[EM] Voting Requirements

[Greg Nisbet]

Breaking a bit with voting methods, I would like to bring up another
issue regarding one's ability to influence politics: suffrage.

As the only one here not legally qualified to vote, I must express
dissatisfaction with the status quo.

There were several historical requirements for being able to vote:

1. Citizenship
2. Residency
3. Age
4. Criminal Record
5. Sex
6. Race
7. Class (arbitrary non-race inherited characteristics)
8. Wealth

Half of these requirements are gone, only the first four remain.

I disagree with 3 and 4 (and to a lesser extent 1 and 2).

Here is why:

A felony is simply a 'serious' crime. Who defines serious? What stops
the government from making dissent a felony and disenfranchising
political opponents? If that is too extreme, how do we know the
government's definition of a felony is reasonable? There is no
external judge and the penalty is inability to influence the system.
Hence those affected by the system really cannot contest it. In
addition the laws vary by state creating weird discrepancies.

Preventing children from voting is IMHO wrong. My argument is simply
going to be one of paternalism because I am quite fond of making
anti-paternalism arguments. Very few people would argue that 5-8
should be reinstated. Yet 8 might arguably lead to 'better' results.
Wealthier people tend to be more educated and if you have educated
people making decisions you end up with 'better' decisions. Most
people would reject this argument on the grounds of civil rights. Let
me put this in perspective. By extending the right to vote to all
adults, anyone who does not support some sort of education requirement
for voting is conceding that it is not justifiable to disenfranchise
on the grounds that you will pollute the ballot pool due to ignorance.
I say it simply doesn't make sense that children can be compelled by
the government to do various things yet there is no check on its
power. We are smart enough to commit crimes, but stupid enough to
endanger the already threadbare fabric of American democracy.

1 and 2 are slightly less serious, but I think their role should be changed.

I say let noncitizens vote in local elections. They live there and pay
their taxes, I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to vote on
matters concerning their community. At higher levels, I would argue
that the government needs to protect itself from outside interests
messing with its politics. So it's more of a national security
argument than anything else. Still, America is far too stingy with
citizenship. It ought to be kinder to resident aliens. They mean us no
harm; they are only trying to make a living. Ius Solis places strong
restrictions on those without the privelidge of being born here.

This issue is relatively important. Maybe not quite so much as getting
FPTP removed, but still pretty high up there.
What are your thoughts on disenfranchisement and the like?