Posted by
Graham Shaw on Thursday, November 02, 2006 3:17:22 PM
What follows is a letter sent to my school newspaper
Dear Editor
After breezing through your article on asking students to vote I came upon a rather common error that people make when discussing elections. Namely, there is no right to vote. The Constitution only states reasons that you cannot deny a person the vote, reasons such as race and sex. It is a plain and simple fact that some people should not be allowed to vote.
The vote should be denied to anyone who does not have some basic knowledge of our nations political system, and history. So I’m going to give a short test if you don’t get at least a 70 then do us all a favor and don’t vote, there is no excuse for not knowing these.
1. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
2 According to the Declaration where does government power come from?
3. What three freedoms are said to be inalienable by the Declaration?
4. What amendment protects citizens from self incrimination?
5. How long does a US Supreme Court term last?
6. How many times may a Senator be re-elected?
7. How many times may a president be re-elected?
8.How many seats does each state have in the Senate?
9. How is representation in the house decided?
10. How many votes are required to override a presidential veto of a bill?
Answers:
1. Thomas Jefferson
2. The consent of the governed
3. Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness
4. 5th
5. For Life (they may resign if they wish)
6. Unlimited
7. Twice consecutively
8. 2
9. By population
10. 2/3 majority
Graham Shaw is Criminal Justice Major and can be reached at
gs71170@appstate.edu