Berlin, January 2, 2019

Dear European Parliament,

as a citizen of an EU country with the right to vote, I would like to turn to you with a proposal which I would like the relevant authority to examine carefully. 

It is about modifying our democratic electoral system, which is increasingly promoting politicians with openly anti-democratic views to the highest office in the state.

Now that also the fourth biggest democracy in the world has democratically voted for an anti-democratic candidate the time seems overdue to think about the electoral process. The fundamental question is, whether we can hold on to a democratic electoral system that allows anti-democratic forces to win elections. If we examine European history over the last hundred years there can only be one possible answer. No. 

Tolerance cannot tolerate the intolerant.

Perhaps we should first ask ourselves why the right to vote, unlike almost every other civil right, is not tied to any conditions. Let us take, for example, the right to individual transport in a motorised vehicle, known as a driver's licence. Here too, the requirement of a minimum age applies. Unlike with the right to vote, however, citizens must prove that they are suitable to drive a vehicle regardless of their age. For example, they must be able to distinguish between left and right or recognize a concrete wall as such, even if it is painted.

Not so with the right to vote. Here, the legislation allows citizens who cannot distinguish between left and right to participate in the most important political process, namely the transfer of power from the people to the government.

So how could we apply this logic to the democratic electoral system without depriving citizens of their right to vote? The answer is simple. Like in a driver test we add three simple multiple choice questions to each ballot that represent the most elementary understanding of the matter at stake. Politics.

Here is a simple example.

TEST

What is Europe?

a) A country

b) An island

c) A continent

How many people live on earth?

a) approx. 8    billion

b) approx. 8   million

c) approx. 80 million

The last question would then relate to the political reality of the respective country and ask about the ruling prime minister/president. For Germany, the third question on the ballot paper would therefore be.

What is the name of the current German Chancellor?

a) Franz Beckenbauer

b) Angela Merkel

c) Helmut Kohl

Sincerely,

Otto Alexander Jahrreiss 

(EU citizen)