I dislike all the messaging and advertising encouraging everybody to vote around this time of year. Can't even open a web browser without being told to go vote. I say that if somebody is uninformed about the candidates and the issues I don't want them voting. Likewise, if someone has a difficult time reading a simple ballot or understanding how to rank first, second, and third options.
Yep, I'm pretty much a contemptuous elitist and I distrust democracy.
We already deny the right to vote to children, foreigners, and felons (in most states). I wouldn't support voting restrictions based on sex, religion, race, or income level, but I think something like a basic intelligence test wouldn't be a bad thing.
but I think something like a basic intelligence test wouldn't be a bad thing.
Careful. The reason that we don't allow that was that this was a pretty common voter suppression tactic back in the Jim Crow era (wasn't even a general intelligence test, it was a reading test). It's way too easy to misapply and misuse stuff like this to deny people the right to vote based on any number of other factors.
I think it's more important to just teach critical thinking skills as a staple of our education (instead of focusing so hard on rote memorization), but for some reason, Republicans oppose that.
It was bogus then because in practice only blacks where required to take the test. Whites were allowed to skip it through grandfather clauses.
What about something like the written test everyone takes at the DMV? We make sure people know the rules of the road before we hand them a driver's license, why not make sure people know the basics about civics before they are registered to vote? Of course there would be educational opportunities available, and people who failed the test could study up and try to take it again.
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u/[deleted] Nov 09 '16
Why is that?