All Americans must be allowed to vote, regardless of socioeconomic status, disability, where they live or what crimes they may have committed. We are all human and deserve respect.

Through quirks of history and politics, many Americans currently are not allowed to vote. The Constitution currently gives states most of the authority to determine who can vote, but in recognition of the ways states have abused this power to discriminate and considering the fundamental nature of our equal rights, we should amend the Constitution to finally guarantee all Americans the right to vote.

People lacking ID

Governments must provide resources and methods for all Americans to obtain necessary documentation to comply with voter identification laws. Such laws are misguided at best and malicious at worst, but if we are going to have them, we must make certain all Americans are able to comply without undue hardship.

[youtube rHFOwlMCdto]

Criminals

We fail miserably at integrating those who have served time back into society, and giving them the right to vote is no exception. In 2016, 6.1 million Americans cannot vote due to offenses. Due to the racial disparity of our prison population, this means 1 in 13 black adults cannot vote compared to 1 in 56 for nonblack adults.

Territory residents

Residents of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands include millions of American citizens who are not allowed to vote in federal elections. Stranger still, some of these Americans previously could vote in their home states and would have still been able to vote if they had moved to a foreign country instead of an American territory. The territories should also have full voting representation in Congress.

Washington, D.C. residents

Despite having a population higher than Vermont and Wyoming, residents of our capital were only granted electoral votes in 1961, and still do not have full voting representation in Congress.

Disabled people

We must eliminate barriers to voting for physically disabled people through accessibility improvements, transportation assistance and help with absentee voting. We must also eliminate voting bans based on mental disability. Disabled people are still people and deserve support, not barriers.

[youtube ASSOQDQvVLU]