"The Voting Rights Act (VRA) is one of the most significant pieces of legislation in our nation’s history. It cleared the way for Black, brown, Asian American, and Native Voters to vote free from discrimination and established several protective provisions that were originally set to expire in 1970...

The 1975 reauthorization of the VRA introduced Section 203, which expanded the Act’s coverage to citizens who needed language assistance. Congress identified a long history of education discrimination against language minority populations, leading to “high illiteracy and low voting participation” rates."

Empowering Voters Across Languages with Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act
LWVUS Blog / Last Updated: September 28, 2026