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Well, having a reading test did hurt those who couldn’t read, but at the same time, I would say give those who can’t read some schooling and maybe an accommodation if dyslexic.

What they did, though, in the bad old days, was first put in a ‘grandfather exemption’. If your ancestor was eligible to vote in the election of 1860, you didn’t have to pass the literacy test. So whites with deep roots in the state were exempt. Secondly, the test administered could vary. Some states required you to read and interpret a passage from the state constitution. Obviously, some questions could be very easy and some very difficult.

FWIW, I saw my dad take and pass a literacy test in Arizona back in the 60s. He was asked to spell his name—not unusual at all, but then he was asked to spell ‘Phoenix’ and Arizona. I thought it odd that the guy registering him couldn’t spell Arizona and my dad said that was just the literacy test.