Which voting restriction required voters to demonstrate literacy to vote?

Which voting restriction required voters to demonstrate literacy to vote?

• A. Poll tax
• B. Grandfather clause
• C. White primary
• D. Literacy test

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is how literacy requirements function as a barrier to voting. The best choice is the literacy test because it is literally a rule that voters must demonstrate their ability to read and write in order to cast a ballot. Historically, literacy tests were used in the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise many Black voters, often administered arbitrarily to suppress participation. The other options describe different obstacles: a poll tax charges a fee to vote, not a demonstration of literacy; a grandfather clause let some whites bypass literacy tests based on ancestry, not on proving literacy; and a white primary excluded Black citizens from participating in primary elections, which is about party-specific eligibility rather than proving literacy.

The main idea here is how literacy requirements function as a barrier to voting. The best choice is the literacy test because it is literally a rule that voters must demonstrate their ability to read and write in order to cast a ballot. Historically, literacy tests were used in the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise many Black voters, often administered arbitrarily to suppress participation. The other options describe different obstacles: a poll tax charges a fee to vote, not a demonstration of literacy; a grandfather clause let some whites bypass literacy tests based on ancestry, not on proving literacy; and a white primary excluded Black citizens from participating in primary elections, which is about party-specific eligibility rather than proving literacy.