In what year was the Voting Rights Act enacted?

• A. 1963
• B. 1965
• C. 1968
• D. 1972

Answer: (B)

This question centers on when a landmark voting rights law became law and why that year matters in the Civil Rights Movement. The Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965, after a long push to remove barriers to Black suffrage in the South. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in August 1965, in response to widespread discrimination, including the violent events in Selma that brought national attention to the struggle for voting rights.

Why that year fits: 1965 marks the moment when Congress passed a comprehensive federal remedy to voting discrimination, banning literacy tests and establishing federal enforcement mechanisms to protect the right to vote. The act’s provisions—like removing discriminatory barriers and allowing federal officials to oversee elections in areas with a history of discrimination—made a decisive difference in expanding access to the ballot.

The other dates reflect different civil rights milestones or subsequent reforms, not the initial enactment of the Voting Rights Act. For example, 1963 is associated with the March on Washington and rising momentum in the movement, and 1968 is tied to acts addressing housing discrimination and broader civil rights protections, not the act’s enactment year.