The Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Recently Updated Pages

Literacy Tests

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:21:29 CDT

In an article entitled "21 States Use Literacy Test" in The Washington Post, Times Herald, 21 of the 50 United States used some form of literacy "test or device" to infringe upon the voting rights of U.S. citizens in 1965, either by requiring certain moral character, language proficiency, or knowledge of the U.S. governmental system (Associated Press 1965). In an article written by William Van Alstyne, Professor of Law at Duke University, a series of questions were developed by the Alabama Supreme Court to be used as a literacy test for voting registrars to administer to mostly Black voters:

"If no national candidate for Vice President receives a majority of the electoral vote, how is a Vice President chosen?
"In such cases, how many votes must a person receive to become Vice President?
"How many votes must a person receive in order to become President if the election is decided by the United States House of Representatives?
"If election of the President becomes the duty of the United States House of Representatives and it fails to act, who becomes President?"

When Professor Alstyne administered the questions to other professors of law in American law schools, out of 96 responses, 70% were technically incorrect. Some of the professors interviewed administered the quiz to their law students, and no one answered any questions correctly. Many of the professors wrote back to Professor Alstyne and hoped that his "study shows the gigantic farce that the system represents" (Alstyne 1965).

Poll Tax Challenge

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:16:44 CDT

President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on August 6. According to an article by E. W. Kenworthy of The New York Times, President Johnson displayed "vigorous enforcement" of the law that he and Congress had just passed (Kenworthy 1965: 1). President Johnson announced that Federal examiners would begin registering Blacks "'in 10 to 15 counties'" that violated the new law, and that Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach would be filing suit against the State of Mississippi to challenge its poll tax under the 15th Amendment of the Constitution the next day (Kenworthy 1965). In the next week, the Attorney General would be filing suit against the states of Alabama, Texas, and Virginia as well (Kenworthy 1965). This new legal form of enforcement through the judiciary branch resulted from the Congress's finding that the poll tax was not Constitutional, and thus subject to challenge from the Attorney General through litigation, marking a historical departure from state legislative discretion to federal judiciary formation of Constitutional interpretation and enforcement. Until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the judiciary and executive branches did not assume such bold roles in shaping Constitutional interpretation and implementation, rather leaving the individual states to decide their own voting laws. The court began to form laws through precedents of interpretation on a federal level instead of just on a state or local level.

Violence Against Protesters

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:12:52 CDT

Although violence against southern Blacks was common in the years preceding the early 1960's, the violence became much more apparent as the press brought stories and images of brutality against peaceful marchers and protesters who were appealing for voting rights in the years leading up to and following the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

According to Nan Robertson, a columnist for The New York Times, March 7, 1965 marked a turning point in the Congressional debate over the necessity of voting rights legislation. On March 7th, peaceful protesters in Selma, Alabama were met with "tear gas, whips and clubs" from local law enforcement officers, which some legislators called "'sickening,' 'savage' and 'disgraceful'" (Robertson 1965). This show of violence in the South received much negative attention from the press and legislators regarded it as the "last straw" of violence that Congress could tolerate without taking legislative action. Even during the 1960's, many southern Democrats were generally against voting rights for Blacks. However, after March 7 and another incident on June 14, 1965 where 472 protesters, both Blacks and Whites, were arrested during a March in Jackson Mississippi and taken to stockades, and 5 people were sent to the hospital for being beaten by police (Montgomery 1965: 1), the pressure for congress-people to react was such that both Democrats and Republicans called for immediate legislative action to "eliminate the remaining barriers to Negro voting rights", a political marriage that gave the resulting voting rights bill great legislative momentum as it passed through Congress.

