President George W. Bush signed the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, extending Section 5 preclearance requirements for 25 years with overwhelming bipartisan support. The House passed the bill 390-33 and the Senate …
George W. BushCongressJames SensenbrennerJohn LewisJohn Conyersvoting-rightsfederal-legislationvra-extensionbipartisansection-5
President George W. Bush signed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) into law, making sweeping reforms to the nation’s voting process following controversies in the 2000 presidential election. HAVA mandated provisional ballots for voters whose eligibility is questioned, allowing approximately 1.9 …
George W. BushElection Assistance Commissionelection manipulationvoter suppressiontechnologyfederal legislation
President Clinton signed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), known as “Motor Voter,” requiring states to offer voter registration when citizens apply for driver’s licenses, at public assistance offices, and through mail-in registration. The law aimed to reverse decades of …
Bill ClintonCongressRepublican GovernorsACORNLeague of Women Votersvoting-rightsfederal-legislationvoter-registrationmotor-voterrepublican-opposition
President Reagan signed the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982, extending Section 5 preclearance requirements for 25 years and critically strengthening Section 2 by adopting a “results test” that made proving voting discrimination far easier. The legislation represented a major defeat …
Ronald ReaganCongressBob DoleEdward KennedyCoretta Scott King+1 morevoting-rightsfederal-legislationsection-2results-testreagan-administration+1 more
President Gerald Ford signed the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1975, extending the VRA’s special provisions for seven years and dramatically expanding its scope to protect language minorities—including Latino, Asian American, Native American, and Alaska Native voters. The amendments …
Gerald FordCongressBarbara JordanEdward RoybalMexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fundvoting-rightsfederal-legislationlanguage-minoritieslatino-rightsnative-american-rights+1 more
President Nixon signed the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970, extending the VRA’s special provisions for another five years, banning literacy tests nationwide, and lowering the voting age to 18 for all elections. The legislation represented significant expansion of federal voting rights …
Richard NixonCongressEmanuel CellerAttorney General John Mitchellvoting-rightsfederal-legislationliteracy-testsyouth-votingvra-extension
President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, expanding on the 1957 Act by authorizing federal courts to appoint voting referees to register Black voters and imposing criminal penalties for obstruction of court orders. However, the law’s case-by-case approach and dependence on …
Dwight D. EisenhowerCongressLyndon B. JohnsonSouthern DemocratsDepartment of Justicevoting-rightscivil-rightsfederal-legislationvoting-refereesobstruction
President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first federal civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, establishing the Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice and authorizing federal prosecutors to seek injunctions against interference with voting rights. However, …
Dwight D. EisenhowerLyndon B. JohnsonStrom ThurmondRichard RussellAttorney General Herbert Brownell+1 morevoting-rightscivil-rightsfederal-legislationfilibustersouthern-strategy+1 more
President Thomas Jefferson signs into law the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (2 Stat. 426), passed by Congress on March 2, 1807, prohibiting the importation of enslaved people into the United States effective January 1, 1808—the earliest date permitted by the Constitution’s Article I, …
Thomas JeffersonU.S. CongressJoseph Bradley Varnumslave-tradeslaveryconstitutional-deadlinefederal-legislation