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Voting Rights Act of 1965
The
Voting Rights Act of 1965
is a landmark piece of
federal
legislation
in the
United States
that prohibits racial discrimination in
voting
. It was signed into law by
President
Lyndon B. Johnson
during the height of the
American Civil Rights Movement
on August 6, 1965, and
Congress
later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the
voting rights
guaranteed by the
Fourteenth
and
Fifteenth Amendments
to the
United States Constitution
, the Act resulted in the mass enfranchisement of
racial minorities
throughout the country, especially in the
South
. According to the
U.S. Department of Justice
, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of
civil rights
legislation ever enacted in the country.
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