Election fraud
Millions can't vote in U.S.
By Deirdre
Griswold
If any truly independent body of international election
monitors existed, it would find that U.S. elections are
fraudulent--not only because of the blatant way in which
campaigns are bought by big money, but also because millions
and millions of workers, mostly people of color, are actually
disenfranchised.
There are two main ways in which this exclusion of workers
from the list of eligible voters happens.
4.2 million stripped of franchise
According to a recent report from The Sentencing Project,
some 4.2 million people in this country, overwhelmingly from
the working class, have had their voting rights stripped away
because they are either in prison or were convicted at one
time or another of a felony. Just as African Americans are
disproportionately arrested, convicted and sentenced to jail,
they are also disproportionately deprived of the vote.
Overall, 13 percent of all Black men, or 1.8 million, are
not allowed to vote. The laws vary from state to state, but
in Alabama and Florida, where slavery has left its legacy of
racism, nearly one third of Black men are
disenfranchised.
The U.S. now officially has the highest rate of
incarceration in the world, having surpassed Russia.
"Being Black" is a major factor determining whether a
person becomes a convicted felon. One out of every 35 African
Americans is behind bars.
Of the drug users in this country, African Americans
reportedly make up 14 percent. But they comprise 35 percent
of drug arrests, 55 percent of drug convictions, and 75
percent of those imprisoned on drug charges, according to
criminal defense attorney Rose Braz.
The racist criminal justice system has removed close to 2
million Black people from being potential voters.
Immigrant workers
denied voting rights
There are also millions of immigrant workers who
contribute to the economy but cannot vote. Just looking at
people of Latin American origin, there were 18.4 million
Latinos of voting age in the U.S. in 1996. According to the
League of United Latin American Citizens, only 35.7 percent
of them, or 6.6 million, were registered to vote. In the
whole population, the Federal Election Commission reported
that 74.4 percent of people of voting age were registered
that year--a rate more than twice as high.
Some 4.9 million Latinos, or 74 percent of those
registered, did vote. That's a much higher rate than the
national average that year of 49 percent of registered
voters.
Thus, if the vote were extended to all permanent
residents, to all those whose labor every day contributes to
the wealth of this country, it is clear that many millions of
people who are now excluded, overwhelmingly workers, would
gain the franchise and use it.
Old enough to die but not to vote
There are about 8 million people in the U.S. who are 16 or
17 years old. They can be charged as adults and tried as
adults in the criminal justice system. When they reach 18,
they can even be executed in many states for crimes committed
when they were juveniles. And, with their parents'
permission, they can become part of the imperialist war
machine by joining the Army. But they can't vote.
In Cuba, 16- and 17-year-olds have the franchise and help
elect representatives to the National Assembly.
Cubans choose their candidates from among their fellow
workers and neighbors, people they know, not candidates they
hear about mainly from paid advertising, as in the U.S.
Voting is secret and there are several candidates for each
position.
Cuba is a socialist country, run by and for the working
people. The U.S. is the bastion of world capitalism and is
controlled by a small class of the super-rich.
Defenders of U.S. capitalism point to the elections as
proof that the majority rule. But it is becoming increasingly
clear that elections here are totally stacked against the
majority--many millions of whom don't even have the formal
right to vote.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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