Voting is not a right. Voting is a privilege.
Voter fraud and corruption is rampant if recent elections are any indication of broader trends.
Several members of the voter registration group ACORN were convicted of voter registration fraud. One of the most egregious examples concerns Clifton Mitchell, who registered more than 2,000 nonexistent members of the community. Entire districts did not cast a single vote for Republican candidates in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
We cannot jeopardize the most important offices in the U.S. People who are not here legally, who cannot understand national issues or who do not pay taxes should not be allowed to vote.
It’s imperative we prevent people who entered the country illegally from voting and deter voter fraud by enacting a free voter ID system. I propose funding the IDs with a flat tax on all campaign funds for every federal and state election.
Having IDs that work only in a voter’s district and requiring proof of U.S. citizenship when applying for a voter ID will reduce registration and voter fraud.
It’s equally important to prevent ignorant and apathetic people from voting through a national, end-of-high-school intelligence test. I’m not a jerk — people should be allowed to retake the test every election cycle. Worst case scenario, people may learn a thing or two.
Nothing screams unfair more than when someone is paying taxes and another individual is profiting from welfare. Weighing the monetary value received in government benefits versus taxes paid will differentiate who will vote. This is achievable by anyone who is employed.
Potential exclusions include government employees, veterans, Social Security recipients or people with disabilities.
These changes are not about excluding voters on the basis of race or sex, as those who oppose voter reform often claim. As of 2014, statistics by the National Center for Education Statistics show a national intelligence test can be viable without excluding minorities.
The rates of high school completion across all races and sexes, with the exception of Hispanics and Native Americans, are within 7 percent of one another. It is important to note data on Hispanics and Native Americans may be inaccurate because of immigration or the geopolitical aspects of Native Americans.
The 2014 statistics for welfare recipients show similar results. The top two recipients of welfare were whites and African-Americans with 38.8 percent and 39.8 percent, respectively, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It’s necessary for us to fix this country by fixing who chooses its leaders. The largest issues facing the 2012 elections were unemployment and the economy, yet the majority of people who voted still voted for Obama.
While the unemployment rate decreased from 8.2 percent to 5.3 percent under his administration, the truth is the labor force has lost an additional 5.4 million people since July 2012. In August 2012, the national debt was at roughly $15.9 trillion, and today we are currently at $18.4 trillion, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Gaining $2.5 trillion in debt and losing 5.4 million people from the labor force is the fault of both the Obama administration and everyone who voted to re-elect him.
We must prevent people who harm our national interest from voting. Let those who are more educated on the issues help those who cannot help themselves.
Garrett Marcel is a 21-year-old petroleum engineering senior from Houma, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Gret419.