Definition of Voting

1. The right to vote; especially the right of a common shareholder to vote in person or by
proxy on the affairs of a company.
2. A formal expression of opinion or choice, either positive or negative, made by an
individual or body of individuals.

Events prior to act of 1965

● There was a Civil Rights movement in the 1950's - 1960's in which the African
Americans fought for more rights.

● The Civil Rights Act in 1964 allowed African Americans to gain some of the
American rights of which they lacked.

● Martin Luther King Jr. organized many demonstrations for voting rights for the
African Americans.

● In order for African Americans to vote they had to pay a poll tax, do a literacy test, &
other bureaucratic impediments.

15th Amendment.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law to enforce the fifteenth amendment. The goal of the
law was to end discrimination that blacks faced at the voting polls, like literacy tests, poll
taxes, and physical violence.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory
voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African
Americans in the U.S.
The Act prohibits states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or
standard, practice, or procedure to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United
States to vote on account of race or color.

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.

Section 2 of the Act, which closely followed the language of the 15th amendment, applied a
nationwide prohibition against the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on the literacy
tests on a nationwide basis.
History of the Act
The Act was sent to Congress by President Johnson on March 17, 1965. The bill passed the
Senate on May 26, 1965 (after a successful cloture vote on March 23), by a vote of
seventy-seven to nineteen. 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 Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa
Parks, and other civil rights leaders in attendance.

Separation of Powers: Foundations

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a good example of the United States' separation of power.
President Johnson asked Congress to pass a law that would ban tactics used to turn away
black voters. Congress later passed the Voting Rights Act, and President Johnson signed it
into law. This connects to the separation of powers because although President Johnson
wanted to pass a law like the Voting Rights Act, he was unable to do so since passing laws is
not a role delegated to the presidency.

What resulted because of this act?

Because of this act there were many marches for equality where some people faced
imprisonment.
The African Americans slowly began to gain their voting rights .
African Americans no longer had to do poll taxes, literacy tests, or other bureaucratic
impediments in order to vote.
Between 1965 and 1990 the number of African American state legislators & members of
congress went from 2 to 160.