Writing in the Washington Post, conservative pundit David Harsanyi lamented, not the poor quality of political candidates for the public to choose from, but the voters themselves for being “ignorant” – particularly when it comes to American history. In the column – which evokes memories of literacy tests asking black voters, “How many bubbles are in a bar of soap?” – the writer for the Federalist claims, “Never have so many people with so little knowledge made so many consequential decisions for the rest of us.”

“And in case there are any ignorant people who are reading these lines right now, though I can’t imagine that happening – this means you, my friend. So, do us all favor and put down the newspaper or turn off the app on your phone and just refrain from voting in November. Because we’re in this situation today because you did your part in 2008 and 2012. And as you can probably guess, the majority of Americans aren’t happy with what you’ve done so far. So, just give it a rest, will you?” Harsanyi spoke to people with “little knowledge” through his piece.

The writer also commented on his text, telling media outlets that “there ought to be a legal requirement for someone to be a voter in this country,” and that “we best hurry with that piece of legislation because the Presidential election is just around the corner.” “I think we should introduce something like an IQ or a minimal yearly income requirement. For instance, how about a minimal IQ of 99 points or a minimal yearly income of $99,000 to qualify a person to vote? Anyone below that would be rejected for the sake of the majority.”

“We could even call it ‘The 99 Law’ or something similar, I think it’s quite catchy,” he added. “I mean, come on – if someone doesn’t know who Abraham Lincoln was, why should they be able to participate in choosing one of his many successors? That would make this whole country pointless. We might as well bring back slavery at that point, which is basically all ignorant people are good for. Realistically speaking, they were better off being told what to do than being allowed to choose for themselves.”