Nan Robertson link:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=98454925&Fmt=7&clientId=65345&RQT=309&VName=HNP
Paul Montgomery link:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=97210270&Fmt=7&clientId=65345&RQT=309&VName=HNP
Martin Luther King, Jr. in Jail:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=95528686&Fmt=7&clientId=65345&RQT=309&VName=HNP

The Weakness of 50 Percentum

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:09:36 CDT

During the debates that comprised the hearings for the voting rights bills, H.R. 6400 and S.1564, some congress-people found this part of the bills to be weak. By requiring 50% of the total population of the county to be registered and voting, the bill was limited to covering those areas that had fairly large populations of minorities that would affect the percentage of the entire population. As Representative Schweiker argued, areas that had small numbers of individuals who were discriminated against and were not allowed to vote were not helped by the bill (Hearings 1965: 714). Also, Representative Cramer argued that the combined requirement that the states affected utilize literacy tests or other "devices" left out minorities in states that did not have such obvious discriminatory practices, but which had small percentages of their minority populations registered and voting (Hearings 1965: 78).

Representative Cramer also questioned whether the data that the Census gathered to assess the 50 percentiles were reliable. He claimed that, in some areas, large swatches of the minority population is left out of the Census due to their locations, employments, or other social boundaries such as speech and discrimination from census-takers. Cramer suggested that a departure from percentages and a requirement that only 20 citizens complain that they cannot vote because of discrimination would be sufficient for a Federal examiner to be assigned to an area (Hearings 1965).

The Civil Rights Act of 1957

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:08:46 CDT

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 preceded the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act was generally unsuccessful in guaranteeing any of the rights that it proposed because it lacked the language to include state and local election or to empower the executive and judiciary branches to enforce and regulate this piece of legislation. Most states in the South experienced little change after this act. In Mississippi and Alabama, only 6.7% and 23%, respectively, of their Black populations were registered to vote in 1964 (Hearings 1965: 257).

"PART IV—TO PROVIDE MEANS OF
FURTHER SECURING AND PROTECTING
THE RIGHT TO VOTE"
"(b) No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, coerce or attempt to intimidate, threaten or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, member of the Senate or member of the House of Representatives, delegates or commissioners from the territories or possessions, at any general, special, or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any such candidate.
(c) Whenever any person has engaged or there are reasonable grounds to believe that any person is about to engage in any act or practice which would deprive any other person of any right or privilege secured by subsection (a) or (b), the Attorney General may institute for the United States, Or in the nation of the United States, a civil action or other proper proceeding for preventive relief, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order. In any proceeding hereunder the United States shall be liable for costs the same as a private person.
(d) The district courts of the United
States shall have jurisdiction of proceedings instituted pursuant to this section and shall exercise the same without regard to whether the party aggrieved shall have exhausted any administrative or other remedies that may be provided by law."

Enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:05:18 CDT

Representative Speedy Long of Louisiana represented a group of congress-people who did not think that the 15th Amendment gave Congress or the federal government the power to dictate "uniform voter qualifications" or impose a Federal registrar system on the states. The Amendment merely says that the United States shall prohibit the U.S., state, or local governments from denying citizens the right to vote according to their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (Hearings 1965: 717).

That prohibition, in Rep. Long's opinion, does not include the enforcement of new programs that should be left to the legislative processes of the states (Hearings 1965). Although many conservative Democrats at the time felt like the bill gave the federal government too much power over the states, the political climate was such that most congress-people welcomed the new, stronger federal powers.

References

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:00:09 CDT

"21 States use Literacy Test."1965. The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), Apr 11.
"Display Ad 13 -- no Title."1965. New York Times (1857-Current File), Feb 5.

Evans, Rowland and Robert Novak. 1965. "Dirksen-Katzenbach, Inc." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), Mar 14.

Good, Paul. 1965. "States Rights Partisan Slugs Dr. King in Hotel." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), Jan 19.

"Hearings before Subcommittee No. 5 of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives: Eighty-Ninth Congress First Session on H.R. 6400 and other Proposals to Enforce the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States."1965. Serial No. 2(1). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Irby, W. R. 1965. "Federal Power to Enforce Voting Rights." New York Times (1857-Current File), Mar 14.

