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As U.S. citizens, we do not have a constitutional right to vote. There are 6 amendments to The Constitution that relate to voting, yet interestingly, voting itself is not a constitutional right. A search of the word 'vote' in the text of The Constitution turns up 16 results, all related to votes by either the house, senate, or electors, but none related to individuals rights. Therefore, for this assignment, I would add an amendment to The Constitution that allows every citizen, of any race, of any gender, over the age of 18, the right to vote in any election without a tax or fee associated with the vote. This right to vote would be regardless of prior felony convictions. Also, because every citizen has a right to vote, there will be no need for voter registration. Government agencies have the same data we put on voter registration associated with our social security numbers (Kurz, 2018). This new amendment would eliminate any questions as to whether Americans have a right to vote, and consolidate the 6 earlier Amendments.

Today, there is a lot of disagreement nationwide as to what voting rules are acceptable versus constitute voter discrimination. Some examples are I.D. requirements, whether individuals with prior felony convictions can vote, and whether there should be a time limit on voter registration. Rules also vary by state, which is confusing. A big concern of mine is that over 5 million potential voters have been disenfranchised due to prior felony convictions, and this population disproportionately impacts racial minorities (Right to Vote, n.d.). There are too many implications of discriminating against people who have served their time to write in one paragraph, but at a high level I will say that many laws impact the possibility of their successful re-entry into society and therefore they deserve a voice. I strongly feel that the desires of all people should be represented in our laws, and that can only be accomplished by ensuring all people have a right to vote. Without a guiding rule that protects the voting rights of all Americans, we cannot say that the laws represent the desires of all Americans.

For information, the following list of the amendments related to voting were published in What Does the Constitution Say About the Right to Vote? (2022):

The 14th Amendment extends citizenship to all natural born or naturalized Americans regardless of race and guarantees that rights of citizenship, like voting, cannot be restricted by the states.

The 15th Amendment prohibits restricting the right to vote due to race.

The 17th Amendment requires states to elect senators by popular vote.

The 19th Amendment extends voting rights to all women.

The 26th Amendment extends the right to vote to everyone 18 years of age and older.

Additionally, the 24th Amendment explicitly bans poll taxes, which often prevented low-income citizens of all races from voting.

References

Kurz, H. (2018, October 11). Opinion: Registration is a voter-suppression tool. Let's finally end it.

Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/registration-is-a-voter-suppression-tool-lets-finally-end-it/2018/10/11/e1356198-cca1-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html

Right to Vote Amendment. (n.d.) FairVote. https://www.fairvote.org/right_to_vote_amendment

What Does the Constitution Say About the Right to Vote? (2022, February 3). Democracy

Docket. https://www.democracydocket.com/news/what-does-the-constitution-say-about-the-right-to-vote/