Want better voter turnout? Ditch the 1901 Alabama Constitution

Lots of Alabamians don’t vote.

And it’s hard to blame them.

As Ralph Chapoco reported last week, about 4 out of every 10 eligible Alabamians don’t vote for president. And when it comes to choosing our state leaders, 6 out of every 10 voters (and sometimes more) take a pass.

There are many reasons for this. But they all originate in our state government.

Goat Hill does not serve Alabamians. Nor is it meant to. The 1901 Alabama Constitution — racist on its own but linked to a tradition stretching back to statehood — aimed to ensure that a tiny group of white oligarchs dictated policy to the rest of the state.

A document that won approval through fraud is not democratic. Nor is the government it created.

It prioritizes the needs of the wealthy. It encourages attacks on the vulnerable. And it makes voting difficult.

The Alabama Constitution stole the vote from Black Alabamians and poor whites. But it has other anti-democratic features, too.

It drained county governments of power. It turned state legislators into effective executives for their districts. Many local issues — up to and including mosquito spraying — can only be dealt with in the three months when the Legislature is in session. If the local lawmaker doesn’t want to deal with it, no public consensus can overturn that.

Now, everyone who’s eligible should vote. But it’s easy to understand why so many Alabamians opt out.

When they’re not dealing with pointless, paranoid laws making it hard to cast a ballot, they’re often asked to support leaders who do nothing for them.

We need a government that engages with the people who live here.

And we can only get that with a new constitution.

Yes, yes, I know. That’s not likely anytime soon. Most of our leaders seem content to work under a product of apartheid Alabama. And yes, a 2022 constitutional amendment removed explicitly racist language from the document, while leaving the form of the government intact.

And I’ve heard the arguments against a constitutional convention: It will be influenced by special interests. The final product could be worse than what we have.

To point 1: Our government is already captive to special interests that can and will use lawmakers to thwart the will of local voters and officials. (Hello to all our readers in the Alabama Farmers Federation.)

To point 2: How could we come up with something worse than a racist scheme to deny Black Alabamians and poor white Alabamians a voice in their governance?

In fact, a cursory look at the document shows many places where we could improve our state government.

Take the right to vote. Alabama’s current constitution includes a suffrage provision. But it also gives the Legislature broad power to determine registration procedures and impose burdens on accessing the ballot, making voting an ordeal.

It doesn’t have to be that way. UCLA Law Professor Rick Hasen has proposed a national voting rights amendment that, among other items, could require governments to provide “equal and non-burdensome voting opportunities.”

We need that language in Alabama’s governing document. An state lawmaker’s fear, cynicism or terror should not create obstacles for a voter.

Then there’s the right to a public education. In Alabama, it doesn’t exist.

Amid the height of white hysteria over school desegregation in 1956, the Alabama Legislature passed — and our ancestors approved — an amendment that said, in part, “nothing in this Constitution shall be construed as creating or recognizing any right to education or training at public expense.” It further went on to say the Legislature “may” (not “shall”) establish public schools.

Establishing a right to education could create a foundation for addressing the awful funding disparities that hold Alabama children back. Or at least force lawmakers to take those inequities seriously.

And then there’s taxation. That crackling sound you hear is my inbox turning to flame.

Property tax caps and income tax deductions do wonders for wealthy people who own a lot of land and get to deduct their federal taxes from their state forms.

But you only have to look at the 8 or 9% tax you pay on groceries to know who’s shouldering the burden of government. The bottom 20% of income earners in Alabama fork over 11.9% of their income to the state government. The top 1% chip in 5.4% of theirs.

Property tax caps also prevent local governments, especially rural ones, from raising adequate revenue to support their schools.

So let local officials set local taxes. Let them debate what’s appropriate for property owners and schoolchildren. Don’t let racist white planters from 1901 stop those conversations.

None of those changes on their own would create a perfect government. Nor would they solve Alabama’s longstanding problems of poverty and racism.

But you’ll have leaders who have a mandate to listen to the people of this state. And a government better equipped to respond to their needs.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll have a state where people feel more enthusiastic about voting.

Updated at 8:29 a.m. August 17 to correct that the lowest income earners in Alabama pay 11.9% of their income to the state government. An earlier version said it was paid to the federal government.