Kenworthy, E. W. and Times,Special to The New York. 1965. "Johnson Signs Voting Rights Bill, Orders Immediate Enforcement; 4 Suits Will Challenge Poll Tax." New York Times (1857-Current File), Aug 7.

Montgomery, P. L. 1965. "472 are Arrested in Jackson March; 5 Charge Beating." New York Times (1857-Current File), Jun 15.

Robertson, Nan. 1965. "Johnson Pressed for a Voting Law." New York Times (1857-Current File), Mar 9.

Van Alstyne, William. 1965. "Literacy Test Queries." New York Times (1857-Current File), Apr 8.

Home

rramire2 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:07:41 CDT

Selections from the Voting Rights Act of 1965:

"AN ACT To enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall be known as the "Voting Rights Act of 1965."

SEC. 2. No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.

SEC. 3. (a) Whenever the Attorney General institutes a proceeding under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court shall authorize the appointment of Federal examiners by the United States Civil Service Commission in accordance with section 6 to serve for such period of time and for such political subdivisions as the court shall determine is appropriate to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment (1) as part of any interlocutory order if the court determines that the appointment of such examiners is necessary to enforce such guarantees or (2) as part of any final judgment if the court finds that violations of the fifteenth amendment justifying equitable relief have occurred in such State or subdivision: Provided, That the court need not authorize the appointment of examiners if any incidents of denial or abridgement of the right to vote on account of race or color (1) have been few in number and have been promptly and effectively corrected by State or local action, (2) the continuing effect of such incidents has been eliminated, and (3) there is no reasonable probability of their recurrence in the future. (b) If in a proceeding instituted by the Attorney General under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court finds that a test or device has been used for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, it shall suspend the use of tests and devices in such State or political subdivisions as the court shall determine is appropriate and for such period as it deems necessary. (c) If in any proceeding instituted by the Attorney General under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court finds that violations of the fifteenth amendment justifying equitable relief have occurred within the territory of such State or political subdivision, the court, in addition to such relief as it may grant, shall retain jurisdiction for such period as it may deem appropriate and during such period no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect at the time the proceeding was commenced shall be enforced unless and until the court finds that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color: Provided, That such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure may be enforced if the qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure has been submitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney General and the Attorney General has not interposed an objection within sixty days after such submission, except that neither the court's finding nor the Attorney General's failure to object shall bar a subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure.

SEC. 4. (a) To assure that the right of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or abridged on account of race or color, no citizen shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his failure to comply with any test or device in any State with respect to which the determinations have been made under subsection (b) or in any political subdivision with respect to which such determinations have been made as a separate unit, unless the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in an action for a declaratory judgment brought by such State or subdivision against the United States has determined that no such test or device has been used during the five years preceding the filing of the action for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color: Provided, That no such declaratory judgment shall issue with respect to any plaintiff for a period of five years after the entry of a final judgment of any court of the United States, other than the denial of a declaratory judgment under this section, whether entered prior to or after the enactment of this Act, determining that denials or abridgments of the right to vote on account of race or color through the use of such tests or devices have occurred anywhere in the territory of such plaintiff. An action pursuant to this subsection shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court. The court shall retain jurisdiction of any action pursuant to this subsection for five years after judgment and shall reopen the action upon motion of the Attorney General alleging that a test or device has been used for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color. If the Attorney General determines that he has no reason to believe that any such test or device has been used during the five years preceding the filing of the action for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, he shall consent to the entry of such judgment (b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply in any State or in any political subdivision of a state which (1) the Attorney General determines maintained on November 1, 1964, any test or device, and with respect to which (2) the Director of the Census determines that less than 50 percentum of the persons of voting age residing therein were registered on November 1, 1964, or that less than 50 percentum of such persons voted in the presidential election of November 1964. A determination or certification of the Attorney General or of the Director of the Census under this section or under section 6 or section 13 shall not be reviewable in any court and shall be effective upon publication in the Federal Register. (c) The phrase "test or device" shall mean any requirement that a person as a prerequisite for voting or registration for voting (1) demonstrate the ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter, (2) demonstrate any educational achievement or his knowledge of any particular subject, (3) possess good moral character, or (4) prove his qualifications by the voucher of registered voters or members of any other class. (d) For purposes of this section no State or political subdivision shall be determined to have engaged in the use of tests or devices for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color if (1) incidents of such use have been few in number and have been promptly and effectively corrected by State or local action, (2) the continuing effect of such incidents has been eliminated, and (3) there is no reasonable probability of their recurrence in the future....

