This is going to be a little long and rambling, so bear with me. It's one of those topics I know will be loved and hated in equal measure.
GOP lawmakers in many states have made unfortunate names for themselves and their party by imposing onerous limitations on persons likely to vote for the other party ... not in so many words, but under the guise of
"ensuring the sanctity of the ballot box" or
"protecting against rampant* voter fraud." These efforts continue at the national level, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell** recently scoffed at a draft bill to make Election Day a national holiday, calling it "the "Democratic Politician Protection Act" and describing it as a "power grab" that changed "the rules of Americans politics for the exclusive benefit of the Democratic Party." That bill would have, in addition to making Election Day a national holiday and thus enabling millions of working people to more easily vote, also called for presidential candidates to release their tax returns, added a matching system for small donations, required super PACs to disclose donors who give more than $10,000, and prohibited voter purging. I find it difficult to see this as a "power grab," but then I'm not anxious to turn the clock back 150 years, either.
There are legitimate issues with the mechanics of voting, but beyond that we have a general problem with the acceptance of civic responsibilities. For instance, I'm not sure that making Election Day a national holiday would solve the problem of low voter turnout, partly because such a holiday would likely not be enforceable (look at how many retail and service businesses continue to operate normally on national holidays), and partly because many people don't vote because they've been turned off by the unseemly mud-slinging circus that our elections have become. There's also the problem that many otherwise well-qualified candidates are unwilling to subject themselves and their families to the gutter tactics of modern political campaigns, leaving the field open to those who are less-qualified or who seek power for its own sake.
Yes, there are a great many problems with our voting system, even without considering the impact of the anachronistic Electoral College***.
But I think a very large part of the problem also lies with the voting public itself.
In 2016, enough citizens voted for a supremely unqualified con man to allow him to lose the popular vote but win the election in the Electoral College and go on to lead one of the most chaotic, disruptive, and divisive administrations in our history. How did this happen?
One can make the argument that previous administrations were out of touch with the needs and interests of many Americans and that those people, anxious for a change to an administration that would listen to them and fix their problems, turned to a candidate who told them what they wanted to hear.
But why did those people make that choice? Why did they believe that a bombastic, secretive, self-described billionaire whose homes are decorated with gold, who had never held a blue-collar job of any type, who had never served in the military, whose business record reflects a string of bankruptcies, lawsuits, and the shameless stiffing of creditors, who was several times divorced and had been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women ... why did voters believe that this person, whose only qualification was supreme self-confidence and the ability to whip audiences to a frenzy with pithy bumper-sticker slogans, deserved to be the President of the United States?
At the risk of bringing the wrath of the Internet down upon my head, I have to ask:
should everyone be allowed to vote? Should there be requirements other than citizenship and a minimum age that apply to the right to vote? While I agree in principle that every citizen of the republic should have a voice in the election of his (or her) representatives, I also believe it's incumbent upon each citizen to understand the structure and function of their government, comprehend the issues at play in the election, and be able to realistically evaluate the qualifications and competence of candidates for office. It appears to me - based on the results of the last election and the quality of many comments posted on the Internet - that many of our citizens cannot do any of these. For many reasons, the voting public has been dumbed down to the point where it can be swayed by the airy, uninformed promises of an endlessly bloviating con artist
†.
Although I realize that it will never happen because it flies in the face of our evolved political traditions, and that the very suggestion will enrage many at all points on the political spectrum (but mostly on the far ends), I believe that in order to register to vote a person must:
1. Be a citizen of the United States (duh...);
2. Be 18 years of age on election day (see the
26th Amendment); and,
3. Complete a course of instruction in basic civics and government, either as a routine part of a high-school-level education or, if necessary, as a mandatory requirement for voter registration. This course would cover the Constitution, the structure and function of the national government and that of the individual's state of residence, the rights and privileges of citizenship, and the economics of government (who pays for what, and how).
It would also be nice to be able to impose a requirement that each registered voter subscribe to multiple news sources representing varying points of view, but that's a bridge
waaaay too far and I don't know how it could be enforced in the present media environment.
Should everyone vote? Can we impose reasonable requirements that do not unduly limit our most basic civic responsibility? Whether you agree with me or not, I care what you think. Leave a comment.
Have a good day. Vote, but do it carefully.
More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
* Yet continually unproven.
** A five-time Ass Clown awardee and winner of the 2018 Ass Clown of the Year Award.
*** While there are those who argue that the Electoral College is an essential protector of our form of representative government, I am not one of them.
† Like many other populations, like Germany under Hitler, Venezuela under Chavez and Maduro, Iran under the Mullahs)
