Chapter 8: Exam
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, abolished _______ as prerequisites for voting in
federal elections.
a. literacy tests
b. citizenship requirements
c. residency requirements
d. poll taxes
2. The voting age in all elections was lowered to eighteen with the ratification of the _____ to the
Constitution in _____.
a. Twenty-Sixth Amendment; 1971
b. Twenty-Third Amendment; 1965
c. Twentieth Amendment; 1960
d. Nineteenth Amendment; 1949
3. First enacted by Mississippi in 1890 as a means of preventing Blacks from voting, the _________ soon
spread throughout Southern and border states.
a. poll tax
b. literacy test
c. grandfather clause
d. white primary
4. Oklahoma’s version of the ___________________, adopted as an amendment to the state constitution
in 1910, required literacy tests for all voters whose ancestors had not been entitled to vote prior to
1866.
a. poll tax
b. white primary
c. Fifteenth Amendment
d. grandfather clause
5. Chisom v. Roemer (1991) involved a challenge to the system for electing judges to the ____________
supreme court.
a. Colorado
b. Alabama
c. Florida
d. Louisiana
6. Every ten years, after completion of the census, ____ reallocates congressional seats among the states.
a. Congress
b. the Supreme Court
c. the Senate
d. the House of Representatives
7. Under Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution,
a. every state is guaranteed at least one congressional seat.
b. congressional district lines may not cross state borders.
c. no congressional district may include less than 30,000 persons.
d. All of the above are true.
8. In 1941, Congress enacted a law specifying that the method of “_________” would be used to ascertain
the number of congressional seats to which each state would be entitled.
a. equal proportions
b. least squares
c. least resistance
d. minimum deviation
9. In the mid-1960s, a widely publicized effort to overrule the reapportionment decisions through
constitutional amendment was spearheaded by Senate minority leader _______.
a. Howard Baker
b. Strom Thurmond
c. James Eastland
d. Everett Dirksen
172 Chapter 8: Elections, Representation, and Voting Rights
10. For some jurisprudential thinkers, such as ______________, the primary utility of and justification for
judicial review is to maintain the integrity of the democratic process.
a. Robert Bork
b. Michael Perry
c. John Hart Ely
d. Raoul Berger
11. In 1980, independent presidential candidate __________________ filed suit in federal court to
challenge Ohio’s March filing deadline for the November general elections.
a. Ross Perot
b. George Wallace
c. Harold Stassen
d. John Anderson
12. The intentional redrawing of legislative district lines for political purposes is referred to as
____________.
a. logrolling
b. ticket-splitting
c. gerrymandering
d. interdiction
13. In Gray v. Sanders (1963), the Supreme Court invalidated Georgia’s “______” system of apportioning
the state legislature.
a. Jaybird
b. county unit
c. one-person, one-vote
d. None of the above is true.
14. Justice _____________ famous footnote in United States v. Carolene Products (1938) recognized
potential problems resulting from efforts to limit political participation.
a. Oliver Wendell Holmes’
b. Felix Frankfurter’s
c. Charles Evans Hughes’
d. Harlan Fiske Stone’s
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15. In United States v. Classic (1941), the Supreme Court held that the federal government could regulate
party primaries in order to prevent
a. discrimination against women.
b. racial discrimination.
c. discrimination against the poor.
d. election fraud.
16. In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966), the Supreme Court invalidated the use of _________
in state elections.
a. literacy tests
b. poll taxes
c. residency requirements
d. None of the above is true.
17. Section 2 of the ________________ specifically allows plaintiffs to challenge electoral schemes that
impermissibly dilute the voting strength of minority groups.
a. Voting Rights Act
b. Fourteenth Amendment
c. Fifteenth Amendment
d. None of the above is true.
18. Grovey v. Townsend, the 1935 decision in which the Supreme Court had upheld the so-called
_______, was overruled in Smith v. Allwright (1944).
a. grandfather clause
b. racial gerrymander
c. preclearance requirement
d. white primary
19. In Davis v. Bandemer (1986), the plurality opinion indicated that plaintiffs challenging partisan
gerrymandering of state legislatures would have to make a “threshold showing of _____.”
a. intentional discrimination
b. discriminatory vote dilution
c. invidious discrimination
d. None of the above is true.
20. In judging claims of official discrimination in the area of voting rights, courts usually employ
174 Chapter 8: Elections, Representation, and Voting Rights
a. the rational basis test.
b. heightened scrutiny.
c. strict scrutiny.
d. substantive due process.