SEC. 5. Whenever a State or political subdivision with respect to which the prohibitions set forth in section 4(a) are in effect shall enact or seek to administer any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect on November 1, 1964, such State or subdivision may institute an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, and unless and until the court enters such judgment no person shall be denied the right to vote for failure to comply with such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure: Provided, That such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure may be enforced without such proceeding if the qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure has been submitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney General and the Attorney General has not interposed an objection within sixty days after such submission, except that neither the Attorney General's failure to object nor a declaratory judgment entered under this section shall bar a subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure. Any action under this section shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court.

SEC. 6. Whenever (a) a court has authorized the appointment of examiners pursuant to the provisions of section 3(a), or (b) unless a declaratory judgment has been rendered under section 4(a), the Attorney General certifies with respect to any political subdivision named in, or included within the scope of, determinations made under section 4(b) that (1) he has received complaints in writing from twenty or more residents of such political subdivision alleging that they have been denied the right to vote under color of law on account of race or color, and that he believes such complaints to be meritorious, or (2) that, in his judgment (considering, among other factors, whether the ratio of nonwhite persons to white persons registered to vote within such subdivision appears to him to be reasonably attributable to violations of the fifteenth amendment or whether substantial evidence exists that bona fide efforts are being made within such subdivision to comply with the fifteenth amendment), the appointment of examiners is otherwise necessary to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment, the Civil Service Commission shall appoint as many examiners for such subdivision as it may deem appropriate to prepare and maintain lists of persons eligible to vote in Federal, State, and local elections. Such examiners, hearing officers provided for in section 9(a), and other persons deemed necessary by the Commission to carry out the provisions and purposes of this Act shall be appointed, compensated, and separated without regard to the provisions of any statute administered by the Civil Service Commission, and service under this Act shall not be considered employment for the purposes of any statute administered by the Civil Service Commission, except the provisions of section 9 of the Act of August 2, 1939, as amended (5 U.S.C. 118i), prohibiting partisan political activity: Provided, That the Commission is authorized, after consulting the head of the appropriate department or agency, to designate suitable persons in the official service of the United States, with their consent, to serve in these positions. Examiners and hearing officers shall have the power to administer oaths.

SEC. 7. (a) The examiners for each political subdivision shall, at such places as the Civil Service Commission shall by regulation designate, examine applicants concerning their qualifications for voting. An application to an examiner shall be in such form as the Commission may require and shall contain allegations that the applicant is not otherwise registered to vote. (b) Any person whom the examiner finds, in accordance with instructions received under section 9(b), to have the qualifications prescribed by State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States shall promptly be placed on a list of eligible voters. A challenge to such listing may be made in accordance with section 9(a) and shall not be the basis for a prosecution under section 12 of this Act. The examiner shall certify and transmit such list, and any supplements as appropriate, at least once a month, to the offices of the appropriate election officials, with copies to the Attorney General and the attorney general of the State, and any such lists and supplements thereto transmitted during the month shall be available for public inspection on the last business day of the month and, in any event, not later than the forty-fifth day prior to any election. The appropriate State or local election official shall place such names on the official voting list. Any person whose name appears on the examiner's list shall be entitled and allowed to vote in the election district of his residence unless and until the appropriate election officials shall have been notified that such person has been removed from such list in accordance with subsection (d): Provided, That no person shall be entitled to vote in any election by virtue of this Act unless his name shall have been certified and transmitted on such a list to the offices of the appropriate election officials at least forty-five days prior to such election. (c) The examiner shall issue to each person whose name appears on such a list a certificate evidencing his eligibility to vote. (d) A person whose name appears on such a list shall be removed therefrom by an examiner if (1) such person has been successfully challenged in accordance with the procedure prescribed in section 9, or (2) he has been determined by an examiner to have lost his eligibility to vote under State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

