What Was the Overall Significance of the 1965 Voting Rights Act - Report Example

What was the overall significance of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and in particular what was the impact of Section 5? Introduction: The American Civil War between 1861-1865 ended slavery in the South, but the African American was still denied any role to play in the democratic processes of elections, and had no opportunities to hold political office in the South. It would take a hundred years down a long and torturous road for these rights of the African American to be realized. This was because within a few decades of the American Civil War Southern conservatives would use state constitutional conventions as a means to express their resentment against Reconstruction and African American suffrage. These conventions were used to establish a set of barriers to prevent African Americans being able to exercise their right to suffrage. The barriers created included literacy and property tests, poll taxes, understanding clauses, and grand father clauses. The 1965 Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed these barriers to African American suffrage in the South. The 1965 Voting Rights Act: On August 6, 1965 President Lyndon Johnson put his approval on the legislation that brought into being the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 2 of the Act almost mirrored the Fifteenth amendment by applying a prohibition throughout the nation against any kind of denial or abridgement of the right to vote through the use of literacy tests. The Act also provided specific enforcement provisions against those regions of the nation, which demonstrated a high potential for discrimination against the minorities. Under the jurisdictions of Section Five of the Act special these provisions were denied the ability to bring about any voting changes until the Attorney General, or the United Sates District Court for the District of Columbia ascertained that the change had not been created for discriminatory purposes, and as such would not have any discriminatory effect. It also provided for the Attorney General to appoint a federal examiner in such counties, to review the qualifications of the individual attempting to register to vote. In addition it allowed the Attorney General to appoint in federal observers to monitor polling activities in those counties, where federal examiners were present. These provisions of Section Five of the Act due top pressure from the majority community were made temporary and required renewal. The Bush administration in 2006 renewed all aspects of Section Five (1). Significance of the 1965 Voting Rights Act: The primary significance of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is that it removed barriers to African Americans seeking to register as voters. Prior to Act in 1965 the African Americans found it very difficult to register themselves as voters. This meant that they could not taker part in elections, and even in African American dominated areas white community candidates were being elected to represent them, even though they had no interest in the welfare of the minority community. The removal of barriers for African Americans registration to vote witnessed an increase in African American registered voters, thus giving suffrage to a vast majority of the African American minority in those areas where they were earlier unable to register. This meant that the political parties had to pay more attention to the voice of the African(American minority. (2). The remarkable increase in registered voters can be seen in Table -1. The table clearly shows the vastly improved voter registration rates of the African Americans and the reduced variance in the proportion of African Americans and white registered voters. (3). Table -1 Voter Registration Rates (1965 vs. 1988)   March 1965 November 1988 Black White Gap Black White Gap Alabama 19.3 69.2 49.9 68.4 75.0 6.6 Georgia 27.4 62.6 35.2 56.8 63.9 7.1 Louisiana 31.6 80.5 48.9 77.1 75.1 -2.0 Mississippi 6.7 69.9 63.2 74.2 80.5 6.3 North Carolina 46.8 96.8 50.0 58.2 65.6 7.4 South Carolina 37.3 75.7 38.4 56.7 61.8 5.1 Virginia 38.3 61.1 22.8 63.8 68.5 4.7 (3) The abolishing of poll tax and the elimination of literacy tests not only increased the number of African American registered voter, but also saw an increase in the number of poor citizens registered as voters. This meant that there were many of the poorer segments of society registered as voters and during elections this lead to a greater turnout of the poor citizens of the nation. Thus the average income of the voters saw a steep drop. The consequence of this development was that the representatives of the people had to give more importance to the needs of the poor or face the peril of being driven out of office. A steep increase in welfare spending by the administration was the result of this increase in registered poor voters (4). The increased number of voters was to have another impact too. The large increase in voters saw a growth in the size of the government and the