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I don't think literacy tests should be given.. but honestly, I think in order to vote for someone you need to answer questions about that person.
"Name 3 things ____ stands for"
"Name ___'s running mate"
If I were designing a test I'd try to keep it somewhat aloof from current events in the sense of immediate political controversies. I'd ask things that weren't ridiculously arcane but that informed voters should know, e.g. who delivered the Gettysburg Address, which amendment protects you from self-incrimination, etc. In particular, asking what does someone "stands for" would open a real can of worms. One person would say Obama stands for "social justice" and another would say "looting the successful" and how would you be able to score those without introducing bias? We'd have to stick to objective questions.
Of course the test will be set up so that only Right wingers can vote.
How stupid. The RIGHT to vote is for everyone. Even I agree that it is a bit much. We saw what happened when ignorant people voted in 2000 and 2004 but hey. Their right. We got what we deserved and are paying the price for those 8 years now.
Of course the test will be set up so that only Right wingers can vote.
How stupid. The RIGHT to vote is for everyone. Even I agree that it is a bit much. We saw what happened when ignorant people voted in 2000 and 2004 but hey. Their right. We got what we deserved and are paying the price for those 8 years now.
The problem is, we all pay the price for it. If only the ignorant and backwards did, I'd be more attached to the current system.
Also, the right to vote has certainly been expanded over the years, but I must disagree; it was never "for everyone" and it isn't now. Children, felons (in some states), prisoners (in all but 2 states), non-citizens, people who don't bother to register, etc., are denied the right to vote. It's never been absolute and no authority has ever said it must be absolute.
So you're in favor of an uninformed and illiterate voter? That's what the dems count on. I think a basic civics test isn't too bad an idea.
Who's the loon whose article you're cutting and pasting?
Hey Butters, they used that crap to stop Black people from voting before the laws were changed. (hint....they didn't give the test to the white voters....)
It was used to block voting rights of Americans. Silly unanswerable questions were asked and all except a few were turned away.
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Originally Posted by carterstamp
Hey Butters, they used that crap to stop Black people from voting before the laws were changed. (hint....they didn't give the test to the white voters....)
If you believe civic literacy tests are inherently racist, I presume you would want them removed from high school curricula. Why should high school students be subjected to nefarious racism any more than adult voters should?
Because failing such a test doesn't bar them from getting an education.
Failing a voting test deprives one of their right to vote. There is overwhelming historical evidence that such tests have been used to shut out minorities from voting.
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Originally Posted by djacques
Nobody born after about 1947--that is, about 87% of the population--has been required to take a literacy test to vote. The context of which you speak is the context of a world that is dead and gone and never returning.
Not according to that Tea Party speaker
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Originally Posted by djacques
We have a minority president, minority Senators and Congresspersons, minority governors, etc. Non-Hispanic whites are down to 65% of the population. If you believe that a civics test would be or could be the harbinger of a new era of Jim Crow law, you are delusional.
Just because there are minorities in government does not make such a voting test useful or acceptable. There are plenty of people who will be barred from voting if test requirements were reinstated.
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Originally Posted by djacques
Voting is a legal right, though one that is highly qualified and subject to regulation. I've offered numerous examples of such regulation. It has never been argued by any authority that voting is an absolute right knowing no limits.
No one ever said that it's right without limits. It is, however, a right for non-felon citizens. Voting tests would curtail that right for a lot of people who would otherwise be able to vote.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djacques
There is nothing legally preventing any state today from using non-discriminatory literacy tests;
To my knowledge, such a non-discriminatory voting test does not exist nor has existed in the past. If you have evidence to the contrary, please enlighten me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djacques
I believe I killed and buried the claim that voting is an absolute legal right.
Yeah, you completely decimated that glorious strawman of yours. I never said voting is an ABSOLUTE right.
Because failing such a test doesn't bar them from getting an education.
Failing a voting test deprives one of their right to vote.
Only until they are able to pass the test. Just as a student would be deprived of the right to graduate until they are able to pass the test.
Quote:
Not according to that Tea Party speaker
I've never defended Tancredo in my life until this thread, but you are baldly and blatantly lying about what he said.
Quote:
Just because there are minorities in government does not make such a voting test useful or acceptable. There are plenty of people who will be barred from voting if test requirements were reinstated.
Yes. Ignorant people would be barred from voting. Good.
Quote:
No one ever said that it's right without limits.
Good, I'm glad we're on the same page. We are, then, merely haggling about what those limits ought to be--not over some matter of principle.
So you're in favor of an uninformed and illiterate voter? That's what the dems count on.
Actually, I think it's the Republican Party that is becoming the party of the less educated. Obama won the segments of the population with post-graduate degrees and people making over $200,000/year. My impression of Republicans is that they reject science and higher education. Research that challenges old ideas about homosexuality is dismissed as being liberally-biased, and look at the how much of the Republican Party rejects the research on climate change. They're like a modern-day Flat Earth Society.
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Yep,