SEC. 9. (a) Any challenge to a listing on an eligibility list prepared by an examiner shall be heard and determined by a hearing officer appointed by and responsible to the Civil Service Commission and under such rules as the Commission shall by regulation prescribe. Such challenge shall be entertained only if filed at such office within the State as the Civil Service Commission shall by regulation designate, and within ten days after the listing of the challenged person is made available for public inspection, and if supported by (1) the affidavits of at least two persons having personal knowledge of the facts constituting grounds for the challenge, and (2) a certification that a copy of the challenge and affidavits have been served by mail or in person upon the person challenged at his place of residence set out in the application. Such challenge shall be determined within fifteen days after it has been filed. A petition for review of the decision of the hearing officer may be filed in the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the person challenged resides within fifteen days after service of such decision by mail on the person petitioning for review but no decision of a hearing officer shall be reversed unless clearly erroneous. Any person listed shall be entitled and allowed to vote pending final determination by the hearing officer and by the court. (b) The times, places, procedures, and form for application and listing pursuant to this Act and removals from the eligibility lists shall be prescribed by regulations promulgated by the Civil Service Commission and the Commission shall, after consultation with the Attorney General, instruct examiners concerning applicable State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States with respect to (1) the qualifications required for listing, and (2) loss of eligibility to vote. (c) Upon the request of the applicant or the challenger or on its own motion the Civil Service Commission shall have the power to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence relating to any matter pending before it under the authority of this section. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena, any district court of the United States or the United States court of any territory or possession, or the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, within the jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or is domiciled or transacts business, or has appointed an agent for receipt of service of process, upon application by the Attorney General of the United States shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before the Commission or a hearing officer, there to produce pertinent, relevant, and nonprivileged documentary evidence if so ordered, or there to give testimony touching the matter under investigation, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof.

SEC. 10. (a) The Congress finds that the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting (i) precludes persons of limited means from voting or imposes unreasonable financial hardship upon such persons as a precondition to their exercise of the franchise, (ii) does not bear a reasonable relationship to any legitimate State interest in the conduct of elections, and (iii) in some areas has the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color. Upon the basis of these findings, Congress declares that the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some areas by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting. (b) In the exercise of the powers of Congress under section 5 of the fourteenth amendment and section 2 of the fifteenth amendment, the Attorney General is authorized and directed to institute forthwith in the name of the United States such actions, including actions against States or political subdivisions, for declaratory judgment or injunctive relief against the enforcement of any requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting, or substitute therefor enacted after November 1, 1964, as will be necessary to implement the declaration of subsection (a) and the purposes of this section. (c) The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction of such actions which shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court. It shall be the duty of the judges designated to hear the case to assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date, to participate in the hearing and determination thereof, and to cause the case to be in every way expedited. (d) During the pendency of such actions, and thereafter if the courts, notwithstanding this action by the Congress, should declare the requirement of the payment of a poll tax to be constitutional, no citizen of the United States who is a resident of a State or political subdivision with respect to which determinations have been made under subsection 4(b) and a declaratory judgment has not been entered under subsection 4(a), during the first year he becomes otherwise entitled to vote by reason of registration by State or local officials or listing by an examiner, shall be denied the right to vote for failure to pay a poll tax if he tenders payment of such tax for the current year to an examiner or to the appropriate State or local official at least forty-five days prior to election, whether or not such tender would be timely or adequate under State law. An examiner shall have authority to accept such payment from any person authorized by this Act to make an application for listing, and shall issue a receipt for such payment. The examiner shall transmit promptly any such poll tax payment to the office of the State or local official authorized to receive such payment under State law, together with the name and address of the applicant.

