Long title | An act to enforce the fifteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes. |
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Acronyms (colloquial) | VRA |
Nicknames | Voting Rights |
Enacted by | the 89th United States Congress |
Effective | August 6, 1965 |
Citations | |
Public law | 89-110 |
Statutes at Large | 79 Stat. 437 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 52—Voting and Elections |
U.S.C. sections created |
52 U.S.C. § 10101 |
Legislative history | |
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Major amendments | |
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United States Supreme Court cases | |
South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966) Katzenbach v. Morgan (1966) Allen v. State Board of Elections (1969) Oregon v. Mitchell (1970) Beer v. United States (1976) City of Rome v. United States (1980) City of Mobile v. Bolden (1980) Thornburg v. Gingles (1986) Growe v. Emison (1993) Voinovich v. Quilter (1993) Shaw v. Reno (1993) Holder v. Hall (1994) Johnson v. De Grandy (1994) Miller v. Johnson (1995) Bush v. Vera (1996) Lopez v. Monterey County (1999) Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board (2000) Georgia v. Ashcroft (2003) League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006) Bartlett v. Strickland (2009) Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder (2009) Shelby County v. Holder (2013) |
52 U.S.C. § 10101
52 U.S.C. §§ 10301–10314
52 U.S.C. §§ 10501–10508
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act secured voting rights for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.