Time to end the universal right to vote?

[Harleyman]

Going on from another thread about prisoners having the right to vote, I was thinking that perhaps we should end the universal right to vote.

 

Far too many people don't know who or what they are voting for. Many simply vote for who their families have voted for, with little thought about the policies or people involved. It's a sort of tribal voting in that many always vote for the same party simply because it's what they've always done.

 

What I propose instead is a test (set independently and taken by everyone before each election) which you have to pass before you can vote. The test requires you to have a basic understanding of what parties stand for and what their main policies are. The whole point of the test is to raise the level of understanding of what you are voting for so you would be encouraged to look up and research answers.

 

There would be no minimum voting age, if you can pass the test, you can vote.

 

Thoughts?

 

If someone is a citizen and pays taxes to government then they have every right to vote without having to pass any criteria.. Either that or it's no vote, no taxes

[Grandad.Malky]

The whole point of the test is to raise the level of understanding of what you are voting for so you would be encouraged to look up and research answers.

 

 

That’s all well and good but what happens when they change their policy at the last minute?

[BritPat]

thats all bnp supporters away from voting then?

 

So perhaps you can dazzle us all with your insight re the Political Landscape?

 

The substantive differences between Lib Lab and Con if you please?

 

Perhaps you would prefer to declare yourself unfit to vote instead?

 

awwww hit a spot did it?

 

the thing is with this topic,

 

where do draw the line?

who gets the right to decide?

 

its the thin end of the wedge on the way to the nazi police state, declaring who can and cant choose the leaders and indeed at the fat end of the edge what they vote for

 

Wriggling like a good 'un

[Greybeard]

That’s all well and good but what happens when they change their policy at the last minute?

 

Or even well past the last minute. Just watch the LibDems and Tories back-pedalling like mad over the Control Order issue.

 

And the LibDems have proved that manifestos are meaningless in the face of the temptations of Office, fat salaries and associated perks.

[dell12]

the thing is with this topic,

 

where do draw the line?

who gets the right to decide?

 

its the thin end of the wedge on the way to the nazi police state, declaring who can and cant choose the leaders and indeed at the fat end of the edge what they vote for

 

I tend to agree in practice it would actually be very difficult to implement without impinging on democracy.

 

Ideally I think that it would be done by an independent trust, something along the lines of the electoral commission.

[melthebell]

Wriggling like a good 'un

 

sometimes i really do think you live on a different planet to the rest of us

[Grandad.Malky]

Or even well past the last minute. Just watch the LibDems and Tories back-pedalling like mad over the Control Order issue.

 

And the LibDems have proved that manifestos are meaningless in the face of the temptations of Office, fat salaries and associated perks.

 

I can see some back peddling coming up over the French / British military pact.

[BritPat]

sometimes i really do think you live on a different planet to the rest of us

 

I'm not surprised to find that you believe in Extra Terrestrial life forms with the ability to communicate across space and time via the internet.

[HeadingNorth]

If someone is a citizen and pays taxes to government then they have every right to vote without having to pass any criteria.. Either that or it's no vote, no taxes

 

The requirement to pay taxes is irrelevant to the right to vote. Some people pay tax and can't vote; others can vote who pay no tax.

[andygardener]

the thing is with this topic,

 

where do draw the line?

who gets the right to decide?

 

its the thin end of the wedge on the way to the nazi police state, declaring who can and cant choose the leaders and indeed at the fat end of the edge what they vote for

 

I think as far as the "thin end of the wedge" this thread is a tad tongue in cheek but as far as the "fat end of the wedge" isn't that what liberal democracy entails? People are only allowed to choose from acceptable options. They can't vote to gas all the gingers or sterilise anyone who took a degree in media studies. Our democratic system is based on choice between different shades of the acceptable, which i'm fine with and don't conside a "nazi police state", but those who want a nazi police state can't actually vote for that. Which is good in my view but they would see you less as a democratic hero and more as limiting their choice, denying them their democratic right to have their say.

 

I think it was Algeria where the islamist party won the elections and announced that there would be no more voting and now allahs law would rule, so the army rightly stepped in and told them to do one. The principle that you cannot be elected to remove democracy is one I've always supported as it disenfranchises all future voters, but we should not fool ourselves that democracy does not disenfranchise some people who do not agree with democracy. Personally I think that is for the greater good but we must acknowledge that we do remove some peoples voice by doing things this way.