Cardona v. Power

Background

The case involves a woman who was born and educated in Puerto Rico and has lived in New York City since about 1948. In July 1963 she tried to register to vote. She could read and write Spanish but not English, and New York’s Board of Elections refused to register her because she failed the State’s English literacy requirement. She sued in New York courts saying the rule as applied to her was invalid under the Federal Constitution, but the state courts denied her request.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court decided this case the same day it upheld §4(e) of the Voting Rights Act in a companion decision. That federal rule prevents New York’s English literacy test from being enforced against people who successfully completed sixth grade in a Puerto Rico school where instruction was not in English. The Court said it was not clear from the record whether the woman met that federal test. Because the federal law might already give her the relief she sought, the Court vacated the state-court judgment and sent the case back to New York’s highest court to determine, in light of the federal law, whether she qualifies and whether other applications of the State’s rule remain valid.

Real world impact

The decision means state courts and election officials must reconsider literacy-rule cases where the federal protection may apply, especially for people educated in Puerto Rico. The ruling is not a final decision on the merits for all such claims; the state court must first decide who is covered by the federal rule.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Douglas dissented, arguing New York’s English-only approach unfairly burdens Spanish-speaking Americans and that equal protection calls for parity, such as offering a Spanish test or accepting Puerto Rico sixth-grade certificates.