I have never been an advocate of the popular notion that "everyone should vote." Some people look at me as if I am somehow un-American when I say that I am not in favor of encouraging people to vote who would otherwise never darken the door of a polling place. I really don't want someone on the streets of Hollywood, who just failed to identify the vice president of the United States on one of Jay Leno's "Jay-Walking" segments, helping to select the person who will lead my government for the next four years.That first statement especially resonates with me, because I absolutely hate when, around election day, people say, "I don't care who you vote for, everyone should just be sure to get out and vote." If people aren't motivated to vote without hearing pleas like that, they should maybe stay home.
Head over to that link and take the sample test the author provides. I think it's a little excessive, but it's got some good, basic questions on it.
This was great! I got a little confused on the electoral vote questions. But then again, the electoral vote itself is messed up, so I think I'm justified in my confusion!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's lame to try to get people to vote when they don't even care. Of course, you could never do the whole test thing because of the literacy tests that got struck down in the 60s.
ReplyDeleteThat is true, but maybe if the pool of questions was made public before the election, and the every voter had to answer 3 or so random questions from the pool, it would pass legal muster. Sure, people could memorize the answers beforehand, but in the process they'd learn something about the government.
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