I’ve taken my shots at Dems’ “Get Out The Vote” efforts, in that they tend to be not so much educational (as have been the GOP GOTV efforts I’ve seen) as logistical.  Democrat GOTV efforts were wonderfully summed up by the delightfully dissociative Jennifer Vogel in her classic article, “F*CK THE SUBURBS”, in some dismal little Seattle freebiezine a few years ago:

A poll volunteer approached and embarked upon a lengthy explanation. The African woman interrupted. “Kerry,” she said loudly. “I want Kerry.” That was that.

To sum it up: teach a [fill in the label of choice] the name you want filled in, tell them what that name is going to give them, and send them to the polls.

Which is fine, where “fine” equals “legal”. But is it what our democracy is supposed to be striving for?

The franchise is a vital part of democracy – but not as an end unto itself.  It’s supposed to be the first step in a process that leads to good, publicly-minded people of whatever party being sent downtown, or to Saint Paul, or to Washington.

And if the only thing people know about the process is a name and a list of programs, then that’s what the people are going to send off to run your city, county, state or nation.

So while I proposed yesterday to have an all-day national three-for-one happy hour on election day, to keep idiots away from the polls, a little consideration (and spending Saint Patricks Day in downtown Saint Paul, among the raving-drunk pseudo-Oirish reminding me how awful and ugly a drunk populace is), leads me to a better idea.

It’s time to reinstitute the poll test.

In order to vote, everyone should get at least a “D”on a test to make sure they’ve been paying attention to their city, state, and world. The test is non-partisan, gender/race/culture blind, and only makes sure people are actually paying attention to what their government is and how it’s supposed to work.

Here’s an example:

1. Who is your city’s current mayor?  [If the mayor’s race is on the ballot (or any races below, for that matter) it’d be omitted]
2. Does your city have a council, a commission, or a manager?
3. What ward [precinct, city council district, whatever] do you live in?
4. Who is your current city council representative?
5. What county do you live in?
6. Who is your current County Commission representative?
7. Who is the Governor?
8. Who is your State Representative?
9. Who is your State Senator?
10. Name at least four of your state’s constitutional offices and/or officers? (Hint:  Governor [fill in the governor] is one of them).
11. What are the three branches of our State and Federal government?
12. What Congressional District do you live in?
13. Who is your current congressional representative?
14. How many Senators does your state send to the United States Senate?  If guessing, get as close as possible to the actual number without going over.
15. Name as many of your state’s current US Senators as possible.
16. Name at least four cabinet departments or members:  (hint: Secretary of State is one example).
17. Who is the current President of the United States?

Now, should anyone who can’t get at least 60% of these questions correct even be voting?

No, I think that’s the kind of thing a citizen should be able to know to take part in our democracy.  I mean, why should people vote for the control off offices and institutions they don’t understand?

Liberals will respond “That’s Racist!”  Liberals also say “that’s racist” when their pad thai comes to them undercooked or when they get a parking ticket.  What they’re really saying is that “our factory schools – the ones that kids outside the ruling class go to, the ones we want to mandate everyone go to, especially all those minorities, don’t teach the basic of citizenship” – in other words, who’s the racist, here?

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 8:18 am and is filed under Education, Liberty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.