Blog 'O The History Nerd

vigwig:

ourpresidents:

On August 6, 1965, The Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.  The Act applied a nationwide prohibition of the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color.  It outlawed discriminatory literacy tests, expanded voting rights for non-English speaking Americans, and appointed Federal examiners to oversee voter registration and elections. Read More

The law had an immediate impact. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new African American voters had been registered, one-third by Federal examiners.

In this photo, LBJ signs the Voting Rights Act in the Capitol Rotunda, Washington, DC.  Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders stand behind him.

LBJ’s speech from the signing here

Now less than 30% of Americans actually vote. 

This year is important, I’m BEGGING all eligible readers to vote this year, cause even the thought of President Romney is unbearable.