Charley Reese Quotes
Unless they can pass the same test that immigrants must pass to become citizens, people shouldnt be allowed to vote. The idea that there is some public benefit in ignoramuses and morons pulling levers next to names on a ballot is one of the evil myths of post-modern America. The purpose of voting, in our country, is to select men and women with the competence and integrity to operate the mechanics of government fixed by our Constitution. For this process to have any public benefit requires that the choices be made on an intelligent, knowledgeable and reasoned basis.
Reese, Charley. Syndicated column. Orlando Sentinel, 2000.
What is interesting, that few people realize, is that large number of men who had never voted before, and would not be able to vote afterwards (the were not property owners for example), were allowed to vote in the ratification debate. As a result, an entire new socio-economic class was empowered and became interested in politics for the first time in history. The result was greater and wider public interest than there had been or would be for many years to come. All voting requirements had been set by the states and were still so after the Constitution was adapted and still is the current situation, although there has been a constant battle in many states to keep Blacks and other minorities from voting between the desires of the states and Federal pressure after the Civil War Constitutional amendments.
The concept of taxpayers being entitled to vote to avoid taxation without representation was fundamental to the Founding Fathers. However, the only people who paid taxes were those who owned property as there was no income tax at the time. Since the male controlled the family property, not allowing women to vote did no injury to the basic principle. However, the sexist attitude of the times ran up against this basic principles in the case of widows and unmarried women who owned property. Faced with this contradiction, some of the Founding Fathers like Lee actually favored the voting franchise for women who were widows and property owners or even unmarried female property owners. There were not enough people who saw this contradiction so that all women were originally prohibited from voting, but this quotation shows that it was a political issue at the time.
At the time, this not only was true but there were few who argued that it should be different. It was the gross abuse of the control of the elective franchise by the Southern states after Blacks had been given the right to vote and continuing into the 1960s, that the Federal Government passed the Voting Rights Act. In the election of 2000, Al Gore had won by a narrow margin as the result of decisions of the Florida Courts finding that Gore had won the state, The Supreme Court, however, overrode Florida and by a 5-4 partisan vote gave Florida and hence the election to George W. Bush. Bingham’s principle had fallen completely.
The election franchise in Ohio was originally only given to white residents who had paid state or local taxes. At the time, there were no sales or income taxes, so the only people who paid taxes were property owners. So this clause had the same effect as many other state constitutions of the time of limiting voters to the relatively wealthy. See the earlier Massachusetts Constitution {616748}. However, not that by this time race became a criterion in voting eligibility. In the Massachusetts case and some other states, a Black or an Indian who owned property could vote. But in Ohio, race per se was a disqualification if not white. This also precluded, Indians and Asians from voting in Ohio.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
Charley Reese was an American syndicated columnist known for his conservative views. He was associated with the Orlando Sentinel from 1971 to 2001, both as a writer and in various editorial capacities. King Features Syndicate distributed his column, which was published three times per week.
