President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act as Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders look on. [LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto. #A1030-8a]

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A Conversation on Voting Rights

Nov 20, 2014

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On August 6, 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Nearly fifty years later, voting rights are still a topic of hot debate. 

On Thursday, November 20, the Future Forum convened a panel of experts to discuss the Voting Rights Act, legal rulings over the years, the Texas voter ID law, and the November election. Panelists:

• Joseph Fishkin, Assistant Professor, University of Texas Law School
• Hans von Spakovsky, Manager, Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation
• Joe Deshotel, Jr., Communications Director, Travis County Democratic Party

The conversation was moderated by Sherri Greenberg, Director of the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives.

For historical perspective, the LBJ Library has collected photographs, videos, and a telephone conversation related to the Voting Rights Act passed by President Johnson in 1965. See the Voting Rights Act media kit.

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