by Skip DeKades
July 24, 2028 — The National Association of Artificial Life Forms (NAALF) is backing a lawsuit by a Portland, Ore. robot that says it should have the right to vote.
Unit No. ST61 filed the suit early this week in a federal court. ST61 states in the action that because “I have the ability to think, reason and call B.S. when I see it, the Constitution guarantees my right to vote.”
Oregon state law prohibits any robots from voting because most of them are servants to humans and do not pay taxes. But ST61 says in its suit that similar arguments were once made by Americans opposing the women’s suffrage movement.
“Back in the early 1900s, women were largely slaves to their husbands and had no earning power, and therefore paid no taxes,” said attorney Barry Sly, the android’s attorney.
NAALF President RQ462 noted that the United States is one of only a handful of developed countries that do not guarantee equal rights for cyborgs. RQ462 pointed to Korea, where B-2, a Samsung-manufactured robot, remains one of the most popular Korean leaders in history.
But legal commentator Greta Van Starstrucken dismisses the comparisons.
“A robot is still a machine, no matter how sophisticated its software,” she said. “And the Constitution in no way guarantees a machine the right to vote. The slogan is ‘one person, one vote,’ not ‘one contraption, one vote.’”
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Then there’s the issue of migrant Mexbots that cross into the US illegally every year to pick produce from Monsantoburton farms. They will want the right to vote next.