(Archived Voice of the Voters! programs can be found at www.voiceofthevoters.org)

 

As Americans struggle with the technology used to vote, what legal foundation supports them? Tonight our expert panelists explore the principles in our History, Constitution and current election process as they pertain to suffrage and principles of Democracy.

 

  ---Does the Constitution help us or limit us as we work towards transparent, secure and accessible voting?

 

---What legal principles can be used to support the rights of individuals vs. states and the federal government?   OR As individuals and states grapple with election integrity, What Constitutional basis is there for the individual's right to vote?  States' rights? Federal rights?

 

---Are elections as currently run unconstitutional?

 

---Just who has the power/right to determine our election process?

 

---Are we really voting, given the issues being raised?

 

---As 2008 primaries march on, is democracy as we knew it, defunct?  What

needs to be addressed, why. how?

 

--What has happened to the Ideas/Ideals of Voting and Democracy since the American Revolution:

 

--"Few observers would characterize the United States as a vibrant democracy."  (present day)

Versus

"The Shot Heard Round The World":   "The American revolution sparked a far-reaching public debate about the nature and sources of legitimate governmental authority.   The issue of suffrage was always near the center of that debate. If the legitimacy of the Government, (one of the key rhetorical claims of the Revolution), then limitations on suffrage were intrinsically problematic, since voting was the primary instrument though which a populace could express or withdraw consent."

 

--The Right to Vote, The Contested History of Democracy in the United States,  by  Alexander Keyssar

 

 

 

“We the People": The Constitution, Our Vote, Election 2008

2 Hour Radio & Internet Special 

7PM EST Wednesday, May 7

 

LISTEN on 1360 AM Greater Philadelphia

 and on the WEB www.voiceofthevoters.org

 

Listeners can call in questions live at 856-227-1360 and submit questions in

advance at the Voice of the Voters! Website.  Internet Access also at http://wnjc.duxpond.com/

 

 

 

 

Special Guests:

 

Constitutional Panel

 

Alex Keyssar, Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard's Kennedy

School of Government and Voter Action Board member

 

Jamin Raskin, Professor of Law, American University and Maryland State

Senator

 

John Bonifaz, VoterAction.org

 

Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media Studies at New York University

 

 

Election 2008 & EAC

 

Brad Friedman, BradBlog.Com

 

John Gideon, VotersUnite.org

 

 

Are We Really Voting?

 

Ellen Theisen, VotersUnite.org

 

Susan Pynchon, Florida Fair Election Coalition

 

Hosted by:

Jim Strait, Lori Rosolowsky and Mary Ann Gould

 

 

Please Call & Share Your Opinions and Questions

856-227-1360 or 267 250 2879     7-9 PM ET