Catholic ping!
This is part of the marriage vows taken by the man and wife. Not the state’s business at all.
When immigrants who came through Ellis Island wanted to become citizens, they had to pass a test. It consisted of questions about the branches of government, with some history of how that government worked. They had to be able to write their name, and had to renounce any loyalty to their previous country.
I believe that every person who steps into a voting booth for the first time should also have to pass such a test, and sign an oath of loyalty to our nation- in cursive, as the signers of the Declaration of Independence did.
We take our right to vote for granted, or maybe not as seriously as we should. In 2008, with our country at war, we had the opportunity to replace our sitting President with either: 1. A seasoned war veteran who not only led troops, but survived as a POW and became a Senator or 2. A "community organizer" and junior Senator with no military experience, nor birth certificate to prove he was American in the first place- a requirement for the job.
Maybe 18 is a little to young for some. Maybe 16 is a little too young to drive, but at least you have to pass the test first,
God bless you, and, something that, since January, 2009, we've only heard at Yankee 7th inning stretches : God bless America!