Understanding tests and the Supreme Court
"Understanding tests and the Supreme Court" examines the historical use of literacy tests, particularly understanding tests, as a means to restrict voting rights for African Americans in the South after the Fifteenth Amendment was enacted. These tests often required voters to read and interpret parts of the U.S. or state constitutions, with significant discretion given to registrars in selecting passages and evaluating responses. This discretion led to discriminatory practices aimed at disenfranchising Black voters. The Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of these tests in several landmark cases, including Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections (1959), where the Court initially upheld literacy tests. However, it later ruled against laws that allowed excessive discretion for election officials, as seen in Louisiana v. United States (1965). The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ultimately suspended the use of literacy tests, a decision reflecting Congressional efforts to combat racial discrimination in voting. This topic reveals the complexities of voting rights and the legal battles that shaped the landscape of American democracy.
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Understanding tests and the Supreme Court
Description: Form of literacy test requiring prospective voters to demonstrate understanding of a portion of the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution.
Significance: Understanding tests were used to practice racial discrimination in voter registration. The Supreme Court ruled on such tests several times before they were prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In an effort to circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave the right to vote to African Americans, many southern states, beginning in the latter part of the nineteenth century, used poll taxes and literacy requirements to prevent African Americans from registering to vote. Part of the literacy requirement in some states was understanding tests, which commonly required prospective voters to read and explain a provision of the U.S. Constitution or the state constitution. Voting registrars sometimes had the discretion to choose the passage to be interpreted and judge the adequacy of the explanation given. The discretion vested in registrars provided the opportunity for widespread discrimination against African American voters.
The Supreme Court confronted the issue of literacy tests several times. In Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections (1959), the Court upheld the use of literacy tests on the grounds that they had some relationship to intelligent voter choices. The Court did say, however, that should a state law give election officials complete discretion to determine whether prospective voters understood the constitutional passages they were given to interpret, that law might be unconstitutional. The Court subsequently determined such a law unconstitutional in Louisiana v. United States (1965). Because of the difficulty in determining when literacy tests were being used to perpetuate racial discrimination, Congress suspended their use in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This legislation was expanded to a nationwide ban in 1970.
Bibliography
"Literacy Tests are Ruled Unconstitutional." Annenberg Classroom, 2023, www.annenbergclassroom.org/timeline‗event/literacy-tests-are-ruled-unconstitutional/. Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.
"Literacy Tests." National Museum of American History, americanhistory.si.edu/democracy-exhibition/vote-voice/keeping-vote/state-rules-federal-rules/literacy-tests. Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.