50 Years after Voting Rights Act: Right to Vote Still Needs Protection Worldwide

Washington

Marking the 50th anniversary, on August 6, 2015, of the Voting Rights Act being signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, Freedom House issued the following statement:

“The Voting Rights Act helped make real the Constitution’s guarantee of the right to vote regardless of a person’s race or ethnicity, a right that needs active protection against a new generation of discriminatory tactics,” said Mark P. Lagon, president of Freedom House. “Legislatures and the courts should not allow restrictions on voter registration and voting hours take the place of the infamous literacy tests, poll taxes, and outright intimidation that minorities used to face. The United States should be an ever-improving exemplar for human rights globally, including protection of voting rights around the world, where minorities face unacceptable barriers to this most basic part of democracy."

The United States is rated Free in Freedom in the World 2015, Free in Freedom of the Press 2015, and Free in Freedom on the Net 2014.