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Voting Rights

  • The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended voter qualification devices that were often used to prevent blacks from voting. It also required federal review to prevent racial discrimination by new state voting laws and made interference with voting rights a criminal offense. In 1964 the 24th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibited poll taxes as a qualification for voting in federal elections. The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age to 18.

  • Later amendments to the Voting Rights Act added bilingual requirements in some counties, banned the use of literacy requirements, and allowed voters who are illiterate, blind, or disabled to be assisted in the voting booth by a person of their own choice. U.S. citizens residing abroad were granted the right to vote in federal elections by absentee ballot in 1975, and voting accessibility for the elderly was guaranteed in 1984.