Ours is a system of democratic self-government.  This is the great American experiment.  The essence of this system is that we all govern ourselves through the representatives we all elect to roles in local, state, and federal government.  We’re all in this together.  E pluribus unum.  As we are all governing ourselves, all of us age 16 and up without exception should in all circumstances retain the right to vote — and should be encouraged to exercise that right.  There should be no circumstance – other than a change of citizenship – under which any of us should lose the right to vote or be denied the opportunity to vote by some agency of government.  This – not freedom of speech or freedom of religion or freedom to own a gun — is the most fundamental right of a citizen under our constitution.

“The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected.” – Thomas Paine

But instead of enshrining universal suffrage in the constitution, those who drafted and signed it perverted this fundamental right from the outset.  In 1787, very few people (white men with property) were allowed to vote.  The vote was always seen as something that could be denied to women, the young, African Americans, First Nations people, and others.  Instead of the vote being an inviolable right belonging to each of us, our history, our culture is one of striving to deny the vote to all who are different from us, all who have different views from us.

So we are not today a self-governing democracy.  We currently live under a system of minority rule – with a pronounced trend toward authoritarianism.  One of the things that has made this possible is our culture of silence and acceptance when the right to vote is taken from our fellow citizens – especially the weak and the vulnerable.

Those fighting this invidious abuse of the American experiment deserve our respect and gratitude – and a Time magazine cover.