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I'd Vote for This
North Miami Beach, FL August 3, 2001 Aaron H.
Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then, Opinions pro or con are welcome.
I'D VOTE FOR THIS
I've had a long experience in teaching CIVICS and the history of many
nations with, of course, an emphasis on American History. I'm not an expert
by any means but I do have ideas on the subject of why and how we vote in
our American system.
First, we vote because we believe in hearing from all eligible persons in
order to get a sense of what the MAJORITY wants. This usually is a counting
procedure to see if one (1) more than 50 % are in favor of a solution to a
problem. Sometimes a PLURALITY will settle the problem because of the
differing constituencies sampled to determine the will of the people.
Voting should be simple. A universally used and universally trusted method
of casting and counting votes should be adopted. Language describing what
is being voted and what a yes or no vote would mean will be simple and
unambiguous.
A national DAY OF VOTING should be declared and put aside so people will be
free from obligations and have time to get to a polling place.
I do not think eligible voters should be fined if they do not vote. Their
non-vote is counted and they get what they didn't vote for. An alternative I
would approve would be to have one week designated when all eligible voters
will be able to register their will.
Now, here is where I go to extremes. I would vote for a system of voting
that would include all ages and exclude certain categories of people. Let's
do the exclusions first. No one under the age of literacy should vote. No
one who is paying for criminal acts should vote. No one should vote who
cannot understand the ballots prepared by locally elected officials. No one
should vote who is presently denied responsibility for his/her own affairs
and is in a mental hospital or by senile dementia where power of attorney is
assigned to another party. (Carol calls the following, "My pipedream".)
I would include all of the following. The rationale for the following is
this; when the four stages described here are finished, practice will
produce experienced voters. Issues will have been identified and all sides
will have been heard. The learning voter is asked to choose from among the
differing positions and encouraged to decide based on rational fact rather
than sentimental allegiance to party or parents.
Those who should be able to vote are the following.
By the end of third grade all literate children attested to by school
records should be granted a quarter vote on referenda only. By the end of
sixth grade all literate youth who have passed courses in CIVICS should be
granted a half vote on all matters up for voter decision. At the end of the
ninth grade all youth passing history tests (including the histories of
voting in other systems and how the American system works) should be granted
a three-quarter vote. Upon proof of a valid diploma from an accredited
secondary school, the graduate should vote as a full member of the civil
society.
Caveats: Prisoners should not be able to vote. When released and meeting
the earlier stated requirements they should become voters.
No non-citizen may vote in an American election. HOWEVER, non-citizens may
enter preferences that will be tabulated and published and the results not
have an affect on the outcome of an election.
Early voting by traveling voters should be encouraged and a valid universal
system for tabulating their desires should be established. This also
includes all votes from sites where polling places cannot be set up.
Absentee ballots should count and all ballots must be received before final
counts are announced.
The media should be prohibited from making predictions of how the vote will
result until all polling places are closed, all absentee ballots are in and
the final results are announced by the last state to declare its election
outcome.
What do you think? Carol says: Too long and too late.
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