Key Provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
The most important permanent provisions of the VRA are Section 2, which bans racial discrimination in voting nationwide, and Sections 4 and 201, which ban literacy tests nationwide.
The most important temporary provisions - provisions that get periodically reauthorized by Congress - are:
- Section 5, which requires certain state and local governments (called "covered jurisdictions") to "preclear" proposed changes in voting or election procedures with either the U.S. Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and
- Section 203, which requires that certain state and local jurisdictions provide assistance in languages other than English to voters who are not literate or fluent in English.
- Sections 6-9, which give the U.S. Attorney General the power to send federal examiners and observers to monitor elections.