The Voting Rights Act of 1965

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most powerful civil-rights laws ever passed. Its core promise, in Section 2, is permanent: no state or locality may use any voting rule, practice, or procedure that denies or abridges the right to vote on account of race or color.

When it passed, it immediately swept away tools that had been used for generations to block people from voting — like literacy tests — and it gave the federal government real enforcement power. For decades, Section 5 required certain jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to get federal preclearance before changing their voting rules.

That preclearance system was narrowed in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), where the Supreme Court struck down the formula used to decide which areas were covered. Section 5 still exists, but without a current coverage formula it is largely dormant unless Congress writes a new one.

What remains fully in force is Section 2, which applies nationwide and is enforced both by the U.S. Department of Justice and through private lawsuits. If a voting rule discriminates by race, Section 2 is the tool used to challenge it.