Thread: Should voters need to prove they're American citizens?

YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Electoral College was established by our founding fathers for a reason and that was to assure that each state had equal representation. Without the Electoral College, only the most populous states would be ruling the nation. The votes of smaller, less populous states would not count. Our nation would then be ruled by California and New York. The wisdom of our founding fathers has prevailed over all these years and should continue to do so.

Yes, I understand the Electoral College and the rational our founding fathers had for it's implementation. This does not mean such "wisdom" should continue to prevail withour being questioned.

A result of the present functionality of the Electoral College is that the national popular vote bears no legal or factual significance.

As the aggregate popular vote is irrelevant, both voters and candidates may base their campaign strategies around the existence of the Electoral College. The claims that the Electoral College suppresses the popular will are legitimate and should continue to prevail.

In addition, the Electoral College encourages a two party system Democratic or Republican because the winner-take-all manner of allocating a state's delegates, coupled with the winner-take-all approach of the college itself, decreases the importance of minor parties.

Oh Mark M , forget to add one more fact. Currently, It is possible to win the election by winning all of eleven states (those states with the highest number of Electoral College Votes) and disregarding the rest of the states. Does not seem reasonable to me. In any event, I guess we will agree to disagree

Originally Posted by Jonathan

What do the Ron Paul supporters think on this issue?

I notice they are not responding to this question.

I am a Ron Paul supporter and I say- YES!!! If I have to show an ID to get a beer or a pack of cigarettes, then I should most defiantely have to show an ID to vote. And for anyone out there that disagree's, then they shouldn't be allowed to vote.

I also think it would be a great idea to implement some type of canidate quiz, where you have to be able to answer some questions about the government, the canidates or something. This would prevent stupid people from voting. What I mean by that is people who vote for someone "just because they are a woman", or "just because he is a black man", or "just because he is a war hero". blah, blah, blah. People like that should not be allowed to vote in a process that enables a person to become the leader of the free world. JMHO.

Originally Posted by portaltotx

Actually, if ballots were only printed in English, that would solve a lot of problems. In order to become a Naturalized Citizen, one must show command of the English language.
However, I would gladly show proof that I am an American Citizen!

AMEN! My wife just got her US Citizenship and we say a lot of people fail the exam because they could not show command of the English language. We both say the same thing, put our ballots in English! Neither of us have a problem at all showing proof that we are US Citizens if ask.

Originally Posted by MarkM

Originally Posted by NoBueno

Absolutely! the Electoral College undermines a true democracy in which the majority decides who will lead the country. In addition, the so called super delegate is an absolute joke and reeks of elitism and undermines a true democracy in which the people determine political power.

We do not live in a true democracy unless each vote cast actually means something.

The Electoral College was established by our founding fathers for a reason and that was to assure that each state had equal representation. Without the Electoral College, only the most populous states would be ruling the nation. The votes of smaller, less populous states would not count. Our nation would then be ruled by California and New York. The wisdom of our founding fathers has prevailed over all these years and should continue to do so.

One of the main reasons the Electoral College was brought into being was due to peoples inability to be contacted. Most people lived out in the sticks and most were unaware that there was even an election going on. We dont have that problem anymore and if each state was worth 1 point no matter of what size in a popular vote that would take care of the New York and California running the agenda of Washington. We have things like TV, Internet, Mail, Phones now so if we are not aware of upcoming elections its our own fault. What this all boils down to is taking power away from the Politicians and putting it in the Hands of the Public where it belongs.

Yes, voters need to prove they are American citiens. But, the illegals are already voting, with phony I.D's and other forged documents. They vote for the candidate that will best serve them and be able to get them more out of this country. Sickening!

Obviously, people need to prove they are citizens before they can vote.

In the security business, the best way of proving you are who you say you are is to provide two-factor authentication: that is, a combination of something you are, something you have, or something you know. A card and a PIN provide this "strong authentication" when you go to the ATM, for example.

I would think a voting card and a one time PIN would provide an adequate measure of security to voting. The details of a delivery system of these items from the election board to the voter would need to be hammered out. But done right, I think that method would provide the necessary authentication for voting, while also limiting the scope of these cards and ID measures to the one task it was required for: voting for your political representatives.

The bottom line is there are equatable alternatives to the Electoral College System and they need to be explored. It almost happened in 1968 but the resolution failed to gain enough votes in the House to pass.

That's the closest we have come to replacing the Electoral College System with a popular vote.