Question

literacy test were used to disenfranchise voters because they disqualify people from voting based on the test administrators interpretation of the person answers true or false.

Answer 1

True. Literacy tests were often implemented as a means to disenfranchise voters, particularly in the United States during the Jim Crow era. These tests were designed to assess a person's reading and writing abilities, but they were frequently administered subjectively by test administrators who had the discretion to interpret answers as they saw fit. This allowed for discrimination, as the tests could be applied more rigorously to certain groups, particularly African Americans and poor individuals, effectively disqualifying them from voting regardless of their actual literacy skills. As such, literacy tests were part of a broader system of voter suppression that included other discriminatory practices, such as poll taxes and understanding clauses. These practices were eventually outlawed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.