Should Animals Have Voting Rights? US Professor Says ''Maybe It's Time''

Many countries have adopted legislation that protects the interests of animals, however, a professor and legal researcher in the US has put forward a bizarre proposal to grant animals voting rights. Ioan-Radu Motoarca, a professor in the philosophy department at Rowan University in New Jersey, has written a paper revealing his radical belief that certain animals should have voting rights.

Though he agreed that the ''idea sounds preposterous,'' he argued for a voting system that lets animals have their say on issues that affect them, like pet care. 

''Accordingly, most authors who have touched on the issue dismiss it in a few words as obviously absurd. However, I will argue that we can understand this idea as a natural outcome of our fundamental democratic commitments. Consequently, I believe governments should recognize a political right to vote for at least certain categories of animals,'' he wrote in the study. 

''Before defending this view, it is worth emphasizing two features of the proposal I have in mind. First, the system of animal voting I am envisaging would involve appointed representatives casting votes on behalf of animals,'' he added. 

Under his proposed system, people would only be appointed representatives casting votes on behalf of animals in cases involving welfare policies such as animal husbandry, meat production standards, fishing regulation, or pet care, Newsweek reported. He gave an example of how animals are named plaintiffs in many US federal lawsuits. 

Animals do not concern themselves with complex moral issues like abortion or prostitution, so the author argues they should not vote on such topics.

Defending his stance, he further emphasised that there are already representatives for children, or people with mental disabilities, so animals should have the same luxury. He also noted that many governments in the past did not allow basic voting rights to many people, including women and slaves which seemed 'obvious at the time but is now seen as prejudiced.''

The professor further argues that the incompetence of animals to exercise voting rights is not a valid reason to exclude them. 

"If you are a supporter of democracy (as opposed to some other political arrangement), and if you reflect on the best reasons we have for including or excluding certain categories of beings from our democratic community—think about the historical treatment of minorities in the political process—it is not going to be easy to exclude animals from that community," Mr. Motoarca told Newsweek.