The Voting Rights Act of 1965, originally designed as a temporary emergency measure, quickly suspended the use of all literacy tests, as well as good character requirements. Congress believed that enacting the voting rights act was necessary because it enforced the pre-existing 15th and 19th amendments.
As President Lyndon B. Johnson stated after signing the voting rights act on August 6th, that day was “a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield”. Not only did this act abolish literacy tests, it abolished the last barrier for voting other than age. As Johnson also stated, “to seize the meaning of this day, we must recall darker times,” referring to the years of slave owning, when African Americans…
Holder overturned sections 4(b) and 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These sections set various requirements for Southern states to ensure they avoided discrimination against African-Americans and other minorities by forcing select states to send their polling numbers to the federal government for review. The Court ruled it unconstitutional, finding it unnecessary for the current time and cited its cumbersome nature in relation to federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. With these constrictions lifted, states would no longer need permission from the federal government when determining their voting procedures. This would allow states to do as they please, more or less, and potentially, open doors for various dynamic practices including more diverse primary…
As of 2012, 1.8 million dead people were registered to vote, a serious concern. In California, John Cenker voted from the grave 5 times, including two presidential elections, and it is roughly estimated that there are around 300 others in the Southern California area just like him. While it does not seem like a large part of the population, elections do get decided by small portions of the electorate with some frequency, making the relevance of voter fraud felt in those situations. To deal with this and other related issues, the government should issue Voter IDs to prevent the dead from voting and remain vigilant with regards to multiple votes cast by other individuals.
To limit voter disenfranchisement the government could do many things. One of the measures they could take to ensure that voter disenfranchisement is less common in America is to subsidise public transportation costs on election days so people without access to transportation can get out and to cast their vote. Another thing the government could do so disenfranchisement is less common is make sure that all venues that polling places are hosted at have wheelchair access so handicapped people can vote without as much…
