I KNEW IT! God dammit! Greg Palast: "Prepare for November's Quiet Coup"

[TommyT139]

96. Not according to Marc Elias (and many others)

As you suggested up-thread, it's worth reading the entire essay he posted on this topic. It begins:

If you were to look for a right to vote in the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights, you might have trouble finding one. Surprisingly, nowhere in the original text does it say that U.S. citizens have a right to vote. Instead, much of the government’s authority to protect voting rights stems from amendments adopted following the civil war and legislation passed during the civil rights movement. But thanks to a voting-rights skeptical U.S. Supreme Court and the Senate’s failure to pass new voting legislation, this authority has been severely weakened.

Marc Elias ends by calling for a constitutional amendment to ensure a right to vote -- which would not be needed if we already had that right.

Another important step would be to pass a voting rights amendment to finally enshrine an explicit right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. In the world’s oldest modern democracy, it’s the very least we can do.

Source: https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/what-does-the-constitution-say-about-the-right-to-vote/


Personally I think he's the smart one in the room, but he's far from the only one to have this read. A decent general backgrounder is from the NYT, Oct. 26, 2022.
"Does the Constitution Guarantee a Right to Vote? The Answer May Surprise You."
Archive link: https://archive.is/hzu0z

For a more detailed look, albeit compiled by a group of law students, I found this article very helpful. It goes into just how complicated and varied voting access is in different states.
"The Right to Vote: A Constitutional Guarantee or Privilege?"
https://www.collegesoflaw.edu/blog/2019/09/17/the-right-to-vote-a-constitutional-guarantee-or-privilege/