Do we really have the right to vote?

If you asked most anyone if the right to vote is in the Constitution, they would most likely say “yes.”

That would be half correct. The Constitution does not explicitly grant the right to vote. The Supreme Court unambiguously confirmed this in Bush v. Gore (2000). In that decision, the Court stated:

The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College.

The plain language interpretation of this quote is citizens do not have a constitutional right to vote, with the right to vote deferred to the states (FairVote website).

In even more plain language, the Constitution does not grant an affirmative right to vote. Amendments to the Constitution, on the other hand, address a number of voting rights issues. 

The voting-related amendments to the Constitution are like a cobbler's bench of tools. They cobble together a set of “negative rights” that prohibit states from denying the right to vote to certain groups. These include:

15th—denial of right to vote based on race

19th—right to vote for women

23rd—Washington, D.C., right to vote

24th—prohibited poll tax 

26th—lowered voting age to 18

In the absence of a constitutionally guaranteed affirmative right to vote, efforts are underway to pass the Right to Vote Amendment. House Joint Resolution 25 proposes this text for the amendment:

SECTION 1: Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.

SECTION 2: Congress shall have the power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.

Adding an amendment to the Constitution is an arduous task—a two-thirds vote from Congress followed by ratification of three-fourths of the states. 

As the old expression goes, I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

Albert DeSimone

Bishop