Your Honors,
I will be representing the Lincoln Region in this case.
I would like to resubmit the statement I made prior to Mr. Cinyc submitting his brief, which is the following:
Sorry to interrupt but I question if it is legal to require more than 7 days to have the right to vote in the region. In the federal bill of rights it is stated in section 4:
Denying a new citizen the right to vote because he's not being in the region 10 days would go against that.
Regions should have the same standard (7 days) for interregional move so the mover has always a right to votein one region. Maybe that would be covered in the constitution by this:
Technically, that statue says that only people whose account is fewer than 7 days old cannot vote. It does not establish how long one must be registered after that in order to vote. This leaves open interpretation to say that someone whose account is between 7 and 10 days old can still be denied the right to vote in a region should a region make a law declaring such (which is sort of what we're debating)
Besides, this is a good measure against carpetbagging, and while I'm not in favor of placing more restrictions on voting, I believe it does place some greater barriers to people flocking here en masse to influence the swing of power in one direction or another.
My point in this exchange is that because there is no specific language in the Constitution that prohibits the regions from making their own voter registration procedures, and what the length of registration requirements should be, that this legislation cannot be considered unconstitutional.
Mr. Cinyc raises a fair point in attempting to defend the liberty of voters in the Lincoln Region, and we appreciate his efforts, but the intent behind this legislation is to prevent individuals from changing regions just to swing the balance of power in our region. We would like new residents to become acclimated with the culture of the region as well as the political process within it, therefore allowing them to have ample time to make decisions before they vote.
Mr. Cinyc had plenty of time to raise questions about this legislation when it was proposed, then when it was debated in the Assembly, then when it was established on a sample ballot days prior to the election, then when it was actually on the ballot to be voted for--he said nothing. Instead, he waited until after the amendment was democratically ratified by the voters of the Lincoln Region before taking the Region to court without ever voicing his concerns in the several weeks prior to its ratification.
We believe that it is imperative to protect voting rights in our region, but we do not believe that extending the registration requirement by a measly 72 hours will infringe upon anyone's Constitutional rights. The only possible negative outcome from having an extended registration requirement is that some citizens may have to sit out one election, in which case they will be able to witness the actions of those elected and will be able to get involved politically in the region before simply casting a ballot. Another possible negative outcome is if someone is attempting to undertake the practice known as "carpetbagging", where one moves from a different region into Lincoln for the sole purpose of running for office or influencing elections. We wish to prevent the latter from occurring.
If a citizen were to register to vote just five days before an election and thus denied the right to vote, would we be hearing a case about how the federal requirement of 168 hours infringes upon the rights of citizens to vote? What about one who registers the day before an election? This is a slippery slope scenario. Who's to say that one will not sue for their right to register to vote and then vote in a span of just a few hours?
Your Honors, in summation, I would like to ask that you rule in favor of Lincoln because we have undertaken our right as a Region to enact our own registration requirement--which does not prevent individuals from voting, but rather asks them to take a few short days extra to become acclimated with the region before voting. This amendment was democratically ratified without very much vocal opposition, and we believe that is no coincidence.
Thank you all. I appreciate your time.
I'm more than happy to answer questions, as I typed this up in a storm while taking a break from writing an essay.
