Voting Rights Act of 1965

Cultural  

1. A law passed at the time of the civil rights movement. It eliminated various devices, such as literacy tests, that had traditionally been used to restrict voting by black people. It authorized the enrollment of voters by federal registrars in states where fewer than fifty percent of the eligible voters were registered or voted. All such states were in the South.

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Example Sentences

His advocacy work also paved the way for the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

From Barron's • Jan. 19, 2026

Callais, a case that concerns the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlaws racial discrimination in voting.

From Salon • Oct. 3, 2025

Ms. Hubbard, who is African American, cast her first ballot before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned practices aimed at restricting Black Americans from voting, like poll taxes and literacy tests.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2024

It would be nearly fifty years before their rights were fully protected by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler