Lassiter v. Northampton County Bd. Of Elections, 360 U.S. 45 (1959)

Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections


No. 584


Argued May 18-19, 1959
Decided June 8, 1959
360 U.S. 45

APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA

Syllabus

1. A State may, consistently with the Fourteenth and Seventeenth Amendments, apply a literacy test to all voters irrespective of race or color. Gunn v. United States, 238 U.S. 347. Pp. 50-53.

2. The North Carolina requirement here involved, which is applicable to members of all races and requires that the prospective voter "be able to read an write any section of the Constitution of North Carolina in the English language," does not, on its face, violate the Fifteenth Amendment . Pp. 53-54.

248 N.C. 102,102 S.E.2d 853, affirmed.