It takes a certain minimal amount of intelligence to achieve literacy, & unintelligent people should not vote?

Question

Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Our electoral college system was designed for just this problem. Your vote is the popular vote. Popular votes elect someone else to cast the electoral vote used to decide the winner of the election. That person can vote either way but usual votes according to the popular vote
This system was designed because ,at the time ,most Americans couldn't even read or grasp political issues. And that doesn't seem to have changed much :)

Answer 2

I think it would be preferable to limit the vote to people who actually know what they're voting for. However, we cannot trust our government to decide who can and can't vote (see the numerous rigged elections we've had in our history; 1876, 1960, 2000, and 2004 at the least). Since we can't trust that our elected officials are qualified to determine whether people can vote, we have to hope that we don't have party loyalists who will vote for a party no matter what, even if a totalitarian takes over said party. Nobody should have voted for Bush, Kerry, or Gore in the last few elections. They were all incompetent candidates.

We should be encouraging potential voters to either not vote or vote for somebody who isn't going to screw up our country (it is throwing your vote away to vote for more big government which hasn't worked yet and will not work). MTV's campaigns to increase voting are misguided because they merely encourage voting, rather than informed voting. Informed voting is one of the protections we were given in the Constitution against future King Georges and people eventually abandoned voting informed and have elected tyrants in our recent history that make King George look like a benevolent ruler.

Answer 3

I do not agree. Being unable to read and being intelligent are two different things.

There are people in this country who, for reasons beyond their control have never been schooled properly.. that does not mean that they do not love this country, cannot listen to political speeches, cannot make up their minds.

Remember, this is supposed to be a government that is of the people, for the people.. not just for a certain portion of them.

Answer 4

either we have civil rights for all or we don't. It used to be that women couldn't vote. and African Americans couldn't vote (they used to enforce this by imposing a literacy test on Blacks in the South and by making them pay poll taxes)
As far as IQ tests go, for voting? 51 million people voted for GWB...how many of them would have passed the "intelligence test" you propose?
the bill of rights and constitution only belongs to the smart?
I think not.

Answer 5

For 1 thing, it would be unconstitutional, for another there are the practical issues such as who gets to decide what questions to as & what score will be considered passing.

Answer 6

I think the ballot should only be printed in ENGLISH. If they want to be in this country learn the language.

Answer 7

AGREED