Do you think people should only have the right to vote if they have contributed to the country in some way?

Question

I think that in elections people should only have the right to vote if they have contributed to what they are voting for. I think that for this to happen the age of voting should be lowered to 16, i worked and paid taxes when i was 16 and i think that if i am paying towards the country i should have some say in how my money is spent. On the flip side i think that people who are on long term IS or JSA should not be entitled to vote as they have not paid anything into the country so why should they have a say in how the country is ran? I think people who are temporary on benefits or are on disabled benefits (DLA or IB) and are genuinley not able to work should still be allowed to vote, it could be limited to people on JSA or IS for 6 months or more.

I really do think that 16 year old should either be given the vote or should be exempt from paying income tax. What do you think?

Answer 1

No, Actually people have the Right to vote in a country because maybe they were born Actually in that Country and it Actually may be the only country they have.....Or maybe you are proposing to somehow Disenfranchise some people like the n**i's did to the Jews in 1930s Germany,  I think enough study and work has gone into finding the system we have ,It may not be perfect but its better than China.

Answer 2

I used to think this too.  You'll find many in the government would want to stretch it eventually to include anyone entitled to a refund check despite working a full time job every day.  If you take away someone's rights, it would eventually be used to take away others' rights. It's called "setting a precedent."

Answer 3

Didn't you ask this question an hour ago?

Edit - Unemployment is an unfortunate side effect of capitalism as we all have to sell our skills in the labour market.  So why punish those who are unsuccessful?

Answer 4

i cirtainly think immigrants should not be given the vote untill they have been here for 'at least' five years. nor should they recieve free health care housing or social security. but that opinion makes me racist!!. according to the brainless squaking liberal parrots??

Answer 5

follow indian example

those who have taken a lot only give vote

Answer 6

Why would I entrust some hormone-charged adolescent with the right to vote? Where does paying taxes come into it?

You pay taxes so that the fire-service will come and put out your house if it catches light, the police will arrest those who take your possessions or harm your person, the hospital will patch up any physical ailments, and the bin-men will take away your rubbish. If you want to work and not pay tax, kindly exclude yourself from these services.

Ta.

Answer 7

What Kind of elections do you mean?

If you mean local, regional, national or European elections or any other election that relates to governance, then you are adopting an approach to suffrage, that after long and bitter struggles, finally went out of favour about seventy years ago.

It appears that you are looking at the concept of contribution through a kind of fiscal lens, seeing national contribution purely in terms of how much tax we pay, specifically tax on personal income.

If we agree with your general proposal, that voting rights should be linked to income taxation. It might surprise you to learn that if we were to add progressive elements, that is, if we were to take into account the proportion of tax paid in relation to income, then it would not be the people on benefits that get excluded, but the top earners in our society.

If we were to take your proposal further and include all taxation and all wealth proportionally and somehow link these to voting rights, we would probably find that the people with the most voting rights would be low earners.

If we were to take your proposals even further and suggest that civic responsibility and governance as a whole should somehow be linked to tax contributions in relation to earnings and wealth, then what we would likely find is that all those people on benefits would be magically transformed, from social pariahs into civic leaders. If we assuming that society was still stratified, then those on benefits would undoubtedly occupy a place equivalent to the professional/beaurocratic class that occupy Whitehall at the moment.

I wholeheartedly agree with your demand that 16 year olds be aloowed to vote, in fact there seems no better way to engage with the youth in Britain than to empower them with voting rights.

Answer 8

actually thats a very good idea and i see where youre coming from, superhans,  but  it  would eventually lead to problems in the future. not the part about working teens (16 and up) being able to vote, but the part  that  many  nonworking  people  (IS and JSA) would consider an affront to their rights. in the end, it  would  never  work  because  there  are  far  too many lazy people who would rather have life  handed  to  them  than  to actually work and uphold the standard of living.  the limitation idea (for 6 months) is interesting, but probably wouldnt make much difference.

Answer 9

We are all entitled to vote weather we have a job or not. Its what we call democracy. Perhaps sixteen year olds don't  get the vote because of statements like yours. after all working and contributing to the system for only two years ,is hardly worth bothering about this country is full of people that has contributed all there lives.loads even died for this country they don't get vote.

Answer 10

Not all ways of contributing involve handing money over.  There are plenty of people who do not pay tax and NI for a variety of reasons - students - many of which will contribute more tax in five years than some will in their entire working lives!  carers who save this country billions in caring fees, childminders who allow others to go out to work but don't earn enough to pay tax, other volunteers who may not be able to hold down a job which enables them to pay tax but help out in local charities/organisations (thinking of Homestart volunteers etc).  

Maybe you asked a question like this without thinking it through because you are still very young and have not yet had the life experience needed to give a balanced view and for that reason, no.  16 year olds should not be given the vote.

Answer 11

I don't think the age limit is the real issue. You don't have to be old to be smart and there are plenty of canny sixteen year olds out there who would do a good job. Conversely I personally know several juvenile thirty year olds who always vote for "the prettiest one". They should be disenfranchised immediately. I do think that there should be some level of education involved in voting. You have to pass a test to show you are capable of driving a car but you don't need any qualifications to elect some corrupt tramp who gets us into a war. It makes no sense. I also think that there should be a set of qualifications before you are allowed to stand for election. At the moment all you need is a cheery smile and the ability to lie to thousands of people with a straight face. Sorry, to get back to your question, yes you should have to have contribute to vote. And no, you shouldn't be exempt from taxation, if you were it would set a precedent. Lots of people of all ages would want to give up their vote to get off paying taxes.

Answer 12

My daughter wrote to the Prime Minister last year about this, she received a letter back from Tony Blairs office saying thank you but no thanks sort of thing.

Answer 13

i think the right to vote should depend on education not work/benefit.

We need an educated population to decide on policies and who should make them, don't you think?

Age should not be a factor. l agree that if you work and pay taxes you should vote, and if you are student who is getting good grades you should vote.

What upsets and scares me are people voting because they have been swayed by this bull-s--t - or that bull-s--t, know nothing about the issues and will follow whoever with no information whatsoever and no minds of their own.

Answer 14

I agree with you, however to vote is contributing to the country