I’m voting no on constitutional amendment L. It’s undemocratic

John’s note: During the next few weeks I’ll be reviewing the constitutional amendments that will be coming up for a vote in November and casting my vote on them publicly, here on The Standard, before I do it for real on election day.

Constitutional Amendment L will be on South Dakota’s ballot in November. The measure is about changing the size of the majority needed for passage of constitutional amendments. 

A "yes" vote supports requiring a 60% supermajority by voters to approve constitutional amendments. 

A "no" vote opposes raising the vote threshold, maintaining a simple majority vote requirement for approving constitutional amendments.

I’l be voting no. A basic principle of democracy is that the majority rules. The concept is plain and simple enough and I don’t understand why supporters of an amendment like this insist that a minority can rule when it comes to certain questions being put to a vote. 

I think it’s ridiculous that a measure supported by 59.9% of voters can be struck down because 40.1% of the voters don’t like it. In other words, just over 40% of us can impose their will on the other nearly 60%.

That’s minority rule and it goes against the grain of how democracies are supposed to function.

I hope you’ll join me in voting no on this inherently undemocratic measure.

John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Republish with permission.      

Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons

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