It's been more than 60 years since the U.S. Supreme Court established the "one-person-one-vote" doctrine in Baker v. Carr. The infamous doctrine that grappled with "political questions vs. political cases" still holds true to this day–but what does "one person, one vote" really even mean, and why is it relevant now?
The answer is simple; "one person, one vote" means that each American citizen eligible to vote is entitled to their vote being weighed as one; if an ineligible voter casts a ballot that gets counted, that one voter dilutes your vote and it no longer is worth that "one" vote to which you are entitled under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
And while the explanation is quite simple, solving the problem is far more complex. And speaking of which, what exactly is the "problem"? Is this about those so-called "dead voters"?
THE PROBLEM: Ineligible Voters Remain on County Voter Rolls
Let me first start by getting the elephant out of the room: removing ineligible voters from county voter rolls is not voter suppression, nor does it target minorities or even left-leaning or full-blown leftist voters. To the contrary, removing ineligible voters from voter rolls is as nonpartisan as it gets. In fact, ensuring county voter rolls only contain eligible voters is based upon Baker v. Carr–a case that established the "one-person-one-vote" doctrine in furtherance of protecting minorities.
If that's not enough to convince you, fine. But you have no argument to support claims that voter roll challenges (which I explain in my next article) are partisan-based initiatives after reading the next sentence:
In determining which names listed on county voter rolls are eligible to vote, party affiliation and political ideology are two variables that are not even known, let alone considered in deciding which names get listed on a given voter roll challenge.
(I'll talk more about voter roll challenges in my next article, but make sure you read this entire article first).
But who cares what names are listed on voter rolls? Why does this matter?
I apologize if this heading is disparaging to those who understand and know what I'm about to say. And kudos, I'm glad you're informed–but there are millions of Americans who simply don't know this stuff, so chill out and let 'em learn.
In a perfect, moral, and corruption-free world, no–it wouldn't matter the slightest. But what I just described is not the United States of America, and I hate to burst your bubble twice in once sentence, but it never has been a perfectly moral and corruption-free country since its creation over 250 years ago.
The reason names of ineligible voters remaining on voter rolls is a bad thing is because each name listed is a "vehicle" that can be used to deliver a vote to the ballot box–and once a vote gets that's it–the vote turns into a number and gets associated with a candidate, and that's the end of the story. And the more "vehicles" that exist, the more opportunity there is to have votes delivered that well, weren't votes cast by the American people–and this is the vote dilution that offends the one-person-one-vote doctrine.
So if you've ever wondered how dead people vote, now you know. But the problem is much, much bigger than just dead people. And if you want to really know how massive this problem is, I got you.
My next article provides a real-life example of how big of an issue it really is when county boards of elections fail to do their jobs, refuse to inspect their voter rolls, and ineligble voters remain registered to vote election, after election, after election.
To learn more, check out my latest article: Tip of the Iceberg: Counties that Refuse to Inspect Their Voter Rolls have Created an Absolutely Colossal Problem.
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