State Citizens Stop Voting:
An Outline of Legal Reasons
by
John E. Trumane
Last Update:
December 2, 1993
Introduction
I. There are 2 classes of citizenship under current American
Law, not just 1 class.
A. State Citizenship (upper-case "C")
1. a/k/a California Citizen, Nevada Citizen, etc.
2. a/k/a "Citizen of one of the States United"
B. federal citizenship (lower-case "c")
1. a/k/a "citizen of the United States"
2. a/k/a "U.S. citizen"
II. Under current California State law, only federal citizens
can register to vote; State Citizens cannot register.
A. see voter registration form, available at Post Office
III. Registering to vote produces material evidence that one is a
federal citizen who is, by definition, liable for federal
income taxes, whereas State Citizens are not.
A. State Citizens are protected by constitutional limits
against direct taxation
1. direct taxes must be apportioned per Article 1,
Section 9, Clause 4 and Article 1, Section 2,
Clause 3
B. federal citizens are not protected by these same
constitutional limits
IV. State Citizens must cancel their voter registration to
perfect and maintain their status under the Law.
Body
I. There are 2 classes of citizenship under American Law
A. State Citizenship
1. found in the U.S. Constitution prior to the Civil
War
a. e.g. see qualifications for Representative,
Senator, and President (1:2:2, 1:3:3, 2:1:5)
2. this is a sovereign class created and endowed by
the Creator
B. federal citizenship
1. 14th Amendment attempted to formalize a second
class of citizen first defined in 1866 Civil
Rights Act
2. this is a statutory creation, a subject class,
created and endowed by the Congress, not by the
Creator
II. 2 recent decisions of Utah Supreme Court struck down the
14th Amendment.
A. Congress and the President forced Southern States to
vote for it "at the point of a bayonet", using the
duress and undue influence of martial law.
B. The Civl War was over and Southern States had already
been counted upon to ratify the 13th Amendment, banning
slavery.
III. The consequences of the failed ratification are many and
far-reaching:
A. federal citizenship is not defined in the supreme Law
(i.e. the U.S. Constitution)
1. it is, at best, the creation of federal statute
2. as such, it can be taxed, regulated, and even
revoked, just like a corporation
B. in contrast, State Citizenship is an unalienable Right
which Congress cannot tax, regulate, or revoke
1. Congress cannot amendment the Constitution
a. Congress derives its power solely from the
Constitution
b. Congress can lawfully exercise its powers
only within the limitations of constitution
2. qualifications for Representative, Senator, and
President have never been amended by the States
a. the term "United States" in these provisions
means "States United" (see People v. De La
Guerra and Ex parte Knowles, Calif. Supreme
Court)
3. since the Constitution as lawfully amended is
perpetual, then so is the Sovereign State
Citizenship which it has recognized from the
beginning (1787)
IV. The term "United States" has 3 separate and distinct
meanings in American Law:
A. The name of the sovereign nation, occupying the
position of other sovereigns in the family of nations
B. The federal government and the limited territory over
which it exercises exclusive sovereign authority
1. to be a federal citizen is to be a "citizen of the
United States" in this second sense of the term
C. The collective name for the States united by and under
the Constitution for the United States of America
2. to be a State Citizen is to be a "Citizen of the
United States" in this third sense of the term
(i.e. a "Citizen of one of the States United")
V. One can be a State Citizen without also being a federal
citizen
A. see Crosse case from Maryland Supreme Court:
"Both before and after the Fourteenth Amendment to the
federal Constitution, it has not been necessary for a
person to be a citizen of the United States in order to
be a citizen of his state."
[Crosse v. Board of Supervisors of Elections]
[221 A.2d 431 (1966)]
B. see State v. Fowler case from Louisiana Supreme Court:
"But a person may be a citizen of a particular state
and not a citizen of the United States. To hold
otherwise would be to deny to the state the highest
exercise of its sovereignty -- the right to declare who
are its citizens."
[State v. Fowler, 41 La. Ann. 380, 6 S. 602 (1889)]
C. see Cruikshank court from U.S. Supreme Court:
"We have in our political system a Government of the
United States and a government of each of the several
States. Each of these governments is distinct from the
others, and each has citizens of its own ...."
[United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875)]
D. numerous other authorities can be found, with cites, in
"A Collection of Court Authorities in re Two Classes
of Citizens"
VI. California Legislature now requires that an elector be a
"citizen of the United States"
A. this qualification was predicated on a ratified 14th
Amendment
1. the ambiguities in Section 1 of the 14th amendment
confuse many into thinking there is but one class
of citizenship throughout America
2. State legislators were likewise confused by these
ambiguities, and by the deception surrounding the
passage of this amendment
B. this qualification prohibits State Citizens from
registering to vote, and from voting
1. voter registration form exhibits a formal
affidavit, signed under penalties of perjury, that
voter is a federal citizen (see sample form)
a. such an affidavit is admissible evidence in
any State or federal court
b. federal courts use this affidavit to
establish income tax liabilities
2. perjury is punishable by 2 or 3 years in State
prison (see warnings on registration form)
a. warnings are in CONSPICUOUS text, which
prevents signer from saying he didn't see it
C. State Citizens must cancel their voter registration in
order to perfect and maintain their status.
1. most registration forms were signed in ignorance
of the 2 classes of citizenship in America
2. with this knowledge, State Citizens elect "to be
treated" as federal citizens if they continue to
vote after learning the law
VII. federal citizens are liable for federal income taxes; State
Citizens are not
A. State Citizens are protected by constitutional limits
against direct taxation
1. Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3
2. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4
B. federal citizens are not protected by these same
constitutional limits
1. Constitution for the "United States" as such does
not extend beyond the boundaries of the States
which are united by and under it.
a. The Insular Cases established this dubious
precedent at the turn of the century
2. a "citizen of the United States" is, effectively,
a citizen of the District of Columbia, which never
joined the Union
a. Congress can enact local, "municipal" law for
D.C. which is not constrained by the federal
Constitution
Conclusions
I. State Citizens cannot register to vote under current
California State law.
II. California voter registration form has a formal affidavit by
which signer swears, under penalties of perjury, that s/he
is a "citizen of the United States".
III. Such completed affidavits become admissible evidence and
conclusive proof that signer is a federal citizen.
IV. The exercise of federal citizenship is a statutory privilege
which can be created, taxed, regulated and even revoked by
Congress.
V. The exercise of State Citizenship is an unalienable Right
which Congress cannot tax, regulate or revoke under any
circumstances.
VI. Such a Right is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, which
Congress cannot amend without the consent of three-fourths
of the Union States.
The following pages are the text of a ten-minute debate on the
subject -- 5 minutes in favor of withdrawing voter registration,
and 5 minutes against withdrawing. These materials were used
with much success in a public speaking class at the College of
Marin, Kentfield, California Republic, in December of 1990. For
more information about this and related subjects, please write to
the Supreme Law School, c/o general delivery at: 2509 N. Campbell
Avenue, #1776, Tucson 85719/tdc, ARIZONA STATE.
# # #
Related documents:
"A Collection of Court Authorities in re Two Classes of Citizens"
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John E. Trumane