Removing Barriers to the Ballot
A citizen arrives at a voter registration office, ready to sign up. Instead of being registered, the citizen is handed a reading test. The questions are difficult, the rules are unclear, and the official in charge has the power to decide whether the answers are good enough. Other citizens may never be asked to take the test at all.
For many Black Americans in the South, obstacles like this were part of a system designed to keep them from voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 attacked that system. To understand why the law mattered, it helps to look at the difference between having a right on paper and being able to exercise it.
A promise and its limits
After the Civil War, the United States adopted the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Ratified in 1870, it said that the federal government and the states could not deny or limit a citizen’s right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The amendment was a major step, but it did not end discrimination at the polls.
- ratified:
- Formally approved so that a law or amendment can take effect.
- servitude:
- A condition in which a person is forced to work under another person’s control.
- discrimination:
- Unfair treatment of people based on characteristics such as race.
- prospective:
- Likely or intending to become something in the future.
- retaliation:
- Harm or punishment given in response to someone’s action.
- provision:
- A specific rule or part of a law.
- jurisdictions:
- Areas whose governments have the authority to make or enforce rules.
- formula:
- A set method or rule used to determine a result.
One passage, many ways to practice
Reading-skill questions, word work and writing prompts — all built from this text.
Main Idea
Identify the central idea and explain how important details develop it.
Context Clues
Use clues in the passage to work out what words mean. A separate printable Vocabulary worksheet is also available.
Summarize
Select, organize, and restate the most important information without adding opinion.
Purpose
Analyze what the author aims to do and how choices serve audience and purpose.
Structure
Analyze how sections and organizational choices build the text's ideas or effects.
Fact & Opinion
Distinguish verifiable statements from judgments, beliefs, and preferences in context.
Vocabulary
Practice words from the passage with a printable worksheet.
Writing Prompts
Use the passage as a springboard for short written responses, from personal reflection to evidence-based arguments.
Fix the Sentence
Practice editing sentences drawn from this passage with a printable worksheet.
Ready to use this passage in class?
Start free with the Mixed worksheet and 3 PDF downloads each week. Focused skill sets depend on plan.
Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1How does the opening registration scene introduce the difference between a voting right and the ability to exercise it?
- 2Why did the Fifteenth Amendment not end racial discrimination at the polls?
You Might Also Like
About this explanatory article passage for Middle School
“Removing Barriers to the Ballot” is a explanatory article reading passage about Voting rights, written for Middle School. It takes about 7 minutes to read (978 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.