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The Voting Act of 1965
The Voter Act of 1965 was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to reduce the legal barriers experienced by African-Americans when exercising their right to vote. Specifically, it outlawed literacy tests to qualify citizens to vote and it forced states to go through the U.S. Attorney General for procedural voting changes. Very few regulations in the Voter Act are still in place today due to court cases such as South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966), Allen v. State Board of Elections (1969), and Shelby County v. Holder (2013). One of the most important changes from these court cases is that more restrictive laws in states like Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, N. Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin have been imposed. For instance, individuals turning 18 can’t register to vote online, participate in early voting, do same-day registration or pre-registration.