• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Voting: Right or privilege?

Should voting be a right or a privilege?


  • Total voters
    36

Phys251

Purge evil with Justice
DP Veteran
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
59,162
Reaction score
50,784
Location
Georgia
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Slightly Liberal
What do you think? Should voting be an inalienable right? Or should it be earned via good citizenship, devotion to the nation, or some other criterion?
 
What do you think? Should voting be an inalienable right? Or should it be earned via good citizenship, devotion to the nation, or some other criterion?

I've been arguing with someone in another thread who wants to take away homeless people's right to vote. Everyone, rich or poor, living in a mansion or in a cardboard box, has the right to vote. The only exceptions are people who are underage or people who are incarcerated for a crime. And when a prisoner gets released, then he should regain his voting rights.
 
it is just right.
 
What do you think? Should voting be an inalienable right? Or should it be earned via good citizenship, devotion to the nation, or some other criterion?

Voting is a right and it should stay a right.That said there should be limitations like at least 18, you have to present a state issued ID/driver's license when registering to vote, must present a state issued ID/driver's license to vote and you have to be an American citizen in order to vote.
 
Constitutional Right.

Can't be a natural right because voting inherently requires a society of some sort. Otherwise it's just "choosing".
 
Voting is a right. The Constitution explicitly guarantees every state a republican form of government.
 
Voting is a right and it should stay a right.That said there should be limitations like at least 18, you have to present a state issued ID/driver's license when registering to vote, must present a state issued ID/driver's license to vote and you have to be an American citizen in order to vote.

Being an adult and a citizen are one thing. Attaching meaningless ID requirements to voting merely serves as a barrier to keep poor/minority voters away, and doesn't actually solve any problem. Voter fraud is a virtually nonexistent problem in the United States...let alone the type of voter fraud that could be prevented with voter ID laws. This is nothing more than a cynical power grab by the Republican Party.
 
Last edited:
Voting is a right and it should stay a right.That said there should be limitations like at least 18, you have to present a state issued ID/driver's license when registering to vote, must present a state issued ID/driver's license to vote and you have to be an American citizen in order to vote.

That sounds like the criteria of a privilege, not a right.
 
it is a responsibility....
 
If I have a right to vote, then so does everyone else.

You can not divide rights amongst human beings. Either we all have them, or not.
 
Its a privilege turned government right that is treated like a privilege where certain individuals are not allowed to vote based on age.
 
Being an adult and a citizen are one thing. Attaching meaningless ID requirements to voting merely serves as a barrier to keep poor/minority voters away, and doesn't actually solve any problem. Voter fraud is a virtually nonexistent problem in the United States...let alone the type of voter fraud that could be prevented with voter ID laws. This is nothing more than a cynical power grab by the Republican Party.

Thats pretty funny, don't even know what to say to that one lol... Thats a little extreme to me. Anywho, here are our state requirements.

When you go to the polls to cast your vote in an election, be sure to take one of the following:*

-a driver's license,
-a Louisiana Special ID, or
-some other generally recognized picture ID that contains your name and signature.*

Voters who have no picture ID*may bring a utility bill, payroll check or government document that includes their name and address but they*will have to sign an affidavit furnished by the Elections Division in order to vote.**

Should any problems or questions arise, the principal office of the Registrar of Voters in each parish will be open from*6:00 a.m.*until*9:00 p.m.*on election day.

Does this sound that bad?

Anyway a physical body sounds good to go along with that, all the dead people voting is just wrong, same goes for the people that voted that actually didnt vote.
 
Thats pretty funny, don't even know what to say to that one lol... Thats a little extreme to me. Anywho, here are our state requirements.

When you go to the polls to cast your vote in an election, be sure to take one of the following:*

-a driver's license,
-a Louisiana Special ID, or
-some other generally recognized picture ID that contains your name and signature.*

Voters who have no picture ID*may bring a utility bill, payroll check or government document that includes their name and address but they*will have to sign an affidavit furnished by the Elections Division in order to vote.**

Should any problems or questions arise, the principal office of the Registrar of Voters in each parish will be open from*6:00 a.m.*until*9:00 p.m.*on election day.

Does this sound that bad?

Yes, because it doesn't serve any legitimate purpose. Granted, Louisiana's requirements don't sound as bad as SOME other states, but it still doesn't actually do anything beneficial. It just creates one more barrier to voting.

Anyway a physical body sounds good to go along with that, all the dead people voting is just wrong, same goes for the people that voted that actually didnt vote.

There's just one problem with this: These things almost never happen.

"Indeed, evidence from the microscopically scrutinized 2004 gubernatorial election in Washington State actually reveals just the opposite: though voter fraud does happen, it happens approximately 0.0009% of the time. The similarly closely-analyzed 2004 election in Ohio revealed a voter fraud rate of 0.00004%. National Weather Service data shows that Americans are struck and killed by lightning about as often."
Policy Brief on the Truth About “Voter Fraud” | Brennan Center for Justice
 
Last edited:
What do you think? Should voting be an inalienable right? Or should it be earned via good citizenship, devotion to the nation, or some other criterion?

It is a right. It's the part of the first amendment of a list of 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution know as...wait for it........ The Bill of RIGHTS, or are you suggesting that Rights are not really rights but just suggestions that should be consider like a note from a suggestion box at the office. Rights: Sometimes, rights. that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc.
 
Voting isn't included in the Bill of Rights.

That's right. Thank you for the correction half-asleep and drunk here. Cheers:2razz:
 
That's right. Thank you for the correction half-asleep and drunk here. Cheers:2razz:

The Constitution simply states that certain people cannot be prevented from voting based on gender, race, or previous status of bonded servitude (slavery). I don't believe it is a right, since voting was never intended to be a right. It was reserved for white male landowners because it was felt that they understood the needs of the nation more than the poor and destitute, who the founders believed were incapable of Public Virtue (the ability to put the needs of the nation above their own).
 
The Constitution simply states that certain people cannot be prevented from voting based on gender, race, or previous status of bonded servitude (slavery). I don't believe it is a right, since voting was never intended to be a right. It was reserved for white male landowners because it was felt that they understood the needs of the nation more than the poor and destitute, who the founders believed were incapable of Public Virtue (the ability to put the needs of the nation above their own).

Maybe at first but that was been expended upon since then.

15th: Prohibits the denial of suffrage based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude
19th: Establishes women's suffrage
26th:Establishes the official voting age to be 18 years old.
 
Maybe at first but that was been expended upon since then.

15th: Prohibits the denial of suffrage based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude
19th: Establishes women's suffrage
26th:Establishes the official voting age to be 18 years old.

That only expands upon who is no longer prohibited from voting. At best, I would say it's a partial right.
 
That only expands upon who is no longer prohibited from voting. At best, I would say it's a partial right.

There is also the 24th: Section 1

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
 
The Constitution simply states that certain people cannot be prevented from voting based on gender, race, or previous status of bonded servitude (slavery). I don't believe it is a right, since voting was never intended to be a right. It was reserved for white male landowners because it was felt that they understood the needs of the nation more than the poor and destitute, who the founders believed were incapable of Public Virtue (the ability to put the needs of the nation above their own).

This was not true in all the states on the state level. In New Jersey at the time of the Revolution, single women who owned property were allowed to vote, and so were African-American men. This was changed only in 1807. That means the people of New Jersey had more respect for women than anyone else in the nation for at least a few years.

And if the founders were here today, they would realize that the group they privileged was probably the least able to put the needs of the nation above their own, given the fact that they are, populationally, the group most responsible for practically destroying the nation's well being in recent times.
 
Last edited:
That sounds like the criteria of a privilege, not a right.
It could be argued... and not illogically... that rights are really nothing but glorified privileges. You only get rights because we have collectively agreed you/we can have them... and even then they are sometimes violated and/or outright taken away.
 
First we need to know if "rights" exist. They don't, since they're just created hypothetical structures. "Rights" exist just as much as "justice" does.

Since we know they're not rights, we realize that we're basically animals that believe in power, structure, in order to survive. Since we're like a herd, power does matter, and voting is therefore a "privilege." Voting has bee suspended, iirc, a few times throughout history.
 
Back
Top Bottom