Abstract
A long series of Supreme Court rulings chipped away at Jim Crow laws throughout the 20th century, starting well before the Civil Rights Movement. Literacy tests and white primaries were both stuck down before World War II, with later rulings establishing the one person, one vote rule. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 moved voting rights into new era of expansion and allowed the federal government to hold states accountable for voting-rights violations. The “Motor Voter” law expanded registration, while the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) modernized election equipment throughout the states. The most recent attempt to expand voting rights has been early voting, but the results have been mixed.
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© 2015 Michael A. Smith, Kevin Anderson, and Chapman Rackaway
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Smith, M.A., Anderson, K., Rackaway, C. (2015). The 20th Century and the Struggle for Recognition. In: State Voting Laws in America: Historical Statutes and Their Modern Implications. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137483584_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137483584_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50466-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-48358-4
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