PSU Votes Week kicked off Monday night with a heated debate between the College Democrats and the College Republicans over constitutional interpretation. The two sides discussed whether the constitution is a constantly-evolving document, or rigid and meant to limit the power of government.

Kelsey Denny, Jacob Klipstein, and Lexy Pathickal debated for the Democrats, while Allison Dombach, Aidan Mattis, and Chile Menuga debated for the Republicans. Jake Griggs, chair of UPUA’s Governmental Affairs Committee, moderated the debate.

Each team had five minutes to open and five minutes to answer each question. With only one to two minutes for rebuttal, both sides were cut short several times.

Discussions continued to circle back to the representation of people of color and women in the constitution, the second amendment, and the importance of voting.

Mattis argued the founding fathers wrote the constitution “to be a very literal document” and interpreted exactly as written. In response, Klipstein asked, “Is it fair for [Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor] to be expected to interpret the constitution exactly as it was written before? When the idea of them even being on the court was unfathomable?”

Mattis then brought the discussion to gun control, saying “The exact wording of the second amendment gives us the unequivocal right to bear arms without interference of interpretation by the Supreme Court.”

As soon as Klipstein was able, he argued that “the founding fathers couldn’t have imagined AR-15s,” to which Mattis disagreed.

Klipstein’s only response to Mattis was, “Do you think [the founding fathers] thought they would be used on children?” The crowd erupted with claps, yells, and snaps, and Griggs asked attendees to settle down.

Conversation then shifted to the role of the people in the constitution, which Dombach said is to vote. The Democrats didn’t disagree, but reminded attendees that “elections have consequences.”

For the Republicans’ closing remarks, Mattis reiterated earlier statements, saying, “If the Constitution was meant to be loosely interpreted, the Founders would have stopped at ‘We the People’ and the preamble would be the constitution.”

Klipstein concluded the Democrats’ remarks, saying, “According to [the College Republicans], with a constructionist viewpoint, we have only had 44 and three fifths of a president,” referring to the three-fifths compromise of 1787, which elicited an audible wince from the audience.

The debate ultimately touched on current events, past amendments and Supreme Court rulings, and the future of American government. To close out the night, Griggs encouraged the audience to register to vote and to get their friends registered.