When I think of the word franchise I gravitate to a new McDonald’s opening, or if you are a sports fan, a superstar that you build a team around, say like The Yankees’ Aaron Judge or the San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama. But the franchise is also a way to describe each individual’s right to vote in public; it is a cherished right in this country that is enshrined in the constitution. Here are some of essential constitutional amendments that have changed and supported universal voting.
The 15th Amendment was passed ratified on February 3, 1870. It prohibits federal or state governments from denying a citizen’s right to vote based on “race, color or previous conditions of servitude.”
The 19th Amendment stated that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
The 24th Amendment (1964) Eliminating Poll Taxes “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.”
The battle for voting rights has been an uphill battle. It was only 60 years ago that the 24th amendment was passed to ensure that Blacks in our country could vote without obstacles, like Jim Crow era poll taxes and literacy tests.
We have all watched The Don and his cronies dismantle our institutions and violate the law. The Don’s need to impose his will on our country is centered on his attempt to disrupt elections. In the video below he proclaims that if you vote for him you’ll never have to vote again.
From the time he entered politics The Don promoted the idea that elections were rigged. Funny that he never made a peep when he did win. Same election process, but…
Even when he did win in 2016, but lost the popular vote, he insisted that he won bigly but the election was rigged and he was robbed. Even if he knew he lost the popular vote, questioning the veracity of elections, undermines Americans’ belief that the system works. Sow doubt, keep hammering away no matter the fabrication to seep into America’s psyche that the voting process is fundamentally flawed.
In 2020, when he lost to Joe Biden, he brought 60 lawsuits challenging the results and lost every one of them. In fact, despite the pandemic, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency stated that “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised” and that it was “the most secure in American history.” All research has proven that fraud in the election is almost non-existent but facts have never been relevant to The Don. Reality is what the Don wants it to be.
The Don is still pissed about the 2020 election claiming that it was rigged. His narcissism makes tolerating losing impossible. Recently he has sent federal agents to Georgia and Arizona to remove election data on hundreds of thousands of voters with the intent of proving that he was right. A Republican sheriff who is running for governor of California recently seized more than 650,000 ballots cast in a 2025 statewide election, prompting criticism from the state’s top election official, who said the sheriff’s concerns about fraud “lack credible evidence.” Oklahoma has turned over its voter rolls as well. Don’t be surprised when the administration declares that the ballots they reviewed prove there was serious election fraud and that Joe Biden was not a legitimate president. Perhaps he will want Biden to prostrate before him in front of a nationally televised event championing The Don as the true winner.
He still laments not seizing voting machines during the 2020 election and is preparing to go into Democratic strongholds with the backing of the D.O.J to seize voting machines during the midterms. His continued pursuit of proving the 2020 election was rigged is an attempt to create turmoil and sow further doubt in the validity of our elections.
It is clear that The Don is aware that the Democrats will win back the House and potentially the Senate. That is unacceptable for him and his fellow Republicans. After all, Since the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have flipped 30 seats while the Republicans have not captured any Democratic seats.
Emily Gregory, a first-time candidate with a public health background, became the latest Democrat to win a special election and claim a statehouse seat previously held by a Republican. And guess where she won it? In the Don’s district!
Boca Raton, Florida elected its first Democratic mayor in 40 years. Miami voters in December overwhelmingly elected their first Democratic mayor in 30 years.
These are ominous signs for Republican prospects in the midterms. The Don and his administration are ready to do whatever it takes to prevent this, even if it means disenfranchising voters. Not surprising that The Don, who created the “Stop the Steal” movement, is planning on stealing the midterms with a multi-pronged assault on voting rights with potentially dire consequences for our democracy if successful.
The Don is brow beating the Senate into getting rid of the filibuster to pass the Save Act. Its stated goal is to make sure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections. That is already the law, and it is already being enforced. Non-citizen voting has been a federal crime since 1996, carrying serious penalties including fines, imprisonment, and deportation. What the SAVE Act would do is add a new layer of documentation requirements on top of a verification system that is already in place and working. Requiring passports or birth certificates to prove citizenship would disenfranchise millions of voters. Over 51% of Americans do not have a valid passport. Only 1 in 5 Americans with household incomes below $50,000 has one. Only 1 in 4 Americans without a college degree has one. It seems that the bill will not pass in the Senate but the Republicans are still trying to figure out ways to get it done.
He has floated the idea of elections being controlled by the government which is frankly unconstitutional since the power to mediate elections falls specifically on the states.
The Don hates mail-in voting and claims it promotes fraud. His claim that no other country but the U.S uses it is a total lie. Canada and Great Britain have mail-in voting and so do many other countries. The Supreme court seems poised to overrule a Mississippi law that allows mail ballots that are post marked by election day to be counted for 5 days after the election. If the courts over rule this decision, there will be momentum to prohibit mail-in voting entirely. And guess what? The man who wants to eradicate voting by mail voted by mail in his local state senate race in Florida. And guess what? When asked by a reporter why he voted by mail he lied and said he was in Washington but was in Mar-a Lago at the time.
We all know how he cajoled the Texas legislature to redistrict (gerrymander) to ensure more Republicans would win seats. Thankfully, the Democrats got off the bench and pushed back by getting some Blue States to do the same to equalize this.
All of the above are serious attempts to disenfranchise voters, but the scariest elements revolve around intimidating voters by having ICE agents or even National Guard at polls in big cities that vote democratic. During a conversation with conservative lawyer Mike Davis on his ‘War Room’ program, Bannon asked, ‘We can use what’s happening with these ICE [officers] helping out at the airports, we can use this as a test run, as a test case to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm elections, sir?’ I think you know what his asnwer was.
The Don’s need to maintain power will lead him to drastic actions. Anyone paying attention knows the midterms will be a shit show. The Don’s lying and sowing of doubt of election results has done exactly what he intended. He wants the American people to lose faith in the franchise; he wants them to question whether voting is worth it; he wants to use his power to dictate who and who has a right to vote. This is all very dangerous. We need to stand together and prove that the franchise works. Power to the people.
The Grand Offal Party 