The Constitution
Fifteenth Amendment
The 1870 amendment barring denial of the vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, with enforcement power given to Congress.
In full
The amendment prohibits racial discrimination in voting but does not guarantee a right to vote in general terms, which left room for literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses that were facially neutral. Enforcement was largely theoretical until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 supplied the machinery.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.