Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Abolish the Secret Ballot
The Atlantic ^ | July/August 2012 | Sara Issenburg

Posted on 06/26/2012 3:45:45 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 last
To: Beagle8U
“I always make a point to tell them exactly how I voted, against every liberal running and every property tax millage.”

Which is fine, because realistically they cannot retaliate against you. All you have to do is look at what happened to those that donated to support Prop 8 in California to appreciate a secret ballot.

41 posted on 06/27/2012 5:11:10 AM PDT by No Truce With Kings (Ten years on FreeRepublic and counting.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: AuH2ORepublican
Amen. Congress should use its express authority under the Constitution’s Elections Clause to mandate that all voting must take place on Election Day, with no early voting or whatnot, and that absentee ballots, if allowed by state law, must be postmarked on election day (not a week before or whatever). If this means that we need to wait a week for absentee votes to be counted, then so be it, but everyone should vote on the same day.

I like your proposal, but I know the Constitution pretty well and am not familiar with an "Elections Clause." Can you clarify this?

42 posted on 06/27/2012 7:13:56 AM PDT by justiceseeker93
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: justiceseeker93

I was referring to Article I, section 4, clause 1, which provides that “[t]he times, places and manners of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed by each state by the legislature thereof; but Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing senators.” (That last caveat was put in to clarify that Congress couldn’t dictate that senators would no longer be elected by the state legislature, which was required by the Constitution prior to the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913.) Congress legislates pursuant to this clause when it sets Election Day for congressional elections as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, when it approved UOCAVA, etc.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have referred to Article I, section 4, clause 1 as the “Elections Clause,” since the term may be confused with Art. I, sec. 5, cl. 1, which provides that each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its members.


43 posted on 06/27/2012 7:31:16 AM PDT by AuH2ORepublican (If a politician won't protect innocent babies, what makes you think that he'll protect your rights?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

I believe that this was mostly due to the fact that Lincoln wasn’t on the ballot and write-ins weren’t allowed in most Southern state in 1860 (I’m not saying that there weren’t threats against Southerners who expressed support for Lincoln, but the secret ballot won’t help you if you’re not on the ballot and write-ins aren’t allowed). Similarly, President Taft didn’t receive any votes in SD and less than 1% of the vote in CA in the secret-ballot 1912 elections, but it wasn’t because of threats of violence against Republicans, it was because Taft wasn’t on the ballot in those states (Teddy Roosevelt was the Republican nominee in both SD and CA), and SD didn’t even allow write-ins.


44 posted on 06/27/2012 7:43:37 AM PDT by AuH2ORepublican (If a politician won't protect innocent babies, what makes you think that he'll protect your rights?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: AuH2ORepublican
Thanks for the info. You are correct in your citation. Welcome to the FReeper constitutionalist club. (LOL!)
45 posted on 06/27/2012 7:49:40 AM PDT by justiceseeker93
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Lonesome in Massachussets
The author is an idiot.

The author most likely is a Democrat (pretty much the same thing).

46 posted on 06/27/2012 7:54:45 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Dr. Sivana; ml/nj; ExTexasRedhead; GlockThe Vote; ari-freedom; Eleutheria5; Free ThinkerNY; ...
Oh yes, those multi-language ballots (which, BTW, undoubtedly run up printing bills for election boards). How sickening!!! If you can't read basic English, why should you be voting? Does one vote in France in any other language but French? Or do you vote in Italy in any other language but Italian? The US may be exceptional, but this is one area where exceptionalism is foolish.

If learning how to speak, read and write basic English is not a requirement for naturalization of immigrants, it's about time that it came to be again like it was for my grandparents.

All of this is a product of government overaccommodation of immigrants, as Democrats (and, to a lesser extent, Republicans) seek new ethnic bloc voters.

47 posted on 06/27/2012 10:20:44 AM PDT by justiceseeker93
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Dr. Sivana; ml/nj; ExTexasRedhead; GlockThe Vote; ari-freedom; Eleutheria5; Free ThinkerNY; ...
Oh yes, those multi-language ballots (which, BTW, undoubtedly run up printing bills for election boards). How sickening!!! If you can't read basic English, why should you be voting? Does one vote in France in any other language but French? Or do you vote in Italy in any other language but Italian? The US may be exceptional, but this is one area where exceptionalism is foolish.

If learning how to speak, read and write basic English is not a requirement for naturalization of immigrants, it's about time that it came to be again like it was for my grandparents.

All of this is a product of government overaccommodation of immigrants, as Democrats (and, to a lesser extent, Republicans) seek new ethnic bloc voters.

48 posted on 06/27/2012 11:15:59 AM PDT by justiceseeker93
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson