Resources
The following is our recommended list of Resources. Our list compiles select writings by leading academics, organizers, journalists, and litigators on topics relevant to the Right to Vote Initiative, including right-to-vote amendment language and the history of the right to vote and race. We also feature webinars and other up-to-date resources.
What’s Wrong with Bush v. Gore and Why We Need to Amend the Constitution to Ensure it Never Happens Again 61 Md. L. Rev. 652 (2002)
In this law review article, Professor Jamin Raskin argues “the Supreme Court’s majority was free to discard basic democratic principles in Bush v. Gore because of the lack of a textually rooted right to vote and because of the undemocratic character of the electoral college.” He then urges “the people to undertake the task of constitutional politics in order to amend the Constitution to establish the citizen’s right to vote and direct popular election of the President.”
Open LinkThe Future of Voting Rights 17 N.Y.U. J. Legis, & Pub. Pol’y 637, 672-73 (2014) (collected remarks form the Law Alumni Association 2013 Annual Fall Conference)
Open Society Foundations senior policy analyst Julie Fernandes discusses the missing right to vote:
“And I hate to be the ‘slavery person’ up here, but there is a part of this whole conversation about our democracy that has to be looking out for people who historically were, and continue to be, targets for marginalization . . . So it isn’t about political party. It is about rights, and we do not have a fundamental right to vote in the Constitution, which we should, but we do have a right to nondiscrimination based on race in the Constitution. That’s my view.”
The U.S. Needs a Constitutional Right to Vote The Atlantic, Oct. 31, 2013
Writer Norm Ornstein argues for a right-to-vote amendment:
Open Link“We need a modernized voter-registration system, weekend elections, and a host of other practices to make voting easier. But we also need to focus on an even more audacious and broader effort—a constitutional amendment protecting the right to vote.”
SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision Means We Need ‘Right to Vote’ Amendment The Nation, June 25, 2013
Writer John Nichols argues that “[a]mending the Constitution will be difficult—but it is necessary,” especially after Shelby v. Holder.
Open LinkTime for a “Right to Vote” Constitutional Amendment The Nation, Mar. 5, 2013
Writer John Nichols asks:
Open Link“How many dysfunctional election cycles are we going to endure before we accept the necessity of this reform?”