Daily News Lesson

SHOW ALL

Oct. 11, 2022, 4:16 p.m.

Low literacy voters struggle to cast ballots in the face of restrictive voting laws

Summary

Watch the video and complete the questions below. For a transcript of this story, click here .

Five Facts

  • How many people struggle to read in the U.S., according to this story?
  • Who is interviewed in this story, and what is her background?
  • What are some ways literacy tests have been used to block people from voting in the past, according to this interview?
  • Why do some current state voting laws limit the ability to vote for people who have difficulty reading?
  • Where are some of these new voting laws going into place?

Focus Questions

Do you think it's important to make sure everyone that is eligible to vote should be able to vote without obstacles? What are some ways to remove these obstacles? Media literacy: How can you find out more about the problems faced by voters who have difficulty reading? You can check out Aliyya Swaby's (interviewed in this story) original article here .

For More

What students can do: Look up the voter laws in your own state. Which of these laws might be an obstacle for people with difficulty reading? What are some ways to remove barriers for such people so that they can vote? To find out about election laws in your state as well as upcoming elections, start here .
FILE PHOTO: In-person early voting in Milwaukee
FILE PHOTO: A voter casts his ballot next to a bottle of hand sanitizer at the Milwaukee Public Library’s Washington Park location in Milwaukee, on the first day of in-person voting in Wisconsin, U.S., October 20, 2020. Wisconsin’s early voting period, known as absentee in-person voting, began October 20. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A voter casts his ballot next to a bottle of hand sanitizer at the Milwaukee Public Library’s Washington Park location in Milwaukee, on the first day of in-person voting in Wisconsin, U.S., October 20, 2020. Wisconsin’s early voting period, known as absentee in-person voting, began October 20. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

Fill out this form to share your thoughts on Classroom’s resources. Sign up for NewsHour Classroom’s ready-to-go Daily News Lessons delivered to your inbox each morning.

Recent Daily News Lessons

growingdebt-e1786996764405

Daily News Lesson

National debt nears $40 trillion — why does that matter?

Discuss the impact of the national debt hitting an important threshold

sea-1024x576

Daily News Lesson

Trump dismisses concerns over conditions on long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln

Learn about the mental health challenges and supply issues sailors are experiencing, according to family members and U.S. Naval officials

2026-06-23T212757Z_1519763688_MT1USATODAY29254705_RTRMADP_3_VOTING-BOOTHS-ARE-SET-UP-TUESDAY-JUNE-23-2026-DURING-THE-e1786392101996

Daily News Lesson

Monitoring the Midterms: Are midterms safe from cybersecurity threats?

Discuss the ways the federal government and state governments are preparing for cybersecurity threats ahead of the 2026 midterms

Mohammad Reza Naqdi

Daily News Lesson

Top adviser to Iran's Revolutionary Guard leader sits down for rare interview

Explore western media coverage of Iran and what happened after the Iran nuclear deal fell apart in 2018

SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:

PBS News Hour Classroom

Copyright © 2025 News Hour Production LLC. All Rights Reserved

Illustrations by Annamaria Ward