In my column today, I offered some long held opinions: Mandatory voting is a terrible idea, making voting easier isn’t necessarily a civic boon and, last, in my ideal world I’d require everyone to take a very basic civics test in order to vote. Ideally, the test would be the same one we require of immigrants before they can vote. I’m in favor of this for various reasons: I think it would elevate the dignity and value of voting, I think it would be a nice way to educate the public about the basic responsibilities of citizenship and the functions of government. As a constitutionalist, I think require people to understand the basic structure and purpose of our government would be a useful thing. One motive that doesn’t in fact factor into my thinking is that it will have a disproportionate impact of minority voting. In truth, this is the only reason I am ever reluctant to offer my opinion on the matter.

First of all, who needs trolls screaming “racist” at you for a policy proposal that will never, ever, be enacted? Second, there is indeed something ugly about proposing something that would almost surely dampen voting among blacks (and young people, and poor people, and the less educated). But that doesn’t make me wrong.

There are lots of polices that disproportionately screen out the disadvantaged of all races, that doesn’t invalidate those policies. The poor and less educated have a much harder time getting into good universities. That doesn’t mean good universities should become even more arbitrary and capricious in their admissions.

Now I also understand that it will never happen, for all sorts of obvious reasons.