SEC. 11. (a) No person acting under color of law shall fail or refuse to permit any person to vote who is entitled to vote under any provision of this Act or is otherwise qualified to vote, or willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report such person's vote. (b) No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for exercising any powers or duties under section 3(a), 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12(e). (c) Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information as to his name, address, or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, or conspires with another individual for the purpose of encouraging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both: Provided, however, That this provision shall be applicable only to general, special, or primary elections held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the United States Senate, Member of the United States House of Representatives, or Delegates or Commissioners from the territories or possessions, or Resident Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. (d) Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of an examiner or hearing officer knowingly and willfully falsifies or conceals a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both....

SEC. 13. Listing procedures shall be terminated in any political subdivision of any State (a) with respect to examiners appointed pursuant to clause (b) of section 6 whenever the Attorney General notifies the Civil Service Commission, or whenever the District Court for the District of Columbia determines in an action for declaratory judgment brought by any political subdivision with respect to which the Director of the Census has determined that more than 50 percentum of the nonwhite persons of voting age residing therein are registered to vote, (1) that all persons listed by an examiner for such subdivision have been placed on the appropriate voting registration roll, and (2) that there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that persons will be deprived of or denied the right to vote on account of race or color in such subdivision, and (b), with respect to examiners appointed pursuant to section 3(a), upon order of the authorizing court. A political subdivision may petition the Attorney General for the termination of listing procedures under clause (a) of this section, and may petition the Attorney General to request the Director of the Census to take such survey or census as may be appropriate for the making of the determination provided for in this section. The District Court for the District of Columbia shall have jurisdiction to require such survey or census to be made by the Director of the Census and it shall require him to do so if it deems the Attorney General's refusal to request such survey or census to be arbitrary or unreasonable.

SEC. 14. (a) All cases of criminal contempt arising under the provisions of this Act shall be governed by section 151 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (42 U.S.C.1995). (b) No court other than the District Court for the District of Columbia or a court of appeals in any proceeding under section 9 shall have jurisdiction to issue any declaratory judgment pursuant to section 4 or section 5 or any restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction against the execution or enforcement of any provision of this Act or any action of any Federal officer or employee pursuant hereto. (c)
(1) The terms "vote" or "voting" shall include all action necessary to make a vote effective in any primary, special, or general election, including, but not limited to, registration, listing pursuant to this Act, or other action required by law prerequisite to voting, casting a ballot, and having such ballot counted properly and included in the appropriate totals of votes cast with respect to candidates for public or party office and propositions for which votes are received in an election.
(2) The term "political subdivision" shall mean any county or parish, except that, where registration for voting is not conducted under the supervision of a county or parish, the term shall include any other subdivision of a State which conducts registration for voting. (d) In any action for a declaratory judgment brought pursuant to section 4 or section 5 of this Act, subpoenas for witnesses who are required to attend the District Court for the District of Columbia may be served in any judicial district of the United States: Provided, That no writ of subpoena shall issue for witnesses without the District of Columbia at a greater distance than one hundred miles from the place of holding court without the permission of the District Court for the District of Columbia being first had upon proper application and cause shown....

SEC. 17. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to deny, impair, or otherwise adversely affect the right to vote of any person registered to vote under the law of any State or political subdivision.

SEC. 18. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act

SEC 19. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of the provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby."

Approved August 6, 1965.
Transcription courtesy of the Avalon Project at Yale Law School.

The Fifteenth Amendment

rramire2 — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:56:34 CDT

"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

The 15th Amendment of the United StatesConstitution of theUnited States of America was ratified on February 3, 1870, during the period referred to as the post-Civil War Reconstruction. Although, on paper, the amendment offered radical freedom and enfranchisement for newly freed slaves after the Civil War, local and state legislation as well as other unofficial social practices prevented most minority U.S. citizens from utilizing their constitutional right to vote. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and racist registrars, as well as threats from extremist groups kept most Blacks from voting until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed by Congress and signed by Lyndon Baines Johnson on August 6, 1965.