File #2619: "EN3414_Spring2024__TheNegroVoterInTheSouth_007.pdf"
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Legal Determinants
T.rn
LEGAL WEAPON most widely used in the South to discourage Negro
registration is some form of literacy or constitutional interpretation test.
This is the successor to the white primary, which was the most effective
legal method for restricting voting for many years. ext in importance
was the poll tax, which disfranchised Negroes and many low-income white
citizens alike.
By the time Negroe won the right to vote in primaries in the midforties, the poll tax was less of an economic hardship, due to the declining
value of the dollar and higher incomes. Today only five states have a
poll tax-Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.
While no longer the serious, regional problem it once was, the poll
tax still can be used to limit registration. This is particularly evident in
Virginia, where many citizens of both races find themselves disfranchised
for non-payment of their "capitation" tax.
In Alabama, where the poll tax was most formidable, the terms have
been modified. The tax had been cumulative from ages 21 to 45, making
the prospective voter liable for a maximum bill of $36, but an amendment
to the state constitution ratified in 1951 made it cumulative for two years
only and exempted persons 47 and over.
With the outlawing of the white primary and the effectiveness of
the poll tax declining, the white supremacists turned to literacy tests as a
means of limiting Negro registration. Alabama, Virginia, Louisiana, South
Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina all have statutes
providing for such tests.
An understanding of Alabama's present registration law, evolved out
of a federal court decision, erves as background for similar measures in
other states.
After the United States Supreme Court outlawed white primaries in
1944, the Alabama legislature passed the Boswell Amendment, which
wa designed to continue di franchisement in another way. The amendment required any new registrant to be able to "read and write, understand
and explain any article of the Constitution of the United States." In
January, 1949, a three-judge federal district court said the phrase "understand and explain" was hopelessly vague and pointed out that registrars
we1e neither lawyers nor in a position to know if an applicant's interpretation of the constitution was correct. In due time, the U. S. Supreme
Court declined a review and let the lower court decision stand.
In 1951 the present Voters Qualification Amendment was ratified;
the "understand and explain" clause wa omitted, leaving a type of
L7 ]
T.rn
LEGAL WEAPON most widely used in the South to discourage Negro
registration is some form of literacy or constitutional interpretation test.
This is the successor to the white primary, which was the most effective
legal method for restricting voting for many years. ext in importance
was the poll tax, which disfranchised Negroes and many low-income white
citizens alike.
By the time Negroe won the right to vote in primaries in the midforties, the poll tax was less of an economic hardship, due to the declining
value of the dollar and higher incomes. Today only five states have a
poll tax-Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.
While no longer the serious, regional problem it once was, the poll
tax still can be used to limit registration. This is particularly evident in
Virginia, where many citizens of both races find themselves disfranchised
for non-payment of their "capitation" tax.
In Alabama, where the poll tax was most formidable, the terms have
been modified. The tax had been cumulative from ages 21 to 45, making
the prospective voter liable for a maximum bill of $36, but an amendment
to the state constitution ratified in 1951 made it cumulative for two years
only and exempted persons 47 and over.
With the outlawing of the white primary and the effectiveness of
the poll tax declining, the white supremacists turned to literacy tests as a
means of limiting Negro registration. Alabama, Virginia, Louisiana, South
Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina all have statutes
providing for such tests.
An understanding of Alabama's present registration law, evolved out
of a federal court decision, erves as background for similar measures in
other states.
After the United States Supreme Court outlawed white primaries in
1944, the Alabama legislature passed the Boswell Amendment, which
wa designed to continue di franchisement in another way. The amendment required any new registrant to be able to "read and write, understand
and explain any article of the Constitution of the United States." In
January, 1949, a three-judge federal district court said the phrase "understand and explain" was hopelessly vague and pointed out that registrars
we1e neither lawyers nor in a position to know if an applicant's interpretation of the constitution was correct. In due time, the U. S. Supreme
Court declined a review and let the lower court decision stand.
In 1951 the present Voters Qualification Amendment was ratified;
the "understand and explain" clause wa omitted, leaving a type of
L7 ]