Are You Educated Enough To Vote?

First of all, The United States is not a Democracy. This country is a Republic or representational democracy. A true democracy would be chaotic as every decision would need to be made only after a poll of the entire effected population. With as many people as there are in the US, this is impossible. Heck the census takes years. Personal I think the Electoral college is pasee and needs to be abolished. Big State, Little State doesn't really matter anymore. Anyway compensation has been made in Congress for states population and such by all states having two senators and the House representatives being based on population and as we all know the real power in Washington, the kind that actually effect daily life, resides in the halls of congress not the Oval office.

I ahve to admit, I am on the fence with this one. On one hand, I feel the electorial college is subject to instability in the voting proccess and can cause serious contesting in elections. On the other hand, it does make sure that small states like mine get propper reopresentation in government. I would like to see it at least changed so that the college delegates are legaly bound to cast their votes with who they are chosen to represent.

If you check a voting patterns by County you will see that a very small part of the country could control the election. USA Today did a map of the 2000 and 2004 election http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm and it shows that major population centers tend to vote Democrat while the rest of the country votes Republican. In the 2000 election VP Gore carried 674 Counties while President Bush carried 2,439 Countries.Large Urban areas tend to have more Government jobs, more welfare, and more Colleges and Universitys. All these groups tend to vote for big government and more government spending. By having the Electorial College it makes sure the rights of the minority (non City Dwellers) are considered. This prevents the candidates from only addressing the needs of the large urban areas at the expense of the rural areas.

I've been saying for years, even long before the 2000 debacle, that the Electoral College should be abolished. It's an antiquated idea whose usefulness is long gone. There may have been a good reason for it way back when but it certainly isn't one bit fair today. Once certainly is too many, especially since ONE of those gave us George W. Bush. I wish I had a time machine and could go back and change that election somehow just so we could see what things would be like today if there had been no second President Bush! Annie

I do believe that someone should be educated enough to make a reasonable and calculated decision to elect a President. Too many times, especially here in my own country, Trinidad and Tobago, the general population has been persuaded to vote for a party for the wrong reasons and governments have been known, again, as here in Trinidad, to deliberately inculcate a population with false concepts in order to retain a volume of votes. Its not that your vote doesn't count, its more that an educated vote is necessary for the proper election of a President or a government. It may seem like an individual vote can be discounted in your country's system but the necessity for an informed or educated vote is far greater than the personal feelings of a single person. This is my honest opinion. I hope I have not offended anyone, especially yourself.

This is our responsibility, so we should do it even though we know that some of them or maybe our votes will not be counted. But we need to support the program of our government and our country as well.

I guess that I will start off with your title question. Yes I wholeheartedly believe that it is very important that you be educated enough to vote, and I also like to think that I at least try to be. Now by educated enough to vote, I mean that you should take the time to research and investigate the candidates, check their voting records and compare them with what they say in their speeches, and figure out who agrees with you most of the time and who you believe will do the best job if elected. THAT is who you should vote for, and that is what being educated enough to vote means to me. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, but you do have to do your homework and research! Now then, as far as the electorial college, I have mixed feelings about this. Initially it did have a purpose and did serve it, however just like everything else in Washington it is now broken and being misused. I do believe that it is important that ALL states are given equal importance during the campaigns and the election, HOWEVER I also believe that it is important that the electorial college follow the popular vote and not go against it. This is a perfect example of the many things in our nation that are broken and desperately need to be fixed. This election year is really important in that we truly do need real change that we can believe in in Washington; unfortunately I really do not think we will get it no matter who is elected this go round!

i hope so many have paved the way for us to vote

Areas with lower density would be completely ignored without the electoral college. Politicians want to do the most campaigning with the least traveling. Right now we all know that Texas is an important state, but frankly, politicians have to cover a lot of ground to get their message out. They're ranked 26th in density which would effectively make them the 26th most important state in a popular vote election. California would be 11th. The result would be that states with smaller, but more concentrated populations, would be what really mattered. Campaigning would be focused on the northeast around states like Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. Now I know you want to think in the method of "each vote counts equally", but in such a system, the votes in the lower density states in the midwest would matter less and Presidential candidates would ignore them while campaigning, and subsequently ignore their desires after gaining office. The electoral college is not perfect, but it's the best we can do to make sure people's votes matter no matter where they live. You mentioned the popular vote has lost to the electoral vote 4 times, but that is inaccurate. Many people cite 1824 when Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but lost the election. The truth is, he also won the electoral college. He lost that election because it was a four man race and at the time the law said that the winner had to receive the majority of the votes, not simply the plurality. In the end the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams. So the total is really 3 times the electoral college has defeated the popular vote. Sorry, just had to throw in a history lesson.

I am not a US citizen so would not be voting anyway but, it seems like some very valid points - I try and vote when I can over here but find sometimes I just cannot be bothered as things seem to stay the same no matter who leads anyway! x

Time for a little history lesson. The electoral college was designed to respond to the concern that the masses in say NY or MA populated states would steal the election from the less populated states say iowa or vermont. The idea to compare the presidential election to state governor race is like comparing eggs with pine trees.The governor race is in a specific state and the presidential election is a national election. It would be foolish to abolish the electoral college since it has been the foundation of the usa successful survival through many crisis times.Our Constitution has stood the test of times and has been ammended from time to time. Ammending the Constitution is not easy;it should not be!!!Our current selection of candidates is not that great. Too bad Tony blair could not run for President but he barred by the US Constitution from running.

Honestly, no. And I wish I weren't registered to vote. I'm really quite an irresponsible citizen. I wish I had more time so I could read and learn more about everything involving politics, but I just don't right now. I'm thinking about looking in to seeing if there is a way to un-register to vote since I feel so irresponsible... and I'd rather not get jury duty all the time. ;)

I think people who like you should not continue vote.you should struglle for your voting right.