What are the key details for Voting Rights Act?
It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. This “act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution” was signed into law 95 years after the amendment was ratified.
Where did voting rights come from?
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants full citizenship rights, including voting rights, to all men born or naturalized in the United States. The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution eliminates racial barriers to voting; however, many states continue practicing voter discrimination.
What did the Voting Rights Act of 1970 do?
The 1970 amendments included a nationwide ban on literacy tests and reduced residency requirements [link to tools of suppression] that could be applied in presidential elections. The 1970 reauthorization also reduced the voting age [link to AGE subpage] in national elections from 21 to 18 years of age.
When was the Voting Rights Act passed?
Aug. 6, 1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law on Aug. 6, 1965.
When was the 19th Amendment ratified?
August 1920
The Senate debated what came to be known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment periodically for more than four decades. Approved by the Senate on June 4, 1919, and ratified in August 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment marked one stage in women’s long fight for political equality.
How did the 19th Amendment expand voting rights?
In 1919, the 19th Amendment, which stated that “the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. Eight days later, the 19th Amendment took effect.
Is voting rights in the Constitution?
Several constitutional amendments (the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth specifically) require that voting rights of U.S. citizens cannot be abridged on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age (18 and older); the constitution as originally written did not establish any such rights …