Does Obama Want Election Reform or Federal Control?

Yahoo News asked readers and contributors to briefly respond to passages from Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Here's one reaction

Obama on voting problems: "We must all do our part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at home. That includes our most fundamental right as citizens: the right to vote. When any Americans - no matter where they live or what their party - are denied that right simply because they can't wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals. That's why, tonight, I'm announcing a non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience in America

My response: President Obama likes to blur the line between church and state. He said voting is a God-given right, and he may be correct, because it is not a constitutional right. The Constitution simply protects your state-granted right to vote and prohibits your being denied the right to vote based on age, race, or gender.

The states have the rights to establish the procedures and it is unlikely that they will cede them to a federal authority. It is unlikely that states with little voting issues will want to change their systems.

We need to educate our citizens so that they know that they have to comply with their own states requirements. Danbury, Connecticut, where I live, has different voting regulations than its neighboring states, and that is simply a fact-of-life.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/does-obama-want-election-reform-federal-control-181400436.html

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