The historical struggle for the right to vote is a well documented one in US History, but it is fractured at best. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. Occoquan Workhouse. Forced feedings. 19th amendment. 15th amendment. Literacy tests. (For fun... have your class take one!) Jim Crow. Grandfather Clauses. SNCC. Freedom Rides. NAACP. VRA of 1965. Viet Nam War. Conscription. "Old Enough to Die, Old Enough to Vote." Kent State Massacre. 26th Amendment. (Side bar: my grandfather, an officer in the Ohio National Guard at the time, and involved in the response, did explain how the National Guard did NOT want to respond to the riots, and struggled with the events on May 4th.) Surprisingly, when considered on whole, the issue of suffrage is far more controversial then most people think. It is constantly in the news, but does not make it above the fold most days. So I go to great lengths to present this topic in the light of three major conflicts. Should the federal or state governments oversee voting requirements? Should there be more concern over the security of the ballot or the access to the ballot be safeguarded? Is this a partisan issue or not? We start class off with an overview of voting requirements; most of which are set by the states. I make note of the fact that the Constitution grants limited authority over ballot access to voters; namely through a handful of amendments that require access for all despite race (15th), gender (19th), age (26th), and ability to pay (24th). Yet states routinely classify the constituency into groups eligible and ineligible to vote under the pretext that these classifications are reasonable. This includes:
as well as barring individuals from voting dependent upon:
So, are these reasonable classifications? In order to do so, we categorize efforts on the federal and state level into one of two categories. Either efforts to ensure access to the ballot or efforts to ensure security of the ballot. (pardon my shutdown discussion with the GOP bigwig pics in the middle). The final step in this introduction is to listen to the first 24 minutes of this interview on Fresh Aire of PA State Rep Daryl Metcalfe and his efforts to pass a Voter ID law. The second half of the interview is of Columbia University's Nate Persily.
I have a supplemental audio guide available for purchase and download on my store...
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Jen's bookshelf: nerdcation
I want to start by thanking Mr. Snowden and Mr. Greenwald for their uncompromising dedication to giving the NSA violations air time and transparency.
I wanted to share some of the most important things I have learned from this book bef...
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nerdcation
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nerdcation and to-read
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nerdcation and to-read
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nerdcation and to-read
AuthorI lovgov. LOVE IT! I love teaching government, learning about it, debating, discussing, asking questions about government. And not the standard boiler plate questions, but the hard ones that are NOT in the books. Archives
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