The Voting Rights Act and Electoral Empowerment: The Case of Mississippi

In: Social science quarterly, Band 78, Heft 1, S. 177-185

Abstract

Examines the relationship between the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act & the increase in the number of black elected officials in MS via time-series analysis of census & other secondary data. It is found that the act directly & immediately contributed to a sharp increase in the number of registered black voters, but not black officeholders. Contributing to the eventual election of more black officials were several events that occurred 1969/70, eg, the reorganization of the Dept of Justice's Civil Rights Division, legislative amendments to the Voting Rights Act, &, most significantly, the US Supreme Court decision in Allen v. State Board of Elections, which substantially prevented the dilution of black votes. 1 Table, 2 Figures, 24 References. E. Blackwell