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.

YANBU OP.

It astounds me how many people who voted have acknowledged that that they did so to get immigrants out, give Cameron a bloody nose, give more money to the NHS, etc, etc...

However I voted Remain and did so because out of all the politicians I trust Jeremy Corbyn the most. What I read seemed to confirm his opinion that the UK were better off in and other prominent politicians and business leaders also agreed with this. That said, I was also aware that I was just not knowledgeable and informed enough to be making such a huge decision with massive consequences for the country and electorate. Thus why I went with a politician I trust.

I agree with the OP that in order to vote we should be able to demonstrate some understanding of the issues and consequence of our vote. I realise this may have made me ineligible to cast a vote myself...
I also realise this is most likely an impossible system to implement but I understand the point that the OP was trying to make and I agree.

YANBU: democracy is over rated when 52% of the voters are fools. Case in point: America

Oh please. Trump is an utter muppet, and I will be appalled if he is voted in.

But.... if he is, then that's what we have to deal with. Again, that is democracy. There are always lessons to be learned from it. If the country feels that separate from the government that they feel he is their only option, then the government parties need to take a real look at themselves and what they are doing to get it right. It sucks, but there it is.

CanadianJohn

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

This was posted as two teenagers talking yesterday.

I wonder what other phrases will become the urban legends of tomorrow.

democracy is over rated
I can't believe I'm reading this shot

*this shit

I know. The disregard for democracy is terrifying. Guaranteed that if the vote had gone the other way, Remain would have been adamant that democracy had done it's job and that was that.

Apparently democracy is only good if your side wins.

Wedo I read a whole load of shit in the past few days, and it certainly wasn't tongue in cheek

It should give people pause about their vote then shouldn't it - because after all Hitler came to power in a similar way - it wasn't a coup it was popular sentiment. And we all know how that turned out.

what are these basic facts you speak of

Really complicated things like

-what the EU is

• what Brexit means
• understanding your vote will count

This is about people having the integrity to do some basic research before using the vote that others fought hard for them to have.

This article appalls me- Yesterday was not the time to be asking questions like that on Google.

That article is irrelevant. Unless of course Google required every person that searched it to respond with what they voted.

Loads of people will search it - students, people looking for quotes to add to posts, people who can't vote anyway, people looking to back up an argument that want specific information.

Utter rubbish and not worth the time it took to look at the article.

It's not irrelevant and it doesn't matter what they actually voted.

If you really can't see it's a problem that people waited until after the polls closed to ask those questions I can't begin to explain it.

Please explain your logic:
People once voted for Hitler, in the German federal election, therefore democracy is bad?

Im assuming you now opposing future GEs? Are you pro-dictatorship?
What is your point?

It shows that Welsh people googled something more than Scottish people. Hold the press

Yes, because of course you know as fact that all the people that googled the EU were people that were now rethinking their vote. In your world, anyway.

FFS. Meanwhile, in reality.....

If you really can't see it's a problem that people waited until after the polls closed to ask those questions I can't begin to explain it.

And I would never ask someone to explain something they clearly do not understand themselves.

Head - desk.

Ginger it does sound like a petty spousal argument doesn't it?

'Well, if you don't know what you've done, I'm not going to tell you'

I literally have my head in my hands over some of the comments on this thread.

supposedly intelligent people who understood The Facts yet are completely failing to understand what democracy means.

*it means losing votes and not always getting your own way

• it means having to listen to some truly offensive viewpoints
• it means everyones vote regardless of their age or ability to read/understand counting equally.

Instead of wasting time thinking about tests for voters, why not spend the time thinking about why?

Why were did large numbers of Labour voters in the North vote Leave?
Why did areas which have had huge amounts of EU funding like Wales and Cornwall vote Leave?

Because they are full of thick, old people? No. because they are full of people who feel completely disconnected from the London elite political class. They see Londoners moaning about public transport when most of them saw their bus routes cut. They see the banks - again in London - being bailed out. There are huge numbers of people who feel that they no longer have a voice in this country or beyond.

So just out of interest and without outing yourself, Bearbehind, how near am I when I guess that you are around 35-40 and live in the home counties if not London?

Because this is the massive problem at the moment. people like me feel there is no one that has taken me seriously for years. The minute I want to talk about immigration I am a racist. the minute I want to talk about poverty its all about urban poverty not rural poverty. Its all about what people in London want and need. its all about the city and the for Labour its about the Islingtonites.

Instead of excluding swathes of people that don't understand The Facts why not try understanding why.

If you are someone who voted out you can either spend your time moaning about the unfairness of it all and how it was the thick old people wot won it and use emotive language about No Future. Or you can just bloody move on and start working to make it work. Go out today and buy British, support your local farmers market, stop at the roadside and buy some home grown groceries.

If only it were that trivial wedonotsnow

The fact that those questions peaked yesterday shows a significant number people in the UK didn't know the answer before that and even if it doesn't bother you, it scares the shit out of me.

Yanbu. Me and my partner talked about this idea this morning.

I've seen 3 videos of people beige asked why they voted the way they did and it's shocking. I'll see if I can link them.

No Whiskey2014 it isn't shocking it is democracy.

those people in the videos might think your reasons for voting in were rubbish. but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have voted does it.

The fact that those questions peaked yesterday shows a significant number people in the UK didn't know the answer before that and even if it doesn't bother you, it scares the shit out of me.

What scares the shit out of me is that even spelling it out, it's still apparently not understood. Okay, will try One. More. Time.

Those people. The ones that googled the EU. You don't know that they were people that voted to leave. So clearly you cannot then assume that they were people that voted uninformed (oh, and by the way, that is irrelevant anyway - I know for a fact that some that voted remain didn't know the issues at all, as I've spoken to some).

The following people very possibly were googling the EU:

• people old enough to vote, voted remain, but were looking up info to use in online arguments, personal arguments with family/friends/coworkers, people looking up to verify information that they saw being quoted by others to verify if it's true or not such as facts/figures.
• students not old enough to vote anyway
• people in the UK that are unable to vote for whatever reason
• people who voted leave, and were looking up facts/figures to use in arguments or counter something that someone else posted
• people who voted leave, and wanted further information.

I didn't vote leave, and I googled something about the EU yesterday to check facts after reading something somebody posted on here.

Is that allowed?

If that doesn't make it clearer for you, then I can't imagine what will.

So just out of interest and without outing yourself, Bearbehind, how near am I when I guess that you are around 35-40 and live in the home counties if not London?

Wrong.

I've deliberately not mentioned the 'protest' votes to leave on this thread as they are a whole other can of worms- for the life of me I fail to see how handing all the control back to the very people you despise is making a protest

This is purely about people who either have no idea why they voted the way they did or did so because the Germans steal our sun beds etc.

I can't believe this is still going on and that so many people cannot get a grip on the fact we live in a democracy with private voting and it is not ok to place rules and regulations around if people can or cannot vote.

OP, I am not being goady I have been asking you why you think your reasons are more valid, why do you think your understanding is seen as more valid than somebody else's? You don't like being challenged on your view but you put it out there and so I am trying to understand why you think it's ok to even hypothetically take away someone else's right to vote.

You list three things you should be aware of prior to voting I can list ten, does that mean you shouldn't be allowed to vote as I have decided your reasons are not enough?

It doesn't mater if someone votes exit because they think they will get more sunshine because of those pesky Europeans, it is their choice it is their right.

To say you want to decide who will be deemed eligible to vote is extremely frightening.