View source for Voting Rights Act of 1965

{{Short description|US federal legislation that prohibits racial discrimination in voting}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle = Voting Rights Act of 1965
| longtitle = An Act to enforce the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], and for other purposes.
| enacted by = 89th
| effective date = August 7, 1965
| cite public law = {{USStatute|89|110}}
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|79|437}}
| leghisturl = https://www.congress.gov/89/crecb/1965/10/22/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt22-2.pdf
| introducedin = [[United States Senate|Senate]]
| introducedbill = S. 1564
| introducedby = [[Mike Mansfield]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[Montana|MT]])
| introduceddate = March 17, 1965
| committees = [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary]]
| passedbody1 = [[United States Senate|Senate]]
| passeddate1 = May 26, 1965
| passedvote1 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78 77–19]
| passedbody2 = [[United States House of Representatives|House]] with amendment
| passeddate2 = July 9, 1965
| passedvote2 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87 333–85]
| passedbody3 = [[United States House of Representatives|House]]
| conferencedate = July 29, 1965
| passeddate3 = August 3, 1965
| passedvote3 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h107 328–74]
| passedbody4 = [[United States Senate|Senate]]
| passeddate4 = August 4, 1965
| passedvote4 = [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s178 79–18]
| signedpresident = [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
| signeddate = August 6, 1965
| unsignedpresident =
| vetoedpresident =
| amendments = * Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970<ref name=1970am>{{cite web|title=Public Law 91-285|date=June 22, 1970|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-84/STATUTE-84-Pg314-2/content-detail.html|access-date=April 19, 2014|archive-date=January 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118042329/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-84/STATUTE-84-Pg314-2/content-detail.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Voting Rights Act of 1965, Amendments of 1975<ref name=1975am>{{cite web |title=Public Law 94-73 |date=August 6, 1975 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-89/STATUTE-89-Pg400/content-detail.html |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=March 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330042326/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-89/STATUTE-89-Pg400/content-detail.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982<ref name=1982am>{{cite web |title=Public Law 97-205 |date=June 29, 1982 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-96/STATUTE-96-Pg131/content-detail.html |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924043701/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-96/STATUTE-96-Pg131/content-detail.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Voting Rights Language Assistance Act of 1992<ref name=1992am>{{cite web|title=Public Law 102-344 |date=August 26, 1992 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-106/STATUTE-106-Pg921/content-detail.html |access-date=April 19, 2014}}</ref>
* Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, César E. Chávez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velásquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006<ref name=2006am>{{cite web|title=Public Law 109-246 |date=July 27, 2006 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-120/STATUTE-120-Pg577/content-detail.html |access-date=April 19, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2006am08>{{cite web |title=Public Law 110-258 |date=July 1, 2008 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-122/STATUTE-122-Pg2428/content-detail.html |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=January 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113013239/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-122/STATUTE-122-Pg2428/content-detail.html |url-status=live }} (amending short title of P.L. 109-246)</ref>
| SCOTUS cases = {{Collapsible list|framestyle=line-height:1em|''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'', {{ussc|383|301|1966}}|''[[Katzenbach v. Morgan]]'', {{ussc|384|641|1966}}|''[[Cardona v. Power]]'', {{ussc|384|672|1966}}|''[[Allen v. State Bd. of Elections|Allen v. State Board of Elections]]'', {{ussc|393|544|1969}}|''[[Gaston County v. United States]]'', {{ussc|395|285|1969}}|''[[Oregon v. Mitchell]]'', {{ussc|400|112|1970}}|''[[City of Richmond v. United States]]'', {{ussc|422|358|1975}}|''[[East Carroll Parish Sch. Bd. v. Marshall]]'', {{ussc|424|636|1976}}|''Beer v. United States'', {{ussc|425|130|1976}}|''[[United Jewish Organizations v. Carey]]'', {{ussc|430|144|1977}}|''[[Mobile v. Bolden]]'', {{ussc|446|55|1980}}|''City of Rome v. United States'', {{ussc|446|156|1980}}|''[[Escambia County v. McMillan]]'', {{ussc|466|48|1984}}|''[[Mississippi Republican Executive Committee v. Brooks]]'', {{ussc|469|1002|1984}}|''[[NAACP v. Hampton County Election Comm'n]]'', {{ussc|470|166|1985}}|''[[Thornburg v. Gingles]]'', {{ussc|478|30|1986}}|''[[Clark v. Roemer]]'', {{ussc|500|646|1991}}|''[[Chisom v. Roemer]]'', {{ussc|501|380|1991}}|''[[Houston Lawyers' Association v. Attorney General of Texas]]'', {{ussc|501|419|1991}}|''[[Presley v. Etowah County Comm'n]]'', {{ussc|502|491|1992}}|''[[Growe v. Emison]]'', {{ussc|507|25|1993}}|''[[Voinovich v. Quilter]]'', {{ussc|507|146|1993}}|''[[Shaw v. Reno]]'', {{ussc|509|630|1993}}|''[[Holder v. Hall]]'', {{ussc|512|874|1994}}|''[[Johnson v. De Grandy]]'', {{ussc|512|997|1994}}|''[[Miller v. Johnson]]'', {{ussc|515|900|1995}}|''[[Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia]]'', {{ussc|517|186|1996}}|''[[Shaw v. Hunt]]'', {{ussc|517|899|1996}}|''[[Bush v. Vera]]'', {{ussc|517|952|1996}}|''[[Lopez v. Monterey County]]'', {{ussc|519|9|1996}}|''[[Young v. Fordice]]'', {{ussc|520|273|1997}}|''[[Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board]]'', {{ussc|520|471|1997}}|''[[Abrams v. Johnson]]'', {{ussc|521|74|1997}}|''[[Foreman v. Dallas County]]'', {{ussc|521|979|1997}}|''[[City of Monroe v. United States]]'', {{ussc|522|34|1997}}|''[[Texas v. United States (1998)|Texas v. United States]]'', {{ussc|523|296|1998}}|''[[Lopez v. Monterey County]]'', {{ussc|525|266|1999}}|''[[Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board]]'', {{ussc|528|320|2000}}|''[[Branch v. Smith]]'', {{ussc|538|254|2003}}|''[[Georgia v. Ashcroft]]'', {{ussc|539|461|2003}}|''[[League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry]]'', {{ussc|548|399|2006}}|''[[Riley v. Kennedy]]'', {{ussc|553|406|2008}}|''[[Bartlett v. Strickland]]'', {{ussc|556|1|2009}}|''[[Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder]]'', {{ussc|557|193|2009}}|''[[Perry v. Perez]]'', {{ussc|565|388|2012}}|''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'', {{ussc|570|529|2013}}|''[[Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama]]'', {{ussc|docket=13-895|volume=575|year=2015}}|''[[Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Bd. of Elections]]'', {{ussc|docket=15-680|volume=580|year=2017}}|''[[Cooper v. Harris]]'', {{ussc|docket=15-1262|volume=581|year=2017}}|''[[North Carolina v. Covington (2017)|North Carolina v. Covington]]'', {{ussc|docket=16-1023|volume=581|year=2017}}|''[[Abbott v. Perez]]'', {{ussc|docket=17-586|volume=585|year=2018}}|''[[North Carolina v. Covington (2018)|North Carolina v. Covington]]'', {{ussc|docket=17-1364|volume=585|year=2018}}|''[[Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee]]'', {{ussc|docket=19-1257|volume=594|year=2021}}|''[[Allen v. Milligan]]'', {{ussc|docket=21-1086|volume=599|year=2023}}}}
| colloquialacronym = VRA
| nickname = Voting Rights Act
| acts amended =
| title amended = [[Title 52 of the United States Code|Title 52—Voting and Elections]]
| sections created = {{plainlist|
* {{usc|52|10101}}
* {{usc|52|10301|10314}}
* {{usc|52|10501|10508}}
* {{usc|52|10701|10702}}}}
| sections amended =
}}
{{CRM in Washington D.C.}}

The '''Voting Rights Act of 1965''' is a landmark [[Law of the United States|U.S. federal statute]] that prohibits [[racial discrimination]] in [[voting]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-06 |title=Voting Rights Act (1965) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref><ref name=DOJvra65>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_b.php|title=History of Federal Voting Rights Laws: The Voting Rights Act of 1965|publisher=United States Department of Justice|date=July 28, 2017|access-date=January 6, 2021|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210106161217/https://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Voting Rights Act|url=http://nvrmi.com/?page_id=41|publisher=National Voting Rights Museum and Institute|access-date=May 23, 2014|archive-date=April 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414034852/http://nvrmi.com/?page_id=41|url-status=live}}</ref> It was signed into law by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] during the height of the [[civil rights movement]] on August 6, 1965. [[United States Congress|Congress]] later amended the Act five times to expand its protections.<ref name=DOJvra65 /> Designed to enforce [[Voting rights in the United States|voting rights]] protected by the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendments]] to the [[United States Constitution]], the Act sought to secure the right to vote for [[Race and ethnicity in the United States|racial minorities]] throughout the country, especially in the [[Southern United States|South]]. According to the [[U.S. Department of Justice]], the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal [[civil rights]] legislation ever enacted.<ref name=DOJintro>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{cite web |title=Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws: The Effect of the Voting Rights Act |url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_c.php |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |access-date=January 8, 2014 |date=June 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210827071612/https://www.justice.gov/crt/introduction-federal-voting-rights-laws-0 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |url-status=live }}}}</ref> The [[National Archives and Records Administration]] stated: "The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most significant statutory change in the relationship between the [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] and [[State governments of the United States|state governments]] in the area of voting since the [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction period]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]".<ref name="NARA20220208VRA1965" />

The act contains numerous provisions that regulate elections. Its "general provisions" provide nationwide protections for voting rights. Section 2 is a general provision that prohibits state and local government from imposing any rule that "results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color" or membership in a language minority group.<ref name=2021supremecourt>{{Cite web|date=July 1, 2021|title=Brnovich, Attorney General of Arizona, et al. v. Democratic National Committee et al.|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf|access-date=July 7, 2021|archive-date=May 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528202220/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Other provisions outlaw [[literacy test]]s and similar devices that were historically used to disenfranchise racial minorities. The act also contains "special provisions" that apply only to certain jurisdictions. A core special provision is the Section 5 preclearance requirement, which prohibits certain jurisdictions from implementing any change affecting voting without first receiving confirmation from the [[U.S. attorney general]] or the [[U.S. District Court for D.C.]] that the change does not discriminate against protected minorities.<ref name="DOJsection5">{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/about.php |title=About Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |access-date=April 21, 2014}}</ref> Another special provision requires jurisdictions containing significant language minority populations to provide [[bilingual]] ballots and other election materials.

Section 5 and most other special provisions applied to jurisdictions encompassed by the "coverage formula" prescribed in Section 4(b). The coverage formula was originally designed to encompass jurisdictions that engaged in egregious voting discrimination in 1965, and Congress updated the formula in 1970 and 1975. In ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' (2013), the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] [[Judicial review in the United States|struck down]] the coverage formula as unconstitutional, reasoning that it was obsolete.<ref name="shelby">''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'', {{ussc|link=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/570/12-96/|volume=570|year=2014|docket=12–96}}</ref> The court did not strike down Section 5, but without a coverage formula, Section 5 is unenforceable.<ref name="scotusblogplain">{{cite web|last=Howe|first=Amy|title=Details on Shelby County v. Holder: In Plain English|work=SCOTUSBlog|url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/06/details-on-shelby-county-v-holder-in-plain-english|date=June 25, 2013|access-date=July 1, 2013|archive-date=January 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115215529/https://www.scotusblog.com/2013/06/details-on-shelby-county-v-holder-in-plain-english/|url-status=live}}</ref> The jurisdictions which had previously been covered by the coverage formula massively increased the rate of voter registration purges after the Shelby decision.<ref name="Feder-2020" />

In 2021, the ''[[Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee]]'' Supreme Court ruling reinterpreted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, substantially weakening it.<ref name=section2less>{{Cite web|title=The Supreme Court Deals A New Blow To Voting Rights, Upholding Arizona Restrictions|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/01/998758022/the-supreme-court-upheld-upholds-arizona-measures-that-restrict-voting|date=July 1, 2021|access-date=September 7, 2021|website=NPR|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226123935/https://www.npr.org/2021/07/01/998758022/the-supreme-court-upheld-upholds-arizona-measures-that-restrict-voting?t=1640522230054|archive-date=December 26, 2021}}</ref><ref name=2021supremecourt /> The ruling interpreted the "totality of circumstances" language of Section 2 to mean that it does not generally prohibit voting rules that have disparate impact on the groups that it sought to protect, including a rule blocked under Section 5 before the Court inactivated that section in ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]''.<ref name=section2less /><ref name=2021supremecourt /> In particular, the ruling held that fears of election fraud could justify such rules without evidence that any such fraud had occurred in the past or that the new rule would make elections safer.<ref name=2021supremecourt />

Research showed that the Act had successfully and massively increased voter turnout and voter registrations, in particular among black people.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bernini|first1=Andrea|last2=Facchini|first2=Giovanni|last3=Tabellini|first3=Marco|last4=Testa|first4=Cecilia|date=July 2023|title=Black Empowerment and White Mobilization: The Effects of the Voting Rights Act|journal=National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series |article-number=31425|doi=10.3386/w31425|doi-access=free|hdl=10419/278918|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Fresh-2018" /><ref name="Ang-2019" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=P. R. |last2=Marschall |first2=M. J. |last3=Ruhil |first3=A. V. S. |date=2013 |title=Are We There Yet? The Voting Rights Act and Black Representation on City Councils, 1981–2006 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022381613000972 |journal=The Journal of Politics |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=993–1008 | doi=10.1017/s0022381613000972|hdl=1911/71875 |s2cid=62823836 |hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Act has also been linked to concrete outcomes, such as greater public goods provision (such as public education) for areas with higher black population shares, more members of Congress who vote for civil rights-related legislation, and greater black representation in local offices.<ref name="Schuit-2016" /><ref name="Cascio-2014" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bernini|first1=Andrea|last2=Facchini|first2=Giovanni|last3=Testa|first3=Cecilia|date=April 2023|title=Race, Representation, and Local Governments in the US South: The Effect of the Voting Rights Act|journal=Journal of Political Economy|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago |language=en|volume=131|issue=4|pages=994–1056|doi=10.1086/722092|doi-access=free|s2cid=158339446|issn=0022-3808}}</ref>

==Background==
{{further|Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction era}}
As initially ratified, the [[United States Constitution]] granted each state complete discretion to determine voter qualifications for its residents.<ref>United States Constitution art. I, sec. 2, cl. 1</ref><ref name="Bending">{{cite book|last=May|first=Gary|title=Bending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-465-01846-8|date=April 9, 2013|edition=Kindle|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bendingtowardjus0000mayg}}</ref>{{rp|50}} After the [[Civil War (United States)|Civil War]], the three [[Reconstruction Amendments]] were ratified and limited this discretion. The [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] (1865) prohibits [[slavery in the United States|slavery]] "except as a punishment for crime"; the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] (1868) grants [[citizenship in the United States|citizenship]] to anyone "born or naturalized in the United States" and guarantees every person [[Due Process Clause|due process]] and [[Equal Protection Clause|equal protection]] rights; and the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] (1870) provides that "[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." These Amendments also empower [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] to [[Congressional power of enforcement|enforce]] their provisions through "appropriate legislation".<ref>{{cite web|title=Landmark Legislation: Thirteenth, Fourteenth, & Fifteenth Amendments|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilWarAmendments.htm|publisher=United States Senate|access-date=June 25, 2015|archive-date=December 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230082340/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilWarAmendments.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

To enforce the Reconstruction Amendments, Congress passed the [[Enforcement Acts]] in the 1870s. The acts criminalized the obstruction of a citizen's [[voting rights]] and provided for federal supervision of the electoral process, including [[voter registration]].<ref name=Carolina>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'', {{ussc|383|301|1966}}}}</ref>{{rp|310}} However, in 1875 the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] struck down parts of the legislation as unconstitutional in ''[[United States v. Cruikshank]]'' and ''[[United States v. Reese]]''.<ref name=democracy>{{cite book|last1=Issacharoff|first1=Samuel|last2=Karlan|first2=Pamela S.|last3=Pildes|first3=Richard H.|title=The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process|year=2012|publisher=Foundation Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-1-59941-935-0|edition=4th}}</ref>{{rp|97}} After the [[Reconstruction era]] ended in 1877, enforcement of these laws became erratic, and in 1894, Congress repealed most of their provisions.<ref name=Carolina />{{rp|310}}

Southern states generally sought to disenfranchise racial minorities during and after Reconstruction. From 1868 to 1888, [[electoral fraud]] and violence throughout the South suppressed the [[African-American]] vote.<ref name="Direct">{{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Jones|first2=Jeffery|title=Race, Voting Rights, and Segregation: Direct Disenfranchisement|work=The Geography of Race in the United States|url=http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/disenfranchise1.htm|date=September 2002|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=August 3, 2013|archive-date=July 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725011812/http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/disenfranchise1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1888 to 1908, Southern states legalized disenfranchisement by enacting [[Jim Crow laws]]; they amended their [[State constitution (United States)|constitutions]] and passed legislation to impose various voting restrictions, including [[literacy test]]s, [[Poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]], property-ownership requirements, moral character tests, requirements that voter registration applicants interpret particular documents, and [[grandfather clause]]s that allowed otherwise-ineligible persons to vote if their grandfathers voted (which excluded many African Americans whose grandfathers had been slaves or otherwise ineligible).<ref name="Carolina" /><ref name="Direct" /> During this period, the Supreme Court generally upheld efforts to discriminate against racial minorities. In ''[[Giles v. Harris]]'' (1903), the court held that regardless of the Fifteenth Amendment, the [[federal judiciary of the United States|judiciary]] did not have the remedial power to force states to register racial minorities to vote.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|100}}

