The Terrell Election Law was part of a wave of election reform legislation instituting a poll tax, secret ballot, and a closed primary system in Texas from 1902 to 1907,[1] during the Progressive Era of United States history. The 1903 law[2] allowed parties to restrict who could vote in their primaries, paving the way to exclude African-American voters from Democratic Party primaries.[3] A poll tax had been established in 1902 and both laws disenfranchised African Americans. The Terrell Law was named for Alexander W. Terrell.[4] The law was revised in 1905–1906.[2] A 1923 amendment established a complete ban on African Americans voting in any Democratic Party primaries. Lawrence Aaron Nixon sued and the law was eventually thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court (Nixon v. Herndon). A modified version of the law was passed by the Texas Legislature and again thrown out upon reaching the U.S. Supreme Court in a suit filed by Nixon. The decision was written by Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo.[3]
References
- ^ Eichelberger, Erika. "Texas just won the right to disenfranchise 600,000 people. It's not the first time".
- ^ a b Weeks, O. Douglas. "Election Laws". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
- ^ a b Hainsworth, Robert Wendell (1933). "The Negro and the Texas Primaries". The Journal of Negro History. 18 (4): 426–450. doi:10.2307/2714304. JSTOR 2714304. S2CID 149574925 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Terrell, Alexander Watkins. "A Guide to the Alexander Watkins Terrell Papers, 1877-1912". Texas Archival Resources Online.