I went to write an article about how guns and voting are similar because they’re both Constitutional rights… then discovered that the Constitution doesn’t actually give or protect a right to vote. Call me flabbergasted.
What the Constitution does say:
Article I, Section 2: Members of the House of Representatives are “chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.”
This ties federal voting qualifications for the House to whatever qualifications a state sets for its own largest legislative body (typically the lower house). States originally set their own rules, often limiting voting to white male property owners (or similar restrictions).
Article I, Section 4 (Elections Clause): “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.”
States primarily control the “times, places, and manner” of congressional elections, but Congress can override or add rules.
Article II, Section 1: States appoint presidential electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” Congress sets the uniform day for choosing electors and for them to cast votes. (This allows states flexibility in how they select electors; all now use popular vote, but the Constitution does not require it.)
Other early provisions (e.g., original Senate selection by state legislatures, later changed) and the 12th Amendment (1804) refined the Electoral College process but did not address voter qualifications.
15th Amendment (1870): Prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (Primarily aimed at protecting Black men after the Civil War.)
19th Amendment (1920): Prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote “on account of sex.” (Women’s suffrage.)
24th Amendment (1964): Prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote in federal elections (President, Vice President, Congress) “by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.” (Banned poll taxes used to suppress voting.)
26th Amendment (1971): Prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote for citizens “who are eighteen years of age or older… on account of age.” (Lowered the voting age from 21 during the Vietnam era.)
14th Amendment, Section 2 (1868): Reduces a state’s representation in Congress if it denies the vote to eligible male citizens (age 21+ at the time) for reasons other than “participation in rebellion, or other crime.” (This was a penalty mechanism, rarely enforced, and used “male” language that was later superseded.)
The Constitution also requires a “Republican Form of Government” for states (Article IV, Section 4), which implies elections, but courts have rarely used this to broadly define voting rights.
Voter qualifications (e.g., citizenship, residency, age minimums, felony disenfranchisement in some cases, registration rules) are still primarily set by states, as long as they do not violate the amendments above or other constitutional protections (like equal protection under the 14th Amendment).
Thank you Grok. Well that was a bit of an education. Every citizen of the United States of America is entitled to the right to keep and bear arms, with only a very few caveats (for instance, you’re in jail, or you’re going into a Federal building where they accept the burden of protecting you, etc.). I realize not everyone upholds it, but that’s what it says. Fair enough.
Apparently, that’s just not true with voting. Color me surprised. If the above is true (and it does appear to be), then California and NYC should legally be able to decide they want to ignore citizenship as a requirement for voting. It certainly seems to imply that there is currently a strong argument for ID-less voting in those states. That was not what I expected to be writing in this missive.
Looking at the above, I have to say that while I disagree with it and think it should be codified to be voting for citizens only, it appears that the Constitution does, at the moment, appear to uphold the states that choose not to check ID. So at this point, I urge you all to go talk to your Senators and Congress critters and demand they offer up an Amendment to the Constitution which allows only for citizen voters. If that is added to the Constitution, all the other stuff goes away.
I have to ask myself, why didn’t our Framers insist on having only citizens vote? Was citizenship so difficult to prove that it was egregious and impossible to enforce? I find myself at a hella loss for words right now. I’ll leave the information with you, and hopefully someone will be able to tell me I just read something wrong. Because … I’m currently confused and upset.
The specific amendments about female and 18+ voting don’t otherwise change the fact that states set the rules. For example, property qualifications are still Constitutional, because they don’t deny anyone the right to vote based on sex, or age >= 18.
And yes, it’s pretty clear that a state could give the vote to people under 18, or to non-citizens. To do that for votes for Congress, all they have to do is set the corresponding rule for their state legislature. For the vote for President (technically, for Electors), they don’t even have to do that; determining how electors are chosen is basically entirely open (other than, again, not allowing sex or age if >= 18 to be a factor). It will be fascinating to see if any state tests this at some point. Some states have already started to allow non-citizen voting for a few cases, like local elections, but not yet for the state legislature.
I would expect an attempt to pull such a stunt to trigger a new Amendment saying that only citizens can vote. Such an amendment really is needed now, and I think it should be worded to say that it applies to every election and referendum at any level, and that it also sets a minimum requirement for elected office.