Stupid people shouldn’t vote
Do not count me among those people who want to “rock the vote.” The
benefits of casting a ballot for your favorite candidates are
self-evident. When your guy wins, the policies you prefer are those put
into place. Sounds simple, huh?
No marketing campaign should be necessary to encourage voting. Yet we
run public service ads on television. Many celebrities have made this
their cause.
It makes my blood boil.
Why should my vote be cancelled out by some moron who knows nothing
about the issues except the last sound bite he heard before he walked
into the voting booth?
Why should some ignorant slob who wouldn’t expend the energy to walk
down to the county courthouse to register be talked into do so when he
goes to get a driver’s license or sign up for welfare, and then courted
and encouraged to actually cast a ballot by some sweet-talkin’
politician promising more welfare, more benefits and higher taxes on the
mythical other guy?
They should stay home and watch television and drink beer.
This view is considered by many to unAmerican, if not outright fascist.
Why, tour nation was founded on the idea of one person one vote, they
say. The more people who vote, the healthier our Democracy.
People who hold this view are, of course, idiots. I’m sorry if this
offends you. But you are idiots, or at least ignorant of history. Our
Founding Fathers were scared to death of democracy. That’s why they
founded a /republic/ of states. That’s why they put so many safeguards
into the Constitution that prevented mob rule at the ballot box. That’s
why they wanted state legislators, not voters, to pick Senators. That’s
why presidents are elected by the electoral college, not the voters.
More voters makes for better elections? Oh, puh-lease.
Consider corporations. Who do they allow on their board of directors?
Presumably, they pick people who have some degree of intelligence or
expertise. Perhaps membership is limited only to those people who own a
significant number of shares. Whatever the criteria, it is an exclusive
group. Some people are excluded.
They do not worry open membership to everyone with a stake in the
company, no matter how small. Certainly, they do not round up homeless
people and give them voting rights on the board under the unproven (and
laughable) premise that the more people there are who vote on an issue,
the better the resulting decision.
Now, I will defend to the death the right of stupid people to haul their
ass down to the courthouse and register, and will do the same to defend
their right to vote. I am opposed to IQ testing of voters. I am opposed
poll taxes. I am opposed to allowing only property owners to vote. I
think anyone with the intelligence to find his or her way to the voter
registration office should be registered to vote and anyone smart enough
to put election day on the calender should be allowed to vote.
But I am infuriated at the idea that these people special assistance –
either from the private sector or the government — to provide them with
*special opportunities* to register, to encourage them to register and
to actually cast their ballots. These activists need to stop what they
are doing and let nature take its course.
I will note that Democrats are more fond of getting out the vote efforts
than are Republicans. Perhaps this is because the more stupid people
vote, the better the Democrats do on election day.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