21. Which of the following procedural devices designed to prevent most African Americans from voting
was the first to be declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court?
a. White primary
b. Poll tax
c. Grandfather clause
d. Racial gerrymander
22. Which of the following was most effective in protecting and implementing the voting rights of African
Americans?
a. Invalidation of the white primary
b. Invalidation of the grandfather clause
c. Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957
d. Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
23. In Gomilion v. Lightfoot (1960) the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional an extreme form of
a. the literacy test.
b. the white primary.
c. the grandfather clause.
d. the racial gerrymander.
24. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Federal Constitution
a. sets the minimum voting age at eighteen in federal and state elections.
b. abolishes the poll tax in federal elections.
c. removes gender as a qualification for voting.
d. provides for the popular election of U.S. Senators.
Chapter 8: Elections, Representation, and Voting Rights 175
25. In Reynolds v. Sims (1964) Chief Justice Warren applied the principle of “one person, one vote” to
a. apportionment of both houses of a state legislature.
b. only the lower house of a state legislature.
c. the United States Senate.
d. the U.S. House of Representatives.
26. In _______________, the Supreme Court struck down the Enforcement Act of 1870, by which
Congress attempted to protect the right of African Americans to vote in state elections.
a. Gomilion v. Lightfoot (1960)
b. United States v. Reese (1876)
c. Ex parte Yarbrough (1884)
d. None of the above is true.
27. First enacted by ____________in 1890, the grandfather clause soon spread throughout southern and
border states and typically required literacy tests for all voters whose ancestors had not been
entitled to vote prior to 1866.
a. Georgia
b. Alabama
c. Mississippi
d. Tennessee
28. The first of many legal victories won by the NAACP came when the Supreme Court struck down the
Oklahoma grandfather clause in
a. Newberry v. United States (1921).
b. United States v. Reese (1876).
c. Lane v. Wilson (1939).
d. Guinn v. United States (1915).
29. In _________________, the Supreme Court upheld a Texas white primary based on a resolution
adopted by the state Democratic Party, which effectively reinforced the legal view that political
parties were merely private organizations beyond the purview of the Constitution.
a. Nixon v. Herndon (1927)
b. Grovey v. Townsend (1935)
c. Nixon v. Condon (1932)
d. United States v. Classic (1941)
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30. In _______________, the Supreme Court struck down the white primary as violative of the Fifteenth
Amendment, thus overruling _______________.
a. United States v. Classic (1941); Smith v. Allwright (1944)
b. Grovey v. Townsend (1935); Smith v. Allwright (1944)
c. Smith v. Allwright (1944); Grovey v. Townsend (1935)
d. None of the above is true.
31. In ________________, the Supreme Court explicitly upheld the use of literacy tests based on the
reasoning that “in our society where newspapers, periodicals, books and other printed matter
canvass and debate campaign issues, a State might conclude that only those who are literate
should exercise the franchise.”
a. Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Education (1959)
b. Terry v. Adams (1953)
c. Breedlove v. Suttles (1937)
d. None of the above is true.
32. In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966), the Supreme Court held that poll taxes in state
elections violated the __________.
a. Fifth Amendment
b. Sixth Amendment
c. Fourteenth Amendment
d. Fifteenth Amendment
33. In Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960), Justice ______________ stated, “that if the plaintiffs’ allegations
were proven” [regarding racial gerrymandering, it would be “difficult to appreciate what stands in
the way of adjudging [the redistricting measure] invalid.”
a. Felix Frankfurter
b. William O. Douglas
c. Tom Clark
d. John M. Harlan, II
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34. In _____________, the Supreme Court struck down an at-large election scheme in Burke County,
Georgia, on the basis that there was discriminatory intent on the part of public officials.
a. Thornburgh v. Gingles (1985)
b. Mobile v. Bolden (1980)
c. Shaw v. Reno (1993)
d. Rogers v. Lodge (1982)
35. In __________________, the Supreme Court said that “[i]f a State decides to elect its trial judges, …
those elections must be conducted in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.”
a. Houston Lawyers’ Association v. Attorney General of Texas (1991)
b. Thornburgh v. Gingles (1986)
c. Chisom v. Roemer (1991)
d. None of the above is true.
36. In __________________, the Supreme Court invoked the political questions doctrine to foreclose
judicial relief in the area of malapportionment, at least from the federal bench.
a. Gray v. Sanders (1963)
b. Colegrove v. Green (1946)
c. Baker v. Carr (1962)
d. None of the above is true.
37. In __________________, the Supreme Court upheld an apportionment scheme for the Wyoming
legislature based on county lines, even though the scheme had a population deviation of nearly 90
percent between the largest and the smallest districts.
a. Hadley v. Junior College District (1970)
b. Avery v. Midland County (1968)
c. Karcher v. Daggett (1983)
d. Brown v. Thomson (1983)
178 Chapter 8: Elections, Representation, and Voting Rights
38. In League of United Latin American Voters v. Perry (2006), the Supreme Court ________ a
controversial Texas congressional reapportionment plan that strongly advantaged Republican
incumbents.
a. upheld
b. invalidated
c. denied certiorari
d. None of the above is true.
