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The direct connection between literacy and voting rights

Literacy was considered foundational to our country鈥檚 democracy from its inception.听

According to Nancy Kober and Diane Stark Rentner with at The George Washington University, the Founding Fathers 鈥�believed strongly that preserving democracy would require an educated population that could understand political and social issues and would participate in civic life, [and] vote wisely鈥︹��.听

This strong belief in an educated public led the United States to establish public schools (called 鈥渃ommon schools鈥�) as early as the 1830s to focus on 鈥渢he three Rs:鈥� Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. According to , 鈥�Proponents of 鈥榗ommon schools鈥� emphasized that a public investment in education would benefit the whole nation by transforming children into literate, moral, and productive citizens.鈥�

But who would be educated to become a civically engaged member of society has been highly politicized since our founding鈥揳nd by the same hand, who would be allowed to vote in our democracy.

Weaponization of illiteracy

Currently, roughly cannot read proficiently. Some politicians have weaponized this struggle with reading against voters, for example by in areas with high populations of 鈥渧oters of color, older voters, rural voters, and voters with disabilities.鈥� These closures can make it harder for people with low literacy skills within these groups to cast their vote because when polling places close or change, those with low literacy skills may not be able to make alternate voting plans or vote by mail.听

Federal courts routinely strike down these measures as illegal and unconstitutional. Inevitably, states just create more, which causes confusion, uncertainty and the dread of humiliation (and in some cases, fear of arrest) when one goes to vote.

The outlines the hundreds of new laws restricting access to voting that have sprung up just in the last four years. Many of these laws would have been subject to the, but are no longer subject to review due to the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in in 2013. These laws often require more stringent forms of ID verification. Obtaining the 鈥渞ight鈥� ID to vote, of course, involves literacy because one must navigate confusing forms and/or websites to obtain identification.听

shows a strong correlation between low literacy skills and a smaller share of citizenry that participates in voting. And while low literacy is not the sole cause of low voter participation, a correlation this strong deserves attention.听

: Literacy estimate data from the National Center for Education Statistics; election data from Dave Leip鈥檚 Atlas of U.S. Elections (2016 presidential election data) and the U.S. Census Bureau (Citizen Voting-Age Population Estimate, 2016). Note: The low literacy level used in county literacy calculations is defined as the population that is at or below Level 1 in indirect literacy estimates, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Voter turnout is defined as the total number of votes in each election divided by the citizen voting-age population.听Credit: Graphic by Annie Waldman

The Voting Rights Amendment and school desegregation听

It is no coincidence that school desegregation in the form of the decision of along with its federal enforcement, and the passage of the were achieved in the same decade in the era of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The Voting Rights Act enshrined the right to vote regardless of literacy and has been the foundation of striking down laws meant to prevent certain groups from voting, including those who don鈥檛 have strong literacy skills.听

The weaponization of illiteracy to deny suffrage was never more evident than in the Jim Crow South in the form of the Literacy Test. These 鈥渢ests鈥� were highly subjective and equated literacy with 鈥渨orthiness鈥� to vote. The implication was that 鈥渦neducated鈥� persons did not deserve to vote. But in practice, these tests were only performed at poll workers鈥� discretion when they wanted to deny the vote. Most often, Black voters and other persons of color were subjected to humiliating, unanswerable questions like “Draw a line around the number or letter of this sentence.” Often from 鈥渓iteracy tests.鈥� , provided by the Woodrow Wilson House gives an example literacy test from Louisiana and makes apparent the ridiculous nature of these tests.听

To ensure that someone would not attempt to exercise their rights, politicians created obstacles to embarrass and demean in an effort to make people feel unworthy of the vote. And our current system still does this by passing laws meant to make the process of registering to vote and voting unreasonably difficult.听

But, there鈥檚 hope for change

Civil rights leaders and voter advocates are fighting unjust laws and practices across the country.

In the 1970s the Supreme Court struck down a rule stating that people could not into the voting booth. Alabama election officials were allowing literate voters to bring sample ballots into the polls, but prohibited illiterate voters from doing the same. In the Fifth Circuit case , the court held that the denial of equal protection to all illiterate persons was unconstitutional. Today, sample ballots are a terrific way for people to have assistance reading the ballot and pre-select their candidates and amendment votes before heading into the voting booth. They can feel confident lining up their sample ballot to the real ballot and mirroring what they pre-selected.听

Vote by mail is expanding in many states and presents an effective way for people to receive help with reading their ballots from family members or friends before returning the ballot via mail. In 2020, then-President and Presidential Candidate Donald Trump , though experts have repeatedly confirmed that . Vote by mail is a to make one鈥檚 voice heard and states will hopefully continue to expand access to vote by mail.

What鈥檚 next

While the tactics to disempower, frighten, and embarrass marginalized groups may not be as blatant as the literacy tests 100 years ago, . Therefore, the work to create greater access to voting for all goes on, and so too must the fight for greater access to literacy and education. These two civil rights鈥攖o suffrage and literacy鈥攁re inextricably linked and the work to increase civic engagement must continue at home and in the classroom.听

Here are some resources to inspire the people in your life, young and old, to become civically engaged and empowered against any obstacles thrown their way.听

• (PBS)
• (NY Times)
• How to position civic engagement as a kid-friendly conversation topic
• Books to start a democracy dialogue with your kids