Voters and Voter Behavior

Chapter 6

SUFFRAGE AND CIVIL RIGHTS Section 3

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.