Not only are there a lot of fraudulent votes, there are legitimate votes that just should not be. If you have never worked a day in your life and are living off a grossly managed welfare system, you shouldn't be eligible to vote. Felons still shouldn't be able to vote. If you can't pass a fairly taught and tested class on how the government works, you shouldn't be able to vote.
Well i understand why you feel that way, however, that pesky constitution says otherwise.
I’m inclined to agree with most of these posts.
Don’t forget the fraudulent votes from those who voted multiple times, as well as the votes that were totally manufactured from thin air via electronic voting machine or by paper ballots “found” in car trunks and closets.
I disagree with preventing felons from voting after they have served their terms. In my mind (unless they were convicted of vote fraud which should carry a lifetime ban from voting) if they have served their sentence, they should be reinstated as citizens with full rights. This should NOT happen as a political move (like the Democrat governor of VA pardoning 60,000 felons just in time to vote).
I am not 100% invested in this view, since I have not spent a lot of time thinking about the pros and cons of it. So if you have good arguments against restoring rights to felons, please respond. My opinion is that if they are still dangerous, they should still be in prison. So if that is the problem, then we need to fix the problem, not put a bandaid on the symptom.
IIRC, The voting test was outlawed as being discriminatory. I can see pros and cons there.
I am 100% in favor of ballots in ENGLISH ONLY. If you can’t speak the language, you shouldn’t be voting.
I am 100% in favor of some sort of test for productivity. Originally, you had to be a landowner, which meant you were a productive citizen. Allowing those on welfare to vote is just a recipe for letting deadbeats vote themselves more goodies from the pockets of those who work. We have seen how that has played out over the last 100 years or so. We need to revise the system so that the deadbeats can’t reduce us via voting to communism, and at the same time, we need to protect the voting rights of those who are retired (not working) but have worked all their lives, and we need to prevent a government that is run solely by monied interests. A tough balance to strike.
As a starting proposal, I will throw out some ideas and hopefully some of the smart FReepers here will add, modify, argue, etc.
So how about these ideas (some a little crazy, which may provoke new ideas or be the seed of something much better):
1. A branch of the legislature where every X dollars paid in taxes buys the voter one vote. Or maybe one Senator from each state elected this way.
2. TERM LIMITS!
3. Congressional pay equal to the median American income. You don’t get to vote yourself a raise. When American prospers, you do, too.
4. A ban on relatives serving at high levels of government: President, Senator, Representative, cabinet member. If your spouse, parent, child, or sibling has held one of these offices, you are ineligible. No more dynasties (Bush, Clinton, Kennedy, etc.)
5. Ankle monitors on all Senators and Representatives. I want transparency. I want to know how much time they spend at work, how much time in fancy restaurants and on K Street with lobbyists, etc, etc. The NSA is spying on average Americans, but the people who are supposed to be working FOR US are not accountable for what they are doing. They are enriching themselves at the expense of the country.