A democracy is formed when everyone has a say. Although the US is actually a republic (we choose the people who make the decisions; we don't make the decisions ourselves), we like to pretend that all a democracy requires is people electing leaders, and that that makes us a democracy, so we can sing songs about it and talk about how free and democratic we are. This is very much besides the point, however, the point being that if we're democratic or a republic or anything, we have to let anyone vote.
Obviously, we do not let everyone vote. You have to have attained the enlightened age of eighteen before you can help decide how your tax dollars are spent, and many states do not let felons participate in their government. These people have been deemed unfit to vote, and thus they are prevented from voting.
The state of Colorado recently added to this voting prevention, prohibiting 6,000 people from voting this year because they are on parole.
The right to vote should not be questioned in a "democratic" country. The right to vote makes it a republic. The lack of voting rights, as recent elections have suggested, serves only to make it Republican.
Tags: Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Colorado, Voting, Voting Rights, Bush, Republican, Democracy, Republic
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