As some employers prepare to remind workers of their right to vote and their right, in some states, to take time off to go to the polls this presidential election year, employers and voters alike might reflect on how far the nation has come since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted. The changes have been dramatic, though some voting discrimination remains, as the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged in a controversial decision in 2013 rendering part of the law—its “preclearance” process—inoperable.
After the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—including Title VII’s prohibition on employment discrimination—Martin Luther King Jr. told then President Lyndon B. Johnson that more work was needed. King called on Johnson to support a voting rights bill.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which marks its 59th anniversary on Aug. 6, reduced discriminatory practices that prevented Black citizens from voting and led to a dramatic increase in the participation of Black voters in U.S. elections. The law, which has been extended several times, prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or language-minority status in registration and voting nationwide. The law also provides protections for blind voters and voters with disabilities.
Before the Voting Rights Act, Black citizens were largely blocked from voting, said Armand Derfner, a lawyer with Derfner & Altman in Charleston, S.C., and an expert on voting rights.
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