North Carolina's constitution still includes outdated language from a literacy test used to disenfranchise Black voters. Rep. Terry Brown, D-Mecklenburg, is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling for a constitutional amendment.
His bill would give November 2026 voters the opportunity to repeal the literacy test language. Brown told the 瓜神app Politics Podcast it's an important change, even though the literacy test hasn't been enforced for more than 50 years.
A similar bill passed the House unanimously last year, but didn't get a vote in the Senate. Senate leader Phil Berger says he supports the change, but "I think the ultimate concern is, the last time we put it to a vote, although it's been 50 years ago, it didn't fare so well."
Brown says a voter education campaign would be needed. He spoke with 瓜神app's Colin Campbell about the constitutional amendment, as well as his new role as the chief Democratic whip 鈥� tasked with helping his party sustain Gov. Josh Stein's vetoes.
This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Let's start with the history lesson for folks who aren't familiar with the literacy test and when it was added to the Constitution.
"This is a Jim Crow-era provision that was added to the state constitution that essentially required anybody who was presenting themselves to vote in North Carolina had to be able to read a provision in the North Carolina constitution. While it seems innocuous on its face, it was designed 鈥� and many of these tests throughout the South were designed 鈥� to keep people of color, Black people from being able to vote, and that's something that it did.
"It disenfranchised a lot of folks. It was part of our constitution. The Voting Rights Act essentially nullified this provision in the constitution, but unfortunately, it still remains as a part of our constitution."
Is this a symbolic thing that needs to happen for the state not to have this in our central founding document?
"As legislators, we swear to uphold the constitution of North Carolina and the United States. So while it's inoperable, it's still in the constitution. Where people read the Constitution, they see that. This goes a long way to honoring the memory of folks who have come before us and didn't have the right to vote, and showing that that's not the same North Carolina that we are now."
Has it been on the ballot before? I know we've had efforts in recent sessions to get it on the ballot, and it hasn't gotten to that level.
"It's been on the ballot once before, very early on (in the 1970s). I think it was actually the time that Rep. (Henry) Frye introduced it, and it did fail that time. One thing we do not want is for us to put this on the ballot and then it fails, because it's going to be a huge black eye for the state of North Carolina. But I do believe that if we all put the effort in to educate voters on what this actually means and why we're doing it, I believe that it'll pass if it goes onto the ballot."
What makes you optimistic that this could be the year that the Senate comes on board and you finally get this all the way to the ballot placement for 2026?
"It's a new year. We've got different dynamics. We've got different forms of leadership in both chambers and in both different caucuses. I know that some members of the the Senate have filed a similar literacy test bill, so that shows that they've got some more of their members on board."
You were elected this year by your colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus as the senior Democratic Whip. Is that going to be a challenging role this year, given the one-vote margin that your caucus has on veto overrides?
"I'm very aware and very cognizant that we have a one-vote margin. The biggest thing for me is making sure that all the colleagues in the Democratic caucus understand what our position is, what we're trying to do. We're building those relationships up so that when it comes time to take important votes for the people of North Carolina, that we're aligned and we're unified."
