US Voting Rights Act,1965

The Voting Rights Act of 1965  is a landmark piece of National Legislation in the USA that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the USA

The Act is widely considered a landmark in civil-rights legislation.The Act established extensive federal oversight of elections administration, providing that states with a history of discriminatory voting practices (so-called ''covered jurisdictions'') could not implement any change affecting voting without first obtaining the approval of the Dept.of Justice, a process known as preclearance.

Following the 1964 election, a variety of civil rights organizations banded together to push for the passage of legislation that would ensure black voting rights once and for all.

President Lyndon B Johnson, in a dramatic joint-session address, called upon Congress to enact a strong voting rights bill. Johnson's administration drafted a bill intended to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments, aiming to eliminate various previously legal strategies to prevent blacks and other minorities from voting.

The Act was sent to Congress by President Johnson on March 17, 1965.

The bill passed the Senate on May 26, 1965, by a vote of 77 to 19.

The House was slower to give its approval. After five weeks of debate, it was finally passed on July 9. After differences between the two bills were resolved in conference, the House passed the Conference Report on August 3, the Senate on August 4.

On August 6, President Johnson signed the Act into law with Martine Luther King Jr.,Rosa Parks and other civil rights leaders in attendance.

 

Some temporary sections of the Voting Rights Act (none involving the outlawing of literacy tests, which are permanently banned)have been renewed 4 times  in 1970, 1975, 1982, and 2006