congress outlawed literacy tests altogether as a prerequisite to voter registration in 1970.
congress outlawed literacy tests altogether as a prerequisite to voter registration in 1970.
when did congress outlaw literacy tests altogether as a prerequisite to voter registration?
1970
after congress enacted the voting rights act of 1965 to address rampant voting discrimination against racial minorities, voting rights advocates argued for federal legislation to remove other barriers to voter registration in the united states. the basic requirements to vote are the same in all states. a person has to be a u.s. citizen, of at least 18 years old and a resident of the state in which he or she is voting. however, initial legislative efforts to create national voter registration standards for federal elections failed. in the early 1970s, congress considered several legislative proposals to require the u.s. census bureau to mail voter registration forms to every household, none of which passed. in the mid and late 1970s, legislative proposals to require certain public agency offices to make voter registration forms available and to require states to allow election day voter registration failed. similar bills introduced throughout the 1980s also failed.
national voter registration act of 1993
from the 1890s to the 1960s, many state governments in the united states administered literacy tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. in practice, these tests were intended to disenfranchise racial minorities. southern state legislatures employed literacy tests as part of the voter registration process starting in the late 19th century. literacy tests, along with poll taxes, residency and property restrictions and extra-legal activities (violence, intimidation) were all used to deny suffrage to african americans. the first formal voter literacy tests were introduced in 1890. at first, whites were generally exempted from the literacy test if they could meet alternate requirements that in practice excluded blacks, such as a grandfather clause or a finding of "good moral character"
literacy test