of Alabama and at least 21 years old. Residence requirements are 2 years in the state, 1 year in the county, and 3 months in the precinct or ward. The applicant must be able to read and write any provision of the Constitution of the United States. He must be of "good character," and also must "embrace the duties and obligations of citizenship under the Constitution of the United States and under the constitution of the State of Alabama." And the applicant must not be disqualified under a separate section of the State constitution which enumerates the Nation's most extensive list of voting disqualifications. The applicant must complete, without assistance, the lengthy questionnaire that is reproduced in its entirety on the pages immediately following. There is no official set of correct answers to the questions.

Members of Boards of registrars are "constituted and declared to be judicial officers, to judicially determine if applicants to register have the qualifications" required, and the registrars are authorized to "receive information respecting the applicant and the truthfulness of any information furnished by him." 8

The ambiguity of question 19 ("Will you give aid and comfort to the enemies of the U.S. Government or the government of the State of Alabama?") was demonstrated in the affirmative answer given by one person on an application examined by the Commission. This applicant was permitted to register, as was another white applicant who answered this question with "no unless necessary." Words in the questionnaire that might be difficult for persons with little formal education include "secular," "priority," "bona fide," and "moral turpitude."

Ala. Code 1940, Const. sec. 177, as amended; Ala. Code 1940, title 17, sec. 12, as amended.

Ala. Code 1940, Const. sec. 178, as amended. The 1953 amendment of title 17, sec. 12, does not coincide with the residence requirements prescribed by the State constitution. The periods stated in this statute are 1 year in the State and 6 months in the county. Investigation indicated that some boards were unaware of this conflict, and applied the statutory standards rather than those of the constitution. Because of the legal principle that constitutions are paramount to statutes, this Commission recognized the longer periods fixed by the State constitution.

SA See generally colloquy between Congressman George Huddleston, Jr., of Alabama and Senator Thomas C. Hennings, Jr., of Missouri. (Hearings on Pending Civil Bills before a Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 86th Cong. 1st Sess. (1959), pp. 770–71.)

• Ala. Code 1940, Const. sec. 181, as amended; title 17, sec. 32, as amended. 'Ala. Code 1940, Const. sec. 182, as amended; title 17, sec. 15. These provisions exclude all idiots and insane persons, those disqualified by reason of conviction of crime at the time the constitution of 1901 was ratified, and those who since that date have been convicted of treason, murder, arson, embezzlement, malfeasance in office, larceny, receiving stolen property, obtaining money or property under false pretenses, perjury, subornation of perjury, robbery, assault with intent to rob, burglary, forgery, bribery, assault and battery on wife, bigamy, living in adultery, sodomy, incest, rape, miscegenation, crime against nature, any crime punishable by imprisonment in penitentiary, any infamous crime or crimes involving moral turpitude, and also any person who since Nov. 29, 1901, has been or shall be convicted: as a vagrant or tramp, of selling or offering to sell his vote, of buying or offering to buy the vote of another, making or offering to make a false election return, suborning any witness or registrar to secure registration of any person as an elector.

The applicant's memory is tested in the questionnaire by a requirement that he state under oath where he has lived, the name or names by which he has been known, and the name or names of those by whom he has been employed for 5 years preceding the time of application. A refusal to disclose this information is ground for denying registration, and the willful making of a false statement constitutes perjury.10 A conviction of perjury, in turn, itself constitutes ground for disqualification."1

Boards of registrars are authorized to make rules and regulations to expedite the registration process,12 and such rules and regulations have the force and effect of law.13 In every case, the burden of proof of meeting the registration requirements to the reasonable satisfaction of the board rests with the applicant.1

Alabama law prescribes no educational qualifications for members of boards of registrars. To be eligible, it is only necessary that one be a resident and an elector of the county, be "reputable," and not hold an elective public office.15 Nominally, appointments are made by a board consisting of three elected State officials: the Governor, the auditor, and the commissioner of agriculture and industries. In practice, however, each names one of the three members to the board in each county on recommendation of the county's delegation to the State legislature.

Boards governed by general laws (boards in seven counties operate under special laws) meet on the first and third Monday in each month, 10 days in January, and 5 days in July. In odd-numbered years, they meet for an additional 30 days in October, November, and December. In even-numbered years, they meet for two 6-day weeks. Boards may not register voters in the 10 days immediately preceding any general, primary, or special election.16 The irregular working days, plus pay of $10 a day, limit the field from which registrars may be drawn and make it difficult for persons employed full time to serve. There is no continuing supervision of the boards by the State, and each board applies the law according to its own interpretation and judgment without reference to the practices of other boards.16A This, plus the allegations in 91 sworn affidavits, was the information the Commission had in hand as it met in Montgomery to hear both sides of the voting controversy in Alabama.

Ala. Code 1940, title 17, sec. 43, as amended. 10 Ala. Code 1940, Const. sec. 188, as amended. "Ala. Code 1940, title 17, sec. 15, as amended. "Ala. Code 1940, title 17, sec. 53, as amended.

13 Mitchell v. Wright, 69 F. Supp. 698 (M.D. Ala. 1947).

14 Ala. Code 1940, title 17, sec. 33, as amended.

15 Ala. Code 1940, title 17, sec. 21, as amended.

16 Ala. Code 1940, title 17, secs. 26 and 27, as amended.

"A Hearings on Pending Civil Rights Bills before a Subcommittee on Constitutional the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. (1959), p. 611 of John Patterson, Governor of Alabama).

THE MONTGOMERY HEARING

The hearing began at 9 a.m. on December 8, 1958, in the crowded Fifth Circuit courtroom in the Federal Building in Montgomery. Two dozen newsmen sat at the press tables, and four television cameras whirred quietly in the rear. In his opening statement, Chairman John A. Hannah explained the Commission's responsibility with respect to the investigation of voting complaints. He then emphasized four points that have been the guidelines of the Commission and its staff since its organization:

The Commission is an independent agency in no manner connected, even administratively, with the Department of Justice. The Commission is a factfinding body possessing no enforcement powers.

The Commission and its staff at all times stress the necessity for objectivity in their search for the facts in any matter before the Commission.

The Commission is not a protagonist for one view or another. As Vice Chairman Storey took the chair to conduct the hearing, he sounded a note of national unity. "My father was born in Alabama," he recalled, "reared here and educated before he emigrated to Texas. I have close relatives and many good friends in this State. My grandfathers were Confederate soldiers. So, there are many thoughts and memories going through my mind as we meet in Montgomery, the cradle of the Confederacy; but history moves on. We are one nation now. Hence, this bipartisan Commission, composed of two presidents of great universities and four lawyers, has a solemn duty to perform. We are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States." 17

William P. Mitchell, of Macon County, who had forwarded the original complaints, was the first witness.18 He supplied statistical information which closely paralleled that obtained by Commission staff research. The staff study showed that, in 1950, Macon County had a population of 30,561. Of these, 25,784 were nonwhite and 4,777 were white persons. But, the 1958 voter registration list (presumably after some rise in population) showed 3,102 white voters and only 1,218 Negro voters. Macon County ranks first in the State in the proportion of its Negroes aged 25 or over who have at least a high school education, and in the percentage of Negro residents who hold college degrees.

Macon County Negroes have brought numerous court actions to become registered. After one suit in 1946, all members of the board of registrars resigned and there was no publicly functioning board for

"Hearings before the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Voting, hearings held in Montgomery, Ala., U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1959, p. 5. 15 Op. cit. supra note 17, at 11-30.

about 18 months. A new board was formed in January 1948, but there was no public notice of its existence until about 4 months later, when the resignation of the then chairman became known. Once the news was out, scores of Negroes appeared at the courthouse in Tuskegee to apply for registration. But courthouse officials refused to tell the Negroes where they might find the board. Only after a very faircomplexioned Negro who could easily have been mistaken for a white person asked the directions was the information forthcoming. On that day, 18 Negroes applied for registration. The board did not function publicly again for 8 months. It again became inoperative for about 16 months in 1956-57.

Even when a board was functioning, Macon County Negroes had met formidable obstacles when they tried to register. Mr. Mitchell, in a statement submitted for the record, estimated that, at the current rate, it would take 203 years to register all of the county's unregistered adult Negroes.

One of the most effective deterrents to Negro voting found in Macon County was a requirement that an applicant for registration must be accompanied by a "voucher" who is a registered voter, and who must testify to the applicant's identity and qualifications. But a voter could vouch for only two applicants per year. In recent years, no white elector has vouched for a Negro applicant in Macon County.

The Macon County board required Negro and white applicants to use separate rooms. Negro complainants testified that, when seeking to register, they had been compelled to wait in line for 3 to 9 hours. Only two applicants at a time were admitted to the Negro room. They were usually required to copy lengthy provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

A Negro applicant must ordinarily supply a self-addressed envelope for notification of his acceptance, but the 25 unregistered Macon County Negroes who were witnesses at the Montgomery hearing testified unanimously that they had received no notification of either acceptance or rejection. Thus they were denied opportunity for a court appeal, which must be made within 30 days after notice of rejection. Records compiled by Mr. Mitchell showed the experience of Negroes who had tried to register in the county thus:

Not content to hold the line against new Negro voters, the City of Tuskegee recently moved to decrease the number already voting in its elections. On July 15, 1957, the Alabama Legislature passed an act that gerrymandered the boundaries of the city.19 The town limits, previously forming a rectangle, now became a figure of 28 sides. The new boundaries excluded all but 10 of the 420 Negroes who formerly voted in city elections. Another measure enacted later authorized a similar gerrymander or even total abolition of Macon County itself. The accompanying map shows the original city boundaries of Tuskegee and the new boundaries.

Mr. Mitchell, in a statement submitted for the record, summed up the "tactics employed by the board which, we believe, are designed to keep Negro registration to a minimum":

1. The board's refusal to register Negroes in larger quarters.

2. Its failure to use the room which is assigned for the registration of Negroes to its fullest extent.

3. The board's requirement that only two Negroes can make applications simultaneously.

19 Ala. Laws, 1957, No. 140, p. 185.