. At the time of the American Civil War, most white men were allowed to vote, whether or not they owned property. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and even religious tests were used in various places, and most white women, people of color, and Native Americans still could not vote." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States)

For as long as the United States has existed there have been those who sought to manipulate government to suit their nefarious purposes by manipulating votes or disenfranchisement of voters.  Although voting is probably the single most important element of self-government, it has become cavalier and careless in those allowed to participate, and how that participation is granted.  Nevertheless, for the past 236 years dedicated and concerned Americans have been seeking methods of maximizing the caliber of government by ensuring the rights of citizens to reliably and responsibly exercise "consent of the governed".