I (mostly) agree with the sentiment of “no idiots voting, please”, but call me paranoid, the spectre of a literacy test dovetails too well with that sentiment.

Voting without ID enables fraud.  You should have to present an official ID to vote.  The fact that a tiny bit of literacy is helpful to getting an ID is a side-benefit.

And I completely agree with the sentiment of James’ statement – I don’t want the lazy or the stupid voting either.  That is different from a policy proposal.

Example: I would like Rush Limbaugh to just shut the hell up, but I would not support a law to force him do so.

After mulling this over for a few days, I now see the error of my ways in even partially agreeing with the sentiment.  It’s only a few steps from that to say “If you are too lazy or stupid to not come to the same political conclusions as me, I don’t want you voting.”  See my post above regarding literacy tests.

1.  Who will set the literacy standard?  The same people who sponsored the No Child Left Behind law?  Those who wrote it and passed it?  The person who signed the bill into law?
2.  What will be the standard, and will it be universal, i.e. federal?  CAn you hear the state election boards weighing in on that?
3.  Will it be retroactive?  Will currently registered voters be required to go through the literacy qualification process?

You can be absolutely certain that there will be a lobby that will insist that the current standard is too low.  You have already proven that!  You went from the admittedly low standard of getting an ID to high school diploma.  Imagine what a group with real political clout and an agenda would propose.  Just one victory resulting from their “standards” gives them a victory that provides the platform and power for the standard to be changed again … to their advantage.

Democracy is not clean cut, it is messy, and it is not perfect.  But no, this idea is neither democratic nor practical.

And while an on-the-spot literacy test does have its problems, if someone can’t even make their way through the process of getting a proper ID, their vote is at best null input.  Let getting the ID be a de-facto literacy test.

A broader test would be high school graduation.  That’s still a pretty low hurdle but the current dropout rate is staggering.  You really want someone who can’t finish high school picking our president?  Really? 

Yes, I realize I’m dreaming.  But I can dream, can’t I?

Oh c’mon, get into the modern age, DOF!

No thanks.  At least with paper ballots, when they’re missing, they’re missed.  With digital votes, the machine spits out a total.  Don’t trust the total?  Too bad. 

Yes, it’s true literacy tests have been tried, but the fact that they were done with bad motives doesn’t make them a bad idea.  I’m not even slightly interested in the political opinions of the illiterate. 

And the necessity of faking lots of IDs raises the bar on large-scale fraud.  Voting is important – ID please.  NO ID?  Sorry.  Official state ID costs ten bucks – gather some documentation and go get one.