When America began, only property owners were allowed to vote. Today, that would be seen as horribly discriminatory. The theory was that only people who had a stake in the country should be allowed to make decisions about governing it. I think that position is more than a bit extreme, but I think we now have found the other extreme.
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that a Federal judge in Ohio has ruled that homeless people must be allowed to list park benches and other non-buildings as their addresses so that they will be able to vote. This is the reason judges matter. The potential for fraud in registering people without valid addresses is amazing.
I don't want to see any group of people disenfranchised, but I question the wisdom of this decision. Isn't it more important to find a way to bring these people back into society rather than to send them to the polls to vote? What things influence the votes of this group of people? Do we have any way of checking their citizenship?
Again, I'm not for discrimination, but this seems a bit extreme.
Leave a comment