These results are far from surprising, because they are consistent with numerous previous polls showing widespread political ignorance over a period of many decades. I discussed the relevant evidence in my recent book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter.
As I describe in the book, widespread political ignorance is not primarily the result of stupidity or lack of availability of information. Thanks to the internet and other modern technology, political information is more readily available today than ever before, yet that has not resulted in significant increases in political knowledge. Similarly, knowledge levels have stagnated even as IQ scores and educational attainment have risen. The voters may be ignorant, but most are neither uneducated nor stupid. Unfortunately, the main cause of widespread political ignorance is the reality that, for most people, it is perfectly rational to pay little attention to political issues, because the chance that any individual voter influence electoral outcomes is infinitesmally small. The rational nature of political ignorance makes it difficult to overcome through education, and strengthens the case for reducing the impact of ignorance by making fewer decisions at the ballot box and more by “voting with our feet.”