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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Serves Changed Lives, and Served its Purpose

As you continue your journey as a government official, you work closely with President Linden B. Johnson to pass the Voting Rights act of 1965. The historic Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed minorities to be able to vote with no discrimination against them. It allowed brail ballots for the blind, the erasure of literacy tests to vote, as well as providing polls that are easier to access for people in low income communities or marginalized communities. Along with these changes, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 also stated that southern states needed to submit their voting procedures and numbers to the Attorney General to ensure that these states were following the act and enacting what was stated in it. Only the southern states needed to submit their procedures and numbers due to their history of discrimination and their stance during the Civil War, as many people in the south still could not look past the outcome of the Civil War. This Act continued to work up until 2013 although you had retired after working in the government for most of your life. In 2013 the fourth and fifth section of the voting right’s act were revoked. These two sections covered how the southern states were to submit their procedures and numbers during election years. The case that challenged the attorney general on the fourth and fifth section was called Shelby County vs. Holder. Since you used to work closely with Linden B. Johnson and helped with the Voting Rights Act, someone asks if you could help them protest the Shelby County vs. Holder decision. What do you say?

What will you do?

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