[[File:Bloody Sunday-Alabama police attack.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.1|alt=refer to caption|Alabama police in 1965 attack voting rights marchers on "[[Selma to Montgomery marches#"Bloody Sunday" events|Bloody Sunday]]", the first of the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]].]]
Prior to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 there were several efforts to stop the disenfranchisement of black voters by Southern states.<ref name=DOJvra65 /> Besides the above-mentioned literacy tests and poll taxes, other bureaucratic restrictions were used to deny them the right to vote. African Americans also "risked harassment, intimidation, economic reprisals, and physical violence when they tried to register or vote. As a result, very few African Americans were registered voters, and they had very little, if any, political power, either locally or nationally."<ref>{{cite web |title=Voting Rights Act (1965) |url=https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100 |publisher=Our Documents |access-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925101516/https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100 |archive-date=September 25, 2020}}</ref> In the 1950s the [[Civil Rights Movement]] increased pressure on the [[United States federal government|federal government]] to protect the voting rights of racial minorities. In 1957, Congress passed the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction: the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]]. This legislation authorized the attorney general to sue for [[injunctive relief]] on behalf of persons whose Fifteenth Amendment rights were denied, created the [[United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division|Civil Rights Division]] within the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] to enforce civil rights through litigation, and created the [[Commission on Civil Rights]] to investigate voting rights deprivations. Further protections were enacted in the [[Civil Rights Act of 1960]], which allowed federal courts to appoint referees to conduct voter registration in jurisdictions that engaged in voting discrimination against racial minorities.<ref name="DOJintro" />

Although these acts helped empower courts to remedy violations of federal voting rights, strict legal standards made it difficult for the Department of Justice to successfully pursue litigation. For example, to win a discrimination lawsuit against a state that maintained a literacy test, the department needed to prove that the rejected voter-registration applications of racial minorities were comparable to the accepted applications of whites. This involved comparing thousands of applications in each of the state's counties in a process that could last months. The department's efforts were further hampered by resistance from local election officials, who would claim to have misplaced the voter registration records of racial minorities, remove registered racial minorities from the [[electoral roll]]s, and resign so that voter registration ceased. Moreover, the department often needed to appeal lawsuits several times before the judiciary provided relief because many federal [[United States district court|district court]] judges opposed racial minority suffrage. Thus, between 1957 and 1964, the African-American voter registration rate in the South increased only marginally even though the department litigated 71 voting rights lawsuits.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|514}} Efforts to stop the disfranchisement by the Southern states had achieved only modest success overall and in some areas had proved almost entirely ineffectual, because the "Department of Justice's efforts to eliminate discriminatory election practices by litigation on a case-by-case basis had been unsuccessful in opening up the registration process; as soon as one discriminatory practice or procedure was proven to be unconstitutional and enjoined, a new one would be substituted in its place and litigation would have to commence anew."<ref name=DOJvra65 />

Congress responded to rampant discrimination against racial minorities in [[public accommodations]] and [[government services]] by passing the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. The act included some voting rights protections; it required registrars to equally administer literacy tests in writing to each voter and to accept applications that contained minor errors, and it created a [[rebuttable presumption]] that persons with a sixth-grade education were sufficiently literate to vote.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|97}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Law 88-352|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/CivilRightsActOf1964.pdf|location=Title I|access-date=October 19, 2013|archive-date=May 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503172510/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/CivilRightsActOf1964.pd|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Major Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964|url=http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64text.htm|work=CongressLink|publisher=Dirksen Congressional Center|
archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206191323/http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64text.htm|archive-date=December 6, 2014|access-date=March 26, 2015}}</ref> However, despite lobbying from civil rights leaders, the Act did not prohibit most forms of voting discrimination.<ref name=eyes>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Juan|title=Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954–1965|year=2002|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-14-009653-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/eyesonprizeameri00will}}</ref>{{rp|253}} [[President of the United States|President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] recognized this, and shortly after the 1964 elections in which [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] gained overwhelming majorities in both chambers of Congress, he privately instructed Attorney General [[Nicholas Katzenbach]] to draft "the goddamndest, toughest voting rights act that you can".<ref name=Bending />{{rp|48–50}} However, Johnson did not publicly push for the legislation at the time; his advisers warned him of political costs for vigorously pursuing a voting rights bill so soon after Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Johnson was concerned that championing voting rights would endanger his [[Great Society]] reforms by angering [[Southern Democrats]] in Congress.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|47–48, 50–52}}
[[File:Fannie Lou Hamer 1964-08-22.jpg|alt=Fannie Lou Hamer is a Black woman wearing a floral dress. She is mid-speaking at a convention. She is seated. The photo is in black and white.|thumb|[[Fannie Lou Hamer]], founder of Freedom Farm Cooperative, speaks on behalf of SNCC regarding African-American rights to vote.]]
Following the 1964 elections, civil rights organizations such as the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC) and the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC) pushed for federal action to protect the voting rights of racial minorities.<ref name=eyes />{{rp|254–255}} Their efforts culminated in protests in [[Alabama]], particularly in the city of [[Selma, Alabama|Selma]], where County Sheriff [[Jim Clark (sheriff)|Jim Clark]]'s police force violently resisted African-American voter registration efforts. Speaking about the voting rights push in Selma, [[James Forman]] of SNCC said: "Our strategy, as usual, was to force the U.S. government to intervene in case there were arrests—and if they did not intervene, that inaction would once again prove the government was not on our side and thus intensify the development of a mass consciousness among blacks. Our slogan for this drive was '[[One Man, One Vote]].{{'"}}<ref name=eyes/>{{rp|255}}

In January 1965, [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], [[James Bevel]],<ref name=Garrow>{{cite book|editor1-last=Garrow|editor1-first=David J.|title=We Shall Overcome: The Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s|year=1989|publisher=Carlson Publishing|last=Kryn|first=Randy|chapter=James L. Bevel: The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement|location=Brooklyn, NY|isbn=978-0-926019-02-7}}</ref><ref name=Kryn>{{cite web|last=Kryn|first=Randy|title=Movement Revision Research Summary Regarding James Bevel|url=http://cfm40.middlebury.edu/node/287|work=Chicago Freedom Movement|publisher=Middlebury College|access-date=April 7, 2014|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174523/http://cfm40.middlebury.edu/node/287|url-status=dead}}</ref> and other civil rights leaders organized several [[Selma to Montgomery marches|peaceful demonstrations in Selma]], which were violently attacked by police and white counter-protesters. Throughout January and February, these protests received national media coverage and drew attention to the issue of voting rights. King and other demonstrators were arrested during a march on February 1 for violating an anti-parade [[local ordinance|ordinance]]; this inspired similar marches in the following days, causing hundreds more to be arrested.<ref name=eyes />{{rp|259–261}} On February 4, civil rights leader [[Malcolm X]] gave a militant speech in Selma in which he said that many African Americans did not support King's nonviolent approach;<ref name=eyes />{{rp|262}} he later privately said that he wanted to frighten whites into supporting King.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|69}} The next day, King was released and a letter he wrote addressing voting rights, "Letter From A Selma Jail", appeared in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name=eyes />{{rp|262}}

With increasing national attention focused on Selma and voting rights, President Johnson reversed his decision to delay voting rights legislation. On February 6, he announced he would send a proposal to Congress.<ref name="Bending" />{{rp|69}} Johnson did not reveal the proposal's content or disclose when it would come before Congress.<ref name="eyes" />{{rp|264}}

On February 18 in [[Marion, Alabama]], state troopers violently broke up a nighttime voting-rights march during which officer [[James Bonard Fowler]] shot and killed young African-American protester [[Jimmie Lee Jackson]], who was unarmed and protecting his mother.<ref name=eyes />{{rp|265}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Fleming|first=John|title=The Death of Jimmie Lee Jackson|url=http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/2746471/article-The-Death-of-Jimmie-Lee-Jackson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113092652/http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/2746471/article-The-Death-of-Jimmie-Lee-Jackson|archive-date=January 13, 2014|newspaper=The Anniston Star|date=March 6, 2005|access-date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> Spurred by this event, and at the initiation of Bevel,<ref name=eyes />{{rp|267}}<ref name=Garrow /><ref name=Kryn /><ref>{{cite book|last=Fager|first=Charles|title=Selma, 1965: The March That Changed the South|date=July 1985|publisher=Beacon Press|location=Boston, MA|isbn=978-0-8070-0405-0|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|81–86}} on March 7 SCLC and SNCC began the first of the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]], in which Selma residents intended to march to Alabama's capital, [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]], to highlight voting rights issues and present Governor [[George Wallace]] with their grievances. On the first march, demonstrators were stopped by state and county police on horseback at the [[Edmund Pettus Bridge]] near Selma. The police shot [[tear gas]] into the crowd and trampled protesters. Televised footage of the scene, which became known as [[Selma to Montgomery marches#"Bloody Sunday" events|"Bloody Sunday"]], generated outrage across the country.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|515}} A second march was held on March 9, which became known as [[Selma to Montgomery marches#Second march: "Turnaround Tuesday"|"Turnaround Tuesday"]]. That evening, three white [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian]] ministers who participated in the march were attacked on the street and beaten with clubs by four [[Ku Klux Klan]] members.<ref name="The March to Montgomery">{{Cite web |title=Civil Rights Movement History & Timeline (Selma & the March to Montgomery) |url=https://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis65.htm |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=www.crmvet.org}}</ref> The worst injured was Reverend [[James Reeb]] from [[Boston]], who died on Thursday, March 11.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/witnesses/reeb.htm |title=James Reeb |first=Neil |last=Baumgartner |work=Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia |publisher=[[Ferris State University]] |date=December 2012 |access-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021022054/https://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/witnesses/reeb.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the wake of the events in Selma, President Johnson, addressing a televised joint session of Congress on March 15, 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.<ref name="eyes" />{{rp|278}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Wicker|first=Tom|title=Johnson Urges Congress at Joint Session to Pass Law Insuring Negro Vote|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0315.html|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 15, 1965|archive-date=December 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225113816/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0315.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced in Congress two days later while civil rights leaders, now under the protection of federal troops, led a march of 25,000 people from Selma to Montgomery.<ref name="democracy" />{{rp|516}}<ref name="eyes" />{{rp|279, 282}}

==Legislative history==
Efforts to eliminate discriminatory election practices by litigation on a case-by-case basis by the United States Department of Justice had been unsuccessful and existing federal anti-discrimination laws were not sufficient to overcome the resistance by state officials to enforcement of the 15th Amendment. Against this backdrop Congress came to the conclusion that a new comprehensive federal bill was necessary to break the grip of state disfranchisement.<ref name=DOJvra65 /> The United States Supreme Court explained this in ''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'' (1966) with the following words:

{{blockquote|In recent years, Congress has repeatedly tried to cope with the problem by facilitating case-by-case litigation against voting discrimination. The [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]] authorized the Attorney General to seek injunctions against public and private interference with the right to vote on racial grounds. Perfecting amendments in the [[Civil Rights Act of 1960]] permitted the joinder of States as parties defendant, gave the Attorney General access to local voting records, and authorized courts to register voters in areas of systematic discrimination. [[Civil Rights Act of 1964#Title I—voting rights|Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]] expedited the hearing of voting cases before three-judge courts and outlawed some of the tactics used to disqualify Negroes from voting in federal elections. Despite the earnest efforts of the Justice Department and of many federal judges, these new laws have done little to cure the problem of voting discrimination. [...] The previous legislation has proved ineffective for a number of reasons. Voting suits are unusually onerous to prepare, sometimes requiring as many as 6,000 man-hours spent combing through registration records in preparation for trial. Litigation has been exceedingly slow, in part because of the ample opportunities for delay afforded voting officials and others involved in the proceedings. Even when favorable decisions have finally been obtained, some of the States affected have merely switched to discriminatory devices not covered by the federal decrees, or have enacted difficult new tests designed to prolong the existing disparity between white and Negro registration. Alternatively, certain local officials have defied and evaded court orders or have simply closed their registration offices to freeze the voting rolls. The provision of the 1960 law authorizing registration by federal officers has had little impact on local maladministration, because of its procedural complexities.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301 (1966), at 313 and 314. Footnotes omitted. |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/383/301/ |publisher=Justia US Supreme Court Center |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=March 7, 1966 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102222108/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/383/301/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In ''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'' (1966) the Supreme Court also held that Congress had the power to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 under its [[Congressional power of enforcement|Enforcement Powers]] stemming from the Fifteenth Amendment:

{{blockquote|Congress exercised its authority under the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] in an inventive manner when it enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. First: the measure prescribes remedies for voting discrimination which go into effect without any need for prior adjudication. This was clearly a legitimate response to the problem, for which there is ample precedent under other constitutional provisions. ''See [[Katzenbach v. McClung]],'' 379 U. S. 294, 379 U. S. 302–304; ''[[United States v. Darby Lumber Co.|United States v. Darby]], 312 U. S. 100,'' 312 U. S. 120–121. Congress had found that case-by-case litigation was inadequate to combat widespread and persistent discrimination in voting, because of the inordinate amount of time and energy required to overcome the obstructionist tactics invariably encountered in these lawsuits. After enduring nearly a century of systematic resistance to the Fifteenth Amendment, Congress might well decide to shift the advantage of time and inertia from the perpetrators of the evil to its victims. [...] Second: the Act intentionally confines these remedies to a small number of States and political subdivisions which, in most instances, were familiar to Congress by name. This, too, was a permissible method of dealing with the problem. Congress had learned that substantial voting discrimination presently occurs in certain sections of the country, and it knew no way of accurately forecasting whether the evil might spread elsewhere in the future. In acceptable legislative fashion, Congress chose to limit its attention to the geographic areas where immediate action seemed necessary. ''See [[McGowan v. Maryland]],'' 366 U. S. 420, 366 U. S. 427; ''Salsburg v. Maryland,'' 346 U. S. 545, 346 U. S. 550–554. The doctrine of the equality of States, invoked by South Carolina, does not bar this approach, for that doctrine applies only to [[Admission to the Union|the terms upon which States are admitted to the Union]], and not to the remedies for local evils which have subsequently appeared. ''See [[Coyle v. Smith]],'' 221 U. S. 559, and cases cited therein.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301 (1966), at 327–329. Footnotes omitted. |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/383/301/ |publisher=Justia US Supreme Court Center |access-date=January 6, 2021 |date=March 7, 1966}}</ref>}}

===Original bill===
[[File:Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr. - Voting Rights Act.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|alt=refer to caption|[[President of the United States|United States President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], [[Clarence Mitchell Jr.]], [[Patricia Roberts Harris]],  and other guests at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Martha S. |title=Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All |date=2020 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |page=262}}</ref>]]

====Senate====
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced in Congress on March 17, 1965, as S. 1564, and it was jointly sponsored by Senate majority leader [[Mike Mansfield]] (D-MT) and Senate minority leader [[Everett Dirksen]] (R-IL), both of whom had worked with Attorney General Katzenbach to draft the bill's language.<ref name=congresslink>{{cite web|title=Voting Rights Act of 1965|work=The Dirksen Congressional Center|publisher=Congresslink|url=http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_votingrights_contents.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030140112/http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_votingrights_contents.htm|archive-date=October 30, 2014|access-date=March 26, 2015}}</ref> Although Democrats held two-thirds of the seats in both chambers of Congress after the [[United States Senate elections, 1964|1964 Senate elections]],<ref name=Bending />{{rp|49}} Johnson worried that Southern Democrats would [[filibuster]] the legislation because they had opposed other civil rights efforts. He enlisted Dirksen to help gain [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] support. Dirksen did not originally intend to support voting rights legislation so soon after supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but he expressed willingness to accept "revolutionary" legislation after learning about the police violence against marchers in Selma on Bloody Sunday.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|95–96}} Given Dirksen's key role in helping Katzenbach draft the legislation, it became known informally as the "Dirksenbach" bill.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|96}} After Mansfield and Dirksen introduced the bill, 64 additional senators agreed to co-sponsor it,<ref name=Bending />{{rp|150}} with a total 46 Democratic and 20 Republican co-sponsors.<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu">{{cite web|title=Voting Rights Act|publisher=The Association of Centers for the Study of Congress|url=http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/vra|access-date=May 29, 2016|archive-date=April 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420014228/http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/vra|url-status=live}}</ref>

The bill contained several special provisions that targeted certain state and local governments: a "coverage formula" that determined which jurisdictions were subject to the Act's other special provisions ("covered jurisdictions"); a "preclearance" requirement that prohibited covered jurisdictions from implementing changes to their voting procedures without first receiving approval from the U.S. attorney general or the U.S. District Court for D.C. that the changes were not discriminatory; and the suspension of "tests or devices", such as literacy tests, in covered jurisdictions. The bill also authorized the assignment of federal examiners to register voters, and of federal observers to monitor elections, to covered jurisdictions that were found to have engaged in egregious discrimination. The bill set these special provisions to expire after five years.<ref name=Carolina />{{rp|319–320}}<ref name=democracy />{{rp|520, 524}}<ref name=RevisedBailout>{{cite journal|last=Williamson|first=Richard A.|title=The 1982 Amendments to the Voting Rights Act: A Statutory Analysis of the Revised Bailout Provisions|journal=Washington University Law Review|year=1984|volume=62|issue=1|url=http://digitalcommons.law.wustl.edu/lawreview/vol62/iss1/2/|access-date=August 29, 2013|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060158/http://digitalcommons.law.wustl.edu/lawreview/vol62/iss1/2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|5–6}}

The scope of the coverage formula was a matter of contentious congressional debate. The coverage formula reached a jurisdiction if (1) the jurisdiction maintained a "test or device" on November 1, 1964, and (2) less than 50 percent of the jurisdiction's voting-age residents either were registered to vote on November 1, 1964, or cast a [[ballot]] in the November 1964 presidential election.<ref name=Carolina />{{rp|317}} This formula reached few jurisdictions outside the [[Deep South]]. To appease legislators who felt that the bill unfairly targeted Southern jurisdictions, the bill included a general prohibition on racial discrimination in voting that applied nationwide.<ref name=1982hist>{{cite journal|last1=Boyd|first1=Thomas M.|last2=Markman|first2=Stephen J.|title=The 1982 Amendments to the Voting Rights Act: A Legislative History|journal=Washington and Lee Law Review|year=1983|volume=40|issue=4|url=http://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol40/iss4/3|access-date=August 31, 2013|archive-date=June 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611061936/http://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol40/iss4/3/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1352}} The bill also included provisions allowing a covered jurisdiction to "bail out" of coverage by proving in federal court that it had not used a "test or device" for a discriminatory purpose or with a discriminatory effect during the 5 years preceding its bailout request.<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|6}} Additionally, the bill included a "bail in" provision under which federal courts could subject discriminatory non-covered jurisdictions to remedies contained in the special provisions.<ref name=3c>Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 3(c); {{uscsub|52|10302|c}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973a(c))</ref><ref name=bail-in>{{cite journal|last=Crum|first=Travis|title=The Voting Rights Act's Secret Weapon: Pocket Trigger Litigation and Dynamic Preclearance|journal=The Yale Law Journal|year=2010|volume=119|url=http://www.yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal/note/the-voting-rights-act%27s-secret-weapon:-pocket-trigger-litigation-and-dynamic-preclearance|access-date=August 27, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830171847/http://www.yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal/note/the-voting-rights-act%27s-secret-weapon:-pocket-trigger-litigation-and-dynamic-preclearance/|archive-date=August 30, 2013}}</ref>{{rp|2006–2007}}

