Voters and Voter Behavior
Chapter 6
Section 3
SUFFRAGE AND CIVIL RIGHTS
The 15th Amendment
• The right to vote cannot be denied to any citizen of
the United States because of “race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.” (1870)
– Establishes principle; but for 90 years the federal
government did not enforce it.
• Literacy tests, poll taxes, registration requirements,
gerrymandering, “white primaries” and violence were used to
keep African Americans from voting.
– Smith v. Allwright (1944) struck down white primaries.
– Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960) struck down gerrymandering.
Early Civil Rights Legislation
• Civil Rights Act of 1957 – Created the United
States Commission on Civil Rights.
– Inquire into claims of voter discrimination.
– Grants Attorney General ability to seek federal
court orders to prevent voter interference.
• Civil Rights Act of 1960 – Provides for the
appointment of federal voting referees.
– Given power to help qualified persons register and
vote.
Early Civil Rights Legislation
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Broad attack on
discrimination in the workforce and for voting
rights.
• Forbids the use of voter registration or literacy
tests in discriminatory manner.
– Federal courts could issue injunctions.
– Method had shortcomings – Martin Luther King Jr.
initiated a registration drive and three civil rights
workers were murdered in the process.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Designed to fully enforce provisions of the 15th
Amendment through federal action.
– Directs attorney general to challenge the
constitutionality of poll-tax laws and literacy tests.
– Federal officers oversee the conduct of elections in
areas of known discriminatory practices.
– Preclearance for states with known discrimination.
– South Carolina v. Katzenbach upheld the Voting Rights
Act as Constitutional.
– Voting Rights Act Amendments were passed in 1970
which extended the law and outlawed literacy tests
for 5 years which was extended permanently in 1975.