Stress voting as a federal right

I read with great interest the article "The right to vote," by Mike Wynn in the Aug. 7 Augusta Chronicle. Joseph Greene's incensed feeling toward those who do not vote should be everyone's reaction to those who have the right to vote and do not.

The reason that voting is a privilege to some is that they have lost the right to vote as per the Voting Rights Act of 1964, Section 7(d): "A person whose name appears on such a list shall be removed therefrom by an examiner if (1) such person has been successfully challenged in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Section 9, or (2) he has been determined by an examiner to have lost his eligibility to vote under State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws of the United States."

"Section 2: No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." There is no federal law governing the voting rights of people who have been convicted of crimes.

Race or color seems to be the only common thread that is woven throughout the federal Voting Rights Act of 1964 that a person is protected, no matter their race or color. Whether you vote in a red or blue state matters not; what matters is that each citizen 18 and older has the right to vote, and there should be one standard for all states - that voting is a federal right.

Rick McDonald, Augusta