In an article entitled "21 States Use Literacy Test" in The Washington Post, Times Herald, 21 of the 50 United States used some form of literacy "test or device" to infringe upon the voting rights of U.S. citizens in 1965, either by requiring certain moral character, language proficiency, or knowledge of the U.S. governmental system (Associated Press 1965). In an article written by William Van Alstyne, Professor of Law at Duke University, a series of questions were developed by the Alabama Supreme Court to be used as a literacy test for voting registrars to administer to mostly Black voters:

"If no national candidate for Vice President receives a majority of the electoral vote, how is a Vice President chosen?
"In such cases, how many votes must a person receive to become Vice President?
"How many votes must a person receive in order to become President if the election is decided by the United States House of Representatives?
"If election of the President becomes the duty of the United States House of Representatives and it fails to act, who becomes President?"

When Professor Alstyne administered the questions to other professors of law in American law schools, out of 96 responses, 70% were technically incorrect. Some of the professors interviewed administered the quiz to their law students, and no one answered any questions correctly. Many of the professors wrote back to Professor Alstyne and hoped that his "study shows the gigantic farce that the system represents" (Alstyne 1965).