Voting Rights Act of 1965

piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a law of the United States. It made it easier for African-Americans and non-English speaking citizens to vote. In some parts of the United States, people were forced to pay a poll tax or take a literacy test before being allowed to vote. This process kept many African-Americans from voting. The Voting Rights Act made all of those practices illegal.