The bill was first considered by the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]], whose chair, Senator [[James Eastland]] (D-MS), opposed the legislation with several other Southern senators on the committee. To prevent the bill from dying in committee, Mansfield proposed a [[Motion (parliamentary procedure)|motion]] to require the Judiciary Committee to report the bill out of committee by April 9, which the Senate overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 67 to 13.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|150}}<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/> During the committee's consideration of the bill, Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] (D-MA) led an effort to amend the bill to prohibit poll taxes. Although the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-fourth Amendment]]—which banned the use of poll taxes in federal elections— was ratified a year earlier, Johnson's administration and the bill's sponsors did not include a provision in the voting rights bill banning poll taxes in ''state'' elections because they feared courts would strike down the legislation as unconstitutional.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|521}}<ref name=eyes />{{rp|285}} Additionally, by excluding poll taxes from the definition of "tests or devices", the coverage formula did not reach [[Texas]] or [[Arkansas]], mitigating opposition from those two states' influential [[congressional delegation]]s.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|521}} Nonetheless, with the support of [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] committee members, Kennedy's amendment to prohibit poll taxes passed by a 9–4 vote. In response, Dirksen offered an amendment that exempted from the coverage formula any state that had at least 60 percent of its eligible residents registered to vote or that had a voter turnout that surpassed the national average in the preceding presidential election. This amendment, which effectively exempted all states from coverage except [[Mississippi]], passed during a committee meeting in which three liberal members were absent. Dirksen offered to drop the amendment if the poll tax ban were removed. Ultimately, the bill was reported out of committee on April 9 by a 12–4 vote without a recommendation.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|152–153}}

On April 22, the full Senate started debating the bill. Dirksen spoke first on the bill's behalf, saying that "legislation is needed if the unequivocal mandate of the Fifteenth Amendment&nbsp;... is to be enforced and made effective, and if the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] is to be made truly meaningful."<ref name=Bending />{{rp|154}} Senator [[Strom Thurmond]] (R-SC) retorted that the bill would lead to "despotism and tyranny", and Senator [[Sam Ervin]] (D-NC) argued that the bill was unconstitutional because it deprived states of their right under [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 2: House of Representatives|Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution]] to establish voter qualifications and because the bill's special provisions targeted only certain jurisdictions. On May 6, Ervin offered an amendment to abolish the coverage formula's automatic trigger and instead allow federal judges to appoint federal examiners to administer voter registration. This amendment overwhelmingly failed, with 42 Democrats and 22 Republicans voting against it.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|154–156}} After lengthy debate, Ted Kennedy's amendment to prohibit poll taxes also failed 49–45 on May 11.<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/> However, the Senate agreed to include a provision authorizing the attorney general to sue any jurisdiction, covered or non-covered, to challenge its use of poll taxes.<ref name=eyes />{{rp|156–157}}<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|2}} An amendment offered by Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] (D-NY) to enfranchise English-illiterate citizens who had attained at least a sixth-grade education in a non-English-speaking school also passed by 48–19. Southern legislators offered a series of amendments to weaken the bill, all of which failed.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|159}}

On May 25, the Senate voted for [[cloture]] by a 70–30 vote, thus overcoming the threat of filibuster and limiting further debate on the bill.<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Vote #67 in 1965: To Invoke Cloture and End Debate on S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act of 1965|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s67|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013|archive-date=February 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205234652/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s67|url-status=live}}</ref> On May 26, the Senate passed the bill by a 77–19 vote (Democrats 47–16, Republicans 30–2); only senators representing Southern states voted against it.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|161}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Vote #78 in 1965: To Pass S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act of 1965|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013|archive-date=August 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824233620/http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78|url-status=live}}</ref>

====House of Representatives====
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}}
[[Emanuel Celler]] (D-NY), Chair of the [[House Judiciary Committee]], introduced the Voting Rights Act in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] on March 19, 1965, as H.R. 6400.<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/> The House Judiciary Committee was the first committee to consider the bill. The committee's ranking Republican, [[William Moore McCulloch|William McCulloch]] (R-OH), generally supported expanding voting rights, but he opposed both the poll tax ban and the coverage formula, and he led opposition to the bill in committee. The committee eventually approved the bill on May 12, but it did not file its committee report until June 1.<ref name="Bending" />{{rp|162}} The bill included two amendments from subcommittee: a penalty for private persons who interfered with the right to vote and a prohibition of all poll taxes. The poll tax prohibition gained [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[John William McCormack|John McCormack]]'s support. The bill was next considered by the [[United States House Committee on Rules|Rules Committee]], whose chair, [[Howard W. Smith]] (D-VA), opposed the bill and delayed its consideration until June 24, when Celler initiated proceedings to have the bill discharged from committee.<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/> Under pressure from the bill's proponents, Smith allowed the bill to be released a week later, and the full House started debating the bill on July 6.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|163}}

To defeat the Voting Rights Act, McCulloch introduced an alternative bill, H.R. 7896. It would have allowed the attorney general to appoint federal registrars after receiving 25 serious complaints of discrimination against a jurisdiction, and it would have imposed a nationwide ban on literacy tests for persons who could prove they attained a sixth-grade education. McCulloch's bill was co-sponsored by [[House Minority Leader|House minority leader]] [[Gerald Ford]] (R-MI) and supported by Southern Democrats as an alternative to the Voting Rights Act.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|162–164}} The Johnson administration viewed H.R. 7896 as a serious threat to passing the Voting Rights Act. However, support for H.R. 7896 dissipated after [[William M. Tuck]] (D-VA) publicly said he preferred H.R. 7896 because the Voting Rights Act would legitimately ensure that African Americans could vote. His statement alienated most supporters of H.R. 7896, and the bill failed on the House floor by a 171–248 vote on July 9.<ref>{{cite web|title=House Vote #86 in 1965: To Recommit H.R. 6400, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, with Instructions to Substitute the Text of H.R. 7896 Prohibiting the Denial to Any Person of the Right to Register or to Vote Because of his Failure to Pay a Poll Tax or Any Other Such Tax, for the Language of the Committee Amendment|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h86|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013|archive-date=February 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206015507/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h86|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that night, the House passed the Voting Rights Act by a 333–85 vote (Democrats 221–61, Republicans 112–24).<ref name=Bending />{{rp|163–165}}<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/><ref>{{cite web|title=House Vote #87 in 1965: To Pass H.R. 6400, the Voting Rights Act of 1965|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref>

====Conference committee====
The chambers appointed a [[conference committee]] to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. A major contention concerned the poll tax provisions; the Senate version allowed the attorney general to sue states that used poll taxes to discriminate, while the House version outright banned all poll taxes. Initially, the committee members were stalemated. To help broker a compromise, Attorney General Katzenbach drafted legislative language explicitly asserting that poll taxes were unconstitutional and instructed the Department of Justice to sue the states that maintained poll taxes. To assuage concerns of liberal committee members that this provision was not strong enough, Katzenbach enlisted the help of Martin Luther King Jr., who gave his support to the compromise. King's endorsement ended the stalemate, and on July 29, the conference committee reported its version out of committee.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|166–167}} The House approved this [[conference report]] version of the bill on August 3 by a 328–74 vote (Democrats 217–54, Republicans 111–20),<ref>{{cite web|title=House Vote #107 in 1965: To Agree to Conference Report on S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h107|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013|archive-date=April 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403000712/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h107|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Senate passed it on August 4 by a 79–18 vote (Democrats 49–17, Republicans 30–1).<ref name=Bending />{{rp|167}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Vote #178 in 1965: To Agree to Conference Report on S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act of 1965|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s178|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307161104/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s178|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Moholtra|first=Ajay|title=Rosa Parks Early Life & Childhood|url=http://www.rosaparksfacts.com/rosa-parks-early-life-childhood/|publisher=Rosa Park Facts.com|date=June 1, 2008|access-date=April 1, 2015|archive-date=April 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418030600/http://rosaparksfacts.com/rosa-parks-early-life-childhood/|url-status=live}}</ref> On August 6, President Johnson signed the Act into law with [[Martin Luther King Jr.|King]], [[Rosa Parks]], [[John Lewis]], and other civil rights leaders in attendance at the signing ceremony.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|168}}

===Amendments===
{{main|Amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965}}
[[File:Bush Signs Voting Rights Act of 2006.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|[[President of the United States|United States President]] [[George W. Bush]] signs amendments to the Act in July 2006.]]
Congress enacted major amendments to the Act in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2006. Each amendment coincided with an impending expiration of some or all of the Act's special provisions. Originally set to expire by 1970, Congress repeatedly reauthorized the special provisions in recognition of continuing voting discrimination.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|209–210}}<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|6–8}} Congress extended the coverage formula and special provisions tied to it, such as the Section 5 preclearance requirement, for five years in 1970, seven years in 1975, and 25 years in both 1982 and 2006. In 1970 and 1975, Congress also expanded the reach of the coverage formula by supplementing it with new 1968 and 1972 trigger dates. Coverage was further enlarged in 1975 when Congress expanded the meaning of "tests or devices" to encompass any jurisdiction that provided English-only election information, such as ballots, if the jurisdiction had a single language minority group that constituted more than five percent of the jurisdiction's voting-age citizens. These expansions brought numerous jurisdictions into coverage, including many not in the South.<ref name=DOJsection4>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{cite web |title=Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/misc/sec_4.php|access-date=June 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104020640/https://www.justice.gov/crt/section-4-voting-rights-act|archive-date=November 4, 2023}}}}</ref> To ease the burdens of the reauthorized special provisions, Congress liberalized the bailout procedure in 1982 by allowing jurisdictions to escape coverage by complying with the Act and affirmatively acting to expand minority [[political participation]].<ref name=democracy />{{rp|523}}

In addition to reauthorizing the original special provisions and expanding coverage, Congress amended and added several other provisions to the Act. For instance, Congress expanded the original ban on "tests or devices" to apply nationwide in 1970, and in 1975, Congress made the ban permanent.<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|6–9}} Separately, in 1975 Congress expanded the Act's scope to protect language minorities from voting discrimination. Congress defined "language minority" to mean "persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives or of Spanish heritage."<ref name="VRA-14(c)(3)">Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 14(c)(3); {{uscsub|52|10310|c|3}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973l(c)(3))</ref> Congress amended various provisions, such as the preclearance requirement and Section 2's general prohibition of discriminatory voting laws, to prohibit discrimination against language minorities.<ref name=enfranchise>{{cite journal|last=Tucker|first=James Thomas|title=Enfranchising Language Minority Citizens: The Bilingual Election Provisions of the Voting Rights Act|journal=New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy|year=2006|volume=10|url=http://www.nyujlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/TUCKER-ENFRANCHISING-LANGUAGE-MINORITY-CITIZENS-TEH-BILINGUAL-ELECTION-PROVISIONS-OF-THE-VOTING-RIGHTS-ACT.pdf|access-date=January 3, 2014|archive-date=October 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020111915/http://www.nyujlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/TUCKER-ENFRANCHISING-LANGUAGE-MINORITY-CITIZENS-TEH-BILINGUAL-ELECTION-PROVISIONS-OF-THE-VOTING-RIGHTS-ACT.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|199}} Congress also enacted a bilingual election requirement in Section 203, which requires election officials in certain jurisdictions with large numbers of English-illiterate language minorities to provide ballots and voting information in the language of the language minority group. Originally set to expire after 10 years, Congress reauthorized Section 203 in 1982 for seven years, expanded and reauthorized it in 1992 for 15 years, and reauthorized it in 2006 for 25 years.<ref name=CRS>{{CRS|author=Laney, Garrine P. |date=June 12, 2008|article=The Voting Rights Act of 1965, As Amended: Its History and Current Issues|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26107/m1/1/high_res_d/95-896_2008Jun12.pdf|access-date=September 15, 2017|format=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212181614/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26107/m1/1/high_res_d/95-896_2008Jun12.pdf|archive-date=February 12, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|19–21, 25, 49}} The bilingual election requirements have remained controversial, with proponents arguing that bilingual assistance is necessary to enable recently naturalized citizens to vote and opponents arguing that the bilingual election requirements constitute costly [[unfunded mandate]]s.<ref name=CRS />{{rp|26}}

Several of the amendments responded to judicial rulings with which Congress disagreed. In 1982, Congress amended the Act to overturn the Supreme Court case ''[[Mobile v. Bolden]]'' (1980), which held that the general prohibition of voting discrimination prescribed in Section 2 prohibited only ''purposeful'' discrimination. Congress responded by expanding Section 2 to explicitly ban any voting practice that had a discriminatory ''effect'', regardless of whether the practice was enacted or operated for a discriminatory purpose. The creation of this "results test" shifted the majority of vote dilution litigation brought under the Act from preclearance lawsuits to Section 2 lawsuits.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|644–645}} 
[[File:1965,_VRA_-_Senate.png|thumb|The vote breakdown in the US Senate by party of The Voting Rights Act of 1965]]
In 2006, Congress amended the Act to overturn two Supreme Court cases: ''Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board'' (2000),<ref name="Reno">''Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board'', {{ussc|528|320|2000}}</ref> which interpreted the Section 5 preclearance requirement to prohibit only voting changes that were enacted or maintained for a "retrogressive" discriminatory purpose instead of any discriminatory purpose, and ''[[Georgia v. Ashcroft]]'' (2003),<ref name="Ash">''[[Georgia v. Ashcroft]]'', {{ussc|539|461|2003}}</ref> which established a broader test for determining whether a redistricting plan had an impermissible effect under Section 5 than assessing only whether a minority group could elect its preferred candidates.<ref name="Promise">{{cite journal|last=Persily|first=Nathaniel|title=The Promise and Pitfalls of the New Voting Rights Act|journal=Yale Law Journal|year=2007|volume=117|issue=2|pages=174–254| doi=10.2307/20455790 |jstor=20455790|url=http://yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal/article/the-promise-and-pitfalls-of-the-new-voting-rights-act/|access-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926061938/http://yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal/article/the-promise-and-pitfalls-of-the-new-voting-rights-act/|archive-date=September 26, 2013}}</ref>{{rp|207–208}} Since the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula as unconstitutional in ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' (2013), several bills have been introduced in Congress to create a new coverage formula and amend various other provisions; none of these bills has passed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Moving Forward on the VRAA|url=http://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/voting-rights-amendment-act-2014|publisher=NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.|access-date=April 19, 2014|archive-date=April 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420054917/http://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/voting-rights-amendment-act-2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr885# |title=H.R. 885: Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015 |publisher=govtrack.us |access-date=December 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sensenbrenner.house.gov/2017/7/reps-sensenbrenner-and-conyers-reintroduce-bipartisan-voting-rights-amendment-act-of-2017|title=Reps. Sensenbrenner and Conyers Reintroduce Bipartisan Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2017|website=Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner|language=en|access-date=November 15, 2019|archive-date=November 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115021441/https://sensenbrenner.house.gov/2017/7/reps-sensenbrenner-and-conyers-reintroduce-bipartisan-voting-rights-amendment-act-of-2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
[[File:1965,_VRA_-_House.png|thumb|The vote breakdown in the US House by party of The Voting Rights Act of 1965]]

== Legislative breakdown ==
The United States Senate put S. 1564 to a floor vote on May 26, 1965. The Republican Party voted 30 in favor and 2 opposed. The Democratic Party voted 47 in favor and 17 opposed, with 4 not voting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=GOVTRACK.US |title=Roll Call Votes - Senate Vote #78 in 1965 (89th Congress) |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78 |website=GOVTRACK.US}}</ref>

The US House of Representatives then brought H.R. 6400 to a floor vote on July 9, 1965. The  Republican Party voted 112 in favor, 23 opposed, with 5 not voting. The Democrat Party voted 221 in favor, 62 opposed, and 10 not voting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=GOVTRACK.US |title=Roll Call Votes - House Vote #87 in 1965 (89th Congress) |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87 |website=GOVTRACK.US}}</ref>

==Provisions==
[[File:Voting Rights Act - first page (hi-res).jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|The first page of the Voting Rights Act of 1965]]
The act contains two types of provisions: "general provisions", which apply nationwide, and "special provisions", which apply to only certain states and local governments.<ref name="GAO78">{{cite journal|first1=Elmer B.|last1=Staats|title=Voting Rights Act: Enforcement Needs Strengthening|issue=GGD-78-19|url=http://www.gao.gov/products/GGD-78-19|journal=Report of the Comptroller General of the United States|access-date=October 27, 2013|date=February 6, 1978|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714151446/http://www.gao.gov/products/GGD-78-19|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1}} "The Voting Rights Act was aimed at the subtle, as well as the obvious, state regulations which have the effect of denying citizens their right to vote because of their race. Moreover, compatible with the decisions of this Court, the Act gives a broad interpretation to the right to vote, recognizing that voting includes "all action necessary to make a vote effective." 79 Stat. 445, 42 U.S.C. § 19731(c)(1) (1969 ed., Supp. I). See ''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'', 377 U. S. 533, 377 U. S. 555 (1964)."<ref>{{cite web |title=Allen v. State Bd. of Elections, 393 U.S. 544 (1969), at 565-566 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/393/544/ |publisher=Justia US Supreme Court Center |access-date=December 26, 2021 |date=March 3, 1969 |archive-date=January 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124072657/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/393/544/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Most provisions are designed to protect the voting rights of racial and language minorities. The term "language minority" means "persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives or of Spanish heritage."<ref name="VRA-14(c)(3)" /> The act's provisions have been colored by numerous judicial interpretations and congressional amendments.

