Democrats and progressives generally believe voting should be a universal right easily available to all citizens, and it’s not the government’s role to decide who is knowledgeable enough, motivated enough or virtuous enough to vote. Many conservative and Republican leaders disagree, however, suggesting that American citizens who do not meet such standards shouldn’t vote, or at least should be discouraged from voting.
For example, Andrew McCarthy stated in National Review: “It would be far better if the franchise were not exercised by ignorant, civics-illiterate people.” Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, a Republican, warned of the dangers of voting by the “uninformed.” Kevin Williamson, also at National Review, asked whether America “would be better served by having fewer — but better — voters.” Arizona GOP state Rep. John Kavanaugh commented: “Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes as well.” And so on.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has also articulated the view that Americans don’t have a universal personal right to vote. As an appeals court judge (in a dissenting opinion), she claimed that voting is a civic right belonging not to all citizens but only to “virtuous citizens” who exercise it for the benefit of the community.
Really, what could possibly go wrong with the government deciding who among us is “virtuous” enough or “informed” enough to be allowed to vote?
Conservatives are ignorant of facts
Some folks accuse these conservative thought leaders of being hypocrites, authoritarians and racists, whose real intent is to discourage voting by groups who generally vote for Democrats — for instance, Black people and other traditionally marginalized communities.
I say, such accusations are unfair! These edgy conservative thought leaders would (no doubt) agree that ignorant and civically illiterate Republican supporters shouldn’t be allowed to vote. For example:
►According to a Reuters poll, 6 in 10 Republicans believe former President Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election (although he lost by over 7 million votes); and about half of GOP voters believe the Jan. 6 Capitol attack was a left-wing “false flag” operation and/or a “peaceful protest” (although about 140 law enforcement officers were injured, one was killed and two died by suicide).
"I voted" stickers on Nov. 3, 2020, in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo: Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard)
►Even more shocking, a poll conducted by the Survey Center on American Life showed that nearly 3 in 10 Republicans believe the QAnon fantasy (for instance, “Donald Trump has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites”).
►As recently as December 2017, 51% of Republicans in a YouGov survey said they thought former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya — despite ample evidence that he was born in the United States and exactly zero evidence that he was born anywhere else.
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►The level of civic illiteracy and ignorance among Republican voters regarding COVID-19 is also disturbing. For example, in a poll analysis from Brookings in early September, 41% of Republicans believed the flu (about 22,000 deaths each year) or automobile accidents (more than 32,000 deaths per year) caused more deaths than COVID-19 (which killed about 375,000 Americans in 2020). That is impressively out of touch with reality.
If citizens take so little interest in America’s civic affairs that they believe this sort of nonsense, I’m sure Andrew McCarthy and company would agree they qualify as nonvirtuous, low-quality, “ignorant, civics-illiterate people” — and we’d all be better off if they didn’t vote.
Led astray by unreliable sources
Further, I think we can agree that “virtuous” and “quality” voters should get their information from reliable sources. A majority of Republicans trust and rely on Fox News and its shows (such as “Tucker Carlson Tonight”). Fun fact: When defending Tucker from libel charges, Fox News’ lawyers claimed (and a federal judge agreed), as NPR put it: “You Literally Can’t Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You.” So, I ask you, if someone trusts and believes in Fox News and Tucker Carlson’s facts (as many GOP voters do), can that person really be sufficiently informed, knowledgeable and virtuous to be worthy of voting in an American election?
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If all this talk in GOP circles about “ignorant,” “uninformed” voters is code for Americans who refuse to vote Republican, these pundits are (at best) authoritarian wannabes and (at worst) racist bigots.
But in the spirit of bipartisanship, let’s assume good faith on the part of these conservatives’ concerns about ignorant, low-knowledge voters. Surely, they’d be highly supportive of efforts to discourage voting by these objectively uninformed and ignorant Republicans.
Personally, I look forward to future editorials and public statements by conservative leaders about the dangers of allowing low-knowledge Republicans to vote — though that’s probably about as likely as Trump admitting he actually lost the election.
Steven Strauss is a lecturer and visiting professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @Steven_Strauss
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