The Orange County Registrar of Voters Honors the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
Historic Act was signed by President Johnson 50 years ago today
SANTA ANA, CA – August 6, 2015 – The Orange County Registrar of Voters, in partnership with the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, is proud to announce that today is the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a milestone in national legislation that prohibits discriminatory voting practices from disenfranchising African Americans. The Act makes it illegal to require eligible voters to pass literacy tests in order to register to vote.
Within the same year the Act was passed, many key events took place throughout the Civil Rights Movement: Malcolm X was assassinated, the Selma to Montgomery marches occurred, the Watts riots in Los Angeles occurred, and President Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 to enforce Affirmative Action for the first time.
Since its initial passage, the Act has expanded its reach with amendments that assist language minorities in the voting process by providing language-specific election materials to jurisdictions with large numbers of language minorities.
Detailed information on the history of the Voting Rights Act, as well as Orange County’s compliance efforts, can be found by visiting ocvote.com/vra.
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About the Registrar of Voters:
The Registrar of Voters is responsible for conducting elections in the County of Orange, the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States with 1.6 million registered voters. We are a County agency, which receives funding from the County’s General Fund and periodic reimbursement from the federal government, the State of California and local jurisdictions. Read more.
Media Contact: Neal Kelley, Registrar of Voters, 714-567-5139, neal.kelley@rov.ocgov.com