h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

How long should you have lived in a Country, County or parish before getting the vote?

Currently in the UK it is 18 years if you are
unfortunate enough to have been born here.
If you were born elsewhere but happen to be
over 18 years old when you show up the time
scale is much less.



Should those who have comitted serious crimes be denied the right to vote in the democratic process, especially in cases hwere they have tried to subevert it such as electoral fraud, undeclared donations to political parties?

A politician or party worker who knowingly
accepted illegal donations would be able to
vote in pretty much the same amount of time
as a woman locked up for non payment of fines
for shoplifiting. A man unfortunate enough to
be sent down for dangerous driving could be
disenfranchised for the same length of time as
a man banged up for downloading child porn.



Should we take people out of the political loop because of their age?

We dont let those whose long term futures are
affected so why do we let people who probably
dont have as long a future to look forward to
to make decisions on the formers lives. 15 year
olds can contribute through income tax and
national inurance to the upkeep of 85 year olds
one gets a say in where the taxes of the one
doing the work gets no say for atleast another
2 and half years.

In NZ I think voting should be restricted to people with citizenship (we allow dual citizenship) rather than just residency (I don't actually know which it is but I'd guess citizenship).

I have no problem with people serving time being able to vote, except those who've committed crimes that affect the electoral process. I think it'd be tricky to define that though. Besides in NZ at the moment that would mean most MPs wouldn't be able to vote


Regarding age, I'm in favour in principle of lowering the voting age. But we raise our teens to be so stupid at the moment that I find it hard to feel comfortable with them voting. Elders get to vote because they've got experience. I don't see how taxes comes into it really, but if it does, elderly people have paid the taxes that funded the birth (and in some cases conception), education, health etc of everyone else.

For 28 days when I was 31 I was denied the right to vote. As it happens there were some Euro elections happening which I found out about later; at the time I was far too high to realise they were actually happening on earth in the UK.

On the spaceship in the far future I appeared to be living on, elections were just so 20th century.. I kid you not.

I think we should raise the age of majority to 21 and make voting compulsary.

I don't think you should be allowed to vote in regional elections if you've lived in the area for less than 12 months, and national or international elections if you've lived in the country or region less than 2 years.

I don't think people in prison should be allowed to vote.

But what about sectioned mad people McKay?

I don't think they should be allowed to vote whilst excluded from society.

I think I agree based on personal experience.

Actually I've just been thinking a bit more, and perhaps we should take the view that people have to 'earn' the right to vote, by public service or tenure in the armed forces ?

Though of course perhaps being able to kill people is not the best qualification for a politician.

So what happens to all the disenfranchised folk in your system McKay?

I'm already manning the barricades with them, and making my molotov cocktails.

Hey - remember all the soldiers are on my side....

I dunno - we sort of assume that all people should be enfranchised, then quibble abouit who should lose that privelidge. What about turning it around and say you have to have done unpaid community work, or be a member of the professions, or a nurse or policeman to earn the right to vote ?

I think that's all a bit utopian McKay, and I don't think its democratically acceptable.

>Hey - remember all the soldiers are on my side<

Yeah but aren't most of them away fighting in some foreign field? And the numbers that will be disenfranchised by your theory is going to give us molotov throwers the upper hand I reckon.

Do we really want our armed forces to have to do 'Northern Ireland' all over again?

There's no perfect system ever in democracy. I think the present system is ok. Maybe we should think about giving it to 16 year olds though in a modern society, if they are considered rational enough to have sex and get married?

Earning the right to vote.... People are apathetic enough about voting as it is, that would only work in conjunction with compulsory voting... which would kinda defy the point
Mind, compulsory voting is useually sounded off as a generally good idea on the basis that everyone ought to vote, but really... I think the fact that so few people bother to vote is almost a good thing in some ways, just so long as its the hard of thinking who form that group of apathetic non-voters
The whole age thing has gone a bit loopy in the UK of late, with ages changing down for some things, up for others, but its always seemed odd that we're perfectly happy for someone to leave school at 16 and go straight into a full time job and pay taxes, but then tell em they've got two years to wait until they can vote, until they can buy a pint of beer and now until they can buy a pack of ciggys

Actually you're probably right make everything 18.

Sex, Alcohol, Voting.

I think we have to do something to fight the apathy that exists in the country.

Newspaper sales are falling year on year. Is that because we're getting our news online, or because less and less people can be bothered ? Also, given the instantaneous nature of news nowadays, surely newspapers should be providing the thought through presentation of the facts - the in-depth stories behind the headlines.

Or does it really come down to "Tracey from Leicester thinks that 12 year olds should be able to drink in pubs, and here's a photo of her topless to support that view" ?

<>

The problem with compulsory voting is enforcing it... AFAIK, in Australia, they have compulsory voting, but I am not sure how it works.

Here, *registering* to vote is compulsory, but it doesn't actually work, it's not enforced. (Possibly luckily?)

It certainly comes down to "Tracey from Leicester" in a lot of the UK papers, I acidentially glanced, research purposes only mind, at the Daily Mail over Xmas, (the TV really was that bad), and really was just supprised at how utterly banal half of it was, and how utterly wrong the other half was... Half truth and lies didn't cover it, some of the storeys were utter irrelivent to anyone, (and probably at least partially made up), yet I guess ther eis enough of a public out there who want to read such dribble to make it worth their time....

18 or 17 years old might be a sensible age for a lot of those things now spread out ever more bizarely.... drink drugs sex and voting, actually if we make the voting compulsory can we make the sex and drugs compulsory too?

I don't understand the logic of disallowing people in prison the vote. It implies that all people in prison are bad or have done something against society and that all people not in prison are worth of voting and have not done something against society. The people in prison are simply the ones that have been caught at a particular point in time. And often the people that get caught that have money don't go to prison or go for less time.

It also implies that the justice system is fair. Justice systems (in Anglo countries) are inherently biased against non-whites, against poor people, and against the mentally ill. The extent of this is so bad that any principle of denying prisoners the vote on the basis of fairness or punishment is a sick joke.

>and against the mentally ill<

How do you mean Kea?

People stupid enough to a) commit crime often enough to get a prison sentence and b) stupid enough to get caught by our police with their laughable detection rates, are too stupid to be allowed a vote.

People in prison are not participating in society - they should not therefore be able to influence society.

Let's assume there was a referendum on the death penalty, you might argue they have the most compulsive viewpoint on it, or they could be the most biased.

People in hospital and rest homes don't contribute to society either. Should we deny them the vote?

All sorts of people vote according to an agenda that I think is crap. That's democracy apparently The only societies that need fear block voting by inmates are those that put too many people in prison.