History Worth Knowing: The 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (1965)

August 5, 2025

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, marked a pivotal moment in American civil rights history, addressing decades of voter discrimination in Southern states. The legislation outlawed discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests and poll taxes, which had severely limited African-American political participation since the Civil War. Following national outrage over violence against civil rights activists in Selma and elsewhere, the Act established federal oversight of voting procedures in certain jurisdictions and required federal "preclearance" for any new voting practices in these areas.

Who is affected

African Americans, particularly those in Southern states who had faced systemic barriers to voting
Voters in jurisdictions covered by the "formula" in the statute who would now have federal examiners
Citizens in states using poll taxes for elections
Black communities whose voter registration numbers increased dramatically after the Act (250,000 new Black voters by end of 1965)
Residents of the nine states that were under federal oversight until 2013

What action is being taken

Federal examiners are being appointed to register qualified citizens in covered jurisdictions
The Attorney General is challenging the use of poll taxes in state and local elections
Covered jurisdictions are being required to obtain "preclearance" from either the District Court for DC or the U.S. Attorney General for any new voting practices
The Act is being enforced and implemented, resulting in significant increases in Black voter registration
The Voting Rights Act provisions are continuing to be enforced, despite legal challenges

Why it matters

The Act represented the most significant change in federal-state relationships regarding voting since Reconstruction
It finally enforced the 15th Amendment, which had been ratified 95 years earlier but largely ignored
The legislation had an immediate impact on voter registration, with hundreds of thousands of new Black voters registered quickly
It dramatically increased Black political participation, with most Southern states having over 50% of African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1966
The Act ended discriminatory practices that had effectively disenfranchised African Americans for generations following the Civil War

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint