Voters: Intelligent or Careless?

Anticipation for Election Day has been mounting throughout the month of October, and now that the day has finally arrived, the excitement is contagious. Today the school was filled with discussion over the presidential race, and several students were even sporting stickers that supported one of the candidates. In the hallways, students could be witnessed rallying for their favorite candidate, and one could read messages written on markerboards in the classrooms. Such enthusiastic support has always been encouraged in America, and certainly has played a huge role in our votes. But has it played too large a role? Are American voters voting based on issues and beliefs, or are Americans voting just to jump on the bandwagon?

As I walked the halls of the school today, I found it difficult to voice who I personally supported when everyone else was so loudly voicing their support for the opposer. I found myself wanting to join their rally, to start shouting support for their candidate and laughing along with them as they put down the other candidate, even though I was not in agreement. My friends were having a sort of party, and I wasn't included, and I wanted to be.

Now, as I watch the election results unfold on the television, I wonder how many of our voters are voting entirely because they wanted to join the fun, just like I wanted to today. If I were an American who did not do the research necessary to really know both the candidates, would I vote based on what others thought? I know that I would want to. Americans make voting such a big deal, something to be proud of, and I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to be a "true American," even just for a day.

If Americans are voting for the wrong reasons, how can we be sure that we are intellectually choosing and voting for the future leaders of our country, including the President of our United States? How many voters are voting under the influence of their peers, family, or job? How many voters judge the candidates by looks and speaking ability instead of values? This poses a problem that cannot be solved by simply relying on others to not take advantage of uninformed Americans or by relying on our uninformed Americans to take the initiative to get informed. Maybe we should take the initiative to make sure that the only Americans to vote are those who know what they are voting for.

Although I am well aware that changing the voting system would be an exhaustive process, I believe it is high time we started it, so that our children and children's children will live under a more intelligent government. I propose the voting ballet to be more than a simple list of names, but rather a sort of multiple choice quiz. The ballot should ask the voter which view they most closely agree with regarding the issues discussed in the campaign. They would be able to choose from the views of each of the candidates. Take for example this election: a ballot question might ask which candidate's economic plan most appeals to the voter, McCain's or Obama's, and the voter would pick the plan he/she supported the most. A sort of voter quiz could eliminate uneducated voting motives such as a candidate's outward appearance.

On the negative hand, a voter quiz could very well discourage lazy voters from voting at all, but to those who voice this opinion I must ask, do we really want these people to vote at all then? If a voter is too busy to take a short quiz instead of circling a name, or too upset over a quiz to take his initiative to vote, why should we expect him to have the time of day to research the candidates and vote for a worthy candidate?

Is it more important for every citizen to vote? Or for every citizen who CARES to vote?

It's definitely worth the time of day to consider. If not a voter quiz, what else can we do to ensure that our voters are voting intelligently? What other solutions might there be to this problem?

-Nemo