Johnny Elbows on :
While I believe that Joey's motives for requiring that someone pass a test in order to have the right to vote are laudable, there are some serious issues with it.
Today's voter registration process is simple and easy precisely because it is a reaction to a time when the process was not easy. For many years, most states required that citizens pass a "literacy test" before they were allowed to vote. While this seems innocuous in theory, in practice, the tests, and the testing conditions, were constructed in such a way that they excluded any person (like blacks, latinos, or other undesirables) that the establishment did not want voting.
Should some kind of test be given to those who want to vote? Maybe, but who's going to make sure that the test, and the testing conditions, are fair?
Today's voter registration process is simple and easy precisely because it is a reaction to a time when the process was not easy. For many years, most states required that citizens pass a "literacy test" before they were allowed to vote. While this seems innocuous in theory, in practice, the tests, and the testing conditions, were constructed in such a way that they excluded any person (like blacks, latinos, or other undesirables) that the establishment did not want voting.
Should some kind of test be given to those who want to vote? Maybe, but who's going to make sure that the test, and the testing conditions, are fair?
