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Can the mentally incompetent vote ?

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Misslizard
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29 Apr 2013, 7:01 pm

No ones ever stopped me. :lmao:


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Vertex
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30 Apr 2013, 3:49 pm

Can they vote? Sure. They're called Republicans. :p

Should they vote? That's a bit trickier. Who gets to decide who's mentally incompetent?



trollcatman
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30 Apr 2013, 3:58 pm

Vertex wrote:
Who gets to decide who's mentally incompetent?


The Politburo?
The Supreme Leader?

I believe the only people who should lose their vote are people who murdered a politician, war criminals, people who commit treason or join an enemy army, or some other extreme situation. People who have abandoned the democratic process beyond any foreseeable redemption.



Vertex
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30 Apr 2013, 5:13 pm

trollcatman wrote:
Vertex wrote:
Who gets to decide who's mentally incompetent?


The Politburo?
The Supreme Leader?

I believe the only people who should lose their vote are people who murdered a politician, war criminals, people who commit treason or join an enemy army, or some other extreme situation. People who have abandoned the democratic process beyond any foreseeable redemption.


Define "abandoned the democratic process".

And why should people who murder politicians be more severely punished than those who murder ordinary citizens? The implications of that would be that some people are valued more highly than others.

I agree that war criminals and traitors shouldn't be able to vote.



visagrunt
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01 May 2013, 10:12 am

I wouldn't even agree with that.

If we are to claim that we are a democracy, we cannot foreclose the political views of citizens with whom we disagree, or whose attitudes we dislike.

Given the number of war criminals and traitors out there, their influence on the outcome of an election through voting is negligible. But foreclosing their opportunity to vote does two things: first, it reinforces the political view that gave rise to their treason in the first place and it engenders sympathy among those who share the political sentiments of the traitor.

A society that is mature enough to permit its fiercest opponents the full right of participation is significantly more admirable than the one that uses access to voting as a petty punishment.


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Vertex
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01 May 2013, 3:19 pm

visagrunt wrote:
I wouldn't even agree with that.

If we are to claim that we are a democracy, we cannot foreclose the political views of citizens with whom we disagree, or whose attitudes we dislike.

Given the number of war criminals and traitors out there, their influence on the outcome of an election through voting is negligible. But foreclosing their opportunity to vote does two things: first, it reinforces the political view that gave rise to their treason in the first place and it engenders sympathy among those who share the political sentiments of the traitor.

A society that is mature enough to permit its fiercest opponents the full right of participation is significantly more admirable than the one that uses access to voting as a petty punishment.


Good point. Voting is a right, not a privilege.



ruveyn
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01 May 2013, 3:31 pm

Vigilans wrote:
Can the mentally incompetent vote?

Well, George W. Bush was elected president twice


He also flew a military jet solo. Can you ?

ruveyn



PsychoSarah
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01 May 2013, 3:32 pm

Vigilans wrote:
Can the mentally incompetent vote?

Well, George W. Bush was elected president twice


But Romney was not, so there might be a cut-off point.



trollcatman
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01 May 2013, 3:32 pm

^^^ Now that I've read your replies Vertex and visagrunt, I'm starting to agree with you. In the Netherlands you can lose the vote for crimes against the state or some other vague blahblah, but I don't think it happens often, or even whether it happens at all. I believe even the murderer of Pim Fortuyn (politician) did not lose his vote if I remember correctly. To prevent a slippery slope, it might be better to never take away the vote.



naturalplastic
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01 May 2013, 8:29 pm

trollcatman wrote:
^^^ Now that I've read your replies Vertex and visagrunt, I'm starting to agree with you. In the Netherlands you can lose the vote for crimes against the state or some other vague blahblah, but I don't think it happens often, or even whether it happens at all. I believe even the murderer of Pim Fortuyn (politician) did not lose his vote if I remember correctly. To prevent a slippery slope, it might be better to never take away the vote.


I believe that in the USA prison inmates serving time for felonies cannot vote. Whether they can vote after serving their sentence Im not sure.