In my social studies class (in Canada) we wrote an essay based on a fictional piece of legislation that would make people write an exam that proves they are informed about politics before they can vote. The problem is that this is extremely UNDEMOCRATIC. Seriously, people should try and be educated, but we cannot deny them a vote, and we should not tell them not to use their most basic democratic right.

The man has a point.
Do you want everyone to give advice on brain surgery ? Should that be a civic duty ?

Bottom line, idiots giving advice is dangerous at best. Idiots voting...oh well thats acceptable....

Maybe people who ask dumb questions like this shouldn’t be allowed on television.

People who don’t recognise the face of a Supreme Court Justice shouldn’t vote? Really? Maybe we shouldn’t allow blind people to vote either.

As one of the most informed voters in the country, I agree that most people should stay home, especially those here on LiberalSift that don't agree with my views.

He's not advocating banning these people from voting. But does it make sense to have these voter registration drives and to harp on people to vote who otherwise couldn't be bothered?

At first, I had no problem with those celebrity pro-voting commercials. But the more I thought about it, the more absurd I realized it was. If people don't care about their country enough to vote, more likely than not they don't pay attention to their government enough to be informed. Should they be banned from voting? No, but if they don't know what their doing, perhaps their civic duty is to refrain.

I think part of the answer is people think young voters will vote for Obama, but registering them doesn't make them informed. The way I see it, there are already too many uninformed morons voting for McCain; more is not a good thing.

>> ^Octopussy:
Maybe people who ask dumb questions like this shouldn’t be allowed on television.

So you advocate censoring people who you disagree with, but you're okay with uninformed idiots deciding on the leader of the country? I guess we all know which candidate you'll be voting for.

@Xax: to be honest this isn't exactly an example of how to enlighten possible voters. It's extremely easy to show how stupid some people are, but it takes intelligence and an effort to explain things.

Btw, I live in Europe and telling you who I vote for would probably make you vomit .

What I think is preposterous, is that people have to register to vote in America. Where I live we all get the right to vote when we're 18. Voter turnout is from 84-95%.

Well, gee... maybe we should actually teach freaking civics again. We stop teaching the things they are asking for and placing any kind of value on it as a society, and then we're surprised when people don't know answers to those questions?

I agree with most of you that voting should be for the informed and with ElJardinero's point about registration - how idiotic that we have to register in order to vote in this country.

However, I'd take it a step further in that I think there should be a test to ensure that a voter is informed enough to vote before doing so (although, I have to admit, after arguing with my wife about this point, she made it clear that such a test would be impossible to administer).

If you want to drive a car, you have to take a test in order to ensure you know the rules of the road so you don't injure yourself or others. In order to vote, you should take a test in order to ensure you know the candidates position(s) so you don't injure your country and, in the process, yourself and others.