[Grovenet] [SPAM] Re: (no subject)

[Deena]

Steven, (and other Grovenutters)

I understand your point. But in a free society, who makes the 
decision for us about when we are no longer competent to vote?  And, 
again, who writes the rules and how do we (as a society) write them 
in a way that doesn't exclude the competent. Who decides competence? 
Many of the practices that we, as a nation have utilized have 
resulted in denial of the franchise to those who should have it. Say 
I'm a woman of color, over 67, who rents and is dependent on Social 
Security for my retirement income. I'm completely mentally competent. 
Should I be able to vote?

Do we draw our lines so as to be as inclusive as possible, or as 
exclusive as possible?

An interesting discussion on the evening of the State of the Union Address.

Deena
At 07:31 PM 1/23/2007, you wrote:
>My mother suffered from dementia for five years. Yet she had the right
>to vote and got her ballots. To imagine a person who spends her days
>inspecting the shadows on the wall deciding who should be in office is
>shocking.
>Could that have been an issue in Florida in 2000?
>
>Deena wrote:
> > Ron said: <snip>
> > (1) Personally, I'd like to see the vote limited to those who 
> have completed
> > High School, passed the same citizenship test anyone immigrating 
> passes, and
> > who own property or who paid income taxes the previous year.
> >
> > Ron, the second half of this sounds suspiciously like a poll tax. I'm
> > sure you don't mean that that way, since that was declared
> > unConstitutional.  How could you implement this (even with the or)
> > and not disenfranchise a fair segment of the senior community? Those
> > who are dependent on Social Security and who no longer own real
> > property come to mind.
> >
> > Deena
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GroveNet mailing list
> > GroveNet at rdrop.com
> > http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet
> >
> >
>_______________________________________________
>GroveNet mailing list
>GroveNet at rdrop.com
>http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet