08/06/2026
The right to vote is the foundation of democracy.
Since the nation’s founding in 1776, there have been efforts to create equal access that was not based on land ownership, class status, race or gender.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 focused on redressing the longstanding challenges that African Americans faced at the ballot box. The passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished enslavement, did not protect voting rights despite ambitious civic participation and leadership by African Americans across the nation and especially in the South.
When he signed the Voting Rights Act into law, on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson hailed it as "a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield."
The vote is the foundation of democratic participation. When access to it is unequal, so is the government it produces.
The signing took place in the President's Room just off the Senate Chamber and Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and other congressional leaders gathered to witness history. In keeping with presidential tradition, after he signed the bill, Johnson handed to Dr. King one of the pens that he used.
The Voting Rights Act abolished literacy tests and other discriminatory voting barriers, prohibited discriminatory voting practices and gave the federal government authority to oversee voter registration in places with documented histories of discrimination.
By the end of 1965, more than 250,000 African Americans had registered to vote. Today, the Voting Rights Act is under renewed legislative and legal scrutiny that reminds us that the right to vote and access to the ballot box is an essential cornerstone of American democracy and civic society.
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