Quora Answer: Do You Have to Pass Any Test to be Able to Vote in Singapore?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Do you have to pass any test on your knowledge in economy, history, geography, and politics to be able to vote in Singapore?” 

No, which is unfortunate.  There is no democracy that has such a test.  In Singapore, as long as you are a citizen, above 21 years of age, and have not been struck off the rolls at the time of an election, you can vote.  If you have been struck off the rolls, you need to go through the procedure for get back on it.  This often involves paying a fine for failure to vote at the last election, since voting is mandatory. 

That being said, I contend that we should consider implementing such a system.  I am not saying that the ignorant should be entirely disenfranchised.  However, it would make sense that some people have more than one vote.  Why should the voters who understand the issues have the same number of votes as the village idiots?  The problem with democracy is that stupid people have a lot more children, and with the advent of social media, democracies are slowly devolving into idiocracies.  There should be some sort of test.