Robert Reich in solid liberal fashion wants automatic voter registration to make it easier for just about anyone to vote. That’s supposed to be a good democracy, which as things have developed in recent years, means an absence of individual responsibility.
Voting is not a privilege, it is an obligation and to exercise that obligation requires some effort. That effort is partly knowledge of key topics, national and international issues and a basic understanding of how our system of government works. Without this basic knowledge how can any candidate be evaluated? Okay, I realize that is not how it works and that most voters know more about what happens on Dancing with the Stars than they do about what happens in Congress, but can’t we do better; raise our standards just a bit?
Why shouldn’t voting be tied to a basic test along the lines of the test required of people who want to become a citizen? Why not make passing the same test required to graduate high school? I suppose some will argue that would not be fair, that some Americans are deprived of a good education are not fully literate, etc. Really? Demonstrating a marginal knowledge of your country and how it works is not fair, but allowing uninformed, unaware people to vote and help determine the course of our nation even the world is fair?
Hey, I’m talking really basic stuff here. The information needed to pass such a test is available to anyone, a minimal amount of learning effort is needed. More than a true test, it is a demonstration of commitment and responsibility.
The test to become a citizen is drawn from 100 questions. The interviewer randomly selects ten questions from the hundred and the individual seeking citizenship must answer six correctly. Seems ridiculously simple to me, but that’s it.
Here are some of the questions on the test: and HERE you can find all the questions and answers.
1. What are the colors of our flag?
2. How many stars are there in our flag?
3. What color are the stars on our flag?
4. What do the stars on the flag mean?
5. How many stripes are there in the flag?
6. What color are the stripes?
7. What do the stripes on the flag mean?
8. How many states are there in the union?
9. What is the 4th of July?
10. What is the date of Independence Day?
11. Independence from whom?
12. What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?
13. Who was the first President of the United States?
14. Who is the President of the United States today?
15. Who is the Vice-President of the United States today?
16. Who elects the President of the United States?
17. Who becomes President of the United States if the President should die?
18. For how long do we elect the President?
Do you mean to tell me that it is unreasonable to expect students leaving high school and potential voters to be able to answer questions like this?
You can bet if such a test was proposed there would be an uproar from the left. Why? (That’s rhetorical, I know why). No matter, we can’t even get past asking a voter to prove who they are.
Th framers of our Constitution did not believe in universal suffrage. There is no right to vote in the Constitution. The United States has a long history of expanding voting rights. However, we are at the point where an illiterate high school drop out at least 18 who has no ID can equally determine our future, but likely could not pass the citizenship test. We are at the point where Americans vote for a candidate because “he gave me a free phone!”
Liz Warren thinks the federal government must protect our “most vulnerable” citizens from student loans and false promises of a job, but has no problem that such uniformed people can vote (Ummm, could there be a connection here?)
Does merely breathing (sometimes not) give you the right; the qualifications to vote?
I think the totally unrestricted way we apply the right to vote is as much a problem in our democracy (republic) as influential money or the lack of term limits. Who do you think is most influenced by false or misleading advertising?
We are not talking about being unfair to any group in America. We are not talking about rocket science. We are merely suggesting that to vote you must have some very basic knowledge about your country and demonstrate some minimal commitment to obtaining that knowledge. Is that too much of a burden or is it just easier to vote for more “free” stuff?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
The test reminded me of another one that an enterprising junior class in a nearby Tacoma high school came up with as a class project about twenty years ago. The test and the test results were published in the Tacoma newspaper.
The test questions were what I thought were very basic knowledge questions. When I read the questions, I thought an average, normal high school graduate should have scored 90%. Five groups took the test, the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior classes at the high school, and the faculty as well. The highest scoring group were the juniors, with about a 70% score. Next came the high school faculty with around 60%.
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Mighty sad commentary.
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I agree that the left will never allow this to happen. The real reason is because it would expose another HUGE hole in their agenda. They have dumbed down our education system so far that a majority of high school seniors would probably not pass a test like this.
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