"
The preamble of the Constitution of the State of New York declares the
same purpose. It says:
"We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God
for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, do establish
this Constitution."
Here is not the slightest intimation, either of receiving freedom from
the United States Constitution, or of the State conferring the blessings
of liberty upon the people; and the same is true of every one of the
thirty-six State Constitutions. Each and all, alike declare rights
God-given, and that to secure the people in the enjoyment of their
inalienable rights, is their one and only object in ordaining and
establishing government. And all of the State Constitutions are equally
emphatic in their recognition of the ballot as the means of securing the
people in the enjoyment of these rights.
Article 1 of the New York State Constitution says:
"No member of this State shall be disfranchised or deprived of the
rights or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless by the
law of the land, or the judgment of his peers."
And so carefully guarded is the citizen's right to vote, that the
Constitution makes special mention of all who may be excluded.
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