this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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That anyone should be allowed to vote.
I mean, obviously I believe in democracy, don't get me wrong... My idea is that you should have a chance to be allowed to vote. Like you have to at least pass a reading & comprehension test before you get like a voting license or something.
You don't get to drive if you're incapable to see the road, you don't get to vote if you're incapable to understand what a politician is saying to you.
I'm sorry
Edit: I'm not from the USA, so I didn't know that there was already something similar back then.
Still, I believe that basic comprehension is foundamental in the voting process and there should be a way to check it. Otherwise there is no failsafe to populism taking over
That's banned in the US under the Civil Rights Act of 1965 because it was used to cut racial minorities out of the voting process. I can also think of a bunch of other ways this could be abused.
You're probably already aware that there have been literacy requirements to vote in the past in some places in the US, but those were actually an excuse to disenfranchise black people. https://history.iowa.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/right-to-vote-suffrage-women-african/voter-registration-literacy
Literacy tests were banned by the Voting Rights Act in 1965. There have been recent attacks on that law including the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County v Holder which overturned election oversight in jurisdictions with a history of racist disenfranchisement; and Allen v Milligan from a couple months ago was an attempt to overturn gerrymandering restrictions, but thankfully it failed. Combine that with continuing voter disenfranchisement (for example far too few polling places in Atlanta leading to black voters waiting in line many hours to vote), and there is no doubt in my mind that if literacy tests were legal again they would be used the same way they were in the 60's.
Personally I think history has shown that we get better leaders when more votes are counted.
The hard part about this is who gets to decide what the criteria is needed to be allowed to vote? It can easily be taken advantage.
Itβs less important because votes are averaged.
Itβs well established that smarter people are just as likely to get caught up in bullshit. Maybe reading is a handicap to voting.
If you have a low IQ you're not legally allowed to serve in the military, but you damn sure can vote for the president π