It is time to reexamine the underlying legal rights attached to voting and citizenship, so we can correct a fatal flaw dating back to our founding as a nation.

Here’s an uncomfortable truth; the right to vote is not constitutionally guaranteed as a right of citizenship. There are three significant Supreme Court cases I want to focus on that highlight this fatal flaw: Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000); Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013) & McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1 (1892) buttress how prior Supreme Court precedent treats the right to vote as a state-granted privilege rather than a federal citizenship right. These cases establish limits on the enforcement of voting rights under the 15th Amendment and subsequent amendments. While the 14th, 15th, 19th, 23rd 24th and 26th constitutional amendments prevent discrimination in the right to vote, they do not guarantee voting rights as a factor of being an American citizen. Additionally, Supreme Court decisions from the Elk v. Wilkins - 112 U.S. 94, 5 S. Ct. 41 (1884), Minor v. Happersett - 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162 (1874); Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229 (1976); City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997); and Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013) have ruled that the individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote, that voting/suffrage was not coextensive with the citizenship of the States nor explicitly given as a right of national citizenship when the Constitution was adopted and subsequently that citizenship alone is not sufficient cause for voting and Legislatures can only enforce a pre-existing interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, unless they are enacting prophylactic legislation that aims to prevent violations of rights guaranteed by the Court.

These cases also opens the door for further individual voting rights dilution by prescribing a State legislature’s fundamental right to decide Presidential electors is of equal weight to the right of its citizens to vote for electors and that State legislatures’ (after granting the voting franchise to citizens of its state & in the Court’s contextual interpretation of Article II) can take back the power to appoint electors independent of the voting action of its citizens at any time.

We need to understand the serious threat this sets up. It is publicly stated practice that MAGA-controlled states aim to restrict access and eligibility to voting for Democratic, Independent, Non-MAGA Republican citizens and low propensity voting citizens, because those citizens don’t vote for MAGA candidates. MAGA Federal regime officials, Congressional allies and MAGA majority states Governments are using these theories and lack of formal voting-citizenship tie-bar to limit the franchise based upon a number of methodology, access, partisan or geographic considerations, similar to the way American citizens who are felons are denied the right to vote both in and out of jail in a significant number of states.

A Federal example of this purposeful effort exists in the so-called SAVE Act. The SAVE Act will create unnecessary barriers to voting and provide additional opportunities to prohibit citizens from voting without protecting the right to vote. We want to emphasize that proof of citizenship and residency is already required for voter registration in 49 out of 50 states, so this is inherently unnecessary. This act, which we classify as the “Start of Actively Vacating Eligibility of American Citizens To vote” aka SAVE Act, makes it easier to disenfranchise American citizens voting access by MAGA elected officials in MAGA majority voting states.

We must fix this through Federal statutory action. We at The Future – Today & Tomorrow Super PAC, therefore, recommend that Democrats, Independents, Non-MAGA Republicans and Pro-Democracy organizations reintroduce and rally around the Right to Vote Act (S.3916 and H.R. 8825 – 118th Congress), formerly part of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, as a standalone bill that would actually ensure that voting rights are tied to your individual American citizenship, through Statutory law.

This is why, as an African American founded Super PAC, we at The Future – Today & Tomorrow are actively championing the Right to Vote Act, because as MAGA lies about the legality of Democratic, Independent and Non-MAGA Republican citizen voting as they are doing in Fulton County GA or about the 2020 Presidential election, they don’t tell you that your citizenship doesn’t guarantee your right to vote and that MAGA states you live in control your ability to vote.

Hon. Hakeem Jeffries Eric Swalwell Raja Krishnamoorthi Haley Stevens Rashida Tlaib Ritchie Torres Gregory Meeks Nikema Williams Teresa Leger Fernandez Jared Moskowitz and your Pro-Democracy colleagues, please take immediate action to protect American citizens voting rights, by supporting the reintroduction and passage of the Right to Vote Act as a standalone bill.

We can’t wait for others to educate the Non-MAGA majority on this flaw in voting rights, we have to do it ourselves. This is the moment, are you willing to help us at The Future – Today & Tomorrow get the 164,295,437 Non-MAGA Voting Eligible American citizens active and in the fight to become every election voters and every level of government policy advocates, for laws like The Right to Vote act, then join us and contribute so our Super PAC can get on the ground. Visit www.Futurepac.today, Join us. Help us. Share this with others.

🌐 Donate today → FuturePAC.today/donate https://www.futurepac.today/donate/ 💙 or via ActBlue →ActBlue Donation Page https://secure.actblue.com/donate/the-future-today---tomorrow-1

Common Sense by Eric Foster is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Common Sense by Eric Foster! This post is public so feel free to share it.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ericfoster52.substack.com/subscribe