We need to work within the system, not around it.

Letter to the Editor: This LTE was published in the 12/14/23 edition of the Hudson Star Observer

Kids are pretty smart. They will always try to make group decisions by a majority vote. Deciding what game to play or what kind of pizza to order will be put to a vote. Kids know that making decisions by voting is fair, and usually leads to better outcomes.

The kids who grew up to attend the Constitutional Convention in 1787 understood the power of majority. Every delegate had been elected to serve by individual state legislatures, who had been elected by the people in those states. Every decision made by the Constitutional Convention was supported either by a majority of a committee or a majority of the entire body.

There was spirited, sometimes angry debate at the Constitutional Convention. No state or delegate got everything they wanted, yet they accepted the decisions of the majority. The delegates also were willing to compromise when necessary to gain ratification of the greatest form of government ever created.    

One of the great triumphs of American Democracy is the periodic expansion of voting rights, allowing nearly every American to help make group decisions and set public policy. Originally only white, property-owning men could vote. Constitutional amendments gave that right to former slaves in 1870, to women in 1920, and to everyone above the age of eighteen in 1971.

MAGA Republicans are working to undermine what have been bedrock principles in America since 1787. They effectively cancel voting rights in the states through voter suppression laws and extreme gerrymandering. Judicial orders requiring fair, legitimate legislative boundaries are simply ignored.

Voters in several states, including Michigan and Ohio, have either passed referendums or amended state constitutions to protect abortion rights. Those also are being ignored by MAGA Republicans.

The 2020 presidential election demonstrated just how far the MAGA crowd is willing to go. A violent uprising, spurred on by discredited lies and conspiracy theories, nearly prevented the peaceful transfer of power. 

Until MAGA Republicans end all efforts to subvert majority rule they cannot be trusted to hold office. Voters must continue to elect representatives who support democratic rule and continue to honor election results.