The modern voting rights movement starts and ends with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The landmark piece of legislation was meant to give African-American voters open access to the polls.
Today, the law is still at the center of the debate about whether states can restrict that access.
Several states, including North Carolina, have passed new elections laws since the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, leading to both federal and state court challenges.
A new book, “Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/2015), recounts the history of voting in America since 1965.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Ari Berman, political correspondent for The Nation and author of “Give Us the Ballot,” about the continuing push for voting rights in the United States.
