Should voters have to take a test to register to vote?

Yes.

And the Obamaites would fail miserably. Like most Democrats, they're mainly concerned with what they can get. Most of them don't even know how to spell or where the states are, and their capitols.

Do a Jay Leno style interview on the street, and they can't even answer the most basic questions - then they laugh about it as though it were funny, these liberals.

They usually vote on some vague, undefined notion of "change," or they fall for Obama's conniving tax scheme, based Karl Marx's wealth redistribution.

Surely, the Democrats need to undergo education, testing and licensing to vote.

As interesting as that would be, It is illegal, and rightly so.

BTW; The 14th amendment was never legally ratified. The northern states did not give the south a chance to vote either way, their 'yes' was forced/assumed. Look it up.

Edit; I just noticed that I missed your 'should we require a ...class' part of the question. Now that could make it legal. It would not be about issues, but would simply be, after a short gov't class (just in case you failed the one in school) would simply be a test on the basic operational workings of our gov't. It could be in english, that would also be helpful. IF it was and stayed like that, I would think it would help very much. However I would think it should remain confined to voting for federal-level positions. The state levels should not have the same requirement, because (as has been said) even those with a lower level of understanding deserve a voice and should be allowed to vote for a representative.

Hmmm. I'll need to think more on this. It could be workable, though I'm not sure that this, my initial reaction, is either complete or comprehensive.

wow. in all 37 answers that were up when i first read this question, no one mentioned the electoral college. there is no test because we don't actually need a test to stop the president from being picked by 'Stupid people'. The electoral college is a group of 538 politically inclined people who by law may not have an "Office of Trust or Profit under the United States" but the presidential parties usually pick some of their representatives to stand in for them. An electoral college member does not have to vote with the popular majority in his/her state. He or she can pick the next president based on the color of a tie...or maybe pantsuit in another four years. Rest assured, there is a thick block between "Stupid people" and the U.S. Presidency.

You know, they used to have tests. Black people who wanted to vote would be asked to explain how the Monroe Doctrine affected relationships with France, Belgium and the greater Indian subcontinent. White people would be asked who the current president was.

You may not have intended to invoke a shameful past with your question, but people have been trying to subvert the right of free individuals to participate in civic processes for a long time. It may not be a precedent you would embrace so enthusiastically if you had been on the other end of the test.

I understand your frustration, and feel it too, but the answer isn't suppression of turnout.

Thomas Jefferson said that the greatest protection against tyranny is an educated population.

The best cure for stupid is education.

NO, THAT IS A BLATENT VIOLATION OF CITIZEN RIGHTS. It is the responsibility of the citizen to make sure that they are educated about the candidates. The government, parents, and the school system should provide everything at their disposal to make sure the people are able to inform themselves about the candidates. I don't think they do enough right now. I mean I have to really look around just to find out what bills these candidates supported even though all that information is public.

What they need to do in schools, immigration classes, and parents need to do this as well, is to give classes on where to go and how to look up public information about people in public office from the city level all the way up to the presidential level. I say this because I have difficulty looking up this information and I don't remember much instruction on how to actually go about looking up this information.

Yeah we have these vote 2008 websites, and other sites that list where candidates stand on the issues, but do you know where to look to verify their information on these candidates?? You know typos can be very convenient just before an election if the one inputting the information feels strongly enough that their candidate needs to take office. And once the vote is in, it's in, and it's not likely going to come out because of a typo. That's the difficulties I've been having.

Oh and by the way, in my experience, most of those who go as far as to actually state that the other guys are the stupid ones tend to be democrat supporters.

I'm not saying or implying you support democrats, but just incase, because you said "There are a lot of Stupid people going to vote these days." I'm inclined to inform you I support

MCCAIN / PALIN 2008.

One last thing I wanted to add. I don't believe in mandatory classes for voting, not only because it's not fair, but also because there is not guarantee that it won't be biased. And before you naively think you can control the bias, remember Mark Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Ceaser. If you can say it just right, you can be very biased, and it will still appear non biased to the student or onlooker. Likely people would get caught, but bias only has to survive long enough to get the person to vote your way, and the damage has been done, and likely won't be undone unless that person receives more education on the matter.

And that's one of several reasons why I think it should be taught more how to actually look up the information rather then teaching the information.

DIDN'T A LOT OF PEOPLE GO TO JAIL AND GET BEATEN UP FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO END LITERACY TESTS AT THE POLLS IN THE DEEP SOUTH YEARS AGO?

Surely, I understand the temptation to set some standards. I really find it impossible to understand why anyone would vote for a Republican presidential candidate in view of our energy crisis, the war in the Middle East, and our near financial collapse. But I am not blaming only Republicans for all our problems - I can see the Democrats lining up to save us from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, they seem to have no sane understanding of the economy, and they will tell you whatever it is they think you want to hear.

I am most concerned about why we allow any politician to lie to us, why they are seldom accountable for anything, and why we accept poor Performance from all the people holding jobs on the federal payroll.

In truth, I will vote in a manner designed to punish whoever held positions of power in the last four years - I don't care what name they call themselves. I will then turn my attention to my hobby (archeology) as I continue to transcribe the drawings on the walls of Cave #53.

Yorga Rocks!!!!

that's true, but both sides can argue the same about the other, and if we did that, it would defeat the purpose of democracy, don't you think? what kind of test are they going to take? both sides know about the issues, they just have different opinions on the issues. True, most opinions people come up with are based off the media and word of mouth and being sheeple rather than digging up fact themselves, but that's just another freedom we have in this country. If you're 18, you are allowed to vote, and you don't have to give a reason for why you're voting for who you're voting for. If people want to vote for Obama because they like his clothes, they're free to do that. If people want to vote for McCain because they like the color of his eyes, they're free to do that. And just the same, we are all free to write in someone else's name to be president as well if we don't like either candidate. That's freedom and with all the fuss of the government taking away our rights, they will never ever even dare to test people before they can vote.

No, I'd have to disagree (reluctantly). In a real democracy, the voting system should be made simple so that all people can be represented without prejudice. Much like the computer has been made simple so even dummies like me can use it.

They should test kids before giving out a high school diploma. That's where the problem is. The stupidity hurts our society as a whole.

Great idea in concept...but it would fail in practice. The test would be composed and would certainly, unfairly, eliminate a certain group of people. Government can be interpreted many different ways...so having just a basic "how gov't runs" test, really wouldn't help anyway. People should have the where-with-all to research themselves and discover the best candidate...why should the gov't hinder or control who can and cannot vote?

Stupid voters is the reason why we are faced with the choices we now have for president. All voters should be required to pass some sort of test for basic understanding before even being allowed to vote in a primary, and the test should only be in English. This would help to weed out the illegal Mexicans who will probably be voting in droves in the November election.

Well that was tried awhile back and it was shot down with the poll tax and other ideas that had the purpose of disenfranchising citizens. You just have to come to grips with the fact that morons have as much say as you do about who will lead the country.