===General provisions===

====General prohibition of discriminatory voting laws====
Section 2 prohibits any jurisdiction from implementing a "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure&nbsp;... in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right&nbsp;... to vote on account of race", color, or language minority status.<ref name="CRS" />{{rp|37}}<ref name="VRA-2">Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 2; {{usc|52|10301}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973)</ref> Section 2 of the law contains two separate protections against voter discrimination for laws which, in contrast to Section 5 of the law, are already implemented.<ref name="20200918VoxcomMillhiser">{{cite news |last1=Millhiser |first1=Ian |title=Chief Justice Roberts's lifelong crusade against voting rights, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/21211880/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-voting-rights-act-election-2020 |access-date=January 3, 2021 |work=Vox.com |date=September 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219232608/https://www.vox.com/21211880/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-voting-rights-act-election-2020 |archive-date=December 19, 2020}}</ref><ref name="20201002VoxcomMillhiser">{{cite news |last1=Millhiser |first1=Ian |title=The Supreme Court will hear a case that could destroy what remains of the Voting Rights Act |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/10/2/21498587/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-amy-coney-barrett |access-date=January 3, 2021 |work=Vox.com |date=October 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216220650/https://www.vox.com/2020/10/2/21498587/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-amy-coney-barrett |archive-date=December 16, 2020}}</ref> The first protection is a prohibition of intentional discrimination based on race or color in voting. The second protection is a prohibition of election practices that result in the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on race or color.<ref name="20200918VoxcomMillhiser" /><ref name="20201002VoxcomMillhiser" /><ref name="20201008NCSLSonoren">{{cite web |last1=Soronen |first1=Lisa |title=Supreme Court to Decide Significant Voting Case |website=ncsl.org |publisher=The National Conference of State Legislatures |url=https://www.ncsl.org/blog/2020/10/08/supreme-court-to-decide-significant-voting-case.aspx |access-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210103044435/https://www.ncsl.org/blog/2020/10/08/supreme-court-to-decide-significant-voting-case.aspx |archive-date=January 3, 2021 |date=October 8, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="20210701VoxcomMillhiser" /> If the violation of the second protection is intentional, then this violation is also a violation of the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]].<ref name="20201008NCSLSonoren" /> The Supreme Court has allowed private [[plaintiff]]s to sue to enforce these prohibitions.<ref name=PrivateRight>{{cite journal|last=Tokaji|first=Daniel P.|title=Public Rights and Private Rights of Action: The Enforcement of Federal Election Laws|journal=Indiana Law Review|year=2010|volume=44|pages=113–160 |doi=10.18060/4081 |url=http://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/ilr/pdf/vol44p113.pdf|access-date=February 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312032939/https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/ilr/pdf/vol44p113.pdf|archive-date=March 12, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|138}}<ref>''[[Allen v. State Bd. of Elections]]'', {{ussc|393|544|1969}}</ref> In ''Mobile v. Bolden'' (1980), the Supreme Court held that as originally enacted in 1965, Section 2 simply restated the Fifteenth Amendment and thus prohibited only those voting laws that were ''intentionally'' enacted or maintained for a discriminatory purpose.<ref name=Mobile>''[[Mobile v. Bolden]]'', {{ussc|446|55|1980}}</ref>{{rp|60–61}}<ref name=DOJsection2>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{cite web|title=Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_2/about_sec2.php|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|access-date=November 17, 2013|archive-date=April 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415070444/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_2/about_sec2.php|url-status=live}}}}</ref><ref name="20200918VoxcomMillhiser" /><ref name=DOJvra65 /><ref name="20210301MotherJonesBerman">{{cite news |last1=Berman |first1=Ari |title=Voting Rights: Republicans Are Trying to Kill What's Left of the Voting Rights Act |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/republicans-are-trying-to-kill-whats-left-of-the-voting-rights-act/ |access-date=March 6, 2021 |publisher=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303015305/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/republicans-are-trying-to-kill-whats-left-of-the-voting-rights-act/ |archive-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref> In 1982, Congress amended Section 2 to create a "results" test,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Denniston |first1=Lyle |title=Constitution Check: Is another key part of the Voting Rights Act in trouble? |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/constitution-check-is-another-key-part-of-the-voting-rights-act-in-trouble |publisher=[[National Constitution Center]] |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508195814/https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/constitution-check-is-another-key-part-of-the-voting-rights-act-in-trouble |archive-date=May 8, 2020 |date=August 13, 2015}}</ref> which prohibits any voting law that has a discriminatory effect irrespective of whether the law was intentionally enacted or maintained for a discriminatory purpose.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mcdonald |first=Laughlin |title=The Attack on Voting Rights |journal=Southern Changes |year=1985 |volume=7 |issue=5 |url=http://beck.library.emory.edu/southernchanges/article.php?id=sc07-5_002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014223427/http://beck.library.emory.edu/southernchanges/article.php?id=sc07-5_002 |archive-date=October 14, 2016 |access-date=February 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Voting Rights Enforcement and Reauthorization: The Department of Justice's Record of Enforcing the Temporary Voting Rights Act Provisions |work=U.S. Commission on Civil Rights |date=May 2006 | url=http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/051006VRAStatReport.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709180810/https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/051006VRAStatReport.pdf|archive-date=July 9, 2017|access-date=August 26, 2018}}</ref>{{rp|3}}<ref name="20200918VoxcomMillhiser" /><ref name=DOJvra65 /><ref name="20210301MotherJonesBerman" /> The 1982 amendments stipulated that the results test does not guarantee protected minorities a right to [[proportional representation]].<ref name=WayOut>{{cite journal|last=Mulroy|first=Steven J.|title=The Way Out: A Legal Standard for Imposing Alternative Electoral Systems as Voting Rights Remedies|journal=Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review|year=1998|volume=33|ssrn=1907880}}</ref> In ''[[Thornburg v. Gingles]]'' (1986) the United States Supreme Court explained with respect to the 1982 amendment for section 2 that the "essence of a Section 2 claim is that a certain electoral law, practice, or structure interacts with social and historical conditions to cause an inequality in the opportunities enjoyed by black and white voters to elect their preferred representatives."<ref name="20200911DOJSection2VAR1965">{{cite web |title=Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act |publisher=The United States Department of Justice |access-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209070954/https://www.justice.gov/crt/section-2-voting-rights-act |archive-date=December 9, 2020|date=September 11, 2020|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/section-2-voting-rights-act}}</ref> The United States Department of Justice declared that section 2 is not only a permanent and nationwide-applying prohibition against discrimination in voting to any voting standard, practice, or procedure that results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, but also a prohibition for state and local officials to adopt or maintain voting laws or procedures that purposefully discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.<ref name="20200911DOJSection2VAR1965" />

The United States Supreme Court expressed its views regarding Section 2 and its amendment from 1982 in ''Chisom v. Roemer'' (1991).<ref>{{cite web |author1=United States Department of Justice |title=2020-12-07 Brief amicus curiae of United States in ''Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee'' (United States Supreme Court case Number 19-1257) and ''Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee'' (United States Supreme Court case number 19-1258), at pages 2–3.|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/162895/20201207160121126_19-1257tsacUnitedStates.pdf |publisher=United States Supreme Court |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208185310/https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/162895/20201207160121126_19-1257tsacUnitedStates.pdf |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |date=December 7, 2020}}</ref> Under the amended statute, proof of intent is no longer required to prove a § 2 violation. Now plaintiffs can prevail under § 2 by demonstrating that a challenged election practice has resulted in the denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on color or race. Congress not only incorporated the results test in the paragraph that formerly constituted the entire § 2, but also designated that paragraph as subsection (a) and added a new subsection (b) to make clear that an application of the results test requires an inquiry into "the totality of the circumstances." Section 2(a) adopts a results test, thus providing that proof of discriminatory intent is no longer necessary to establish any violation of the section. Section 2(b) provides guidance about how the results test is to be applied.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chisom v. Roemer, 501 U.S. 380 (1991), at 394–395. |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/501/380/ |publisher=Justia US Supreme Court Center |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204055537/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/501/380/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There is a [[statutory law|statutory]] framework to determine whether a jurisdiction's election law violates the general prohibition from Section 2 in its amended form:<ref>{{cite web |author1=United States Department of Justice |title=2020-12-07 Brief amicus curiae of United States in ''Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee'' (United States Supreme Court case Number 19-1257) and ''Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee'' (United States Supreme Court case number 19-1258), at pages 2–3 and 11.|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/162895/20201207160121126_19-1257tsacUnitedStates.pdf |publisher=United States Supreme Court |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208185310/https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/162895/20201207160121126_19-1257tsacUnitedStates.pdf |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |date=December 7, 2020}}</ref>

<blockquote>Section 2 prohibits voting practices that "result[] in a denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color [or language-minority status]," and it states that, such a result "is established" if a jurisdiction's "political processes are not equally open" to members of such a group "in that [they] have less opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice." [https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:52%20section:10301%20edition:prelim) 52 U.S.C. 10301] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102083133/https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:52%20section:10301%20edition:prelim) |date=November 2, 2020 }}. [...] Subsection (b) states in relevant part:

A violation of subsection (a) is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a) in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.<ref>{{cite web |author1=United States Department of Justice |title=2020-12-07 Brief amicus curiae of United States in ''Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee'' (United States Supreme Court case Number 19-1257) and ''Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee'' (United States Supreme Court case number 19-1258), at pages 11 and 3.|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/162895/20201207160121126_19-1257tsacUnitedStates.pdf |publisher=United States Supreme Court |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208185310/https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/162895/20201207160121126_19-1257tsacUnitedStates.pdf |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |date=December 7, 2020}}</ref><ref name="20210110SCOTUSblogBrnovich" /></blockquote>

The Office of the [[Arizona]] [[Attorney general]] stated with respect to the framework to determine whether a jurisdiction's election law violates the general prohibition from Section 2 in its amended form and the reason for the adoption of Section 2 in its amended form:

<blockquote>To establish a violation of amended Section 2, the plaintiff must prove, "based on the totality of circumstances," that the State's "political processes" are "not equally open to participation by members" of a protected class, "in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice." § 10301(b). That is the "result" that amended Section 2 prohibits: "less ''opportunity'' than other members of the electorate," viewing the State's "political processes" as a whole. The new language was crafted as a compromise designed to eliminate the need for direct evidence of discriminatory intent, which is often difficult to obtain, but without embracing an unqualified "disparate impact" test that would invalidate many legitimate voting procedures. S. REP. NO. 97–417, at 28–29, 31–32, 99 (1982)<ref>{{cite web |author=Mark Brnovich |author2=Oramel H. Skinner |author3=Rusty D. Crandell |display-authors=etal|work=Office of the Arizona Attorney General |title=2020-04-27 Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in ''Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee'', at page 5. |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/142431/20200427105601341_Brnovich%20Petition.pdf |publisher=United States Supreme Court |access-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129084133/https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1257/142431/20200427105601341_Brnovich%20Petition.pdf |archive-date=November 29, 2020 |date=April 27, 2020}}</ref><ref name="20210110SCOTUSblogBrnovich">{{cite web |title=Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/brnovich-v-democratic-national-committee/ |publisher=[[SCOTUSblog]] |access-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110160222/https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/brnovich-v-democratic-national-committee/ |archive-date=January 10, 2021}}</ref></blockquote>

In ''[[Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee]]'' (2021) the United States Supreme Court introduced the means to review Section 2 challenges.<ref name="npr decision">{{cite web | url = https://www.npr.org/2021/07/01/998758022/the-supreme-court-upheld-upholds-arizona-measures-that-restrict-voting | title = The Supreme Court Deals A New Blow To Voting Rights, Upholding Arizona Restrictions | first = Nina | last= Totenberg | date = July 1, 2021 | access-date = July 1, 2021 | work = [[NPR]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210707042252/https://www.npr.org/2021/07/01/998758022/the-supreme-court-upheld-upholds-arizona-measures-that-restrict-voting?t=1625631699560|archive-date=July 7, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="20210701NYTLiptak" /> The [[Judicial opinion#Drafting process|slip opinion]] stated in its Syllabus section in this regard that "The Court declines in these cases to announce a test to govern all VRA [Section 2] challenges to rules that specify the time, place, or manner for casting ballots. It is sufficient for present purposes to identify certain guideposts that lead to the Court's decision in these cases."<ref>{{cite web |title=''Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee'', 594 U.S. ___ (2021), Slip opinion, Syllabus, page 2 |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf |publisher=United States Supreme Court |access-date=July 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706222115/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf |archive-date=July 6, 2021 |date=July 1, 2021}}</ref> The Court laid out these guideposts used to evaluate the state regulations in context of Section 2, which included: the size of the burden created by the rule, the degree which the rule deviates from past practices, the size of the racial imbalance, and the overall level of opportunity afforded voters in considering all election rules.<ref name="abcnews decision">{{cite web | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-upholds-arizona-restrictions-major-voting-rights/story?id=78182724 | title = Supreme Court upholds Arizona restrictions in major voting rights, racial discrimination case | first=  Devin | last =Dywer | date = July 1, 2021 | access-date = July 1, 2021 | work = [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707042534/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-upholds-arizona-restrictions-major-voting-rights/story?id=78182724|archive-date=July 7, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="20210701NYTLiptak">{{cite news |last1=Liptak |first1=Adam |title=Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Voting Restrictions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/us/politics/supreme-court-arizona-voting-restrictions.html |access-date=July 7, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=July 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707045129/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/us/politics/supreme-court-arizona-voting-restrictions.html |archive-date=July 7, 2021}}</ref><ref name="20210701VoxcomMillhiser">{{cite news |last1=Millhiser |first1=Ian |title=The Supreme Court leaves the Voting Rights Act alive — but only barely |url=https://www.vox.com/2021/7/1/22559046/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-brnovich-dnc-samuel-alito-elena-kagan-democracy |access-date=July 2, 2023 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox.com]] |publisher=[[Vox (website)|Vox.com]] |date=July 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625214832/https://www.vox.com/2021/7/1/22559046/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-brnovich-dnc-samuel-alito-elena-kagan-democracy |archive-date=June 25, 2023}}</ref>

When determining whether a jurisdiction's election law violates the general prohibition from Section 2 of the VRA, courts have relied on factors enumerated in the Senate Judiciary Committee report associated with the 1982 amendments ("Senate Factors"), including:<ref name="20200911DOJSection2VAR1965" />
# The history of official discrimination in the jurisdiction that affects the right to vote;
# The degree to which voting in the jurisdiction is racially polarized;
# The extent of the jurisdiction's use of majority vote requirements, unusually large [[electoral district]]s, prohibitions on [[bullet voting]], and other devices that tend to enhance the opportunity for voting discrimination;
# Whether minority candidates are denied access to the jurisdiction's candidate slating processes, if any;
# The extent to which the jurisdiction's minorities are discriminated against in socioeconomic areas, such as education, employment, and health;
# Whether overt or subtle racial appeals in [[political campaign|campaigns]] exist;
# The extent to which minority candidates have won elections;
# The degree that elected officials are unresponsive to the concerns of the minority group; and
# Whether the policy justification for the challenged law is tenuous.
The report indicates not all or a majority of these factors need to exist for an electoral device to result in discrimination, and it also indicates that this list is not exhaustive, allowing courts to consider additional evidence at their discretion.<ref name=DOJsection2 /><ref name=WayOut />{{rp|344}}<ref name=1982report>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|Senate Report No. 97-417 (1982), reprinted in 1982 U.S.C.C.A.N. 177}}</ref>{{rp|28–29}}

{{quote box
| quote  =  No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined. [[United States constitution|Our Constitution]] leaves no room for classification of people in a way that unnecessarily abridges this right.| source =
— [[Supreme Court Justice|Justice]] [[Hugo Black|Black]] on [[Suffrage|the right to vote]] as the foundation of [[democracy]] in ''[[Wesberry v. Sanders]]'' (1964)<ref>{{cite web |title=''Wesberry v. Sanders'', 376 U.S. 1 (1964), at 17-18. |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/376/1/ |publisher=Justia US Supreme Court Center |access-date=January 5, 2021 |date=February 17, 1964 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107043412/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/376/1/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| width  = 27%
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Section 2 prohibits two types of discrimination: "vote denial", in which a person is denied the opportunity to cast a ballot or to have their vote properly counted, and "vote dilution",<ref>{{cite news | author-link = Mark Joseph Stern | last1 = Stern  |first1=Mark Joseph |title=Jurisprudence: Neil Gorsuch Declares War on the Voting Rights Act |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/abbott-v-perez-neil-gorsuch-says-the-voting-rights-act-does-not-prohibit-racial-gerrymandering.html |access-date=March 6, 2021 |publisher=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=June 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302112234/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/abbott-v-perez-neil-gorsuch-says-the-voting-rights-act-does-not-prohibit-racial-gerrymandering.html |archive-date=March 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Paige A. Epstein |title=Addressing Minority Vote Dilution Through StateVoting Rights Acts. In: University of Chicago Public Law & LegalTheory Working Paper No. 47 (February 2014) |url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1918&context=public_law_and_legal_theory |publisher=University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound |access-date=March 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211180149/https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1918&context=public_law_and_legal_theory |archive-date=December 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|2–6}} in which the strength or effectiveness of a person's vote is diminished.<ref name=NewDenial>{{cite journal|last=Tokaji|first=Daniel P.|title=The New Vote Denial: Where Election Reform Meets the Voting Rights Act|journal=South Carolina Law Review|year=2006|volume=57|ssrn=896786}}</ref>{{rp|691–692}} Most Section 2 litigation has concerned vote dilution, especially claims that a jurisdiction's [[redistricting]] plan or use of [[at-large]]/multimember elections prevents minority voters from casting sufficient votes to elect their preferred candidates.<ref name=NewDenial />{{rp|708–709}} An at-large election can dilute the votes cast by minority voters by allowing a cohesive majority group to win every legislative seat in the jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Adams|first=Ross J.|title=Whose Vote Counts? Minority Vote Dilution and Election Rights|journal=Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law|year=1989|volume=35|url=http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1289&context=law_urbanlaw|access-date=March 26, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135336/http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1289&context=law_urbanlaw|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|221}} Redistricting plans can be [[gerrymander]]ed to dilute votes cast by minorities by "packing" high numbers of minority voters into a small number of districts or "cracking" minority groups by placing small numbers of minority voters into a large number of districts.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Role of Section 2 – Redistricting & Vote Dilution|url=http://redrawingthelines.org/redistrictingvotedilution|work=Redrawing the Lines|publisher=NAACP Legal Defense Fund|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092433/http://redrawingthelines.org/redistrictingvotedilution|archive-date=April 2, 2015|access-date=August 4, 2015}}</ref>