spending of the government. (4). The lack of right to vote was responsible for hardly representation of the African American minority in the legislatures and in political offices. (5). The Voting Rights Act was to cause a dramatic increase in the proportion of African American legislators elected from the states in the South between 1965 and 1985. This election of African American legislators was not as a result of their election from white majority districts, but rather as a consequence of increased African American registered voters in African American dominated districts. Analysis of this data shows that those districts with a minimum of at least sixty percent African American registered voters are quite likely to return African American elected representatives. The enforcement of Voting Rights Act of 1965 was responsible for the increase in the number of districts with an African American majority, as a result of greater use of single-member districts and the removal of districting that caused a dilution in the African American vote. (6). In any political move there are a lot of behind the scene maneuvering by the political parties. The Republican Party deliberately did not press for major changes in the Voting Rights Act 1965, as they allowed the Democrats to take full credit for it. This has led to a consolidation of the white majority vote towards the Republican Party and the ensuing benefits. The creation of voting districts to ensure that the African American votes consolidated has led to unwieldy voting districts. This has enabled increased African American representation, but brought about white majority dissatisfaction. It must be remembered that in most of the South the white population is in majority and the majority representation will always be from the majority community (7). As a result of the Voting Right Act of 1965 there has been severe pressure for the creation of more voting congressional districts with an Afro-American majority. This concentration of Afro-American majority districts would mean ensure that a few more Afro-American Democrats would be elected, but at the same time it would ensure the loss of a far larger number of Democrats from the remaining more in number white dominated districts. The net result of this would be that there would be less Democratic representation from the South and a reduction of the liberal face of the legislative wing (8). Significance of Section Five: The significance of section five lies in that it brings ensures that the minorities in the nation, with particular emphasis on the African American are provided the same electoral rights in all parts of the country and that local politics do not work in favor the major white population. It is the impact of section five that has led to the demand and creation of legislative districts to enable greater representation for the African American population, so that there is no discrimination against them. (9). Conclusion: The Voting Right Act of 1965 removed the barriers that existed to prevent the minority African American population for registering themselves as voters and exercising their voting rights. The result of the Voting Right Act of 1965 was to see a marked rise in the number of African American and poor segments of population becoming registered voters and having an impact on the politics of the nation. Section Five safeguarded these voting rights, and went on to provide the means for enhanced African American representation in legislature and political offices. . Works Cited 1. “The Voting Rights Act of 1965”. United States Department of Justice. Civil Rights Division. Voting Section. 1 May 2007. . 2. Herring, Mary. “Legislative Responsiveness to Black Constituents in Three Deep South States”. The Journal of Politics. 52.3 (1990): 740-758. 3. Grofman, Bernard., Handley Lisa., & Niemi, G. Richard. Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality. New York: Cambridge Press, 1992. 4. Husted, A. Thomas & Kenny, W. Lawrence. “The Effect of the Expansion of the Voting Franchise on the Size of Government”. The Journal of Political Economy. 105.1 (1997): 54-82. 5. Engstrom, L. Richard. “The Voting Rights Act: Disfranchisement, Dilution, and Alternative Election Systems”. Political Science and Politics. 27.4 (1994): 685-688. 6. Grofman Bernard & Handley, Lisa. “The Impact of the Voting Rights Act on Black Representation in Southern State Legislatures”. Legislative Studies Quarterly. 16.1 (1991): 111-128. 7. Polsby, D. Daniel & Popper, D. Robert. “Ugly: An Inquiry into the Problem of Racial Gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act”. Michigan Law Review. 92.3 (1993): 652-682. 8. Grofman, Bernard., Griffin., Robert & Glazer, Amihai. “The Effect of Black Population on Electing Democrats and Liberals to the House of Representatives”. Legislative Studies Quarterly . 17.3 (1992): 365-379. 9. Cameron, Charles., Epstein, David & O’Halloran, Sharyn. “Do Majority-Minority Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress?” The American Political Science Review. 90.4 (1996): 794-812. Read More