39. In Bush v. Gore (2000), the Court ruled ______ that the selective manual recount was
unconstitutional, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
a. 8–1
b. 7–2
c. 6–3
d. 5–4
40. In _____________, the Supreme Court struck down spending limits set by the Federal Election
Campaign Act as applied to the Colorado Republican Party’s “independent expenditures.”
a. Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
b. Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee (1985)
c. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission (1996)
d. Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee (2001)
41. In__________, the Supreme Court divided 5-4 in striking down a provision of the McCain-Feingold
Act that prohibited corporations and unions from engaging in “electioneering communications”
thirty days before a presidential primary and sixty days before the general election.
a. Randall v. Sorrell (2006)
b. Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007)
c. Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008)
d. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
42. In_________, the Supreme Court chipped away at the McCain-Feingold Act by invalidating a section
of the act known as the “millionaire’s amendment.”
a. Randall v. Sorrell (2006)
b. Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007)
c. Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008)
d. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
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43. Justice________ authored the dissent in the Bush v. Gore (2000)?
a. Stevens
b. Rehnquist
c. Thomas
d. Breyer
44. In__________, the Supreme Court recognized that voting is “a fundamental political right, because [it
is] preservative of all rights.”
a.Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)
b. Ex Parte Yarbrough (1884)
c. United States v. Carotene Products (1938)
d. Guinn v. United States (1915)
45. Justice Miller wrote in ___________ “It is as essential to the successful working of this government
that the great organisms of its executive and legislative branches should be the free choice of the
people, as that the original form of it should be so.”
a.Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)
b. Ex Parte Yarbrough (1884)
c. United States v. Carotene Products (1938)
d. Guinn v. United States (1915)
46. In ____________, the Court struck down the white primary as violative of the Fifteenth Amendment.
a. Nixon v. Condon (1932)
b. Grovey v. Townsend (1935)
c. United States v. Classic (1941)
d. Smith v. Allwright (1944)
47. In____________, the Supreme Court upheld a Texas white primary based not on legislative
enactment but exclusively on a resolution adopted by the state Democratic Party.
a. Nixon v. Condon (1932)
b. Grovey v. Townsend (1935)
c. United States v. Classic (1941)
d. Smith v. Allwright (1944)
48. Justice ________ authored the opinion for the unanimous Court in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).
a. Black
180 Chapter 8: Elections, Representation, and Voting Rights
b. Douglas
c. Frankfurter
d. none of the above
49. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 employed a rough index of discrimination to apply the scrutiny of the
federal government to how many states that had historically been most recalcitrant in refusing to
allow African Americans to vote?
a. Four
b. Six
c. Nine
d. Fourteen
50. In _________, the Court under Chief Justice Rehnquist ruled that strangely shaped legislative districts
designed to produce African-American electoral majorities are subject to challenge under the
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
a. Mobile v. Bolden (1980)
b. Thornburgh v. Gingles (1985)
c. Shaw v. Reno (1993)
d. Voinovich v. Quitter (1993)
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Analyze the Supreme Court’s rationale for (a) involving the federal courts in matters of
legislative districting, and (b) imposing the “one person, one vote” standard on all levels of
government. What constitutional arguments might suggest that apportionment is best left to the
determination of state and local governments?
2. What does the history of the “white primary” cases indicate about the state action doctrine as a
basis for defining the scope of constitutional rights?
3. Does full and effective representation in Congress and the state legislatures provide an effective
means for protecting most constitutional rights thereby minimizing the need for judicial oversight
of the political process?
4. Explain the constitutional problem of political gerrymandering. Why have the courts been
reluctant to enter this fray?
5. Recount and evaluate the reasoning of the various opinions rendered in Bush v. Gore (2000). Be
sure to explain the controversy surrounding the Court seemingly voting along partisan lines.
Could this particular criticism of the Court been avoided had the Court instead ruled to allow the
recount to continue?
Chapter 8: Elections, Representation, and Voting Rights 181
6. Recall and critique the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013). How does
this decision effect the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 going forward? Do you
believe the Court reached the correct conclusion in this case? Why or Why not?
7. What has the Supreme Court said regarding the creation of majority-minority districts by state
legislatures? Has a clear guideline emerged regarding what actions are constitutionally
permissible and which are not? Is it possible for the Court to solve this dilemma or is litigation in
this field simply inevitable and interminable?
8. Recall and critique the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission (2010). What was the Courts central rationale in striking down a provision of the
McCain-Feingold Act that prohibited corporations and unions from engaging in “electioneering
communications” thirty days before a presidential primary and in the sixty days before the
general election? What are the concerns of those opposed to this ruling?