The authors of the Constitution didn't trust the people who are eligible to vote.

[Boojatta]

I propose two amendments to the Constitution for the new era in which it is possible to trust the people who are eligible to vote.

First Amendment:
To be eligible to vote, one will need to pass a test consisting of a single question:

"In the original Constitution, what was the minimum age required for someone to be President of the United States of America?"

The correct answer is "35 years old."

Second Amendment:
The minimum age for a President will change from 35 to 18.

The idea is quite simple. Just as it would be a violation of civil rights to exclude women as a matter of constitutional law from being President, it is a violation of civil rights to exclude people under 35 years of age.

The test will guarantee that voters know something about the opinions/intentions of the authors of the Constitution. That should be good enough. Voters will not necessarily agree with the authors of the Constitution, but might judge candidates based on the maturity of the candidates, rather than the chronological age of the candidates.

[angrycarpenter]

1. There were once tests to exclude voters.

But then African Americans gained the right to vote without condition.

[undeterred]

2. I think the requirements to be president should be more restrictive

and not less. 35 is plenty young. And an IQ of 88 just isn't good enough, as we learned with the chimp.

[Boojatta]

3. Kick

[Horse with no Name]

4. Before we start testing the electorate

I think the political candidates should have to pass a COMPREHENSIVE test on the Constitutio before being allowed to "serve".
Seriously--how can we expect anyone to defend what they don't know?
That indeed might weed out the morans--Bush, et al.
However, I do give credit that Cheney knows the Constitution--if only to subvert it.

[Fire1]

5. Hey, Angrycarpenter, glad to see you back! Keeping you in my

prayers.

[ThomWV]

6. You know, long ago they used to teach kinds in school why this sort of shit is nonsense.

They used to teach about all sorts of Jim Crow and smart kids realized that what could be applied to a black man could be applied to a white man and that if a test was required then the test could be devised in such a way as to exclude anyone the test maker felt undesirable.

Gosh, education was such a neat thing. Why did we do away with it?

[Name removed]

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