Voting Rights Act Fast Facts

Here is a look at the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which serves to protect and enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments. It was enacted in response to voter suppression in the 1960s by state governments, local governments and law enforcement.

Original jurisdictions: Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. Also, subdivisions, mostly counties, in Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho and North Carolina.

Jurisdictions are made based on a formula containing two elements: If less than 50% of the voting age population is registered to vote by November 1, 1964, or if less than 50% voted in the 1964 presidential election. It also guarantees the right to register and vote to citizens with "limited English proficiency."

Section 2: States the right to vote cannot be denied on the basis of race or color.

Section 3: Upholds the ability to enforce the 15th Amendment.

Section 4: Says citizen cannot be denied the right to vote for failed compliance with devices such as literacy tests. It also designates the formulated jurisdictions outlined in Section 5. The requirement for preclearance of voting changes was ruled unconstitutional in a 2013 US Supreme Court decision. "The effect of the Shelby County decision is that the jurisdictions identified by the coverage formula in Section 4(b) no longer need to seek preclearance for the new voting changes, unless they are covered by a separate court order entered under Section 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act."

Section 5: This section freezes "changes in election practices or procedures in covered jurisdictions" until the new procedures have been subjected to review. Review can only be done by the US Attorney General or by filing a lawsuit before the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Yet Section 5 is basically unenforceable as there is no longer a preclearance requirement in Section 4.