In ''[[Thornburg v. Gingles]]'' (1986), the Supreme Court used the term "vote dilution through submergence" to describe claims that a jurisdiction's use of an at-large/multimember election system or gerrymandered redistricting plan diluted minority votes, and it established a legal framework for assessing such claims under Section 2.{{efn|In ''Gingles'', the Supreme Court held that the ''Gingles'' test applies to claims that an at-large election scheme results in vote dilution. The court later held, in ''Growe v. Emison'', {{ussc|507|25|1993}}, that the ''Gingles'' test also applies to claims that a redistricting plan results in vote dilution through the arrangement of [[single-member district]]s.<ref name=DeGrandy>''Johnson v. De Grandy'', {{ussc|512|997|1994}}</ref>{{rp|1006}}}} Under the ''Gingles'' test, plaintiffs must show the existence of three preconditions:
# The racial or language minority group "is sufficiently numerous and compact to form a majority in a [[single-member district]]";
# The minority group is "politically cohesive" (meaning its members tend to vote similarly); and
# The "majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to enable it&nbsp;... usually to defeat the minority's preferred candidate."<ref name=Gingles>''[[Thornburg v. Gingles]]'', {{ussc|478|30|1986}}</ref>{{rp|50–51}}
The first precondition is known as the "compactness" requirement and concerns whether a [[majority-minority district]] can be created. The second and third preconditions are collectively known as the "racially polarized voting" or "racial bloc voting" requirement, and they concern whether the voting patterns of the different racial groups are different from each other. If a plaintiff proves these preconditions exist, then the plaintiff must additionally show, using the remaining Senate Factors and other evidence, that under the "[[totality of the circumstances]]", the jurisdiction's redistricting plan or use of at-large or multimember elections diminishes the ability of the minority group to elect candidates of its choice.<ref name=WayOut />{{rp|344–345}}

Subsequent litigation further defined the contours of these "vote dilution through submergence" claims. In ''[[Bartlett v. Strickland]]'' (2009),<ref>''[[Bartlett v. Strickland]]'', {{ussc|556|1|2009|source=f}}</ref> the Supreme Court held that the first ''Gingles'' precondition can be satisfied ''only'' if a district can be drawn in which the minority group comprises a majority of voting-age citizens. This means that plaintiffs cannot succeed on a submergence claim in jurisdictions where the size of the minority group, despite not being large enough to comprise a majority in a district, is large enough for its members to elect their preferred candidates with the help of "crossover" votes from some members of the majority group.<ref name=Roseman>{{cite journal|last=Roseman|first=Brandon|title=Equal Opportunities Do Not Always Equate to Equal Representation: How Bartlett v. Strickland is a Regression in the Face of the Ongoing Civil Rights Movement|journal=North Carolina Central Law Review|year=2009|volume=32|url=https://archives.law.nccu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1683&context=ncclr|access-date=April 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030900987.html |title=Supreme Court Restricts Voting Rights Act's Scope |last=Barnes |first=Robert |date=March 10, 2009 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 21, 2014 |archive-date=November 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109085414/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030900987.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|A2}} In contrast, the Supreme Court has not addressed whether different protected minority groups can be aggregated to satisfy the ''Gingles'' preconditions as a coalition, and lower courts have split on the issue.{{efn|The Courts of Appeals in the Fifth Circuit,<ref>''Campos v. City of Baytown'', 840 F.2d 1240 (5th Cir.), ''cert denied'', {{ussc|492|905|1989}}</ref> Eleventh Circuit,<ref>''Concerned Citizens v. Hardee County'', 906 F.2d 524 (11th Cir. 1990)</ref> and Ninth Circuit<ref>''Badillo v. City of Stockton'', 956 F.2d 884 (9th Cir. 1992)</ref> have either explicitly held that coalition suits are allowed under Section 2 or assumed that such suits are permissible, while those in the Sixth Circuit<ref>''Nixon v. Kent County'', 76 F.3d 1381 (6th Cir. 1996) (en banc)</ref> and Seventh Circuit<ref>''Frank v. Forest County'', 336 F.3d 570 (7th Cir. 2003)</ref> have rejected such suits.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|703}}}}

The Supreme Court provided additional guidance on the "totality of the circumstances" test in ''Johnson v. De Grandy'' (1994).<ref name=DeGrandy /> The court emphasized that the existence of the three ''Gingles'' preconditions may be insufficient to prove liability for vote dilution through submergence if other factors weigh against such a determination, especially in lawsuits challenging redistricting plans. In particular, the court held that even where the three ''Gingles'' preconditions are satisfied, a jurisdiction is unlikely to be liable for vote dilution if its redistricting plan contains a number of majority-minority districts that is proportional to the minority group's population size. The decision thus clarified that Section 2 does not require jurisdictions to maximize the number of majority-minority districts.<ref name=Gerken>{{cite journal|last=Gerken|first=Heather K.|title=Understanding the Right to an Undiluted Vote|journal=Harvard Law Review|year=2001|volume=114|issue=6|pages=1663–1743|doi=10.2307/1342651|jstor=1342651|url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/360/|access-date=November 20, 2013|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000757/http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/360/|url-status=live}}</ref> The opinion also distinguished the proportionality of majority-minority districts, which allows minorities to have a proportional ''opportunity'' to elect their candidates of choice, from the proportionality of election ''results'', which Section 2 explicitly does not guarantee to minorities.<ref name=DeGrandy />{{rp|1013–1014}}

An issue regarding the third ''Gingles'' precondition remains unresolved. In ''Gingles'', the Supreme Court split as to whether plaintiffs must prove that the majority racial group votes as a bloc specifically because its members are motivated to vote based on racial considerations and not other considerations that may overlap with race, such as party affiliation. A [[plurality opinion|plurality]] of justices said that requiring such proof would violate Congress's intent to make Section 2 a "results" test, but Justice White maintained that the proof was necessary to show that an electoral scheme results in ''racial'' discrimination.<ref name=GinglesNew>{{cite journal|last=Kosterlitz|first=Mary J.|title=Thornburg v. Gingles: The Supreme Court's New Test for Analyzing Minority Vote Dilution|journal=Catholic University Law Review|year=1987|volume=36|url=https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1961&context=lawreview|access-date=April 13, 2019}}</ref>{{rp|555–557}} Since ''Gingles'', lower courts have split on the issue.{{efn|Courts of Appeals in the Second Circuit<ref>''Goosby v. Town of Hempstead'', 180 F.3d 476 (2d Cir. 1999)</ref> and Fourth Circuit<ref>''Lewis v. Alamance County'', 99 F.3d 600 (4th Cir. 1996)</ref> have held that such proof is not an absolute requirement for liability but is a relevant additional factor under the "totality of the circumstances" test. In contrast, the Fifth Circuit has held that such proof is a required component of the third precondition.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|711–712}}<ref>''League of United Latin American Citizens v. Clements'', 999 F.3d 831 (5th Cir.) (en banc), ''cert. denied'', {{ussc|510|1071|1994}}</ref>}}

{{quote box
| quote = The right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence of a democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government. And the right of suffrage can be denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizen's vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise of the franchise. [...] Undoubtedly, the right of suffrage is a fundamental matter in a free and democratic society. Especially since the right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized.
| source = — [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Earl Warren]] on the [[right to vote]] as the foundation of [[democracy]] in ''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'' (1964)<ref>{{cite web |title=''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), at 555 and 561–562. |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/377/533/ |publisher=Justia US Supreme Court Center |access-date=January 5, 2021 |date=June 15, 1964 |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501124358/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/377/533/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| width = 27%
| align = left
| style = padding:8px;
}}

Although most Section 2 litigation has involved claims of vote dilution through submergence,<ref name=NewDenial />{{rp|708–709}} courts also have addressed other types of vote dilution under this provision. In ''Holder v. Hall'' (1994),<ref name=Holder>''Holder v. Hall'', {{ussc|512|874|1994}}</ref> the Supreme Court held that claims that minority votes are diluted by the small size of a governing body, such as a one-person [[county commission]], may not be brought under Section 2. A plurality of the court reasoned that no uniform, non-dilutive "benchmark" size for a governing body exists, making relief under Section 2 impossible.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Guinier|first=Lani|title=(e)Racing Democracy: The Voting Rights Cases|journal=Harvard Law Review|year=1994|volume=108|url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/guinier/publications/comment.pdf|access-date=November 24, 2013|archive-date=December 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121206205729/http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/guinier/publications/comment.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Another type of vote dilution may result from a jurisdiction's requirement that a candidate be elected by a [[majority vote]]. A majority-vote requirement may cause a minority group's candidate of choice, who would have won the election with a simple [[plurality (voting)|plurality]] of votes, to lose after a majority of voters unite behind another candidate in a [[two-round system|runoff election]]. The Supreme Court has not addressed whether such claims may be brought under Section 2, and lower courts have reached different conclusions on the issue.{{efn|The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that challenges to majority-vote requirements under Section 2 are not cognizable,<ref>''Butts v. City of New York'', 779 F.2d 141 (2d Cir. 1985)</ref> while the Eastern District of Arkansas held the opposite.<ref name="democracy" />{{rp|752–753}}<ref>''Jeffers v. Clinton'', 740 F.Supp. 585 (E.D. Ark. 1990) (three-judge court)</ref>}}

In addition to claims of vote dilution, courts have considered vote denial claims brought under Section 2. The Supreme Court, in ''[[Richardson v. Ramirez]]'' (1974),<ref>''[[Richardson v. Ramirez]]'', {{ussc|418|24|1974}}</ref> held that [[felony disenfranchisement]] laws cannot violate Section 2 because, among other reasons, Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment permits such laws.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|756–757}} A federal district court in Mississippi held that a "dual registration" system that requires a person to register to vote separately for state elections and local elections may violate Section 2 if the system has a racially disparate impact in light of the Senate Factors.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|754}}<ref>''Mississippi State Chapter, Operation Push v. Allain'', 674 F.Supp. 1245 (N.D. Miss. 1987)</ref> Starting in 2013, lower federal courts began to consider various challenges to [[voter ID laws in the United States|voter ID laws]] brought under Section 2.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sherman|first=Jon|title=Three Strategies (So Far) to Strike Down Strict Voter ID Laws Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act|url=http://fairelectionsnetwork.com/blog/three-strategies-so-far-strike-down-strict-voter-id-laws-under-section-2-voting-rights-act|publisher=Fair Elections Legal Network|date=November 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108070213/http://www.fairelectionsnetwork.com/blog/three-strategies-so-far-strike-down-strict-voter-id-laws-under-section-2-voting-rights-act|archive-date=November 8, 2014|access-date=June 25, 2015}}</ref>

====Specific prohibitions====
The act contains several specific prohibitions on conduct that may interfere with a person's ability to cast an effective vote. One of these prohibitions is prescribed in Section 201, which prohibits any jurisdiction from requiring a person to comply with any "test or device" to register to vote or cast a ballot. The term "test or device" is defined as literacy tests, educational or knowledge requirements, proof of good moral character, and requirements that a person be vouched for when voting.<ref>Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 201; {{usc|52|10501}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973aa)</ref> Before the Act's enactment, these devices were the primary tools used by jurisdictions to prevent racial minorities from voting.<ref name=Main>{{cite journal|last=Pitts|first=Michael J.|title=The Voting Rights Act and the Era of Maintenance|journal=Alabama Law Review|year=2008|volume=59|ssrn=1105115}}</ref> Originally, the Act suspended tests or devices temporarily in jurisdictions covered by the Section 4(b) coverage formula, but Congress subsequently expanded the prohibition to the entire country and made it permanent.<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|6–9}} Relatedly, Section 202 prohibits jurisdictions from imposing any "durational residency requirement" that requires persons to have lived in the jurisdiction for more than 30 days before being eligible to vote in a presidential election.<ref name=Defending>{{cite journal|last=Tokaji|first=Daniel P.|title=Intent and Its Alternatives: Defending the New Voting Rights Act|journal=Alabama Law Review|year=2006|volume=58|url=http://www.law.ua.edu/pubs/lrarticles/Volume%2058/Issue%202/tokaji.pdf|access-date=January 7, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031511/http://www.law.ua.edu/pubs/lrarticles/Volume%2058/Issue%202/tokaji.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|353}}

Several further protections for voters are contained in Section 11. Section 11(a) prohibits any person acting under [[color of law]] from refusing or failing to allow a qualified person to vote or to count a qualified voter's ballot. Similarly, Section 11(b) prohibits any person from intimidating, harassing, or coercing another person for voting or attempting to vote.<ref name=CRS /> Two provisions in Section 11 address [[voter fraud]]: Section 11(c) prohibits people from knowingly submitting a false voter registration application to vote in a federal election, and Section 11(e) prohibits voting twice in a federal election.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brewster|first1=Henry|last2=Dubler|first2=Grant|last3=Klym|first3=Peter|title=Election Law Violations|journal=American Criminal Law Review|year=2013|volume=50|url=http://www.americancriminallawreview.com/aswcc/#ElectionLaw|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=March 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318021044/http://www.americancriminallawreview.com/aswcc/#ElectionLaw|url-status=dead}}{{subscription required|s}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=De Oliveira|first=Pedro|title=Same Day Voter Registration: Post-Crawford Reform to Address the Growing Burdens on Lower-Income Voters|journal=Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy|year=2009|volume=16|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/geojpovlp16&div=18&id=&page=|access-date=April 13, 2019}} {{subscription required|s}}</ref>{{rp|360}}

Finally, under Section 208, a jurisdiction may not prevent anyone who is English-illiterate or has a [[disability]] from being accompanied into the ballot box by an assistant of the person's choice. The only exceptions are that the assistant may not be an [[Law of agency|agent]] of the person's employer or union.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|221}}

====Bail-in====
Section 3(c) contains a "bail-in" or "pocket trigger" process by which jurisdictions that fall outside the coverage formula of Section 4(b) may become subject to preclearance. Under this provision, if a jurisdiction has racially discriminated against voters in violation of the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments, a court may order the jurisdiction to have future changes to its election laws preapproved by the federal government.<ref name=bail-in />{{rp|2006–2007}} Because courts have interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to prohibit only intentional discrimination, a court may bail in a jurisdiction only if the plaintiff proves that the jurisdiction enacted or operated a voting practice to purposely discriminate.<ref name=bail-in />{{rp|2009}}

Section 3(c) contains its own preclearance language and differs from Section 5 preclearance in several ways. Unlike Section 5 preclearance, which applies to a covered jurisdiction until such time as the jurisdiction may bail out of coverage under Section 4(a), bailed-in jurisdictions remain subject to preclearance for as long as the court orders. Moreover, the court may require the jurisdiction to preclear only particular types of voting changes. For example, the bail-in of [[New Mexico]] in 1984 applied for 10 years and required preclearance of only redistricting plans. This differs from Section 5 preclearance, which requires a covered jurisdiction to preclear all of its voting changes.<ref name=bail-in />{{rp|2009–2010}}<ref name=section3>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/42usc/subch_ia2.php#anchor_1973 |title=Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |access-date=March 4, 2013 |archive-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224032531/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/42usc/subch_ia2.php#anchor_1973 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the Act's early history, Section 3(c) was little used; no jurisdictions were bailed in until 1975. Between 1975 and 2013, 18 jurisdictions were bailed in, including 16 local governments and the states of Arkansas and New Mexico.<ref name=DOJbrief>{{cite web|title=Brief for the Federal Respondent, Shelby County v. Holder, 2013 United States Supreme Court Briefs No. 12-96|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/app/briefs/shelbymerits.pdf|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|access-date=December 8, 2013|archive-date=December 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211122318/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/app/briefs/shelbymerits.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1a-2a}} Although the Supreme Court held the Section 4(b) coverage formula unconstitutional in ''Shelby County v. Holder'' (2013), it did not hold Section 3(c) unconstitutional. Therefore, jurisdictions may continue to be bailed-in and subjected to Section 3(c) preclearance.<ref name="shelby" /><ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=GOP Has Tough Choices on Voting Rights Act|url=https://news.yahoo.com/gop-tough-choices-voting-rights-act-151906183.html|access-date=January 8, 2014|newspaper=Yahoo! News|date=July 4, 2013|archive-date=January 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108183309/http://news.yahoo.com/gop-tough-choices-voting-rights-act-151906183.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the months following ''Shelby County'', courts began to consider requests by the attorney general and other plaintiffs to bail in the states of Texas and North Carolina,<ref>{{cite news|last=Schwinn|first=Steven D.|title=Justice Department to Sue North Carolina over Vote Restrictions|url=http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2013/09/justice-department-to-sue-north-carolina-over-vote-restrictions.html|access-date=January 1, 2014|newspaper=Law Professor Blogs Network|date=September 30, 2013|archive-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102195909/http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2013/09/justice-department-to-sue-north-carolina-over-vote-restrictions.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and in January 2014 a federal court bailed in [[Evergreen, Conecuh County, Alabama|Evergreen, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Adam|title=Judge Reinstates Some Federal Oversight of Voting Practices for an Alabama City|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/judge-reinstates-federal-oversight-of-voting-practices-for-alabama-city.html?_r=0|access-date=March 2, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224015806/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/judge-reinstates-federal-oversight-of-voting-practices-for-alabama-city.html?_r=0|archive-date=February 24, 2021}}</ref>

A more narrow bail-in process pertaining to federal observer certification is prescribed in Section 3(a). Under this provision, a federal court may certify a non-covered jurisdiction to receive federal observers if the court determines that the jurisdiction violated the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments. Jurisdictions certified to receive federal observers under Section 3(a) are not subject to preclearance.<ref name=Observers>{{cite journal|last=Tucker|first=James Thomas|title=The Power of Observation: The Role of Federal Observers Under the Voting Rights Act|journal=Michigan Journal of Race and Law|year=2007|volume=13|url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1100&context=mjrl|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=February 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204221604/https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1100&context=mjrl|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|236–237}}

===Special provisions===
{{see also|List of jurisdictions subject to the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965}}

====Coverage formula====
[[File:Us s5 cvr08.PNG|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Map depicting states and counties encompassed by the act's coverage formula in January 2008 (excluding bailed-out jurisdictions)|States and counties encompassed by the Act's coverage formula in January 2008 (excluding bailed-out jurisdictions). Several counties subsequently bailed out,<ref name=DOJsection4 /> but the majority of the map accurately depicts covered jurisdictions before the Supreme Court's decision in ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' (2013), which declared the coverage formula unconstitutional.]]
Section 4(b) contains a "coverage formula" that determines which states and local governments may be subjected to the Act's other special provisions (except for the Section 203(c) bilingual election requirements, which fall under a different formula). Congress intended for the coverage formula to encompass the most pervasively discriminatory jurisdictions. A jurisdiction is covered by the formula if:

# As of November 1, 1964, 1968, or 1972, the jurisdiction used a "test or device" to restrict the opportunity to register and vote; and
# Less than half of the jurisdiction's eligible citizens were registered to vote on November 1, 1964, 1968, or 1972; or less than half of eligible citizens voted in the presidential election of November 1964, 1968, or 1972.

