Question 1

True or false: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Accepted Answer

True. Johnson pushed the act through Congress after the Selma marches, signing it on August 6, 1965.

Question 2

True or false: The act outlawed literacy tests used to disenfranchise voters.

Accepted Answer

True. Literacy tests were a common tool to block Black and minority voters; the act banned them nationwide.

Question 3

True or false: Section 5 required certain jurisdictions to get federal approval before changing voting laws.

Accepted Answer

True. This preclearance provision targeted areas with past voter suppression, blocking discriminatory changes.

Question 4

True or false: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the first U.S. law to protect voting rights.

Accepted Answer

False. Earlier laws like the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 addressed voting, but the 1965 act was far more effective.

Question 5

True or false: The act was challenged in the Supreme Court and upheld in 1966.

Accepted Answer

True. In South Carolina v. Katzenbach, the Court ruled the act constitutional, citing the 15th Amendment.

Question 6

True or false: The act only applied to southern states like Alabama and Mississippi.

Accepted Answer

False. It originally covered states with a history of discrimination, including parts of the West and North, like Alaska and Arizona.

Question 7

True or false: Native Americans were not affected by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Accepted Answer

False. The act helped Native Americans, who faced literacy tests and poll taxes in states like Arizona and New Mexico.

Question 8

True or false: The Voting Rights Act ended poll taxes in all elections immediately in 1965.

Accepted Answer

False. Poll taxes were banned in federal elections by the 24th Amendment (1964); the 1965 act didn't fully end them in state elections until later.

Voting Rights Act 1965 Trivia Questions