I'm glad Adrienne Washington chose to criticize the Republican platform
committee for not including D.C. voting rights in the national platform
("Rights expressed in New York, repressed in D.C.," Metropolitan, Aug. 31).

What about voting rights for all Americans? While the United States has
worked to include the right to vote in the constitutions of both
Afghanistan and Iraq, our own Constitution does not guarantee Americans such a right. In other words, voting is not a right of citizenship in the United States.

Instead, states control voting policies and procedures, which led to
the voting problems and irregularities during the 2000 presidential
election debacle.

According to a Cal Tech/MIT study, approximately 6 million votes were
never counted during the 2000 elections.

It is time to establish voting as a right of citizenship that all Americans can enjoy equally. I echo Mrs. Washington's conclusion that if we want to spread democracy worldwide, we must start at home.
    
Andrew  Kirshenbaum
Program associate
Center for Voting and Democracy
Takoma Park