The Vote and the Tax: A Constitutional Framework for Equal Citizenship

The right to vote is not a favor granted by government. It is one of the principal means through which citizens consent to government, hold public officials accountable and participate in decisions affecting their liberty, property, families and financial obligations.

Recent public discussion concerning voter registration in Mississippi raises questions that extend far beyond one state or one political party. How should governments maintain accurate voter rolls without removing eligible voters? What process should citizens receive before their registrations are changed? Can government continue imposing taxes upon citizens whom it deliberately excludes from the political process?

These questions require a serious national response.

What Mississippi law provides

In 2023, Mississippi enacted House Bill 1310. The law provides a process under which election officials may send confirmation notices to certain registered voters. A voter who receives such a notice may be placed on inactive status. An inactive voter may still cast an affidavit ballot, but continued failure to respond or vote during the period established by law can eventually result in removal from the registration rolls.

The law does not state that a voter is automatically removed merely for missing one election. Federal law likewise provides that a person cannot be removed from a voter registration list solely because the person failed to vote. Removal programs must satisfy notice, waiting period and other statutory requirements.

Those protections do not eliminate the need for public oversight. A notice can be missed. Commercial information can be inaccurate. Citizens can move temporarily, serve in the military, experience homelessness or encounter clerical errors. An eligible voter should not lose access to the ballot because an administrative system made an assumption that the voter never had an adequate opportunity to correct.

A national voter protection standard

I propose that Congress consider comprehensive voter registration legislation for federal elections, accompanied by a constitutional amendment establishing uniform protections across federal, state and local elections.

That framework should contain the following safeguards:

1. No eligible citizen should be removed from a voter roll solely for failing to vote.
2. Before changing or canceling a registration, election officials should provide clear notice and a meaningful opportunity to correct inaccurate information.
3. Notice should be sent through more than one method when reliable contact information is available.
4. Every state should provide a secure and accessible system through which citizens can confirm their registration status.
5. Every voter removal program should undergo independent auditing, with public reports identifying the number of records reviewed, challenged, corrected and removed.
6. A citizen appearing at the proper polling place should have access to a provisional or affidavit process when registration status is disputed.
7. Commercial databases should never serve as the sole basis for canceling a voter’s registration.
8. Election officials should be subject to enforceable standards when they knowingly or recklessly disregard accurate voter information.

The purpose is not to prevent lawful list maintenance. The purpose is to ensure that accuracy is achieved through due process rather than administrative convenience.

Felony disenfranchisement and taxation

The United States Supreme Court held in Richardson v. Ramirez that Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment permits states, under current constitutional doctrine, to disenfranchise people because of criminal convictions.

In Hunter v. Underwood, however, the Court held that a disenfranchisement provision enacted with racially discriminatory intent violated the Equal Protection Clause.

Because present law permits significant differences among states, a President could not establish a uniform national rule by executive order. Congress would need to enact legislation within its constitutional authority, and a constitutional amendment would provide the strongest and most durable foundation for a rule governing every election.

This proposal does not erase a conviction, cancel a lawful sentence or prevent courts from imposing criminal penalties. It addresses a separate civil question.

When government deliberately excludes a citizen from choosing the officials who impose taxes and determine public policy, government should be required to justify continuing to demand that citizen’s financial support.

The proposed constitutional framework

Congress and the states should consider an amendment containing three central protections.

First, no adult citizen should be denied the right to vote solely because of a felony conviction after completing the term of incarceration imposed by the court.

Second, restoration should occur automatically. A citizen should not be required to obtain the personal approval of an officeholder, navigate an indefinite petition process or pay unrelated financial obligations before being restored to the electorate.

Third, if any jurisdiction continues withholding a citizen’s vote because of a felony conviction, that jurisdiction should provide a corresponding exemption from personal taxation for the period during which it denies that citizen political representation.

Implementing legislation would have to define the taxes covered by that exemption. Federal income taxes, state income taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes and sales taxes operate differently. Payroll tax treatment also affects Social Security and Medicare credits. These questions require precise statutory drafting so that an exemption does not unintentionally deprive a person of earned benefits.

The policy therefore requires more than a slogan. It requires a constitutional rule, detailed federal legislation and coordinated state implementation.

Representation and responsibility

Voting rights and taxation have never been identical legal concepts. The Constitution does not currently create an individual tax exemption whenever a person cannot vote. Minors, noncitizen residents and residents of United States territories illustrate some of the legal complexities.

Nevertheless, felony disenfranchisement presents a distinct policy question because the affected person may remain an American citizen, live and work within the community, support a family and remain subject to laws created by officials the person is prohibited from helping select.

A government should not divide citizenship indefinitely into obligations without representation.

Once a person has served the custodial punishment imposed by a court, civic participation should be restored. If a jurisdiction refuses restoration, the jurisdiction should accept the financial consequence of its decision.

Either recognize the citizen’s political voice or stop demanding the citizen’s taxes while withholding that voice.

A matter for Congress, the states and the American people

This proposal cannot be enacted by presidential declaration.

A President may recommend legislation, advocate for a constitutional amendment and direct the Department of Justice to enforce existing voting rights protections. Congress must enact federal legislation.

A constitutional amendment requires approval by two thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification by three fourths of the states, unless a constitutional convention is called through the alternative process established by Article V.

That demanding process is intentional. A change of this magnitude should be debated publicly, drafted carefully and adopted through the Constitution.

I believe the American people deserve a direct answer.

Verify your voter registration

Every eligible voter should verify their registration through the appropriate state or local election authority before the applicable deadline.

Mississippi voters can obtain official information through Y’all Vote and the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

Citizens in other states can locate their official registration resources through Vote.gov or the United States Election Assistance Commission.

Anyone informed that a registration is inactive or missing should contact the appropriate local election official promptly and request written instructions concerning available correction, affidavit or provisional ballot procedures.

Read the formal policy white paper