As originally enacted, the coverage formula contained only November 1964 triggering dates; subsequent revisions to the law supplemented it with the additional triggering dates of November 1968 and November 1972, which brought more jurisdictions into coverage.<ref name=DOJsection4 /> For purposes of the coverage formula, the term "test or device" includes the same four devices prohibited nationally by Section 201—literacy tests, educational or knowledge requirements, proof of good moral character, and requirements that a person be vouched for when voting—and one further device defined in Section 4(f)(3): in jurisdictions where more than five percent of the citizen voting age population are members of a single language minority group, any practice or requirement by which registration or election materials are provided only in English. The types of jurisdictions that the coverage formula applies to include states and "political subdivisions" of states.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|207–208}} Section 14(c)(2) defines "political subdivision" to mean any county, parish, or "other subdivision of a State which conducts registration for voting."<ref>Voting Rights Act § 14(c)(2); {{uscsub|52|10310|c|2}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973l(c)(2))</ref>

As Congress added new triggering dates to the coverage formula, new jurisdictions were brought into coverage. The 1965 coverage formula included the whole of Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia; and some subdivisions (mostly counties) in Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, and North Carolina.<ref name=DOJsection4 /> The 1968 coverage resulted in the partial coverage of Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Wyoming. Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, and Wyoming filed successful "bailout" lawsuits, as also provided by section 4.<ref name=DOJsection4 /> The 1972 coverage covered the whole of Alaska, Arizona, and Texas, and parts of California, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and South Dakota.<ref name=DOJsection4 />

{{Anchor|Periodic renewal}}The special provisions of the Act were initially due to expire in 1970, and Congress renewed them for another five years. In 1975, the Act's special provisions were extended for another seven years. In 1982, the coverage formula was extended again, this time for 25 years, but no changes were made to the coverage formula, and in 2006, the coverage formula was again extended for 25 years.<ref name="DOJsection4" />

Throughout its history, the coverage formula remained controversial because it singled out certain jurisdictions for scrutiny, most of which were in the Deep South. In ''Shelby County v. Holder'' (2013), the Supreme Court declared the coverage formula unconstitutional because the criteria used were outdated and thus violated principles of equal state [[sovereignty]] and [[Federalism in the United States|federalism]].<ref name="shelby" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Totenberg |first1=Nina |title=Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/02/27/173012038/supreme-court-weighs-future-of-voting-rights-act |access-date=March 13, 2021 |work=[[NPR|National Public Radio]] |publisher=[[NPR|National Public Radio]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008132557/https://www.npr.org/2013/02/27/173012038/supreme-court-weighs-future-of-voting-rights-act |archive-date=October 8, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Liptak, A">{{cite news|title=Supreme Court Invalidates Key Part of Voting Rights Act|author=Liptak, A.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-ruling.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 25, 2013|access-date=June 26, 2013|archive-date=December 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206021832/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-ruling.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The other special provisions that are dependent on the coverage formula, such as the Section 5 preclearance requirement, remain valid law. However, without a valid coverage formula, these provisions are unenforceable.<ref name="scotusblogplain" /><ref name="rolls back">{{cite magazine| url=https://swampland.time.com/2013/06/25/high-court-rolls-back-the-voting-rights-act-of-1965/ | title=High Court Rolls Back the Voting Rights Act of 1965 | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=June 25, 2013| access-date=June 25, 2013 | author=Von Drehle, David|author-link=David Von Drehle}}</ref>

====Preclearance requirement====
Section 5<ref name="VRA-5">Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 5; {{usc|52|10304}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973c)</ref> requires that covered jurisdictions receive federal approval, known as "preclearance", before implementing changes to their election laws. A covered jurisdiction has the burden of proving that the change does not have the purpose or effect of discriminating on the basis of race or language minority status; if the jurisdiction fails to meet this burden, the federal government will deny preclearance and the jurisdiction's change will not go into effect. The Supreme Court broadly interpreted Section 5's scope in ''Allen v. State Board of Election'' (1969),<ref name=Allen>''Allen v. State Board of Elections'', {{ussc|393|544|1969}}</ref> holding that any change in a jurisdiction's voting practices, even if minor, must be submitted for preclearance.<ref name=DOJCoveredChanges>{{cite web|title=What Must Be Submitted Under Section 5|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/types.php|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|access-date=November 30, 2013|archive-date=January 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114094338/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/types.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The court also held that if a jurisdiction fails to have its voting change precleared, private plaintiffs may sue the jurisdiction in the plaintiff's local district court before a three-judge panel.{{efn|The Supreme Court subsequently held that plaintiffs may alternatively bring Section 5 enforcement actions in state courts.<ref name="Bending"/> {{rp|534}}<ref>''[[Hathorn v. Lovorn]]'', {{ussc|457|255|1982}}</ref>}} In these Section 5 "enforcement actions", a court considers whether the jurisdiction made a covered voting change, and if so, whether the change had been precleared. If the jurisdiction improperly failed to obtain preclearance, the court will order the jurisdiction to obtain preclearance before implementing the change. However, the court may not consider the merits of whether the change should be approved.<ref name=DOJsection5 /><ref name=PrivateRight />{{rp|128–129}}<ref name=Allen />{{rp|556}}<ref name=Lopez1>''Lopez v. Monterey County'' (''Lopez I''), {{ussc|519|9|1996}}</ref>{{rp|23}}

Jurisdictions may seek preclearance through either an "administrative preclearance" process or a "judicial preclearance" process. If a jurisdiction seeks administrative preclearance, the attorney general will consider whether the proposed change has a discriminatory purpose or effect. After the jurisdiction submits the proposed change, the attorney general has 60 days to interpose an objection to it. The 60-day period may be extended an additional 60 days if the jurisdiction later submits additional information. If the attorney general interposes an objection, then the change is not precleared and may not be implemented.<ref name=Posner>{{cite journal|last=Posner|first=Mark A.|title=The Real Story Behind the Justice Department's Implementation of Section 5 of the VRA: Vigorous Enforcement, As Intended by Congress|journal=Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy|year=2006|volume=1|issue=1|url=http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djclpp/vol1/iss1/2/|access-date=November 30, 2013|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203032906/http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djclpp/vol1/iss1/2/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|90–92}} The attorney general's decision is not subject to [[Judicial review in the United States|judicial review]],<ref>''[[Morris v. Gressette]]'', {{ussc|432|491|1977}}</ref> but if the attorney general interposes an objection, the jurisdiction may independently seek judicial preclearance, and the court may disregard the attorney general's objection at its discretion.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|559}} If a jurisdiction seeks judicial preclearance, it must file a [[declaratory judgment]] action against the attorney general in the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|U.S. District Court for D.C.]] A three-judge panel will consider whether the voting change has a discriminatory purpose or effect, and the losing party may appeal directly to the Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Porto L.|first=Brian|title=What Changes in Voting Practices or Procedures Must be Precleared Under § 5 of Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.A. § 1973c)|journal=American Law Reports Federal|year=1998|volume=146}}</ref> Private parties may [[intervention (law)|intervene]] in judicial preclearance lawsuits.<ref name=Ash />{{rp|476–477}}<ref name=Posner />{{rp|90}}

In several cases, the Supreme Court has addressed the meaning of "discriminatory effect" and "discriminatory purpose" for Section 5 purposes. In ''Beer v. United States'' (1976),<ref name=beer>''Beer v. United States'', {{ussc|425|130|1976}}</ref> the court held that for a voting change to have a prohibited discriminatory effect, it must result in "retrogression" (backsliding). Under this standard, a voting change that causes discrimination, but does not result in ''more'' discrimination than before the change was made, cannot be denied preclearance for having a discriminatory effect.<ref name=end>{{cite journal|last1=McCrary|first1=Peyton|last2=Seaman|first2=Christopher|last3=Valelly|first3=Richard|title=The End of Preclearance As We Knew It: How the Supreme Court Transformed Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act|journal=Michigan Journal of Race and Law|year=2006|volume=11|ssrn=1913565}}</ref>{{rp|283–284}} For example, replacing a poll tax with an equally expensive voter registration fee is not a "retrogressive" change because it causes equal discrimination, not more.<ref name=ironic>{{cite journal|last=Kousser|first=J. Morgan|title=The Strange, Ironic Career of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, 1965–2007|journal=Texas Law Review|year=2008|volume=86|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/31447149/strange-ironic-career-section-5-voting-rights-act-1965-2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219112130/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/31447149/strange-ironic-career-section-5-voting-rights-act-1965-2007|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 19, 2013|access-date=November 16, 2013}}{{Subscription or libraries|s|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref>{{rp|695}} Relying on the Senate report for the Act, the court reasoned that the retrogression standard was the correct interpretation of the term "discriminatory effect" because Section 5's purpose is " 'to insure that [the gains thus far achieved in minority political participation] shall not be destroyed through new [discriminatory] procedures' ".<ref name=beer />{{rp|140–141}} The retrogression standard applies irrespective of whether the voting change allegedly causes vote denial or vote dilution.<ref name=end />{{rp|311}}

In 2003, the Supreme Court held in ''Georgia v. Ashcroft''<ref name=Ash /> that courts should not determine that a new redistricting plan has a retrogressive effect solely because the plan decreases the number of minority-majority districts. The court emphasized that judges should analyze various other factors under the "totality of the circumstances", such as whether the redistricting plan increases the number of "influence districts" in which a minority group is large enough to influence (but not decide) election outcomes. In 2006, Congress overturned this decision by amending Section 5 to explicitly state that "diminishing the ability [of a protected minority] to elect their preferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the right to vote within the meaning of" Section 5.<ref>Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 5(b); {{uscsub|52|10304|b}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973c(b))</ref> Uncertainty remains as to what this language precisely means and how courts may interpret it.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|551–552, 916}}

Before 2000, the "discriminatory purpose" prong of Section 5 was understood to mean ''any'' discriminatory purpose, which is the same standard used to determine whether discrimination is unconstitutional. In ''Reno v. Bossier Parish'' (''Bossier Parish II'') (2000),<ref name=Reno /> the Supreme Court extended the retrogression standard, holding that for a voting change to have a "discriminatory purpose" under Section 5, the change must have been implemented for a ''retrogressive'' purpose. Therefore, a voting change intended to discriminate against a protected minority was permissible under Section 5 so long as the change was not intended to increase existing discrimination.<ref name=end />{{rp|277–278}} This change significantly reduced the number of instances in which preclearance was denied based on discriminatory purpose. In 2006, Congress overturned ''Bossier Parish II'' by amending Section 5 to explicitly define "purpose" to mean "any discriminatory purpose."<ref name=Promise />{{rp|199–200, 207}}<ref>Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 5(c); {{uscsub|52|10304|c}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. 1973c(c))</ref>

====Federal examiners and observers====
Until the 2006 amendments to the Act,<ref name=CRS />{{rp|50}} Section 6 allowed the appointment of "federal examiners" to oversee certain jurisdictions' voter registration functions. Federal examiners could be assigned to a covered jurisdiction if the attorney general certified that
# The Department of Justice received 20 or more meritorious complaints that the covered jurisdiction denied its residents the right to vote based on race or language minority status; or
# The assignment of federal examiners was otherwise necessary to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments.<ref name=Observers />{{rp|235–236}}
Federal examiners had the authority to register voters, examine voter registration applications, and maintain voter rolls.<ref name=Observers />{{rp|237}} The goal of the federal examiner provision was to prevent jurisdictions from denying protected minorities the right to vote by engaging in discriminatory behavior in the voter registration process, such as refusing to register qualified applicants, purging qualified voters from the voter rolls, and limiting the hours during which persons could register. Federal examiners were used extensively in the years following the Act's enactment, but their importance waned over time; 1983 was the last year that a federal examiner registered a person to vote. In 2006, Congress repealed the provision.<ref name=Observers />{{rp|238–239}}

Under the Act's original framework, in any jurisdiction certified for federal examiners, the attorney general could additionally require the appointment of "federal observers". By 2006, the federal examiner provision was used solely as a means to appoint federal observers.<ref name=Observers />{{rp|239}} When Congress repealed the federal examiner provision in 2006, Congress amended Section 8 to allow for the assignment of federal observers to jurisdictions that satisfied the same certification criteria that had been used to appoint federal examiners.<ref name=CRS />{{rp|50}}

Federal observers are tasked with observing poll worker and voter conduct at polling places during an election and observing election officials tabulate the ballots.<ref name="Observers" />{{rp|248}} The goal of the federal observer provision is to facilitate minority voter participation by deterring and documenting instances of discriminatory conduct in the election process, such as election officials denying qualified minority persons the right to cast a ballot, intimidation or harassment of voters on [[election day]], or improper vote counting.<ref name="Observers" />{{rp|231–235}} Discriminatory conduct that federal observers document may also serve as evidence in subsequent enforcement lawsuits.<ref name="Observers" />{{rp|233}} Between 1965 and the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in ''Shelby County v. Holder'' to strike down the coverage formula, the attorney general certified 153 local governments across 11 states.<ref name="DOJobservers">{{cite web|title=About Federal Observers and Election Monitoring|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/examine/activ_exam.php|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|access-date=January 3, 2014|archive-date=January 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114094347/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/examine/activ_exam.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of time and resource constraints, federal observers are not assigned to every certified jurisdiction for every election.<ref name="Observers" />{{rp|230}} Separate provisions allow for a certified jurisdiction to "bail out" of its certification.<ref name="DOJobservers" />

====Bailout====
Under Section 4(a), a covered jurisdiction may seek exemption from coverage through a process called "bailout".<ref name=DOJsection4 /> To achieve an exemption, a covered jurisdiction must obtain a declaratory judgment from a three-judge panel of the District Court for D.C. that the jurisdiction is eligible to bail out.<ref name=DOJsection5 /><ref name=DOJsection4 /> As originally enacted, a covered jurisdiction was eligible to bail out if it had not used a test or device with a discriminatory purpose or effect during the five years preceding its bailout request.<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|22, 33–34}} Therefore, a jurisdiction that requested to bail out in 1967 would have needed to prove that it had not misused a test or device since at least 1962. Until 1970, this effectively required a covered jurisdiction to prove that it had not misused a test or device since before the Act was enacted five years earlier in 1965,<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|6}} making it impossible for many covered jurisdictions to bail out.<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|27}} However, Section 4(a) also prohibited covered jurisdictions from using tests or devices in any manner, discriminatory or otherwise; hence, under the original act, a covered jurisdiction would become eligible for bailout in 1970 by simply complying with this requirement. But in the course of amending the Act in 1970 and 1975 to extend the special provisions, Congress also extended the period of time that a covered jurisdiction must not have misused a test or device to 10 years and then to 17 years, respectively.<ref name=RevisedBailout />{{rp|7, 9}} These extensions continued the effect of requiring jurisdictions to prove that they had not misused a test or device since before the Act's enactment in 1965.

