This article was written by Scout Pollack of Richard Montgomery High School
In an article published in 2016 by the Washington Post, it is stated that 19% of functioning adult citizens in the USA currently are illiterate. While this affects many parts of their everyday lives, it also plays a part in their ability to vote. Literacy, or lack thereof, has a direct correlation to voter turnout, and even whom people vote for. The history of voter suppression, beginning with literacy tests, is a key to understanding the events that restrict illiterate people from participating in or even understanding the voting process.
In the years after the Civil War, the southern states were no longer allowed to have slaves. However, a set of laws let them set considerable restrictions on the black and freed slave population, such as curfew, segregation and most importantly, literacy tests. The goal was to prevent the freed slave population from voting by giving them a simple reading test, although sometimes it was a trivia-type situation about documents like the Constitution, that they mostly failed beca
use they never went to school or had a proper education. It was a tactic used to suppress the black vote, so that the white population could choose whomever they thought fit, without outside interference.
Though these laws do not exist today, we see similar dynamics with the minorities having less access to proper education and therefore a more illiterate population, according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Process. Again, there is no test anymore that proves your eligibility to vote, but there might as well be. Since many campaigns are targeted towards the white, old and rich population in most states, especially at the presidential level, many citizens have problems interpreting these ideas and are less likely to vote. The simple fact that they cannot read the posters or promises a campaign discourages them from not only that candidate, but the process as a whole.
Especially this year, since mail-in ballots are highly encouraged, it can be more difficult than ever to figure out how to even cast a vote. The envelopes and their ballots have to be much more specific to count, and a lack of understanding of the instructions can lead to votes not counting. Illiteracy puts a strain on what would still be an extremely taxing and excruciating activity and makes it so demanding that many may choose not to vote or bother at all.
Another problem with illiteracy in the voting system is that, by effect, it suppresses minorities and poorer people. These communities have the power to greatly sway a state, and possibly flip it from one party to another. The lack of their votes in the system, simply because voting is so confusing for many without a proper education, means a large sum of the population’s voices are not being heard. The consequences of situations like this can be devastating and many times the lack of votes can directly impact their lives, if a candidate does not prioritize their needs.
Illiteracy in the voting process is a serious oppression problem, and one that could greatly diminish the accuracy of the American population’s political opinion as a whole by silencing many voices.
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