Restrictions on Voting in the United States:

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Democracy means that power is with the people making it appealing to many nations across the globe. By putting the power with the people, voting plays an important role in democratic nations. In the United States, the constitution states that race and color shall not be discriminated upon in terms of an individual’s voting rights . Voting puts people in seats of power therefore in order for one to gain power the individual must gain the support of people. The federal system gives states the power to pass its own laws including laws that may restrict voting to only a particular group. This becomes problematic when attempts are made to prevent certain people from contributing to the voting turnouts and twisting the votes to benefit a particular party’s self interest. Voting should be regulated by the federal state because it will prevent states from restricting and discriminating certain groups of people within its state from voting which is unconstitutional, racially biased, and will lower the voting turnout. Federalism is what gives states their power but often times states use this power to their advantage to create outcomes that may increase their power. An example would be the Arizona Voting Law which demands proof of one’s citizenship and other documents that many people of color may not have or have difficulty obtaining. If granted in a statute, this law may conflict with the Motor Voter Act, which is automatically register individuals to vote when they apply for their driver’s license. This restriction will prevent noncitizens from voting and since Arizona shares borders Mexico, it is specifically preventing illegal immigrants from Mexico to vote. The requirement has resulted in rejection of many potential voters. Justice Scalia argues that “states should be free to step in when a federal agency did not ensure the integrity of state’s voting system” which
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