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Why was the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965?

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to overcome legal and systemic barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment.12

Following the end of Reconstruction, many states implemented discriminatory measures—such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses—specifically designed to disfranchise Black citizens. By the early 1960s, despite previous legislative efforts, voter registration rates among African Americans in the Deep South remained negligible.23

The act was a direct response to the urgent need for comprehensive federal intervention, spurred by the American civil rights movement and mass protests in cities like Selma and Montgomery. It aimed to dismantle these discriminatory practices by suspending literacy tests and establishing federal oversight, known as "preclearance," for jurisdictions with histories of voter discrimination.425