Majid 1

Sadia Majid

Prof Charis Elliott

ENG-1101

30 April 2019

The Voter Test: Help or Hindrance?

Is a substantial group of Americans, kindly put, simply too uninformed to vote? In

recent years, a vehement group of voices has been brought to light by the media in that

certainly thinks so. As a matter of fact, some advocates have gone so far as to suggest that a

mandatory test should be put in place to assess whether an American citizen should be

allowed to participate in choosing our elected officials. Though the idea may seem

outlandish, it is not revolutionary; laws requiring a voter test existed as late as the 1960s.

However, they were dissolved on grounds that they disenfranchised exclusive groups of

voters unfairly. So the question is, is there any merit in reviving the voter test? A look at the

revocation of similar laws in the past, as well as current information, supports the idea that

mandatory testing in order to obtain the right to vote neither has benefits, nor can be

brought back to life in a form that is universally non-discriminatory.

“Maybe we can check to see if they can name the vice president before letting them

vote,” suggests Ann Coulter, a prominent supporter of the voter test, in an interview with FOX

news (Garcia). Coulter is not alone in her opinion. Jonah Goldberg, a columnist and editor of the

National Review Online, wrote an article published in the Los Angeles Times titled “Too

Uninformed to Vote?” In it he poses these questions to his readers: “Can you name all three
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branches of government? Can you name even one? Do you know who your congressman is?

Your senators? Do you even know how many senators each state gets?” (Goldberg) If you can,

Goldberg states, you are in the minority. “More than two-thirds (of Americans) can't explain the

gist of what the Food and Drug Administration does,” he claims. Although Goldberg does not

provide any proven statistics as support of his argument, his opinion is clear. “Instead of making

it easier to vote, maybe we should be making it harder” he says, in reference to establishing a

test that measures voters’ civic knowledge.

But can a test be created that is completely non-biased? And what exactly will that test

contain that will assure voters have the “right” knowledge to vote for the “right” person?

Perhaps the answer can be found by looking in the past. After the Reconstruction Act of 1867,

Black people all over the country were required to take literacy tests in order to vote (Jones).

Ironically, for decades—starting as early as 1740—anti-literacy laws were already in place,

criminalizing enslaved Black people who tried to read and write, because they were seen as a

“threat.” (Jones) On the contrary, illiterate White people were not seen as a hindrance to the

voting system and were allowed to participate without a test. It is clear then that the test was

used as a tool to suppress the Black voice, under the guise of improving election results.

“Access to reading and writing continued to be used as a way to oppress and silence. (Jones)”

These discriminatory laws were later repealed.

One may argue that today, in the 21st century, no one is suggesting putting in place a

test for a certain race, ethnicity, or median income. After all, one may point out, unfair voter

Jim Crow laws were repealed. However, a little known fact is that current legislation

surrounding voting still shows a shocking amount of exclusion and bias. According to the Center
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for American Progress, a non-partisan institute, studies show that certain states operate fewer

polling stations during key voting periods, and this has drastic effects (Maxwell and Root). For

example, in the 2016 elections, 40 North Carolina counties with pre-dominantly Black

populations had 158 fewer early polling places (Maxwell and Root). Imagine finally finding a

place to vote and reaching it only to find wrap around lines, long wait times, and not enough

machines. A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that, for people of

color, longer wait times are not an exception, but a norm. Hispanic voters spend one and a half

times longer waiting in line than their white counterparts, while Black voters spend nearly twice

as long (Maxwell and Root). According to a Joint Center for Political and Economic

Studies report, the result is huge: “long lines deterred at least 730,000 Americans from voting in

November 2012. (Maxwell and Root)”

Extended wait times and lack of facilities are not the only ways states are keeping

certain groups of people away from voting. The American Center for Progress also reports

inconsistent voter ID laws, as well as the actual removal of persons from voter registration rolls

under the false pretext of non-citizens voting (Maxwell and Root). Again, the target of these

unfair laws was found to be thousands of people of color. These facts only beg the conclusion

that more legislation, for example a voter test, would in all likelihood also have an ulterior

motive of disenfranchisement.

The reality is that a substantial percentage of voters—naturalized Americans, do need to

take a test to become citizens, and therefore to vote. This test requires basic knowledge of the

constitution, awareness of who holds current governmental positions, as well as a reasonable

ability to read, write, and understand the English language. Those who are born in the United
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States are taught civics either in public or private school, or are at least exposed to government

related concepts through the media, especially as elections have become more glamorized in

recent years. But for the sake of argument, if this exposure is still not enough to have informed

voters, is a test worth the inevitability of being biased? Researchers Betsy Sinclair and Charles

R. Plott note in their article “From Uninformed to Informed Choices: Voters, Pre-election Polls

and Updating” that pre-election polls close to elections are very close to actual results. They

argue that “uninformed” voters can use these polls as guidance when choosing a candidate

(Plott and Sinclair). These researchers’ work, in addition to efforts of people such as volunteer

campaign workers, shows that there are alternatives to a test that do not disenfranchise any

voters.

We are increasingly seeing a new generation of Americans that takes the right to vote

seriously. Not only are they becoming more involved in the process, but encouraging all fellow

citizens to participate in elections. Perhaps herein lies the correct solution. As Americans we

have to remember that voting is one of our core principles. Abraham Lincoln famously labeled

our government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Even if we feel that we will not

be impacted by a law mandating voter testing, or that ultimately it will sway elections

outcomes to our favor, we have to realize that limiting our own liberty can only have dangerous

consequences. Our liberty, as our privilege to vote, is ours to guard. There is no need to adopt a

solution that threatens to take the right of even a single American to vote. Instead we should

march forward with solutions that are progressive for all.

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Works Cited

Garcia, Ahiza. "Ann Coulter: US Needs Literacy Tests to Make It 'More Difficult to Vote'

(VIDEO)." Talking Points Memo. 15 Apr. 2015. TPM Media.

talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ann-coulter-voting-literacy-tests. Accessed 27 Mar.

2019

Goldberg, Jonah. "Too uninformed to vote?" Los Angeles Times. 31 July 2007. Los Angeles

Times. www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-oe-goldberg31jul31-column.html>.

Accessed 26 Mar. 2019

Jones, Natasha N., and Miriam F. Williams. “Technologies of Disenfranchisement: Literacy Tests

and Black Voters in the US from 1890 to 1965.” Technical Communication, vol. 65, no. 4,

Nov. 2018, pp. 371—386., sinclair.ohionet.org.

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=133142551&site=ehost-

live.

Maxwell, Connor, and Danielle Root. “Five Truths About Voter Suppression.” Center for

American Progress, 13 Dec. 2017,

www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2017/05/12/432339/five-truths-voter-

suppression/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2019.

Sinclair, Betsy, and Charles R. Plott. “From Uninformed to Informed Choices: Voters, Pre-

election Polls and Updating.” Electoral Studies, vol. 31, no. 1, Mar. 2012, pp. 83-95.,

doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2011.03.002.