Article I. section 2. of the Constitution confers upon the States the power to prescribe qualifications for electors who vote in State and in Federal elections. This authority of the States was affirmed by the 17th amendment to the Constitution. and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court. To my mind. the MansfieldDirksen amendment would be determined to be unconstitutional because it attempts to authorize the Congress to prescribe a specific qualification as adequate to satisfy State literacy testsnamely. the completion of the sixth grade in a school. The decisions of the Supreme Court make it clear that the Congress does not have the power to substitute a qualification for voting for the qualifications prescribed by the States. I do not believe this point is very clearly understood by the public.
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literacy testsnamely