Too young to vote?

[MisterD]

On the face of it that's not a bad idea for pre-age voters... other than extra admin costs I can't see it making a blind bit of difference. At the end of the day people will vote or they won't, a voting card won't change that and you're talking about an exam on a subject matter that has no "real" answer which could exclude those who don't see things in a prescribed way... so I wouldn't endorse such an idea. A licence doesn't stop bad drivers.

Of course there are real answers - if you're going to vote you should be able to demonstrate a knowledge of how the voting system works and how parliament operates - stages for bill, committees, role of the speaker etc.

I have a personal theory that if there were a greater cost to be allowed to vote, then the perceived value of the vote will increase and the participation rate with it. Currently a vote is free, it doesn't appear to do much, hence the perceived value of it is close to zero...in places where the potential cost of voting is being killed, they queue round the block to do it!

[Headbanger]

..in places where the potential cost of voting is being killed, they queue round the block to do it!

Perhaps they have an urgent motivation for change.

I'd imagine that voter turn out increases with this perception within society regardless of the possibility of death, hence when the crowd turns we have a larger turn out, but when its all much the same then who cares.

[mashman]

Of course there are real answers - if you're going to vote you should be able to demonstrate a knowledge of how the voting system works and how parliament operates - stages for bill, committees, role of the speaker etc.

I have a personal theory that if there were a greater cost to be allowed to vote, then the perceived value of the vote will increase and the participation rate with it. Currently a vote is free, it doesn't appear to do much, hence the perceived value of it is close to zero...in places where the potential cost of voting is being killed, they queue round the block to do it!

Why does anyone need to know how the system works? All you need to do is see what the policy is and click yay or ney, pretty similar to that which happens at the moment.

You could say the same thing about brushing ones teeth. Brush your teeth or your guardian has the opportunity to beat you to death. The vote will still be worth nothing because you have been coerced into doing something that you didn't want to do, it's just that you'd end up being allowed to stay alive. I'm supposedly a growd up and I've never voted and as far as I'm concerned I have very valid reasons for not voting and see no reason why my life should be forfeit because I chose not to. I take your point, but even with consequences the value of the vote will not change in the voters eyes.