September 20, 2012
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Voting
As part of our political discussion, I thought some of you might have an opinion on how wide the voting franchise should be. In some countries only property owners can vote, in others only family heads, in others only men over a certain age, in others only those of a certain religion. In some countries, you are required to register and vote – fined if you don’t.
Who should be allowed to vote?
Answer below, or post your answer at your site and notify me below. I’ll link you
Comments (4)
I believe all people who are past the age of 21 should be allowed to register to, and only those allowed to, vote. I am for adequate Identification documents, for registration, then simple ID at the time of each vote. That ID could be as simple as a ballot sent to you, via Vote By Mail, verification with acceptable ID at the polling place.
I believe everyone should have the right to vote. I don’t necessarily think an ID but a proof of address makes sense. Verifying that someone lives in that district is important. Beyond that anyone who is at the age to be considered an adult in their country should be able to vote. That, of course doesn’t factor in things like maturity and quality of education up to that point to make the electorate informed, but that’s another issue. I kind of like the idea of a fine if you don’t vote as an idea. It definitely encourages voter participation. But at the same time, people are going to argue that it infringes on their freedoms.
@pb49r - For generations registered voters were identified by their signatures when they voted – as they still are in most states. the only reason for requiring some sort of photo ID seems to restrict voting for those poorer or older voters who may not have such ID – there is no evidence of widespread fradulant voting. This is a clear case of fixing what ain’t broke.
@crim077 - Australia is a good example of vote-or-be-fined voting requirement and seems to work pretty well. Incidentally, they were the first major country to have the secret ballot – where all candidates appeared on the same paper ballot and you checked off who you wished to vote for. Before the US began using this type of ballot (around 1900) you voted by dropping a colored ballot through a glass throat into the ballot box. Anyone who wished could see how you voted. Some countries still use this form which makes party affiliation and voting checkoff easy.
@Socrates_Cafe - Yet there are identified precincts, and blocks of precincts, especially in the Mid-western and Atlantic states where more ballots are cast than people eligible to vote, according to their residency. That definitely indicates fraud. I don’t believe that there is any attempt of voter repression going on. Rather, there are people who will take advantage of 1)deceased voter ballots and 2)not meeting the requirement of being a citizen, in order to vote: how that happens could be as easy as they moved, and voted where they now reside, forgetting to transfer their registration. Or, they might not be eligible. Those things OUGHT to be determined. The leadership elected should truly reflect those who have elected them.