John Bonifaz: "Our Voting Re-public"
by johnbonifaz | Jun 24 2008
The threat of election privatization raises a fundamental question: Who owns our vote?
The struggle for the right to vote has never stopped in the United States. During our 200-plus-year history, we have traveled from a time when only white male property owners could vote, to the abolition of slavery and the passage of the 15th Amendment, and the prohibition of discrimination in voting based on race. The wom-en’s suffrage movement in the early 20th century led to the enactment of the 19th Amendment, prohibiting discrimination in voting based on gender. The civil rights movement ended the legalized system of racial segregation and brought about the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
But the past few election cycles are evidence that our struggle for equal voting rights continues. Certain legal barriers to voting continue (i.e., laws prohibiting ex-felons from voting), and new barriers have emerged that disproportionately target historically disenfranchised communities (i.e., photo identification requirements to vote). But a quieter threat has emerged that further undermines the integrity of our electoral process.
Election privatization
