Voting is manditory in Australia, so it might help.... dunno how well though, because all one needs to do is screw up their ballot someway to void them and it'd be the same as not voting......
.... Then again, if you're already there at the poll, you might as well vote something.
As it goes for who should be allowed to vote and who shouldn't..... to me it's simple.
If you are a citizen of the nation, you have the right to vote. It shouldn't matter where you come from in the country (Toronto), if you have a criminal record, currently in jail, mentally challenged, or a hippy..... if you're a citizen and 18 years of age or older, you get to vote.
Anything else starts to get not just confusing, but can become a big mess when people are trying to figure out if they qualify to vote or not, and some of the above shouldn't matter in someone's right to vote anyways.
If you have a criminal record, who cares.... you can't actually murder someone with that one vote..... sure we can all delve into the whole voting for a leader who starts a war who in turn can be responsible for murders.... but that's taking things a bit far, and has no relation to that voters' criminal record.
If you're in jail, you should still be permitted to vote, because even though you have limited rights in prison, you still have rights. You still should be able to vote for the person you think can best represent your interests in jail.... be that quality of living, making sure you get proper food, etc. etc..... sure many here might think they should be so lucky to get anything, let alone the right to vote..... but don't forget that not everybody in jail is a murderous rapist monster..... and you can't paint them all with the same brush. Sure it'd be easier, but it's not right.
As it goes for the mentally challenged.... they have just as many rights as you and I, and should be allowed to vote for whoever they like, or who will bring them more opportunity into their lives, etc. It shouldn't make a difference on how informed they are on a party's plans and direction......
hell, if they like a party simply because of their colours or the leader sounds funny, who gives a crap? There are plenty of people in here alone who plan to vote for a party based on far less and for dumber reasons, so I don't see a difference.
And when you start to filter out people from voting, then you're not going to get a very accurate election now are you?
Exactly what's going to happen if someone votes for a party that is in complete last place? Are people going to start questioning their mentality and claim they can't make sound decisions, and thus remove their rights to vote?
Then all you have after a while is just those who will vote for one party or the second place party....... certainly not a democracy if you ask me...... because those parties or party will eventually get into power everytime, all the while millions of voices are shut out of the decision making.
You simply will not have the voice of the entire country put into the election.... you will only have the select few, therefore the government will represent even less people in the country then it currently does..... and then nobody will want to vote at all because it'll be even more pointless then it already is.
Everybody should have the right to vote, whether you agree or disagree with their views, whether they are in jail or not.... whether they are mentally challenged.... if they're Irish..... if they have a criminal record.....
hell.... half of the politicians are criminals..... sounds pretty dumb to restrict other criminals from voting for them.