By Constitution Staff

As was suspected would happen, Governor Henry exercised the veto pen on Senate Bill 4, the bill that would require voters to show proof that he/she is actually the person in whose name the vote is intended to be cast. This bill had passed both houses by a substantial margins to send it to the governor. In doing this, he has placed his personal agenda of allowing vote fraud, over the desire of a majority of members in both houses and the will of the citizens. Although both houses promptly, passed Senate Bill 692, a resolution which by-passes the Governor and sends the proposed law to a vote of the people in the 2010 election, it won't be in effect for the 2010 election.

The governor has shown that he values the minority will of the League of Women Voters and several other "special interest groups" who seem to think, mistakenly in my opinion, that requiring voters to show that they are who they say they are, would keep some from voting because they are "poor or elderly." Being one of the latter, it offends me that they would take such a stand, or use our group as an excuse to prevent a needed correction in the process.

There is one segment claiming to have no knowledge of voter fraud in Oklahoma, while tacitly admitting that it is known to exist in more liberal (socialist) states such as Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, Minnesota, California, Florida, New York, or New Jersey to name a few of the more recent publicly admitted examples. Those people are either involved in the process or are refusing to admit that such things occur. It has long been a joke around political circles that there are usually a number of names on tombstones found to have voted.

In my experience over the last 23 years in Oklahoma, that there are several notable examples of vote fraud of various types. While serving as Delaware County Republican Chairman over the turn of the Century, I was asked by a counterpart in another county to meet with some folks there, of another party, who were upset about some 'massive' vote fraud in a recent primary. Since vote fraud is a crime, and is one of my pet peeves, it was agreeable to me and so we met in the town hall of the location. They stated that a certain nursing home in the town, where every inmate had been judicially declared mentally incompetent and thus ineligible to vote. With a resident population of about 37, they kept two of the largest post office boxes available and at each election they would be full of absentee ballots. It was also said that one person would pick up all of those ballots and then shortly return them to be mailed back to the election board. It seemed to me that there should not have been any ballots for that location.

In my own county in the same election, 2000, one of the precincts had more than 10 percent more votes reported in the State House race than in the Presidential race. From the record it appeared that the Democrat incumbent candidate garnered all of the excess votes. The precinct involved was one of the most rural in the county. The Republican opponent in the race reported that his signs were repeatedly stolen and found in the equipment yard of the County Commissioner and that county and state road workers were seen collecting them, even when on private property behind the fence. Voter ID wouldn't cure or help with that problem, but would with the other, unless there was corruption in the election board office.

Robert W. McDowell, Jr.

Tulsa, OK

Assault on the Family

What's next! It's not enough for those in Washington to destroy every aspect of our economy. They are now going after our families and our children.

In 1989 the United Nations created a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This treaty was signed under President Bill Clinton in 1995 but was never ratified by Congress. There is now a push by the Obama administration to bring it back. This effort is being spearheaded by Sen. Barbara Boxer (Democrat, CA). If the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is ratified, it will become the law of the land. Because of the "Supremacy Clause" in Article 6 of our United States Constitution, this treaty will override states 10th Amendment rights concerning education and family law.

If the Convention on the Rights of the Child becomes law, parents will be reduced to little more than caregivers to their own children. It will take away the right of parents to establish a family religion or even administer reasonable spankings. A child's "right to be heard" will allow the child to seek government review of any parental decision with which they do not agree. Children will also have the right to reproductive information and abortions without the knowledge or consent of the parents. It will effectively prohibit home schooling. All forms of education will be under federal control and dictated by the United Nations. These are only a few of the disturbing provisions in this document. The United Nations has control over the evolving interpretation of this document.

We must fight this at both the state and federal levels. Oklahoma's sovereignty bill has been used as a pattern by other states across the nation. They look to Oklahoma as a leader in conservative issues. Sen. Randy Brogden has agreed to sponsor a Senate Concurrent Resolution opposing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This will send a very loud message to Washington that Oklahoma will not stand for any United Nations interference concerning our families or our children.

On the federal level Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Republican, MI) is sponsoring an amendment to our United States Constitution designed to protect both the rights of parents AND the rights of children. It would also forbid the United States from entering into any treaty that interferes with parental rights. Two of the many co-sponsors of the amendment are Rep.'s Mary Fallin (Republican) and John Sullivan (Republican) from right here in Oklahoma. ParentalRights.org headed by Dr. Michael Ferris is working with Rep. Hoekstra to create awareness nationwide. Their volunteers are busy contacting legislators, organizations, friends and family to educate them on the impending disaster which would be created by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. They are also sponsoring a "citizen petition" to further send a message to Washington. You can obtain more information on the amendment by contacting one of the sponsoring Representatives. Information on the treaty and what you can do may be obtained by visiting www.ParentalRights.org on the web.

This document the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an all out assault on our most sacred institution, the family. It subjugates our sovereignty to foreign powers via the United Nations. Please pay attention to this looming assault on the family. We must all work to defeat this treaty. Talk to your friends and family. Contact your state and federal legislators. Tell them how you feel about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and ask them where they stand on this issue. I challenge you to become a warrior for the family.

Teri Feland

Norman, OK