To think you should have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the facts before being allowed to vote

[Bearbehind]

Ok, I appreciate this is purely hypothetical is it could never be enforced but, it does astound me when a proportion of the electorate, albeit hopefully small, are so clueless they come out with comments like I've seen this morning which included:-

-Looking forward to doing some online shopping for items from the USA as they'd be cheaper now the pound has dropped

-Being surprised that the markets have fallen following the vote to leave and not realising their vote would have that effect

-Thinking this decision might pave the way for Norway to hold a referendum to leave the EU too

It's bad enough we all have to filter through the outright lies, like the money saved on the EU which would go straight to the NHS, and the scarcity of facts but people making decisions when their basic understanding is so poor is downright scary.

Who decides what the 'understanding' of facts is?
Facts are interpreted, and might be interpreted one way be me and another way by you.

I've said before, this wasn't about degree level education- it was about just comprehending it was about a bit more than tomatoes or Eurovision votes.

People vote for different things for all kinds of reasons. If person "remain" decides that the reasons that person "leave" voted for leave are stupid reasons, that actually doesn't make those reasons stupid. It does, however, make person "remain" an arrogant nasty twat with no respect for anyone's vote but those that agree with them.

Voting is not a pastime of the elite. It's everyone's right. You don't have "more rights" than anyone else, nor should you have.

Is this still going? Jeez

The number of people wilfully and continually misunderstanding the op, and being goady fuckers is woeful

I take offence costa I want to understand what the OP thinks is an "understanding"

Well it's been explained several times, I'm sorry if you're still unable to understand it

I've been out. Had tea and wine. Come back. And you are still whinging.

Fucks sake.

All of these liberal, open minded and tolerant geniuses that can't seem to grasp one simple fact.

Intelligent (yes gasp) people looked at all the evidence you did AND (stay with me, this is the crucial part) came to a different conclusion to you.

Mind. Blown. Right?

And do you know what. If someone walked in there, flipped a coin and voted that way they have every right to do so.

YOU don't get to tell people what they do with THEIR vote. Democracy rules.

Fucking hell. If leave had lost I would still have fought tooth and nail for every Remain voters right to vote, even if they had just randomly picked a box with no thought at all.

The amount of comments like the op's I've seen today is shocking.

Peppatina so tell me, why did you vote Leave then?

Head meet wall.

I've explained myself many times blinkowl in RL and on here I'm getting sick of it.

a) None of your business
b) Doesn't matter why. A vote is a vote, there are no greater values ascribed to a single vote just because it meets with your approval.

Whether I'd played eeenie meenie or given months of thought and contemplation makes no difference to the value of my vote or my right to cast it.

I don't think anyone who tries to argue otherwise understands just how dangerous it is to start thinking of a qualifying test for it.

So who decides if the potential voter meets the relevant standard of knowledge? That's the killer question.

"I don't think anyone who tries to argue otherwise understands just how dangerous it is to start thinking of a qualifying test for it."

I don't think the OP was being serious, more expressing frustration and dismay that such a monumental decision has been made, after a campaign full of outright lies and misdirection, and by many voters who really don't seem to have had a clue what they were really voting for.

She's NBU to feel that frustration, I certainly do.

people like bear and costa make the decision.

whose to say that the eenie meenie minie mo persons way of voting is any less "right" than the academic who has poured over tomes for months.

there are some very clever people out there who hold some very odd political views. and there will undoubtedly be some people that bear would class as thick and not understanding of The Facts who voted remain.

that's the beauty of being in a democracy. you have to make sure that your argument resonates and is understood by a whole range of people in order to get the overall vote.

Why is it ok for a member of the general public to make a vote that affects other peoples lives on the toss of a coin? When we employ a politician to make decisions on our behalf, we expect them to act in the people's best interests, why can we not ask that the right to vote goes along with some responsibility, like the responsibility to know what they are voting on as a minimum? Why is the freedom to vote on a coin toss better than the right to vote coming with responsibility?

On a certain website there are comments from people who want the Queen to "get all her powers back now", who wonder why Nigel Farage isn't in Number 10 because he won the vote, and the only slightly more sensible who insist he must be put in charge of our EU exit as he won that right, and there's a chap who says that now we are an independent nation again we should threaten France with war so they keep all the refugees on their side. And if it comes to it we could set Russia on them! And those were a few of the gems I found under just one article!

Still waiting for the op to define her rules of voting

labelle it's a sad situation

people like bear and costa make the decision.

Oh - have I been appointed mummy? I did say upthread I wasn't standing but if you insist, gosh, what an honour, thank you, this is such a surprise, and I don't have an acceptance speech ready

kittens I do not need to define 'my' rules for voting. 'My rules' are not relevant.

All I'm saying is that everyone who votes has a duty to understand what their vote means and not whinge the next day that they didn't realise what would happen- that is 'demonstrating an understanding of the basic facts'

I'm still waiting for your answer on the following-

-Why were my voting choices 'uninformed'?

-Why didn't I 'have a clue why I was voting'?

Or did you just say both of those things to be goady?

You wanna hear something truly stupid? I was having coffee with a guy, and he said "Britain has voted to leave Europe, eh?" I agreed, not anticipating the obvious follow-up question:

"So, what continent are they going to be in now?"

When I recovered my composure, I patiently explained that all countries start out as members of Antartica, and as they develop they change to Africa, then to Asia, then Europe, and finally America. If any country votes to leave its continent, it has to go to the bottom and start over in Antartica.

The devil made me do it.

Brilliant John, I'll need to remember that one!

Why is it ok for a member of the general public to make a vote that affects other peoples lives on the toss of a coin? When we employ a politician to make decisions on our behalf, we expect them to act in the people's best interests, why can we not ask that the right to vote goes along with some responsibility, like the responsibility to know what they are voting on as a minimum? Why is the freedom to vote on a coin toss better than the right to vote coming with responsibility?

FFS. Do you even understand the concept of democracy? Would you prefer a dictatorship?

Nobody has to explain why they voted the way they did. Nobody has to have a certain level of education or intelligence to vote. ALL votes have a possibility of changing lives (let's all take a gander at the GE that gave us the conservatives in power for a very clear example).

Get. A. Grip.

*All I'm saying is that everyone who votes has a duty to understand what their vote means and not whinge the next day that they didn't realise what would happen- that is 'demonstrating an understanding of the basic facts'

I'm still waiting for your answer on the following-

-Why were my voting choices 'uninformed'?

-Why didn't I 'have a clue why I was voting'*

What are these 'basic facts' you speak of?

I'm sure a lot of voters thought they knew the 'facts' - of course we all know now most of it was bullshit not unusual considering it all came from the mouths of politicians

Do we get provided with a fact sheet, and have to answer questions on it like a year 6 comprehension exam?

The thing is all these 'facts' are ambiguous. Nobody can tell us the exact repercussions of this. Of course there are predictions, made by trustworthy people but they're not absolutely 100% correct and it makes me uneasy that they could be classed as 'facts'

There obviously would be some facts like;

• we are no longer members of the eu

But what else is absolutely dead set in stone that we could have been tested on 2-3 weeks ago?

Genuine coversations ive overheard in the last few days;

'I'm voting out coz I'm fed up of my husband watching the Euros (football) and if we're out I won't have to watch it next time'

'I voted out because my nan told me to'

'I don't understand it but I'm voting out cause I hate the Germans they take our sun-beds on holiday'

Yes, because unproven anecdotes will help the situation and calm things down.

No really, please. Carry on with the panic and accusations. It's really going to help unite the country again.

FFS, I don't recognise this country anymore. How disappointing that people no longer believe in democracy.