In 1982, Congress amended Section 4(a) to make bailout easier to achieve in two ways. First, Congress provided that if a state is covered, local governments in that state may bail out even if the state is ineligible to bail out.<ref name=DOJsection4 /> Second, Congress liberalized the eligibility criteria by replacing the 17-year requirement with a new standard, allowing a covered jurisdiction to bail out by proving that in the 10 years preceding its bailout request:
# The jurisdiction did not use a test or device with a discriminatory purpose or effect;
# No court determined that the jurisdiction denied or abridged the right to vote based on racial or language minority status;
# The jurisdiction complied with the preclearance requirement;
# The federal government did not assign federal examiners to the jurisdiction;
# The jurisdiction abolished discriminatory election practices; and
# The jurisdiction took affirmative steps to eliminate voter intimidation and expand voting opportunities for protected minorities.
Additionally, Congress required jurisdictions seeking bailout to produce evidence of minority registration and voting rates, including how these rates have changed over time and in comparison to the registration and voting rates of the majority. If the court determines that the covered jurisdiction is eligible for bailout, it will enter a declaratory judgment in the jurisdiction's favor. The court will retain jurisdiction for the following 10 years and may order the jurisdiction back into coverage if the jurisdiction subsequently engages in voting discrimination.<ref name=RevisedBailout /><ref name=DOJsection4 /><ref name=CRS />{{rp|22–23}}<ref name="VRA-4(a)">Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 4(a); {{uscsub|52|10303|a|1|F}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973b(a)(1)(F))</ref>

The 1982 amendment to the bailout eligibility standard went into effect on August 5, 1984.<ref name=DOJsection4 /> Between that date and 2013, 196 jurisdictions bailed out of coverage through 38 bailout actions; in each instance, the attorney general consented to the bailout request.<ref name=DOJbrief />{{rp|54}} Between that date and 2009, all jurisdictions that bailed out were located in Virginia.<ref name=DOJsection4 /> In 2009, a municipal utility jurisdiction in Texas bailed out after the Supreme Court's opinion in ''[[Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder]]'' (2009),<ref name=NW>''[[Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder]]'', {{ussc|557|193|2009|source=f}}</ref> which held that local governments that do not register voters have the ability to bail out.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/us/23scotus.html |title=Justices Let Stand a Central Provision of Voting Rights Act |last=Liptak |first=Adam |date=June 23, 2009 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 22, 2009 |archive-date=January 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116231256/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/us/23scotus.html |url-status=live }}</ref> After this ruling, jurisdictions succeeded in at least 20 bailout actions before the Supreme Court held in ''Shelby County v. Holder'' (2013) that the coverage formula was unconstitutional.<ref name=DOJbrief />{{rp|54}}

Separate provisions allow a covered jurisdiction that has been certified to receive federal observers to bail out of its certification alone. Under Section 13, the attorney general may terminate the certification of a jurisdiction if 1) more than 50 percent of the jurisdiction's minority voting age population is registered to vote, and 2) there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that residents may experience voting discrimination. Alternatively, the District Court for D.C. may order the certification terminated.<ref name=Observers />{{rp|237, 239}}<ref name=DOJobservers />

====Bilingual election requirements====
Two provisions require certain jurisdictions to provide election materials to voters in multiple languages: Section 4(f)(4) and Section 203(c). A jurisdiction covered by either provision must provide all materials related to an election—such as voter registration materials, ballots, notices, and instructions—in the language of any applicable language minority group residing in the jurisdiction.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|209}} Language minority groups protected by these provisions include Asian Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Native Alaskans.<ref>Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 4(f)(4); {{uscsub|52|10303|f|4}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973b(f)(4))</ref> Congress enacted the provisions to break down language barriers and combat pervasive language discrimination against the protected groups.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|200, 209}}

Section 4(f)(4) applies to any jurisdiction encompassed by the Section 4(b) coverage formula where more than five percent of the citizen voting age population are members of a single language minority group. Section 203(c) contains a formula that is separate from the Section 4(b) coverage formula, and therefore jurisdictions covered solely by 203(c) are not subject to the Act's other special provisions, such as preclearance. The Section 203(c) formula encompasses jurisdictions where the following conditions exist:
{{ordered list
| A single language minority is present that has an English-illiteracy rate higher than the national average; and
| Either:{{ordered list|list-style-type=lower-alpha
  |The number of "limited-English proficient" members of the language minority group is at least 10,000 voting-age citizens or large enough to comprise at least five percent of the jurisdiction's voting-age citizen population; or
  |The jurisdiction is a political subdivision that contains an [[Indian reservation]], and more than five percent of the jurisdiction's American Indian or Alaska Native voting-age citizens are members of a single language minority and are limited-English proficient.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|223–224}}
  }}
}}
Section 203(b) defines "limited-English proficient" as being "unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process".<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|223}} Determinations as to which jurisdictions satisfy the Section 203(c) criteria occur once a decade following completion of the decennial census; at these times, new jurisdictions may come into coverage while others may have their coverage terminated. Additionally, under Section 203(d), a jurisdiction may "bail out" of Section 203(c) coverage by proving in federal court that no language minority group within the jurisdiction has an English illiteracy rate that is higher than the national illiteracy rate.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|226}} After the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]], 150 jurisdictions across 25 states were covered under Section 203(c), including statewide coverage of California, Texas, and Florida.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Groves |first=Robert M. |title=Voting Rights Act Amendments of 2006, Determinations Under Section 203 |journal=Federal Register |date=October 13, 2011 |volume=76 |issue=198 |url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_203/2011_notice.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123073336/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_203/2011_notice.pdf |archive-date=January 23, 2014 |access-date=February 23, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Impact==
[[File:Voting Rights Act - last page (hi-res).jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|Final page of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by United States President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], President of the Senate [[Hubert Humphrey]], and Speaker of the House [[John William McCormack|John McCormack]]]]
"The Voting Rights Act had an immediate impact. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new Black voters had been registered, one-third by federal examiners. By the end of 1966, only four out of 13 southern states had fewer than 50 percent of African Americans registered to vote."<ref name="NARA20220208VRA1965">{{cite web |title=Milestone Documents: Voting Rights Act (1965) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |access-date=November 4, 2023 |date=February 8, 2022}}</ref> After its enactment in 1965, the law immediately decreased racial discrimination in voting. The suspension of literacy tests and the assignments of federal examiners and observers allowed for high numbers of racial minorities to register to vote.<ref name=NewDenial />{{rp|702}} Nearly 250,000 African Americans registered in 1965, one-third of whom were registered by federal examiners.<ref name=DonInfoImpact>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{cite web|title=Voting Rights Act (1965): Document Info|url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100|publisher=Our Documents|access-date=September 8, 2013|archive-date=August 31, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831210157/http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100|url-status=live}}}}</ref> In covered jurisdictions, less than one-third (29.3 percent) of the African American population was registered in 1965; by 1967, this number increased to more than half (52.1 percent),<ref name=NewDenial />{{rp|702}} and a majority of African American residents became registered to vote in 9 of the 13 Southern states.<ref name=DonInfoImpact /> In Alabama, the percentage of adult African Americans registered to vote rose from 19.3 percent in 1964 to 61.3 percent in 1969. In Mississippi, the increase in registration was even more dramatic, rising from 6.7 percent of black adults in 1964 to 66.5 percent in 1969.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawson |first=Steven F. |title=Black Ballots: Voting Rights in the South, 1944-1969 |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1976 |isbn=0-231-03978-6 |location=New York |pages=331}}</ref>

Similar increases were seen in the number of African Americans elected to office: between 1965 and 1985, African Americans elected as state legislators in the 11 former [[Confederate States of America|Confederate states]] increased from 3 to 176.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grofman|first1=Bernard|last2=Handley|first2=Lisa|title=The Impact of the Voting Rights Act on Black Representation in Southern State Legislatures|journal=Legislative Studies Quarterly|date=February 1991|volume=16|issue=1|pages=111|jstor=439970|url=http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~bgrofman/40%20Grofman-Handley-Impact%20of%20VRA%20on%20representation.pdf|access-date=January 5, 2014|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924103337/http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~bgrofman/40%20Grofman-Handley-Impact%20of%20VRA%20on%20representation.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|112}} Nationwide, the number of African American elected officials increased from 1,469 in 1970 to 4,912 in 1980.<ref name=Main />{{rp|919}} By 2011, the number was approximately 10,500.<ref>{{cite news|last=Eilperin|first=Juliet|title=What's Changed for African Americans Since 1963, By the Numbers|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/08/22/whats-changed-for-african-americans-since-1963-by-the-numbers|access-date=January 5, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 22, 2013|archive-date=January 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124071454/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/08/22/whats-changed-for-african-americans-since-1963-by-the-numbers/|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, registration rates for language minority groups increased after Congress enacted the bilingual election requirements in 1975 and amended them in 1992. In 1973, the percent of Hispanics registered to vote was 34.9 percent; by 2006, that amount nearly doubled. The number of Asian Americans registered to vote in 1996 increased 58 percent by 2006.<ref name=enfranchise />{{rp|233–235}}

After the Act's initial success in combating tactics designed to deny minorities access to the polls, the Act became predominately used as a tool to challenge racial vote dilution.<ref name=NewDenial />{{rp|691}} Starting in the 1970s, the attorney general commonly raised Section 5 objections to voting changes that decreased the effectiveness of racial minorities' votes, including discriminatory [[annexation]]s, redistricting plans, and election methods such as at-large election systems, runoff election requirements, and prohibitions on [[bullet voting]].<ref name=Posner />{{rp|105–106}} In total, 81 percent (2,541) of preclearance objections made between 1965 and 2006 were based on vote dilution.<ref name=Posner />{{rp|102}} Claims brought under Section 2 have also predominately concerned vote dilution.<ref name=NewDenial />{{rp|708–709}} Between the 1982 creation of the Section 2 results test and 2006, at least 331 Section 2 lawsuits resulted in published judicial opinions. In the 1980s, 60 percent of Section 2 lawsuits challenged at-large election systems; in the 1990s, 37.2 percent challenged at-large election systems and 38.5 percent challenged redistricting plans. Overall, plaintiffs succeeded in 37.2 percent of the 331 lawsuits, and they were more likely to succeed in lawsuits brought against covered jurisdictions.<ref name=documenting>{{cite journal|last1=Katz|first1=Ellen|last2=Aisenbrey|first2=Margaret|last3=Baldwin|first3=Anna|last4=Cheuse|first4=Emma|last5=Weisbrodt|first5=Anna|title=Documenting Discrimination in Voting: Judicial Findings Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act|journal=University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform|year=2006|volume=39|ssrn=1029386}}</ref>{{rp|654–656}}

By enfranchising racial minorities, the Act facilitated a [[political realignment]] of the Democratic and Republican parties. Between 1890 and 1965, black disenfranchisement enabled the Democratic Party to dominate [[Southern politics]]. After Johnson signed the Act into law, newly enfranchised black voters began to push the Democratic Party to the left throughout the South; this in turn pushed Southern white conservatives to switch their support from the Democratic to Republican party.<ref name=polar>{{cite journal|last=Pildes|first=Richard H.|title=Why the Center Does Not Hold: The Causes of Hyperpolarized Democracy in America|journal=California Law Review|date=April 2011|volume=99|ssrn=1646989}}</ref>{{rp|290}} This trend caused the two parties to ideologically polarize, with the Democratic Party becoming more liberal and the Republican Party becoming more conservative.<ref name=polar />{{rp|290}} The trends also created competition between the two parties,<ref name=polar />{{rp|290}} which Republicans capitalized on by implementing the [[Southern strategy]].<ref name="Boyd">{{cite news|title=Nixon's Southern Strategy: 'It's All in the Charts'|last=Boyd|first=James|date=May 17, 1970|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/books/phillips-southern.pdf|access-date=August 2, 2008|archive-date=August 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830200537/https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/books/phillips-southern.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Over the subsequent decades, the creation of majority–minority districts to remedy racial vote dilution claims also contributed to these developments. By packing liberal-leaning racial minorities into small numbers of majority-minority districts, large numbers of surrounding districts became more solidly white, conservative, and Republican. While this increased the elected representation of racial minorities as intended, it also decreased white Democratic representation and increased the representation of Republicans overall.<ref name=polar />{{rp|292}} By the mid-1990s, these trends culminated in a political realignment: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party became more ideologically polarized and defined as liberal and conservative parties, respectively; and both parties came to compete for electoral success in the South,<ref name=polar />{{rp|294}} with the Republican Party controlling most of Southern politics.<ref name="Bending" />{{rp|203}}

Research shows that the Act successfully and massively increased voter turnout and voter registration, in particular among African Americans.<ref name="Fresh-2018" /><ref name="Ang-2019" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bernini |first=Andrea |last2=Facchini |first2=Giovanni |last3=Tabellini |first3=Marco |last4=Testa |first4=Cecilia |date=2025 |title=Black Empowerment and White Mobilization: The Effects of the Voting Rights             Act |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/736766 |journal=Journal of Political Economy |doi=10.1086/736766 |issn=0022-3808|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The act has also been linked to concrete outcomes, such as greater public goods provision (such as public education) for areas with higher black population shares and more members of Congress who vote for civil rights-related legislation.<ref name="Schuit-2016" /><ref name="Cascio-2014">{{Cite journal|last1=Cascio|first1=Elizabeth U.|last2=Washington|first2=Ebonya|date=February 1, 2014|title=Valuing the Vote: The Redistribution of Voting Rights and State Funds following the Voting Rights Act of 1965|url=https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/129/1/379/1897098|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|language=en|volume=129|issue=1|pages=379–433|doi=10.1093/qje/qjt028|s2cid=617854|issn=0033-5533|url-access=subscription|archive-date=September 21, 2020|access-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921134815/https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/129/1/379/1897098|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2016 study in the ''American Journal of Political Science'' found "that members of Congress who represented jurisdictions subject to the preclearance requirement were substantially more supportive of civil rights-related legislation than legislators who did not represent covered jurisdictions."<ref name="Schuit-2016">{{Cite journal|last1=Schuit|first1=Sophie|last2=Rogowski|first2=Jon C.|date=December 1, 2016 |title=Race, Representation, and the Voting Rights Act |journal=American Journal of Political Science |volume=61|issue=3|language=en |pages=513–526|doi=10.1111/ajps.12284|issn=1540-5907}}</ref> A 2013 ''Quarterly Journal of Economics'' study found that the Act boosted voter turnout and increases in public goods transfers from state governments to localities with higher black population.<ref name="Cascio-2014" /> A 2018 study in ''The Journal of Politics'' found that Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act "increased black voter registration by 14–19 percentage points, white registration by 10–13 percentage points, and overall voter turnout by 10–19 percentage points. Additional results for Democratic vote share suggest that some of this overall increase in turnout may have come from reactionary whites."<ref name="Fresh-2018">{{Cite journal|last=Fresh|first=Adriane|date=February 23, 2018|title=The Effect of the Voting Rights Act on Enfranchisement: Evidence from North Carolina|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=80|issue=2|pages=713–718|doi=10.1086/697592|s2cid=158668168}}</ref> A 2019 study in the ''American Economic Journal'' found that preclearance substantially increased turnout among minorities, even as far as to 2012 (the year prior to the Supreme Court ruling ending preclearance).<ref name="Ang-2019">{{Cite journal|last=Ang|first=Desmond|date=2019|title=Do 40-Year-Old Facts Still Matter? Long-Run Effects of Federal Oversight under the Voting Rights Act|journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=1–53|doi=10.1257/app.20170572|issn=1945-7782|doi-access=free}}</ref> The study estimates that preclearance led to an increase in minority turnout of 17 percentage points.<ref name="Ang-2019" /> A 2020 study found that the jurisdictions which had previously been covered by preclearance massively increased the rate of voter registration purges after the 2013 United States Supreme Court ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' decision in which the "coverage formula" in Section 4(b) of the VRA that determined which jurisdictions had to presubmit changes in their election policies for federal approval was struck down.<ref name="Feder-2020">{{Cite journal|last1=Feder|first1=Catalina|last2=Miller|first2=Michael G.|date=June 1, 2020|title=Voter Purges After Shelby: Part of Special Symposium on Election Sciences |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1532673X20916426|journal=American Politics Research| volume=48 | issue=6 | pages=687–692 |language=en-US|doi=10.1177/1532673x20916426|s2cid=221131969|issn=1532-673X|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210105160727/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1532673X20916426|archive-date=January 5, 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Another 2020 study found that VRA coverage halved the incidence and the onset of political violence.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lacroix|first=Jean|date=April 13, 2020|title=Ballots instead of Bullets? The effect of the Voting Rights Act on political violence|url=https://ideas.repec.org/p/sol/wpaper/2013-304198.html|journal=Working Papers CEB|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022202116/https://ideas.repec.org/p/sol/wpaper/2013-304198.html|archive-date=October 22, 2023}}</ref>

==Constitutionality==

===Voter eligibility provisions===
Early in the history of enforcement of the Act, the Supreme Court of the United States was rather quick to address both the constitutionality of the Act in its entirety as well as the constitutionality of several provisions relating to voter qualifications and prerequisites to voting. During the following year, in 1966, two legal cases were adjudicated by the Court regarding the Act. On the seventh day of March, in the landmark case of ''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'' (1966), the Supreme Court held that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a constitutional method to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment. A few months later, on the thirteenth day of June, the Supreme Court held that section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was constitutional in the case of ''[[Katzenbach v. Morgan]]'' (1966). This section prohibits jurisdictions from administering literacy tests to citizens who attain a sixth-grade education in an American school in which the predominant language was Spanish, such as schools in [[Puerto Rico]].<ref>Voting Rights Act of 1965 § 4(e); {{uscsub|52|10303|e}} (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 1973b(e))</ref> Although the Court had earlier held that literacy tests did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, in the case of ''[[Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections]]'' (1959), the Katzenbach–Morgan case allowed Congress to enforce Fourteenth Amendment rights—such as the right to vote—by prohibiting conduct that it deemed to interfere with such rights, even if that conduct may not be independently unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Buss|first=William G.|title=Federalism, Separation of Powers, and the Demise of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act|journal=Iowa Law Review|date=January 1998|volume=83|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/ilr83&div=19|access-date=January 7, 2014|archive-date=November 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130063336/https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/ilr83&div=19|url-status=live}}{{subscription required|s}}</ref>{{rp|405–406}}<ref>''[[Katzenbach v. Morgan]]'', {{ussc|384|641|1966}}</ref>{{rp|652–656}} After Congress created a nationwide ban on all literacy tests and similar devices in 1970, in the case of ''[[Oregon v. Mitchell]]'' (1970), the Supreme Court upheld the ban as being constitutional.<ref name=Defending /><ref name=Oregon>''[[Oregon v. Mitchell]]'', {{ussc|400|112|1970}}</ref> In that case, the Court also addressed the constitutionality of various other provisions relating to voter qualifications and prerequisites to voting; the Court upheld Section 202 of the 1965 law, which prohibits every state and local government from requiring people to live in their borders for longer than 30 days before allowing them to vote in a presidential election. Additionally, the Court upheld the provision lowering the minimum voting age to 18 years in federal elections, but it held that Congress exceeded its power by lowering the voting age to 18 in state elections; this precipitated the ratification of the [[Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-sixth Amendment]] the following year, which lowered the voting age in all elections from 21 years to 18 years in age. The Court was deeply divided in the Oregon-Mitchell case and a majority of the justices [[concurring opinion|did not agree on one rationale for the holding]].<ref name=Defending />{{rp|353}}<ref name=Oregon />{{rp|118–121}}

===Section 2 results test===
The question of constitutionality regarding section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which contains a general prohibition on discriminatory voting laws, has not been definitively explained by the Supreme Court. As amended in 1982, section 2 prohibits any voting practice that has a discriminatory effect, irrespective of whether the practice was enacted or is administered for the purpose of discriminating. This "results test" contrasts with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, both of which directly prohibit only purposeful discrimination. Given this disparity, whether the Supreme Court would uphold the constitutionality of section 2 as appropriate legislation that was passed to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and under what rationale, remains unclear.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|758–759}}

