Logical Reasoning

PT101 · S3 · Q1 Francis: Failure to become properly

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Francis: Failure to become properly registered to vote prevents one-third of the voting-age citizens of Lagonia from voting.

Francis

Failure to register prevents 1/3 of eligible voters from voting. If registering would easier, more people would register and vote.

Sharon

We've tried simplifying many times, and the high rate of non-registration has persisted. According to surveys, it's because people don't believe their vote will make a difference. If we don't change that, then simplifying registration won't increase registering.

Evaluate

Francis makes two claims. Sharon doesn't comment on the first claim, about 1/3 of eligible voters being unregistered.

But Sharon seems to disagree with the second claim, because the argues that simplifying registration would not increase registration on its own.

Goal

Look for an answer like whether or not simplifying registration on its own would increase the number of Lagonians who register.

1.

The main issue in dispute between Francis and Sharon is

  1. whether changing the voter registration

    Unsupported Both

    Neither person is talking about whether or not the process of changing voter registration would be cumbersome. Francis only commented on the fact that the current process of registering is cumbersome, and Sharon didn't even comment on that.

    7% picked this

  2. Correct

    why so many citizens do

    Why this is right

    Because the disagreement was so explicitly obvious, the correct answer is testing the underlying reasons / assumption each person had in arguing F: if registration were simpler, more would register S: simplifying registration wouldn't lead to more registering Francis thinks that citizens aren't registering to vote primarily because of how cumbersome the registration process is. Sharon, meanwhile, thinks that citizens aren't registering to vote primarily because they don't believe that their vote would make a difference.

    Skill tested: Agree/Disagree · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    88% picked this

  3. what percentage of those registered

    Unsupported for Both

    Neither person discusses at any point what % of registered voters actually vote. Francis discusses what % of eligible voters are registered, and Sharon doesn't bring this stuff up at all.

    1% picked this

  4. whether local election boards have

    Not Main Issue

    Sharon definitely believes this has happened, but we don't have any comment from Francis, so we aren't sure whether he disagrees. Because of how he phrased his hypothetical .... if local election boards made the excessively cumbersome process easier, it kind of sounds like he isn't acknowledging that they have made the process easier in the past. But even if we could say that Francis disagrees with Sharon here, it wouldn't be their main issue of disagreement. They are explicitly arguing over whether simplifying registration (whether it's been somewhat simplified in the past or not) would lead to more registration.

    3% picked this

  5. why the public lacks confidence

    No Support Person 1

    Only Sharon discusses how much belief people have in the power of their vote. We don't have any idea where Francis stands on this issue.

    1% picked this

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