Should people have to take an intelligence test to vote?
604735
Are you aware of the Jim Crow laws? They made intelligence tests required. Remember, this legally keeps people from voting. I think almost everyone has an opinion. We should all be allowed to vote, even if we don't like who the people choose. I think if you don't vote everyone should know, and you should be banned from complaining. If you don't care enough about your nation to vote for the leader, what gives you the right to complain about it? This, of course, could not apply to those under eighteen or who were not of legal voting age when the last election occured. I think voter education would be much more productive. Politicians need to tell everyone exactly where they stand on topics, there need to be sheets comparing each persons stand on hot issues distributed to the masses. This can be difficult to do, but if all parties joined to make it happen, we would have smarter voters. People would, in theory, vote for politicians they side with. Then you would know whomever is in office is the favorite.
850959
No but they should be. The only problem with that is who will give the tests? Other people in political office, or doctors in the politicians pockets? I think it would be hard to get someone to do it honestly in the first place.
299326
I vote, but I live in the U.S.  In my opinion voting is definitely important.  I also think that people that don't vote should not run their mouths about who is currently in office because had they taken the time to go vote they may have been able to sway the outcome of the election.
601542
On the one hand, I applaud the concept of making every participate in our democracy.  No one should feel marginalized if they had a hand in electing their leader.\n\nOn the other hand, I am like a lot of the Founding Fathers who expressed severe doubts that the average person could make intelligent decisions.  I live in a typically middle class area where you would expect people would have the education and the interest in politics to understand the issues.  However, the amount of fallacious thinking I encounter is downright scary.\n\nI'd have to consider your idea further, but right now my gut tells me this: If someone isn't interested enough to vote of their own volition, how meaningful will making them put an "X" in Box-A, or Box-B ?  A lot of these people would know nothing about the candidates.  I think it would encourage candidates to "dumb down" their campaigns, and pander to certain groups.
213900
We should not be required to vote, but it should be required that the people receive more information on the candidates and their true personal views and past actions to support those views and opinions before the debates begin.
785690
You make an excellent point first of all. There are indeed many people who vote with minimal knowledge of the issues and of what's at stake. I can attest to being one of those people myself, but the fact of the matter is, I know the basics of whom I will vote for and whom I will not (I live in Michigan), and to propose a test to qualify to vote is essentially stripping people of their right to vote all over again. I blame the Government Officials (I do not use the term 'Politician') because they make it into a popularity contest. I also blame the media because they egg it on, but I digress.
5473
That's a difficult question to answer as I don't believe there is a uniform standard of intelligence tests that existed for all US Presidents.  Thus, as it may seem to many in this generation that George W. Bush is stupid, it may be that he is not the least intelligent of the bunch.  Other presidents have, in their time, made their own errors.  William Henry Harrision died of a cold, and William Howard Taft got stuck in a bathtub.
742189
I believe that some one who is dumb should be able to vote. it is a free country, ya know. As long as theyre 18. of course, im in 6th grade so what do i know?
914349
Absolutely NOT. \n\nThis would be contrary to everything democracy stands for.\n\nEvery person of voting age should have an equal right to vote - anything else is not democracy and leads to the type of elite-ism satirised in George Orwell's animal farm - all people will be equal but some people will be more equal than others.\n\nWhat is more, I refuse to limit my answer on such an important issue to 25 words and there is not a damned thing you can do about it. \n\nI will use my right of free speech and my right to vote no matter how much you might disagree with my ability to choose wisely. \n\nToo many people don't have this luxury and too many people died ensuring I do have it. I will treasure and defend my right and the right of others to speak and vote freely.
136093
In a way they do...and people vote them in.  People don't have to vote for a person that they don't think is 'trained'.
686612
It's OK, but I would start by introducing the topic. "The idea of requiring potential voters to take and pass a test before being allowed to vote is a controversial one. My team and I concur that this is an unfair requirement which violates many American's constitutional rights."
933419
You might be surprised at how poorly they do.\n\nScoring high on an intelligence test is in no way related to one's ability to understand/manipulate people's emotions to his or her advantage.  I would say that Presidents probably score high on EQ, but not necessarily on IQ.
688514
If you had to take a test they wouldn't be rights now would they? If they would put education back in the schools a normal person would have some sense by the time they were eighteen.
958681
IQ is a controversial thing. I personally don't believe you can measure a persons intelligence by looking at the scores of a test they did one day. Many factors could come into play such as the person being ill or not focused on the test. You can make yourself smarter just by exercising your brain like you would exercise any other part of you. Read or watch documentaries Test your maths skills and problem solving, look up random words in a dictionary to increase your vocabulary, look at encyclopedias and learn about history and other facts about the world. It's not as boring as it sounds. Especially once you get older and you can use your knowledge in conversations and your mathematics will be helpful in any form of occupation.
148266
When you say the necessary requirements do you mean that as long as they are not felons (since felons cannot vote period)? Well either way, yes and no. Obviously there are many criminals out there that do not care about the country's ethics and they abuse it over and over over. Those criminals should never be allowed to vote. On the other hand, there are those that are truly reformed and deserve a chance to be an upstanding citizen again. For example, if someone has a record for protesting the war and starting chaos for a good cause, then he/she is hardly a menace to society. Over time that person can mature and learn to channel his/her views in a positive. That doesn't mean they should not be allowed to vote. On the hand, a criminal who has raped, killed, committed hate crimes against different races, etc. should NOT be able to--especially if they are repeat offenders.
903695
Not one bit.\n\nColleges (and employers) don't care how smart you are.  They care about what you can do with your intelligence.  That's why they look at grades and aptitude test scores.
1086246
NO!!! It is very important to make sure our voters (and future voters) are educated in the subject!!!!! I cannot emphasize this enough!!!