The VRA of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the US that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The long title is “An act to enforce the 15th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.” The VRA was the most significant statutory change in the relationship between the federal and state governments in the area of voting since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

 

It was signed into law on August 6, 1965 by President Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement. Congress later amended the Act five times to expand protections. It sought to protect the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country especially in the South. 

The VRA was co-sponsored by Sen. Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-NT) and Sen. Minority Leader Everett Dirkson (R-Ill). Dirkson did not originally intend to support this legislation so soon after supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He changed his mind after learning about the bloody violence against marchers in Selma on Bloody Sunday.

 

In the wake of the events on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, President Johnson called on legislators to enact expansive voting rights legislation In his speech, he used the words, “We Shall Overcome,” adopting the rallying cry of the civil rights movement.  

Research shows that the Act had successfully and massively increased voter turnout and voter registrations, in particular among black people. There were other outcomes such as better schools in areas with higher black populations and greater Black representation in local offices.

 

In Shelby County v. Holder 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula as unconstitutional, reasoning that it was obsolete. In 2021 in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Supreme Court reinterpreted Section 2, substantially weakening the VRA.

 

Every day, the freedom to vote is under attack. Since the Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Voting Rights Act (VRA), at least twenty-nine states have passed ninety-four laws that make it harder to vote, with the burden falling hardest on Black voters and other voters of color. 

 

A fully restored VRA is necessary to defend our democracy and protect the freedom to vote. That is why the League of Women Voters supports the reintroduction of HR14 and S4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, vital legislation that is needed to fully restore and modernize the VRA and ensure that discriminatory voting policies are stopped in their tracks.

 

 

Tell your members of Congress to protect the freedom to vote and support the passage of the JLVRAA. Equality — and our democracy — cannot wait.