# Americans are now required to pass a test to vote. Come up with fair questions. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486 "2012-11-09T15:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/21 "2012-11-09T18:52:50Z")
Maybe they should use those Groucho Marx _You Bet Your Life_ easy questions “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” “When did the War of 1812 start?” “How long do you cook a three-minute egg?” ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/22 "2012-11-09T18:53:05Z")
“Please locate your ass. You may use both hands.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/23 "2012-11-10T00:55:45Z")
“Do you like gladiator movies?” “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?” ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/24 "2012-11-10T01:05:42Z")
“What is the difference between Osama and Obama?” That would disqualify a large percentage of the population that is functionally illiterate, the haters, half of the voters in the red states and a quarter of the voters in the blue states. That would shorten the lines at the poles. Then we could get on with the business of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/25 "2012-11-10T01:09:27Z")
“All else being equal, tax increases tend to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ economic growth. (A) encourage; (B) discourage; © have no effect on.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/26 "2012-11-10T01:16:53Z")
Are you an American Citizen? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/27 "2012-11-10T01:18:39Z")
1. What is the difference between deficit and debt? 2. To within 10%, identify the proportion of the major components of the US budget 3. Is more or less than half our debt owned by China? 4. What are the consequences to printing money to pay for debt? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/28 "2012-11-10T01:41:23Z")
Describe in 200 words or more the purpose and function of the Secretary of the Interior. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/29 "2012-11-10T01:43:12Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > 1. What is the difference between deficit and debt? > 2. To within 10%, identify the proportion of the major components of the US budget > 3. Is more or less than half our debt owned by China? > 4. What are the consequences to printing money to pay for debt? Ah, this takes me back to the time when only educated landowning males could vote. Ain’t no days like the olden days! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/30 "2012-11-10T02:11:14Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Ah, this takes me back to the time when only educated landowning males could vote. Ain’t no days like the olden days! I don’t actually support such a test, of course. But it sure would be nice if the electorate had even a rudimentary understanding of some economic facts. No one cares who the Speaker of the House is. It’s just a name that doesn’t tell you anything–utter trivia. But if you’re voting on the economy without knowing some of the basic facts and vocabulary, then you’re voting randomly. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/31 "2012-11-10T02:29:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Maybe they should use those Groucho Marx _You Bet Your Life_ easy questions > “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” > > “When did the War of 1812 start?” > > “How long do you cook a three-minute egg?” but of course no one is buried in Grant’s Tomb, Grant and his wife are entombed there but are above ground, not buried. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/32 "2012-11-10T05:40:12Z")
[quote=“Taomist, post:14, topic:640486”] [li]What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? -The Bill of Rights[/li][/QUOTE] I thought they were called The First Amendment, The Second Amendment, The Third Amendment, &c… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/33 "2012-11-10T05:59:48Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > What is the economic system in the United States? “I think Justice Olive Wendell Holmes was correct, and was later supported by West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish in 1937, in the belief he expressed by his dissent to Lochner v. New York in 1905 that the United States does not have an official economic system.” “Listen, just say capitalism.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/34 "2012-11-10T06:01:54Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > “All else being equal, tax increases tend to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ economic growth. (A) encourage; (B) discourage; (C) have no effect on.” (D) be an issue conservatives obsess over in discussions of. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/35 "2012-11-10T13:34:03Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > But if you’re voting on the economy without knowing some of the basic facts and vocabulary, then you’re voting randomly. You voted on the economy? Funny, my ballot only had a bunch of people’s names on it. ---
**Author:** ![southernlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@southernlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/southernlady)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/36 "2012-11-10T14:48:27Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I thought they were called The First Amendment, The Second Amendment, The Third Amendment, &c… They are but they are also known as The Bill Of Rights. Liz ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/37 "2012-11-10T15:23:51Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I don’t actually support such a test, of course. But it sure would be nice if the electorate had even a rudimentary understanding of some economic facts. > > No one cares who the Speaker of the House is. It’s just a name that doesn’t tell you anything–utter trivia. But if you’re voting on the economy without knowing some of the basic facts and vocabulary, then you’re voting randomly. The economy is not necessarily the primary concern of the majority of Americans, even if it’s all YOU care about. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/38 "2012-11-10T16:53:29Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > The economy is not necessarily the primary concern of the majority of Americans, even if it’s all YOU care about. Actually, if the exit polls from last Tuesday are to be believed, the economy absolutely is the primary concern of the majority of Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/39 "2012-11-10T17:01:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yeah, but if they ask typical “American” questions, I’m _doomed_. > > “Who won the World Series?” > > “Who won the Super Bowl?” > > “What kind of car is this?” > > “Who won American Idol in \_\_\_\_?” “What’s the Capital of Texas?” “It’s Austin!” “WRONG! IT’S HOUSTON!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486/40 "2012-11-10T17:05:52Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Hehe, I think we’re going to have to hijack the thread and answer those qustions ourselves 😃 Let me re-hijack to correct some of your answers. [ol] [li]What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? -Guns, guns, guns, and guns, etc.[/li][li]What is freedom of religion? -Freedom to join any denomination that worships Jesus Christ.[/li][li]What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now? “Mister Speaker.”[/li][li]Why does the flag have 50 stars? Because we’re jerks who won’t let PR in.[/li]Jerks? No, we just don’t want to change the national anthem to “Playing solitaire till dawn .. with a deck of fifty-one.” [/ol] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-now-required-to-pass-a-test-to-vote-come-up-with-fair-questions/640486.md?page=3)