Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Wikipedia
Designed to enforce the voting rights protected by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act sought to secure the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 ‑ Definition, Summary & Significance - HISTORY
Nov 9, 2009 · The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising...
Voting Rights Act | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Jan 17, 2025 · Voting Rights Act, U.S. legislation (August 6, 1965) that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States.
Voting Rights Act (1965) - National Archives
Feb 8, 2022 · The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most significant statutory change in the relationship between the federal and state governments in the area of voting since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War; and it was immediately challenged in the courts.
The Voting Rights Act Explained | Brennan Center for Justice
Jul 17, 2023 · What is the Voting Rights Act of 1965? Regarded as the legislative crown jewel of the civil rights era, the Voting Rights Act was enacted as a comprehensive tool meant to undo the political hold of Jim Crow policies in the South and related discriminatory structures nationwide.
Civil Rights Division | History Of Federal Voting Rights Laws
Jul 28, 2017 · President Johnson issued a call for a strong voting rights law and hearings began soon thereafter on the bill that would become the Voting Rights Act. Congress determined that the existing federal anti-discrimination laws were not sufficient to overcome the resistance by state officials to enforcement of the 15th Amendment.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 - NAACP
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 remains one of the hardest-fought safeguards for Black Americans and other minority groups as it relates to voting. The power, agency, and access to vote is a civil right for all.
AN ACT To enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall be known as the ‘‘Voting Rights Act of 1965’’. ø52 U.S.C. 10101 note¿ TITLE I—VOTING RIGHTS ...
Voting Rights Act | Legal Information Institute
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) (codified at 52 U.S.C. Subtitle I) prohibits certain discriminatory voting practices. Congress passed the VRA during the civil rights movement in 1965 with the aim to buttress and protect voters’ Fifteenth Amendment rights, which were at the time widely violated across states in the South. The VRA initially protected only racial minorities, but in 1975, …
Civil Rights Division | Introduction To Federal Voting Rights Laws
Aug 6, 2015 · The Voting Rights Act, adopted initially in 1965 and extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, is generally considered the most successful piece of civil rights legislation ever adopted by the United States Congress.