In ''[[Mississippi Republican Executive Opinion v. Brooks]]'' (1984),<ref>''Mississippi Republican Executive Opinion v. Brooks'', {{ussc|469|1002|1984}}</ref> the Supreme Court summarily affirmed, without a written opinion, a lower court's decision that 1982 amendment to section 2 is constitutional.<ref>{{cite news| title=Court Backs Voting Plan| first=Al| last=Kamen| date=November 14, 1984| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/11/14/court-backs-voting-plan/0591488a-04a4-4efa-aca3-3599338bcc59/| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| access-date=June 30, 2017| archive-date=April 2, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402230214/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/11/14/court-backs-voting-plan/0591488a-04a4-4efa-aca3-3599338bcc59/| url-status=live}}</ref> Justice Rehnquist, joined by Chief Justice Burger, dissented from the opinion. They reasoned that the case presented complex constitutional issues that warranted a full hearing. When making later decisions, the Supreme Court is more likely to disregard a previous judgment if it lacks a written opinion, but for lower courts the Supreme Court's unwritten summary affirmances are as binding as are Supreme Court judgments with written opinions. Partially due to ''Brooks'', the constitutionality of the section 2 results test has since been unanimously upheld by lower courts.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|759–760}}

The case of ''[[Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee]]'' (2021) evaluated the applicability of section 2 of the 1965 law in the wake of the decision in the case of ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' (2013). The [[Democratic National Committee]] asserted a set of Arizona election laws and policies were discriminatory towards Hispanics and Native Americans under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While lower courts upheld the election laws, an ''en banc'' Ninth Circuit reversed the decision and found these laws to be in violation of section 2 of the 1965 law.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-ballots-idUSKBN2AO18L | title = U.S. Supreme Court set to weigh Republican-backed voting restrictions | first = Andrew | last = Chung | date= February 24, 2021 | access-date = February 28, 2021 | publisher = [[Reuters]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227215018/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-ballots-idUSKBN2AO18L|archive-date=February 27, 2021}}</ref> The Arizona law was upheld by the Supreme Court after it introduced the means to review section 2 challenges.<ref name="npr decision" /><ref name="20210701NYTLiptak" /><ref name="abcnews decision" />

===Coverage formula and preclearance===
The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Section 5 preclearance requirement in three cases. The first case was ''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'' (1966),<ref name=SCvK>''[[South Carolina v. Katzenbach]]'', {{ussc|383|301|1966}}</ref> which was decided about five months after the Act's enactment. The court held that Section 5 constituted a valid use of Congress's power to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, reasoning that "exceptional circumstances" of pervasive racial discrimination, combined with the inadequacy of case-by-case litigation in ending that discrimination, justified the preclearance requirement.<ref name=SCvK />{{rp|334–335}}<ref name=TimeStill>{{cite journal|last=Posner|first=Mark A.|title=Time is Still on Its Side: Why Congressional Reauthorization of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act Represents a Congruent and Proportional Response to Our Nation's History of Discrimination in Voting|journal=New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy|year=2006|volume=10|url=http://www.nyujlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/POSNER-TIME-IS-STILL-ON-ITS-SIDE.pdf|access-date=December 14, 2013|archive-date=December 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214232112/http://www.nyujlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/POSNER-TIME-IS-STILL-ON-ITS-SIDE.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|76}} The court also upheld the constitutionality of the 1965 coverage formula, saying that it was "rational in both practice and theory" and that the bailout provision provided adequate relief for jurisdictions that may not deserve coverage.<ref name=SCvK />{{rp|330}}<ref name=TimeStill />{{rp|76–77}}

The Supreme Court again upheld the preclearance requirement in ''[[City of Rome v. United States]]'' (1980).<ref name=Rome>''City of Rome v. United States'', {{ussc|446|156|1980}}</ref> The court held that because Congress had explicit constitutional power to enforce the Reconstruction Amendments "by appropriate legislation", the Act did not violate principles of federalism. The court also explicitly upheld the "discriminatory effect" prong of Section 5, stating that even though the Fifteenth Amendment directly prohibited only intentional discrimination, Congress could constitutionally prohibit unintentional discrimination to mitigate the risk that jurisdictions may engage in intentional discrimination. Finally, the court upheld the 1975 extension of Section 5 because of the record of discrimination that continued to persist in the covered jurisdictions. The court further suggested that the temporary nature of the special provisions was relevant to Section 5's constitutionality.<ref name=TimeStill />{{rp|77–78}}

The final case in which the Supreme Court upheld Section 5 was ''[[Lopez v. Monterey County]]'' (''Lopez II'', 1999).<ref name=Lopez2>''Lopez v. Monterey County'' (''Lopez II''), {{ussc|525|266|1999}}</ref> In ''Lopez II'', the court reiterated its reasoning in ''Katzenbach'' and ''Rome'', and it upheld as constitutional the requirement that covered local governments obtain preclearance before implementing voting changes that their parent state required them to implement, even if the parent state was not itself a covered jurisdiction.<ref name=TimeStill />{{rp|78}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Harper|first=Charlotte Marx|title=Lopez v. Monterey County: A Remedy Gone Too Far?|journal=Baylor Law Review|date=2000|volume=52|url=http://0-www.heinonline.org.polar.onu.edu/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/baylr52&size=2&collection=journals&index=journals/baylr1&id=1|access-date=May 24, 2014}}</ref>{{rp|447}}

The 2006 extension of Section 5 was challenged before the Supreme Court in ''[[Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder]]'' (2009).<ref name=NW /> The lawsuit was brought by a municipal water district in Texas that elected members to a [[water board]]. The District wished to move a voting location from a private home to a public school, but that change was subject to preclearance because Texas was a covered jurisdiction. The District did not register voters, and thus it did not appear to qualify as a "political subdivision" eligible to bail out of coverage. Although the court indicated in [[dicta]] (a non-binding part of the court's opinion) that Section 5 presented difficult constitutional questions, it did not declare Section 5 unconstitutional; instead, it interpreted the law to allow any covered local government, including one that does not register voters, to obtain an exemption from preclearance if it meets the bailout requirements.<ref>{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Adam|title=Justices Retain Oversight by U.S. on Voting|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/us/23scotus.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 21, 2014|date=June 22, 2009|archive-date=July 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708013010/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/us/23scotus.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Bravin, Jess |title=Supreme Court Avoids Voting-Rights Act Fight |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB124567014181036773 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=June 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307161816/https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB124567014181036773 |archive-date=March 7, 2014 |access-date=May 19, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In a 5–4 decision in ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' (2013),<ref name=supremes>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/27/the-supreme-court-voting-rights-act-case-explained/|title=Everything You Need to Know about the Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Case|author=Sean Sullivan|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 27, 2013|access-date=February 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228053644/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/27/the-supreme-court-voting-rights-act-case-explained/|archive-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref> the Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) as unconstitutional.<ref name="shelby" /><ref name="rolls back" /> The court reasoned that the coverage formula violates the constitutional principles of "equal sovereignty of the states" and federalism because its disparate treatment of the states is "based on 40 year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day", rendering the formula outdated.<ref name="shelby" /><ref name="Liptak, A"/> The court did not strike down Section 5, but without Section 4(b), no jurisdiction may be subject to Section 5 preclearance unless Congress enacts a new coverage formula.<ref name="scotusblogplain" /> After the decision, several states that were fully or partially covered—including Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina—implemented laws that were previously denied preclearance. This prompted new legal challenges to these laws under other provisions unaffected by the court's decision, such as Section 2.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Wilson, McKenzie|title=Piercing the Umbrella: The Dangerous Paradox of Shelby County v. Holder|journal=Seton Hall Legislative Journal|date=2015|volume=39|url=https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1081&context=shlj|access-date=April 13, 2019}}</ref>{{rp|189–200}} Research has shown that the coverage formula and the requirement of preclearance substantially increased turnout among racial minorities, even as far as the year before ''Shelby County''.<ref name="Ang-2019" /> Some jurisdictions that had previously been covered by the coverage formula increased the rate of voter registration purges after ''Shelby County''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Feder|first1=Catalina|last2=Miller|first2=Michael G.|date=2020|title=Voter Purges After Shelby|journal=American Politics Research|language=en-US|volume=48|issue=6|pages=687–692|doi=10.1177/1532673x20916426|issn=1532-673X|s2cid=221131969}}</ref> On July 1, 2021, the Act's preclearance requirements were further weakened at the state and local level following the ''[[Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee]]'' in a 6–3 Supreme Court ruling which held that Section 2 preclearance provisions could not apply to out-of-precinct voting or ballot collecting.<ref name=section2less /><ref name=2021supremecourt />

===Racial gerrymandering===
{{main|Gerrymandering in the United States#Affirmative|l1=Gerrymandering in the United States: Affirmative racial gerrymandering}}
While Section 2 and Section 5 prohibit jurisdictions from drawing electoral districts that dilute the votes of protected minorities, the Supreme Court has held that in some instances, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prevents jurisdictions from drawing district lines to favor protected minorities. The court first recognized the [[justiciability]] of affirmative "racial gerrymandering" claims in ''[[Shaw v. Reno]]'' (1993).<ref name=Shaw>''[[Shaw v. Reno]]'' (''Shaw I''), {{ussc|509|630|1993}}</ref> In ''[[Miller v. Johnson]]'' (1995),<ref name=Miller>''[[Miller v. Johnson]]'', {{ussc|515|900|1995}}</ref> the court explained that a redistricting plan is constitutionally suspect if the jurisdiction used race as the "predominant factor" in determining how to draw district lines. For race to "predominate", the jurisdiction must prioritize racial considerations over traditional redistricting principles, which include "compactness, contiguity, [and] respect for political subdivisions or communities defined by actual shared interests."<ref name=Miller />{{rp|916}}<ref name=RacialGerrymander>{{cite journal|last=Ebaugh|first=Nelson|title=Refining the Racial Gerrymandering Claim: Bush v. Vera|journal=Tulsa Law Journal|year=1997|volume=33|issue=2|url=http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2136&context=tlr|access-date=December 30, 2013}}</ref>{{rp|621}} If a court concludes that racial considerations predominated, then the redistricting plan is considered "racially gerrymandered" and must be subjected to [[strict scrutiny]], meaning that the redistricting plan will be upheld as constitutional only if it is narrowly tailored to advance a compelling state interest. In ''[[Bush v. Vera]]'' (1996),<ref>''[[Bush v. Vera]]'', {{ussc|517|952|1996}}</ref>{{rp|983}} a plurality of the Supreme Court assumed that complying with Section 2 or Section 5 constituted compelling interests, and lower courts have allowed only these two interests to justify racial gerrymandering.<ref name=democracy />{{rp|877}}

===Standing===
The [[standing (law)|standing]] requirements of the VRA were questioned in the 2023 case ''[[Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment]]'', launched by the NAACP to challenge the redistricting maps on the basis they diluted black votes. While many previous challenges to redistricting under the VRA had been brought by groups like the NAACP or voters within the state, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit|Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals]] held, 2–1, in November 2023, that a strict reading of the VRA did not permit private rights of action, and only the United States Attorney General has standing to bring challenges. Such a ruling, if upheld, has a significant potential to upend many existing and current redistricting challenges under Section 2 of the VRA, according to legal scholars.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-court-guts-voting-rights-act-denying-citizens-groups-right-sue-rcna126023 | title = Federal court threatens to deal a death blow to the Voting Rights Act | first = Jane | last = Timm | date = November 20, 2023 | accessdate = November 20, 2023 | work = [[NBC News]] | archive-date = November 20, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231120192600/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-court-guts-voting-rights-act-denying-citizens-groups-right-sue-rcna126023 | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Voting Rights reform controversy in 2025===
In October 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed arguments concerning the Voting Rights Act, which aims to prohibit states from factoring in the racial composition of their voting populations when delineating district lines. This strategy enables judges to invalidate district boundaries based on race in order to safeguard minority voters. However, some critics have labeled the ruling as discriminatory and unconstitutional. President Donald Trump has urged Republican-held states nationwide to revise their congressional maps.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Supreme Court is hearing a case that could weaken the Voting Rights Act — and upend the midterms |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/15/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-argument-00608340?nid=00000150-1596-d4ac-a1d4-179e288b0000&nname=illinois-playbook&nrid=e25ced6b-b065-4321-bc14-842d1135e29e |website=politico}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Law|Politics}}

=== Federal laws ===

*[[National Voter Registration Act of 1993]] (NVRA)
* [[Help America Vote Act]] (HAVA)
* [[Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act]] (UOCAVA)
* [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]

=== Attempted federal legislation ===
* [[For the People Act]] (2019 and 2021)
* [[John Lewis Voting Rights Act]] (2019 and 2021)

=== State laws ===
* [[State Voting Rights Act]]
* [[California Voting Rights Act]]
* [[Voting Rights Act of Virginia]]
* [[John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York]]

=== More ===
* [[Voter suppression in the United States]]
* [[Women's suffrage in the United States]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal |last1=Ansolabehere |first1=Stephen |last2=Persily |first2=Nathaniel |last3=Stewart |first3=Charles III |title=Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |year=2010 |journal=[[Harvard Law Review]] |volume=123 |issue=6 |pages=1385–1436 |url=http://harvardlawreview.org/2010/04/race-region-and-vote-choice-in-the-2008-election-implications-for-the-future-of-the-voting-rights-act/ |archive-date=April 20, 2014 |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420032124/http://harvardlawreview.org/2010/04/race-region-and-vote-choice-in-the-2008-election-implications-for-the-future-of-the-voting-rights-act/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Berman|first=Ari |title=Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America|location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2015|isbn=978-0-3741-5827-9}}
* Bullock, Charles S. III, Ronald Keith Gaddie, and Justin J. Wert, eds. (2016). ''The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act'' by (University of Oklahoma Press; 240 pages) focus on period between the 2006 revision of the 1965 act and the invalidation of one of its key provisions in Shelby County v. Holder (2013).
* {{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Chandler |title=Minority Vote Dilution |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |publisher=Howard University Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-88258-156-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_f0s8 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Chandler |title=Quiet Revolution in the South: The Impact of the Voting Rights Act, 1965–1990 |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-691-02108-9 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Finley |first=Keith M. |title=Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights, 1938–1965 |location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8071-3345-3 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Garrow |first=David J. |title=Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 |location=New Haven, Connecticut |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-300-02498-2 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Lawson |first=Steven F. |title=Black Ballots: Voting Rights in the South, 1944–1969 |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-7391-0087-5 }}
* {{Cite journal | last = Smooth | first = Wendy | title = Intersectionality in electoral politics: a mess worth making | journal = [[Politics & Gender]] | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 400–414 | doi = 10.1017/S1743923X06261087 | date = September 2006 | s2cid = 145812097 }}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q1608064|c=Category:Voting Rights Act of 1965|n=no|q=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=Voting Rights Act of 1965|wikt=no|species=no}}
* {{cite report|last=Garrett|first=R. Sam|date=April 25, 2023|title=The Voting Rights Act: Historical Development and Policy Background|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]]|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47520|access-date=January 19, 2024}}
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-350/uslm/COMPS-350.xml Voting Rights Act of 1965] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925223539/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-350/uslm/COMPS-350.xml |date=September 25, 2022 }} as amended ([https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-350/pdf/COMPS-350.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220134304/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-350/pdf/COMPS-350.pdf |date=February 20, 2023 }}/[https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/COMPS-350/ details] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925223539/https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/COMPS-350/ |date=September 25, 2022 }}) in the [[United States Government Publishing Office|GPO]] [https://www.govinfo.gov/help/comps Statute Compilations collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113192656/https://www.govinfo.gov/help/comps |date=November 13, 2021 }}
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/link/statute/89/public/110?link-type=pdf&.pdf Voting Rights Act of 1965] as enacted ([https://www.govinfo.gov/link/statute/89/public/110?link-type=details details]) in the [[United States Statutes at Large|US Statutes at Large]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190307042140/http://library.clerk.house.gov/reference-files/PPL_VotingRightsAct_1965.pdf Text of original Act and 1970, 1975, and 1982 amendments] (PDF). Archived from [http://library.clerk.house.gov/reference-files/PPL_VotingRightsAct_1965.pdf the original] on March 7, 2019.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180709140646/https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/060706VRAbrief524.pdf Voting Rights Enforcement and Reauthorization: An Examination of the Act's Section 5 Preclearance Provision], U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
* [http://www.justicetalking.org/ShowPage.aspx?ShowID=518 Voting Rights Act: Past, Present, and Future] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009175754/http://www.justicetalking.org/ShowPage.aspx?ShowID=518 |date=October 9, 2008 }}, [[Justice Talking]]
* [https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43626.pdf The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Background and Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622143641/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43626.pdf |date=June 22, 2021 }} (PDF), [[Congressional Research Service]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071107054119/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/133SEMO/133selma.htm ''"The Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March: Shaking the Conscience of the Nation"''], a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places lesson plan
* [https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73399/index.htm Voting Rights Act: Evidence of Continued Need: Hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session, March 8, 2006, Vol. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709180935/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73399/index.htm |date=July 9, 2017 }} [https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73402/index.htm Vol. 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709180929/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73402/index.htm |date=July 9, 2017 }} [https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73403/indexlps73403.htm Vol. 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709180932/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73403/indexlps73403.htm |date=July 9, 2017 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20170709180934/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps73404/indexlps73404.htm Vol. 4]
* [http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/vra The Great Society Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420014228/http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/vra |date=April 20, 2016 }}
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt9/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt9-2-2.pdf 111 Congressional Record (Bound) - Volume 111, Part 2 (May 25, 1965 to June 8, 1965)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206024925/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt9/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt9-2-2.pdf |date=February 6, 2022 }}, ''[[Congressional Record]]'' Senate May 26 vote roll call p.&nbsp;11752
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12-3-2.pdf 111 Congressional Record (Bound) - Volume 111, Part 12 (July 7, 1965 to July 16, 1965)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204070445/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12-3-2.pdf |date=December 4, 2021 }}, ''Congressional Record'' House July 9 vote roll call pp.&nbsp;16285–16286
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-5-2.pdf 111 Congressional Record (Bound) - Volume 111, Part 14 (July 28, 1965 to August 9, 1965)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306104521/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-5-2.pdf |date=March 6, 2022 }}, ''Congressional Record'' House August 3 conference report vote roll call p.&nbsp;19201
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-6-1.pdf 111 Congressional Record (Bound) - Volume 111, Part 14 (July 28, 1965 to August 9, 1965)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306104510/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-6-1.pdf |date=March 6, 2022 }}, ''Congressional Record'' Senate August 4 conference report vote roll call p.&nbsp;19378

{{Voting rights in the United States}}
{{Civil rights movement}}
{{Lyndon B. Johnson}}
{{Suffrage}}
{{African American topics}}
{{USRedistrictinglaw}}
{{Authority control}}


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