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time find registration difficult or impos ible. egroes appearing before the
Board often have been que tioned for from 35 to 40 minutes; they have
had to line up eparately, and the longer the line the longer the questioning.
Strong,2 in his study of Jefferson County, described the method used
by registrars to avoid suits with the following hypothetical case: a per on
who failed to satisfy the board wa told orally he did not qualify; the
applicant then secured an attorney and filed a suit, which was a signal
for the board to register the plaintiff. His suit collap ed and no court had
an opportunity to pass on Section 33 of the Alabama Code and the
"qualified to register" phrase. 2
In Macon County, Ala., home of famed Tuskegee Institute, many
college trained Negroes have found the barriers impregnable.
egroe
outnumber white persons about five to one; of the 14,539 of voting age,
1,100 have registered. By contrast, the Associated Press reported in April,
1956, that 2,700 out of a total Macon County white population of 5,000
had registered, or that fewer than 100 white persons over 21 had failed
to do so. An Alabama observer said that the Board of Registrars would
sit until all white citizens interested had registered and then resign. In
any event, for the major part of 1956, there was no board in the county,
for two of the three members resigned and it takes at least two to
transact business. This was at least the third time in a decade this had
happened.
In North Carolina, as in other states with literacy laws, the registrar
has considerable latitude. He can have the applicant copy indicated sections of the state constitution or he can dictate. Some egroes have
protested the use of dictation, since a registrar often reads too fast or uses
a particularly difficult section. However, the State Board of Elections
has upheld a registrar's right to use this means of testing. 3
A Negro attorney in a rural eastern county of North Carolina said
that in certain precincts of this and adjoining counties, "It takes a white
man only a few minutes to get registered, but it may take an hour for a
Negro. Actually, the latter i given an academic rather than a literacy
test. In this wunty, the tests are tough and the literacy rate low, which
doubly handicaps the Negro. The tests given here actually require an
interpretation of law."
A Negro college graduate in North Carolina who attempted to register
for fhe May, 1956, primary said he was turned down because he could
not write a section of the state constitution from memory. Some registrars
2
Donald S. Strong, Registration of Voters in Alabama, (Bureau of Public Administration, University of Alabama).
::see footnote 1 in previou chapter.
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l
Board often have been que tioned for from 35 to 40 minutes; they have
had to line up eparately, and the longer the line the longer the questioning.
Strong,2 in his study of Jefferson County, described the method used
by registrars to avoid suits with the following hypothetical case: a per on
who failed to satisfy the board wa told orally he did not qualify; the
applicant then secured an attorney and filed a suit, which was a signal
for the board to register the plaintiff. His suit collap ed and no court had
an opportunity to pass on Section 33 of the Alabama Code and the
"qualified to register" phrase. 2
In Macon County, Ala., home of famed Tuskegee Institute, many
college trained Negroes have found the barriers impregnable.
egroe
outnumber white persons about five to one; of the 14,539 of voting age,
1,100 have registered. By contrast, the Associated Press reported in April,
1956, that 2,700 out of a total Macon County white population of 5,000
had registered, or that fewer than 100 white persons over 21 had failed
to do so. An Alabama observer said that the Board of Registrars would
sit until all white citizens interested had registered and then resign. In
any event, for the major part of 1956, there was no board in the county,
for two of the three members resigned and it takes at least two to
transact business. This was at least the third time in a decade this had
happened.
In North Carolina, as in other states with literacy laws, the registrar
has considerable latitude. He can have the applicant copy indicated sections of the state constitution or he can dictate. Some egroes have
protested the use of dictation, since a registrar often reads too fast or uses
a particularly difficult section. However, the State Board of Elections
has upheld a registrar's right to use this means of testing. 3
A Negro attorney in a rural eastern county of North Carolina said
that in certain precincts of this and adjoining counties, "It takes a white
man only a few minutes to get registered, but it may take an hour for a
Negro. Actually, the latter i given an academic rather than a literacy
test. In this wunty, the tests are tough and the literacy rate low, which
doubly handicaps the Negro. The tests given here actually require an
interpretation of law."
A Negro college graduate in North Carolina who attempted to register
for fhe May, 1956, primary said he was turned down because he could
not write a section of the state constitution from memory. Some registrars
2
Donald S. Strong, Registration of Voters in Alabama, (Bureau of Public Administration, University of Alabama).
::see footnote 1 in previou chapter.
[ 13
l