Should there be an intelligence test for the right to vote?

[Lancer]

What would happen if only intelligent people could vote? Once you pass the test you can vote for life. If you fail, you never can. Allow perhaps 30% to pass.

The voters could grasp the issues, yes?

[Dauphin]

Question 1:
Which candidate will you be voting for?

[alva]

That's too easy and illegal!!

Question 1:
Which candidate will you not be voting for?

[Pekka]

I think the limit should be higher, meaning that only 8% or so can vote if intelligence is the question. Because if the limit is lower, then we have the people who 'are smart enough to vote' and people 'who aren't smart enough to vote'. And we all get to personally know them and have them amongst us, it can't be a good thing, if we are going to do this, we should make the limit truly high enough. What is intelligent anyway? Someone who scores little above average? No no no... let's make it the top level if it should be a requirement.

[MRT144]

i think that only certain people that we vote for can vote

[Lawrence of Arabia]

what about an intelligence test for those we get to vote for?

[MOBIUS]

I agree it is a fundamental flaw of democracy, the average person on the street doesn't have a clue - so why should they be allowed to make important national decisions such as voting...

[Elok]

No; the value of democracy I see it is not that it makes for better decisions, but that it keeps too much power from accumulating in too few hands. Any "intelligence test" could easily be designed by those in power to act just like the "reading tests" they used to use to keep blacks from voting. Well, maybe not that absurd, but restrictions on voting are a bad thing. Sometimes, having morons make your decisions for you is the price you pay to not live under a bloody dictatorship.

[Wernazuma III]

Since even the best intelligence test is culturally biased, by definition has to weigh very different forms of intelligence AND knowledge (just take all the language based items, such as anagrams etc.), it will automatically lead to tendentially exclude, among others,
a) low social groups
b) naturalized immigrants and their offspring who still have language issues

All of these groups have a legitimate right to state and protect their interests (hell, they will also have to pay taxes and get shot in the first line in case of a serious conflict!).
Limiting voting rights on criteria such as "intelligence" creates a two class-society. Read about such a society in Plato's republic or Huxley's "Brave new world".

Especially the idea of "If you fail, you never can.", is sickening.
Sorry if someone takes this personally now, but I don't hesitate to call a person favoring such an approach a fascist.
A big for the very idea.
Better educate those who don't have a clue what they're doing in democracy!!

[Dauphin]

Any test would have to be argued for along the lines of knowledge and intelligence. For instance, if you don't know the parties main platforms, or understand their policies, then how can you justify your vote for any of them?

A counter argument is, how can you deny a person's right to vote for a party that will benefit them personally even though they don't understand how or why.


Which raises the question. Can mentally handicapped people vote?

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Which raises the question. Can mentally handicapped people vote?

They can.

Unless a person is declared to be mentally incompetent by a court they can vote. Some people need a family member to help them fill out the ballot, but their vote is legal and protected.

But no matter how intelligent or how much he pays in taxes or his likelyhood to be sent to war or whether he is being treated as an adult in the legal system or how poorly his interests are served by society will someone 17 years and 364 days old be able to vote.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

You know what there should be? A tax rebate for voting. Say $50, off the top, for voting in the year your taxes are filed.

[King of Rasslin]

Stupid voters is why we have special voting machines here in the US that can be hacked with no paper trail. Intelligence, however, is not the most important criteria for a voter. A lot of intelligent groups seek to destroy this country, like much of the liberal elite, Communists, etc. Instead, ideals should be used to assess voter worth.

Voters should uphold our society's values. They should be obedient to authority, loyal to family, and willing to go through personal sacrifices for the good of the nation. Voters should require a clean criminal record and a high school education, and soldiers should get their votes counted twice. Interestingly, this would increase the average voter IQ, but it would keep out deviants. People with low IQs are more likely to be criminals.

[MrFun]

I think the upper class should be deprived of their right to vote.

[alva]

Is he ^^ serious? Not Fun, the one above him.