As the issue of the disenfranchisement of American citizens in the U.S. territories gains some attention, more people are bringing up the familiar argument of federal income taxes. First of all, people need to forget the idea that we do not pay taxes: we file the same forms and go through the same process. Laws were enacted that put our taxes into the treasury of Guam—incidentally the same laws that gave us citizenship but no right to vote.
Guam Voting Rights: the Tax Argument
The "you don't pay federal income taxes argument" seems like it covers it all, doesn't it?
The "you don't pay federal income taxes argument" seems like it covers it all, doesn't it?
Yet people who lived in a U.S. state and move to a foreign country (and who sometimes do not pay federal taxes) are able to vote, even if they have no intention of returning to that state. In some cases people who have never resided in the U.S. can vote, as can some natural born citizens born to foreign nationals who barely lived in the U.S. It's not their taxes that guarantee them the right to vote: it's where they were born.
And yes, before someone brings it up, we all know that people who move to and establish residency on Guam are also denied the right to vote--they shouldn't be. No one should be.
So we can keep mentioning taxes, and fight back by saying that on Guam over a quarter of our lands are taken up by the military, or the fact that many of our people have fought and died in defense of our country… But if our blood our land and blood isn’t enough, then what really is the price we have to pay for our voting rights?
Keep arguing taxes, really, and tell me why in some states a convicted felon who has served his sentence can vote, or why in two states people IN PRISON can vote in a national election. I’m sure they’re all paying their taxes.
No disrespect to the homeless (because they shouldn’t be denied the right to vote either--no one should be), but I’m guessing that a fair number of those who list their address as a parking lot or a street corner (which is possible in some states) when they register probably didn’t pay any taxes either, but they can vote.
And let’s not forget those teenagers who are voting for the first time, many before they have a even a dime that wasn't from mommy or daddy’s pocket. They can vote.
Is that just a legal loophole that says, "Well, you had the outrageous fortune of a birthday in an election year before you filed your taxes (or made any money), so you get to vote, but we know you will pay your taxes in the future?" No, it was the simple coincidence of being born somewhere other than the U.S. territories.
So what, really, is the price for the right to vote—the right to that the simplest, yet most profound expression of modern democracy? Clearly it is NOT the federal income tax, so really, let's do away with the tax argument. Our disenfranchisement is not about taxes: it's about injustice.
