The simple fact of the matter is. you cannot vote if you are not registered. and for many Americans today. getting registered just is not very easy. Indeed. when people who didnt vote in 1988 were asked why. the reason given most often was not being registered. Registration has been a barrier to voter participation in our democracy since the late 19th century. when the poll tax and literacy tests were introduced to prevent recent European immigrants. blacks. and the rural poor from exercising their constitutional right to vote. While the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated the more obvious impediments to registration. it left a complicated maze of local laws and procedures through which citizens must navigate. Testimony before our committee revealed that in many Jurisdictions around the country. eligible voters continue to be deprived of their right to vote as a result of restrictive registration practices.
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immigrants literacy tests