Voting is the exercise of politics, and granting or denying rights and privileges is equally a political exercise. So, yes, we should respect others' right to vote EVEN IF their politics are the opposite of ours.

An open political system allows widely disparate, even sharply contradictory, political goals. Is anyone required to just "accept and honor" others' political goals which he or she considers degrading, disempowering, and oppressive? Not at all. People in an open society are free to campaign against ideas they do not like.

Someone who wants to limit immigration, deport undocumented, illegal immigrants, ban abortion, ban gay marriage, make it difficult for workers to organize, and make recreational drug use always a felony... is pursuing political goals that some agree with, and others not. They have as much right to pursue these goals as someone else has to resist such goals.

However, if a vote is held, one side is likely to lose. That is unfortunate for that side, but that's politics. Try again next time.

coolguy8472:

If you go down that road then why not have a policy of giving votes according to the level of one's IQ. The whole point of democracy is that you get one equal vote to do as you please. If the majority want to take away the rights of homosexuals then that's democracy. Equally there are those out there outraged by gay marriage but that's democracy too.
The US has entered a dangerous stage whereby democracy is being ripped apart by those who only need democracy if it works to their biased agenda and when it doesn't democracy is no longer important. Affirmative action takes over and democracy becomes a side show.

Random examples I can think of are voting to take away the rights of a demographic like gender, sexual orientation, religion, place of birth, race, etc.. — coolguy8472

I'm looking more for an example of what "voting to take away the rights of others" actually entails. What would such an item on the ballot say?

Should we respect someone's right to vote if their motivations for voting are to take away the rights of others? — coolguy8472

I would be so respectful as to reciprocate, and seek to remove their right to vote. Such people deserve to be taken seriously.

Should we respect someone's right to vote if their motivations for voting are to take away the rights of others? — coolguy8472

It depends. Do you want pure democracy or not? Do you want equal opportunity across the board or not? Once there is a clear and established political system then you can proceed by answering the question.

For pure democracy, usually in favor of everyone having the right to vote, it is prudent to allow anyone to vote even if they intend to suppress other people's right to vote. For instance, if there is a candidate that is against the right to vote for felons in America, and there is also a candidate that wants to allow the right to vote for felons, people voting on this should not be policed or suppressed in any way, even though the people voting for the former candidate wants to suppress the right to vote for felons...Democratic governments, in principle, are for the people and representatives of the people. If the people of a democratic nation want to elect officials that will suppress the right to vote of other subsets of people, so be it. That is the name of the game in a democratic society. So, in terms of respect for these people, to answer your question, I think we should respect their ability and exercising their right to vote, even if their opinions are against our own. However, that doesn't necessarily mean we have to respect their questionable intentions or motivations to vote - like attempting to suppress or take away rights to vote for other peoples through elected officials whom they support.

Disclaimer: I think everyone other than children should have the right to vote - felons and all - in a democratic government. Policies affect everyone. So, everyone over the age of 18 should be able to vote.

It depends on the limitations of the government. If the government forbids this, then no. If the government allows this, then yes.

It depends on the limitations of the government. If the government forbids this, then no. If the government allows this, then yes. — Philosophim

Government forbidding or not, what does this have to do with people respecting other peoples exercising their right to vote to suppress other people's rights to vote? Not trying to be hostile, just curious about this answer.

Government forbidding or not, what does this have to do with people respecting other peoples exercising their right to vote to suppress other people's rights to vote? Not trying to be hostile, just curious about this answer. — The Questioning Bookworm

No hostility taken! =) Please always point out where I might err or be criticized. I would never grow as a person otherwise.

This is how I see the system: A government determines how the citizenry will be governed, and what they can, and cannot do. The government ultimately determines whether voting is a thing its citizens can do. The government determines whether you have a right, or do not have a right. I am not isolating this to America. You might have an age requirement, land ownership requirements, citizenship requirement, etc. The government can also restrict what you can, and cannot vote on. You cannot vote on something that has not been proposed by a representative in America for example.

If a government decides, "You can vote at any time to take away the rights of certain citizens to vote", then if a person casts that vote, it is to be respected within that governmental democracy. If a government does not give any such citizen the right to take away the voting rights of others, then it should not be respected by the government.

As a real life example, different states in America have different rules for allowing felons to vote. Perhaps a state proposes a vote that forbids pedophile's from voting on state legislation. We should respect all votes. But lets say that the state proposes a vote that forbids all black people from voting in the presidential election. The US Federal government does not allow people to vote on that. So no matter the outcome of the vote, none of the votes are respected because they are not allowed by the government.

I suppose I'm using "respect" as "uphold the validity" of the vote. Now if you personally disrespect a person because of what they vote for, that's perfectly fine. But if you're asking if we should forbid or discount votes that are allowed by the government, but that we personally disagree with, I disagree. Does it make sense where I'm coming from?

I suppose I'm using "respect" as "uphold the validity" of the vote. Now if you personally disrespect a person because of what they vote for, that's perfectly fine. But if you're asking if we should forbid or discount votes that are allowed by the government, but that we personally disagree with, I disagree. Does it make sense where I'm coming from? — Philosophim

Ah, now I see where you are coming from. Thanks for the well-thought answer to my question! It is much appreciated. I love a great discussion on these topics.

I think I was coming from the angle of the individual, peer-to-peer kind of perspective in terms of 'should we respect other peoples vote to suppress/take away other peoples right to vote,' instead of thinking about it through a 'respect' lens of government. So, thanks for clarifying. It is surely an interesting topic that is often brought up at my dinner table. Cheers!