Speech #870187964

Nor does Congress have any power as such to determine qualifications of voters in any elections. "The States. not the Federal Government. prescribe the qualifications for the exercise of the franchise" (Davis v. Schnell. 81 F. Supp. 872. affd 336 U.S. 933). The conditions under which the right of suffrage is to be exercised are matters for the States alone to prescribe (Pope v. Williams. 193 U.S. 621). If Congress has no power to determine qualifications of voters. then the power of eradication must be found in the protecting powers of section 5 of the 14th amendment and section 2 of the 15th amendment. The mere requirement of a literacy test does not violate the equal protection clause or the 15th amendment (Lassiter v. Northampton Election Board. 360 U.S. 45. Guinn v.