Voting Rights Act of 1965

Landmark U.S. statute against racial discrimination in voting, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965. It outlawed literacy tests and similar disenfranchisement devices, and Section 5 barred jurisdictions with a history of discrimination from changing voting rules without federal approval. Later rulings, including Shelby County v. Holder (2013), substantially weakened it.