Voting Rights Act Quotes

• The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Wall, Powerful, Men

  Johnson, Lyndon B. (1967). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966”, p.842, Best Books on

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• This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Destiny, People, Giving

  Johnson, Lyndon B. (1967). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966”, p.841, Best Books on

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• Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. There is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right. There is no duty which weighs more heavily on us than the duty we have
  to ensure that right.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Citizens, Denial, Vote

  Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation, delivered 15 March 1965, Washington, D.C.

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• There is no Constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution is plain. There is no moral issue. It is wrong - deadly wrong - to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country. There is no issue of States' rights or National rights. There is only the struggle for human rights.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Country, Struggle, Rights

  Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation, delivered 15 March 1965, Washington, D.C.

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• There is no issue of States' rights or National rights. There is only the struggle for human rights.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Struggle, Rights, Issues

  Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation, delivered 15 March 1965, Washington, D.C.

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• At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Fate, Men, Shapes

  Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation, delivered 15 March 1965, Washington, D.C.

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• Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.

  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  Reality, Rights, Texas

  "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pens Scathing Dissent On Texas Voter ID Law" By Braden Goyette, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 18, 2014.

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• It was the biggest suppression of voting rights in our country's history since Jim Crow. And the thread of race runs from the beginning to the end of my book.

  Sidney Blumenthal

  Running, Country, Book

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• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 laid the foundation for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but it also addressed nearly every other aspect of daily life in a would-be free democratic society.

  Aberjhani

  Rights, Voting, Foundation

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• Americans of our own time - minority and majority Americans alike - need the continued guidance that the Voting Rights Act provides. We have come a long way, but more needs to be done.

  Elijah Cummings

  Rights, Long, Voting

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• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was indeed a vital instrument of democracy, ensuring the integrity and reliability of a democratic process that we as a Country hold so dear.

  Charles Rangel

  Country, Integrity, Rights

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• No one questions the validity, the urgency, the essentiality of the Voting Rights Act.

  Anthony Kennedy

  Rights, Voting, Right To Vote

  "Justice Kennedy: Voting Rights Act might now be unfair" by Joan Biskupic, abcnews.go.com.

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• Having personally watched the Voting Rights Act being signed into law that August day, I can't begin to imagine how we could have all been so wrong in believing that more Americans would vote once they were all truly free to do so.

  Andrew Young

  Believe, August, Law

  "Why Tuesday?" by Amb. Andrew J. Young, www.huffingtonpost.com. November 10, 2010.

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• The Democrats co-opted the credit for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But if you go back and look at the history, a larger percentage of Republicans voted for that than did Democrats. But a Democrat president signed it, so they co-opted credit for having passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

  Herman Cain

  Rights, Voting, President

  "A Pizza Party with Herman Cain". GQ Interview, www.gq.com. November 13, 2011.

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• Her [Jurdge Sandra Day O'Connor] judgment has also been critical in protecting our environmental rights. She joined in 5-4 majorities affirming reproductive freedom and religious freedom and the Voting Rights Act.

  Patrick Leahy

  Religious, Rights, Voting

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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• I have been a long and strong supporter of civil rights in my whole career. I led the fight to get the voting rights act re-enacted. I have been a strong supporter of affirmative action. I believe in it strongly.

  Dick Gephardt

  Strong, Believe, Fighting

  "Gephardt Admits Mistake on Race Issues in '70s", www.foxnews.com. January 11, 2004.

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• It's time for Congress to act, restore the Voting Rights Act, and take action to prevent voter disenfranchisem ent. As your next Congresswoman, I will stand up to the extremists in the Republican Party to ensure civil rights are protected for everyone.

  Alma Adams

  Party, Rights, Voting

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• Parts of the Voting Rights Act are due to expire next year if Congress doesn't extend them, including the section that guarantees that voting rights will be protected by the federal government.

  Marty Meehan

  Government, Years, Guarantees That

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• From 1965 to 1967, my dad, Jack Gilligan, served in Congress and helped pass landmark laws like the Voting Rights Act.

  Kathleen Sebelius

  Dad, Rights, Law

  "Kathleen Sebelius DNC speech". www.politico.com. September 04, 2012.

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• It has been hard to get my head around how Justice Antonin Scalia rationalizes his decisions. His body blow to the Voting Rights Act was a head scratcher, but at least he was calm when he attempted to justify his odd logic.

  Henry Rollins

  Blow, Rights, Justice

  "Henry Rollins: Misguided Outrage Over DOMA’s Demise" by Henry Rollins, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 8, 2013.

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• President Lyndon Johnson's high spirits were marked as he circulated among the many guests whom he had invited to witness an event he confidently felt to be historic, the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.... The bill that lay on the polished mahogany desk was born in violence in Selma, Alabama, where a stubborn sheriff... had stumbled against the future.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Rights, Voting, President

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