Requiring a diploma to vote

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This is an awful idea because somebody can fail high school for any number of reasons, but that said I'd be in favor of being required to pass, or at the very least attend, some sort of civics class before being allowed to register.

So where's the money to hold all these classes going to come from? If there's a fee, its a de facto poll tax. If there's not, better get ready for a massive tax increase or cuts in spending. Of course even if free I'm sure that a single mom working two jobs might have some issues finding time for it, as well as college students, people without adequate transportation, etc.

So basically...this is a bigger voter disenfranchisement than Republican voter ID laws and you're a Horrible Person.

[Rookie Yinzer]

No. People have the right to vote for who they want no matter how idiotic someone else may find it. I find reasons certain people voted for the current President to be asinine and irritating, but that's the cost of living in a country with free and fair elections. I would rather be able to complain about that than not having an election to complain about at all.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Restricting voting rights is a terrible idea, no matter how you go about it. To the contrary we should work on expanding voting rights. I can't believe how tough it is for criminals to vote in many states. I say you should be able to vote even when in prison. You may have violated the law, but you are still a citizen.

Remember how in the "good old days" when nobody thought that women had the mental capacity to vote? Yeah well, if only women were deciding elections we would never have had the deplorable orangutan in the white house.

[TheSaint250]

No, but yes to increasing civics education.

[KingSweden]

Voting is a right, not a privilege.

Seriously, this.

[JA]

Atlas Liberals: Trump is a Fascist!
Also Atlas Liberals: We should disenfranchise underprivileged, disproportionately minority, Americans!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It would discriminate against non-white voters. Much like the 'intelligence tests' under Jim Crow.

It wasn't the idea of intelligence tests that was a problem per se, but the racist manner they were implemented. It's difficult to see how such tests could be implemented in a culturally neutral manner, so it's one of those utopian ideas that sounds fine in abstract but have proved utterly worthless when made concrete.

[Frodo]

Just because Republicans have engaged in voter suppression in recent years doesn't mean we should reawaken the demons of our segregationist and Jim Crow past by doing the same to them (which is what I assume this proposal is meant to do).  

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I have always been for One dollar One vote.  One's vote is weight by the amount of tax dollars one pays.

Countries aren't corporations with shareholders.

[SATW]

Voting is a right, not a privilege.

This.

I do support a stronger civic education, though.

[Koharu]

Atlas Liberals: Trump is a Fascist!
Also Atlas Liberals: We should disenfranchise underprivileged, disproportionately minority, Americans!

You notice how many liberals are against this just in this thread?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Atlas Liberals: Trump is a Fascist!
Also Atlas Liberals: We should disenfranchise underprivileged, disproportionately minority, Americans!

The vast majority of liberals in this thread are opposed.

[BuckeyeNut]

Atlas Liberals: Trump is a Fascist!
Also Atlas Liberals: We should disenfranchise underprivileged, disproportionately minority, Americans!

The vast majority of liberals in this thread are opposed.

Is anyone other than NewYorkExpress supportive? Even the OP says he isn't.

[Dr. MB]

Elitist trash. If you're a real citizen in good standing, you have a right to vote

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

The GOP would, almost certainly, never win a presidential election, ever again.

[Dr. MB]

I have always been for One dollar One vote.  One's vote is weight by the amount of tax dollars one pays.

So that means that millionaires would have thousands of times more influence than the average citizen.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

This is an awful idea because somebody can fail high school for any number of reasons, but that said I'd be in favor of being required to pass, or at the very least attend, some sort of civics class before being allowed to register.

So where's the money to hold all these classes going to come from? If there's a fee, its a de facto poll tax. If there's not, better get ready for a massive tax increase or cuts in spending. Of course even if free I'm sure that a single mom working two jobs might have some issues finding time for it, as well as college students, people without adequate transportation, etc.

So basically...this is a bigger voter disenfranchisement than Republican voter ID laws and you're a Horrible Person.

A massive tax increase/spending cut of perhaps as much as 0.1% of the federal budget is small price to pay for having a more aware citizenry.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Voting is a right, not a privilege.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Not a full diploma. But I think requiring passing American Law and Government Classes, which are typically taught somewhere in Grades 8-10 in the US, would make a lot of sense. I'm sorry, but if you don't even know what Congress is, you don't deserve to vote.

[Pennsylvania Deplorable]

Since almost any voting restrictions are unconstitutional, including this, I'd like to say that I'd prefer passing a test on basic civics/government, economics, and history as a requirement to vote. I also think this would unfairly hurt older would be voters, many of whom left high school to go work in factories, farms, family businesses, etc back in a time when that was a normal and respectable career decision. Do they really know less from life experience than an 18 year old knows from taking trigonometry?

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Maybe there could be some sort of grandfathering system - say if you're 45+ and were registered to vote before the new restrictions, you're exempt from the new restrictions. But for those younger and for future generations, I stand by what I said, and I don't think it's wrong to amend the constitution to do this:

Not a full diploma. But I think requiring passing American Law and Government Classes, which are typically taught somewhere in Grades 8-10 in the US, would make a lot of sense. I'm sorry, but if you don't even know what Congress is, you don't deserve to vote.

[Hammy]

This is an awful idea because somebody can fail high school for any number of reasons, but that said I'd be in favor of being required to pass, or at the very least attend, some sort of civics class before being allowed to register.

So where's the money to hold all these classes going to come from? If there's a fee, its a de facto poll tax. If there's not, better get ready for a massive tax increase or cuts in spending. Of course even if free I'm sure that a single mom working two jobs might have some issues finding time for it, as well as college students, people without adequate transportation, etc.

So basically...this is a bigger voter disenfranchisement than Republican voter ID laws and you're a Horrible Person.

Require it as part of middle school curriculum.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This is an awful idea because somebody can fail high school for any number of reasons, but that said I'd be in favor of being required to pass, or at the very least attend, some sort of civics class before being allowed to register.

So where's the money to hold all these classes going to come from? If there's a fee, its a de facto poll tax. If there's not, better get ready for a massive tax increase or cuts in spending. Of course even if free I'm sure that a single mom working two jobs might have some issues finding time for it, as well as college students, people without adequate transportation, etc.

So basically...this is a bigger voter disenfranchisement than Republican voter ID laws and you're a Horrible Person.

Require it as part of middle school curriculum.

And for every person who has already finished school? And immigrants? Trumpists would love how it disenfranchises them.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

If the election of Trump has taught us anything, it's that even well-educated and/or wealthy people can make terrible choices.

But I thought the cognoscenti voted for Hillary?

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

If the election of Trump has taught us anything, it's that even well-educated and/or wealthy people can make terrible choices.

Postgraduates voted Clinton 58-37, Those who only have a Bachelor's degree voted Clinton 49-44. You have a point re: income, but it was the uneducated that enabled Trump, the educated voted against him.