Chapter 6
Section 3
The
th
15
Amendment
Ratified 1870
Vote cannot be denied any U.S. citizen because of race,
color, or pervious condition of servitude
Southern whites used violence, threats, social
pressures, literacy test, poll taxes, white primaries, and
gerrymandering deny African Americans their 15th
Amendment rights
The
th
15
Amendment
Smith v. Allwright (1944)
 Banned white primaries
Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960s)
 Banned gerrymandering for purposes of racial
discrimination, but use of literacy test and poll taxes
remained into the 1960s
Civil Rights
Civil Rights Act of 1957
 set up commission to investigate voter discrimination
and enabled attorney general to enforce voting rights
Civil Rights Act of 1960
 provided for federal voting referees to serve where voter
discrimination existed and help eligible voters register
and vote
Civil Rights of 1964
 Banned discrimination in jobs and other areas and
discriminatory voter registration or literacy
requirements
Civil Rights
Voting Rights Act of 1965
 Prompted by civil rights march in Selma, Alabama;
applied 15th Amendment to all elections, not just federal;
challenged poll taxes and literacy test; authorized voting
examiners; required federal preclearance for any
changes to State election laws
South Carolina v. Katzenbach
 Upheld Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970
 Extended the Act for five years; banned literacy tests
Civil Rights
Oregon v. Mitchell
 Upheld ban on literacy tests and the residency
requirements in the law
Law extended in 1975
 Ban on literacy tests made permanent; applied
provisions to language minorities
Equal Voting Rights 