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Voting Rights Act of 1964 passes Congress

Signed into law on Aug. 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act banned literacy tests and other barriers to Black voting.

It gave the federal government the authority to send federal registrars and observers to register new voters and oversee elections. It also required pre-clearance of new election-related legislation in specific locations (states, primarily) with a history of voting rights discrimination.

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Poll taxes were eliminated in federal elections through the 24th Amendment and in state elections through a 1966 Supreme Court decision, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.

(Source: Civil Rights Teaching)

The longest continuous debate in Senate history took place in 1964 over the Civil Rights Act.

Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who had proposed the legislation, it was strongly advocated by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. Addressing a joint session of Congress just after Kenne