The election is over. the polls have closed, speeches have been made and concessions granted. No more political ads, no more political signs. It is finally all over. Some folks are happy, some are not. We no longer have to listen to a barrage of political ads, political news, and poll results. Let’s get back to Sponge Bob.
I have been wondering, however, if there was a requirement that voters be self informed would the results be any different. In other words, what if it was law that a voter must educate themselves on the issues, and where each candidate stands on those issues, before they could vote. What have they were required to demonstrate what criteria they used to pick their candidate and only those who used valid criteria were allowed to vote, would that change anything?
Ah, but you ask, what is valid criteria, and who would decide the validity? What if a decision to vote for a candidate was not made based on their physical appearance, religious affiliation, or racial background. How many voters do you think voted for a candidate based on that criterion? Or didn’t vote for a candidate based on that criterion. How many people voted for Mr. Obama because he was black? How many people did not vote for him because he was black?How many voters cast their ballot without an inkling on where a candidate stood on the economy, foreign affairs, the environment, etc?
The polls gave statistics that Obama had 70% of the female vote. Why? The polls indicated that Obama had 90% of the black vote. Why? You can draw your on conclusions from this data. But I submit a certain percentage of those folks made uninformed decisions. By that I mean some decided not to vote for one candidate or another because of something they heard but did not do the research to ascertain the veracity of the allegation. Any ballot cast in such a fashion was a ballot cased by and uninformed and irresponsible voter.
Of course I realize this is un-American. The law gives everyone who qualifies the right to vote. The law does not state you must be informed and the law does not state you must vote responsibly. I realize that our system is still the best in the world but it could be improved upon. I am only saying what if? And voter fraud is still a felony!
“So it is written so shall it be”
2 thoughts on “On Responsible Voting”
Interesting. Not sure if things would have been different. What is more frightening though, that anyone (of legal age) can vote or that anyone can become a parent?
Hmmm……no mention of white male voters however I am sure you are not insinuating that they are more well informed than women or blacks. There would be absolutely no way to regulate this. There is much research that emotional intelligence is at least as valuable or even more valuable than IQ aka intelectual intelligence. Even in this day I am more worried about voter suppression than voter fraud although both are heinous.I’m curious to know if voter suppression is a felony also. Sponge Bob is quite entertaining and will be an enjoyable respite from the election craziness. Jen your comment is very insightful too!