Dear Friends, please take the time to read this, and then forward to your friends.
PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!
The deadline to register to vote or update your address for the November General Election this Nov is Monday, October 17, 2011
but PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE
Make certain all your friends and family are registered and then see that they actually go to the polls and vote.
You can check your voter registration by going to the following website where you can enter your name and other information, and it will let you know that you are registered and also tell you where your voting precinct is located. It also gives you your Voter ID number.
Virginia Absentee Ballot Application with information is available at this link
Voter Registration deadlines in all 50 states at this link:
HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY
- Arizona has recently challenged the constitutionality of a portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibits states from using discriminatory practices designed to restrict a person’s right to vote. This has the potential to affect every state in the union.
- Because procedural changes instituted by jurisdictions can and do affect the voting rights of individuals, Section 5 requires review by the federal government before changes are put into practice. This process of preclearance is what Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne referred to as “archaic” in a press release issued on August 25th, the day he filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Washington DC to remove the pre-approval requirement.
- When Attorney General Horne referred to preclearance as “archaic”, he ignored the fact that in 2006 preclearance was renewed by Congress with strong bipartisan support. He also ignored events of just a decade ago, when the Arizona independent redistricting commission was required by the federal government to redraw its maps in three Arizona districts.
This lawsuit by Arizona is more than just another strike intended to diminish the regulatory role of the federal government. In essence this would reduce the government’s role as protector of individual rights; a role that is important as a bulwark against the changing winds of narrow parochial/sectional interests. It helps to secure the gains made over the years in racial and ethnic minority rights, gay rights and rights for the disabled, to name a few.
- Virginia has shown anti-federal tendencies, and fortunately most efforts have failed. In January the House of Delegates passed a resolution to endorse a Repeal Amendment to the US Constitution that would permit 2/3 of the states to veto federal laws and regulations. Although technically not full blown nullification (when one state alone can reject federal law), it’s fair to describe this as neo-nullification.
- Other resolution attempts include urging Congress to limit the authority of the Federal Communication Commission in regulating the Internet: to limit the power of the Federal Trade Commission: and to honor state sovereignty.
- Last year the Health Care Freedom Act was passed so that Virginians could not be compelled to purchase health insurance. A similar pre-emptive situation was attempted this year when Delegate Bob Marshall introduced HB1397, just in case Congress passed cap-and-trade to limit greenhouse gas emissions. A section of Marshall's bill specifically stated that "The Attorney General may initiate legal action against the federal government if there is any federal law, regulation, or policy that seeks to apply federal legislation relating to residential energy efficiency standards to Virginia."
Also, HB 1438 was introduced in an attempt to prevent goods produced or manufactured in VA from being subject to federal regulation.
- The most illuminating example was reported by Joanne Kimberlin in The Virginian-Pilot earlier this year. Delegate Will Morefield told a committee that Virginia should decide to “not recognize the federal government.” He made these remarks while discussing his own bill (HB2470) that stops the state from restricting Carbon Dioxide emissions. The bill clearly states, “Any federal law or regulation that purports to prohibit, limit, or control in any way the emission of carbon dioxide shall be without authority, void, and of no force within the boundaries of the Commonwealth.” This is a direct throwback to the pre-Civil War debates about a state having the power to ignore federal law.
I believe the object lesson here is twofold. We need to protect voting rights, and voters need to exercise those rights in every local, state and federal election. All elections matter! This is how we prevent the passage of extreme legislation.
- Voting matters on the local city council level where jurisdictions have decided what departments to close down and who to layoff in hard times.
- Voting matters for state elections where legislators have chosen to push taxation and fiscal burdens down to the local level so they can puff out their chests and say it wasn't me who raised your taxes. Then they run for reelection on anti-tax platforms, knowing that state revenue is not sufficient for education, public safety, medical care and transportation.
Voting matters in off year congressional elections because of the influence of those in Congress who promote ideology rather than good government.
We live in the greatest of nations where the work of a fair and just society is always a work in progress, and where many voices make us stronger as we struggle with change and challenge. That struggle begins with a single individual vote, yours! Protect yourself and your rights by voting! Tell your friends!
Jeanette Rishell
REFERENCES
“The Case against a Repeal Amendment”, By Marc Adler, The Richmond Times Dispatch. “Repeal Amendment Tops Tea Party Goals”, By Wesley P. Hester, Olympia Meola: February1, 2011.
