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Voters Should Pass A Minimal Civics Test
GOPUSA ^ | August 11, 2008 | By Doug Patton

Posted on 08/11/2008 11:34:08 AM PDT by Islander7

I have never been an advocate of the popular notion that "everyone should vote." Some people look at me as if I am somehow un-American when I say that I am not in favor of encouraging people to vote who would otherwise never darken the door of a polling place. I really don't want someone on the streets of Hollywood, who just failed to identify the vice president of the United States on one of Jay Leno's "Jay-Walking" segments, helping to select the person who will lead my government for the next four years.

So here is a basic, common-sense test that every American wishing to exercise the right to vote should answer (I'm sure in this dumbed-down era in which we live we will have to come up with multiple choice answers to make it easier, but here are some preliminary questions):

1. Name the three branches of the federal government.

2. Name the current president and vice president of the United States.

3. How long have they served?

4. How long are the president and vice president allowed to serve?

5. How many members are there in the U.S. House of Representatives?

6. How are House Members chosen?

(Excerpt) Read more at gopusa.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: education; election; potus; voters
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Not to mention a photo ID and proof of citizenship.....maybe proof of life too.
1 posted on 08/11/2008 11:34:08 AM PDT by Islander7
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To: Islander7

Valid, tamper proof ID is OK, but I don’t want to give anyone the ability to apply a litmus test of any kind on the ability to vote.


2 posted on 08/11/2008 11:39:05 AM PDT by Natural Law
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To: Islander7

Alas, the bigoted abuses of the Old South made this good idea impossible now.

Not having a minimum voting test is, IMHO, a punishment from G-d for the sin of slavery and institutionalized bigotry.


3 posted on 08/11/2008 11:39:29 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan ("Jesse Jackson was an important figure; paving the way for Osama bin Laden to appear" -- Dan Rather)
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To: Islander7

How about a basic ENGLISH language test?


4 posted on 08/11/2008 11:39:33 AM PDT by rfp1234 (Phodopus campbelli: household ruler since July 2007.)
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To: Islander7

You should earn the right to vote by paying taxes, not by living off them.


5 posted on 08/11/2008 11:40:18 AM PDT by Defiant (Democrats complained that the war was for oil. Now they make war ON oil.)
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To: Islander7

The thought of all these young MTV fed idiots drooling over Obama gives me the shakes. Idiot slackers choosing our next leader on the basis of nothing but his skin color basically.


6 posted on 08/11/2008 11:41:19 AM PDT by RedCobra (s)
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To: Natural Law

These kinds of suggestions are are just silly. Who gets to decide the test questions?


7 posted on 08/11/2008 11:41:44 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: Islander7

“Consent of the governed” doesn’t change because they’re stupid....


8 posted on 08/11/2008 11:42:21 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: Islander7
I'm not sure about the constitutionality of a Voter Civic Test - BUT I am certain that the Presidential Candidates should know how many States there are. And its not 57
9 posted on 08/11/2008 11:46:10 AM PDT by NavyCanDo
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To: Defiant

I 100% agree with you! I think the only way you should be able to vote is by going to the local Voter’s board like I did when I registered to vote should be the ONLY way to still do that!


10 posted on 08/11/2008 11:47:17 AM PDT by chris_bdba
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To: MeanWestTexan
Alas, the bigoted abuses of the Old South made this good idea impossible now

Of course you know there were slave holders up north. There were lots of northern mill owners who made money off of slave labor too and there were THOUSANDS of black slave owners. Those sins, as you call them, can be spread all over the north and over all races.

11 posted on 08/11/2008 11:48:38 AM PDT by ladyjane
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To: Islander7

Voters Should Pass A Minimal Civics Test and I.Q test.


12 posted on 08/11/2008 11:49:58 AM PDT by Prophet in the wilderness (PSALM .53 : 1 The FOOL hath said in his heart, there is no GOD.)
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To: ladyjane

The author had better be careful using an expression like “darken the door.” He will be accused of being a bigot and hounded mercilessly.


13 posted on 08/11/2008 11:50:26 AM PDT by TNCMAXQ
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To: Islander7

Naw... if that’s the case, I don’t think you should be a citizen unless you SERVE in the military for at least four, full years and you can’t run for office unless you’ve served at least 8 years.


14 posted on 08/11/2008 11:52:16 AM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Please visit for latest on DPRK/Russia/China/et al.)
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To: Islander7

I have said many times that a person should show a recent check stub to be able to vote. I am tired of welfare recipients voting more benefits for themselves by voting in those politicians who pander to those on welfare. I know that some people who work are on welfare, so I’m not bashing them here.


15 posted on 08/11/2008 11:54:32 AM PDT by gop4lyf
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To: RedCobra

I think whoever pays the rent/mortgage should get to cast the vote. If the slacker kid is working, and paying taxes, then he/she can cast their own vote. If mommy and daddy are still paying the bills for Jr/Princess, then they get to cast the votes for their children also.


16 posted on 08/11/2008 11:56:47 AM PDT by highnoon (God Bless our Troops.....especially our snipers!)
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To: ladyjane

Some, sure.

But most northern states were not slave states (for economic reasons more than cultural superiority, I think), and we got the stupid rule that we can’t have basic civics requirements for voting because of the the “Literacy Tests” (replete with secret, unappealable, board that determined if you passed) used to keep blacks from being able to vote.

That particular sin was unique to the Jim Crow south, and caused us the problem.

As an aside, saw Condi Rice talk about why she was a Republican. Her dad walked into a Democratic location and asked to register. The guy behind the counter held up a jar of beans and told her dad he could register if he could tell him how many beans there were in the jar.

He left, went to the Republican location, and they signed him right up.

Still baffles me how blacks got hoodwinked by the bigots that run the Dim party. They created laws and a welfare state in an cynical effort (a successful effort, too, I might say) to keep them down and tied to the Dim party.

Makes me ill.


17 posted on 08/11/2008 11:57:39 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan ("Jesse Jackson was an important figure; paving the way for Osama bin Laden to appear" -- Dan Rather)
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To: chris_bdba

I agree that voters should be required to register, in person. When registering, the voter should be required to prove citizenship, by showing a birth certificate or a naturalization certificate. In 1998, I lived in Calif., and I volunteered for Bob Dornan’s campaign. When I did phonebanking, about 10 of the people, I called, said that they weren’t U.S. citizens. They were Mexican, Vietnamese, or Korean. They were probably able to register, to vote, because of the motor voter law. When anyone is at a DMV, he or she can get a voter registration form, take it home, and mail it to the county government, without proving that he or she is a U.S. citizen.


18 posted on 08/11/2008 11:59:46 AM PDT by PhilCollins
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To: Islander7

How about stake holders only vote, own a house, you get to vote. That stops the handout crowd in it’s tracks.


19 posted on 08/11/2008 11:59:59 AM PDT by Tarpon (Ignorance, the most expensive commodity produced by mankind.)
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To: Islander7

Much as I hate to say it voting is an absolute right. Being ill informed or just plain stupid does not void that right. Proving you are who you say you are and a US citizen however should be a requirement.


20 posted on 08/11/2008 12:04:04 PM PDT by traderrob6
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