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Originally Posted by smooth
I personally know a number of people who can't answer any of those questions, but will be casting valuable votes nonetheless. They may not know the answer to those questions, but they are informed (by me) on a number of issues we feel are important to us.
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This, in my opinion, is another reason to ensure basic knowledge prior to voting. You are basically telling people how they should vote based on your own opinions and motivations. How is this in their best interests? They should be collating their own information and forming their own viewpoints. In essence, this practice could result in you casting 5 or 10 votes.
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Originally Posted by smooth
Why do you feel those questions are even relevant to who our next president should be? Now I understand you were just making examples, but hopefully you will rethink your position in light of the realization that many people feel strongly about one or two issues--and they vote accordingly. If my father-in-law wants to vote solely on whether abortion should be criminalized, that's between him and his deity. It affects me as a member of the larger society, but so my vote affects him in similar ways. What you may feel to be relevant issues, may not be (and most likely will not be) to someone else.
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It's not that the answers to these questions are relevant to who should lead the country, but rather that being able to answer these questions would be evidence of being able to make an informed opinion about who to vote for. I would have no problem with your father-in-law voting solely on the basis of the issue of abortion - as long as he was knowledgeable enough to know each candidate's stance on it and his vote was an informed one.