The Voting Rights act of 1965, which effectively did away with literacy tests, served its purpose. Our body politic has since bloated, even as its mind withers. 

Polls show that many Americans can’t name all the branches of government, or they believe that Karl Marx helped author our constitution. Surveys by Pew Research indicate that politicians get elected by people who don’t know their platforms.

Now I know a maxim of our democratic heritage is not “One genius, one vote,” but wow, Karl Marx? That simple-mindedness makes me so “Groucho” I'll have to “Harpo” on that it’s now time for some quality controls, applied judiciously and within parameters of universal suffrage.

While our democracy manages to limp along, rampant political ignorance won’t facilitate the change that everyone beckons. Testing voters, however, will make politicians a bit more circumspect in their lofty rhetoric. They may herald change, but woe betide should the take us on the same ride -- come reelection, we’ll be tried and tested and they’ll be ousted.

ATM machines across this country flawlessly record innumerable transactions without regard to race, gender or ethnicity. Our election process deserves equally accurate, neutral and tamper-resistant electronic machines capable of scoring a brief test. Cryptographically secure, color-blind, and oblivious to your looks and accent, the machine will display a simple test; only if you pass can you proceed to the ballot display screen.

For those who don’t go to the polls, your absentee ballot may be sent after you record your answers to randomly generated questions via phone.

The test won’t measure analytical skills, just a few basic facts about America’s history and government. It can’t measure knowledge of policy intricacies, but just knowing that voters passed might make cunning politicians wary that voters are more vigilant and less susceptible to pandering, and that has to be requisite for true change.

“Wait a minute,” you say, “This reeks of technocracy.” Nonsense! There’s plenty of precedent in our mature democracy for spurning emotionally laden platitudes like “One person, one vote.” Just look at the Democratic Party primaries with their bizarre system of apportioning delegates and not counting all the votes in major states. At least here the goal is noble: “One Tested Citizen, One Educated Vote.”

Some may cry this stinks of elitism, but we’re not looking for Plato’s philosopher-kings, only to avert a puffy body politic from dementia. Besides, it’s more elitist to suggest that average citizens can’t pass a basic civics test that immigrants must pass to become citizens.

After a speech in the presidential campaign, a certain senator from Illinois was told he would have the vote of thinking Americans. In response, he quipped: “That’s not good enough, I need a majority.” Fifty six years after Adlai Stevenson, maybe it’s now time to quit “rocking the vote” and start testing it. That might bring real change: instead of pandering and magic potions, politicians will have to sell an authentic bill of goods to tested constituents.