Voting Rights

The “Right” to Vote “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” ~ Gettysburg 1963. Abraham Lincoln spoke these words on November 19, 1863. Amongst the bloodiest war in American history and the possible destruction of the union that are for fathers worked so hard to build, he thought of the people. He thought of how the people make this country what it is, not only the ones who fight but the ones that we elect. He reminded the people of there power, he reminded everyone that if this government was not by the people and for the people, it would perish. Now almost 150 years later, after numerous civil rights, suffrage, and equality bills and laws have been passed we have people that still question the people’s right to vote. Ms. Chastain would like you to believe that voting is not a right, she thinks we should have to take a “civic literacy” test in order to be able to vote. “At the very least, we should require new registrants to pass a basic civics test, the kind given to immigrants seeking to become naturalized U.S. citizens.” Well I say Ms. Chastain is quite wrong. Voting is a right guaranteed to citizens by federal and state governments that must be protected at all costs. There are numerous reasons such a test would be a disaster for our country. Not only would a literacy test or anything like it significantly inhibit our right to vote but it would cause a number of cultural, economical, and political problems in our already very struggling country. The 17th amendment, the civil rights act of 1965, the renewal of 1970, all of these legislations have one thing in common, the right to vote. Over America’s short history there have been numerous laws protecting and allowing for every American to have basic civil liberties such as the right to vote. People have protested,