The Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed the United States Senate with a vote of 79 to 18.
Posted by Deadline: White House, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
Deadline: White HouseOct 28, 2026
The final Senate passage of the Voting Rights Act on August 4, 1965 was 79-18, per the Congressional Research Service and a Supreme Court record. Several sources instead cite 77-19, which is the earlier May 26, 1965 Senate vote on the original bill, S. 1564, so the claim holds for the final bill as the post specified.
A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.
What was said
… Instead, I think, um, they have, ah, they've opened, they've opened a Pandora's box. And if I could walk out for just a minute, I want to remind people that that that when the Voting Rights Act, when the Voting Rights Act was originally passed in 1965, it passed the United States Senate, the final bill, on a vote of 79 to 18, and only one Republican senator voted against it. Only one. The Republicans in the United States Senate voted 30 to one in favor of the Voting Rights Act. The one no vote was Strom Thurmond, who had switched from the Democrats. …
Deadline: White House · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The CRS report states the Senate roll call vote on the final bill was 79-18, and the bill was signed August 6, 1965.[2]
Supports. A Supreme Court record states the measure passed the Senate by a margin of 79-18 after the conference deliberations.[3]
Supports. Wikipedia's legislative history gives the August 4, 1965 Senate passage of the conference version as 79-18 (Democrats 49-17, Republicans 30-1).[6]
Context. The National Archives, Senate.gov, PolitiFact and Wikipedia all report a 77-19 Senate vote on May 26, 1965 on the original bill S. 1564, a different vote from the final passage.[1][4][5][6]
Context. The claim matches the post's own wording that the 79-18 vote was on the final bill, so the earlier 77-19 vote does not contradict it.
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 4 primary, 1 not rated
- 1Steele says GOP fought hard for civil rights bills in 1960s - PolitiFactpolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Background and Overviewcongress.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3www.supremecourt.gov › pdfs › recordsandbriefsSUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATESsupremecourt.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Roll Call Vote Tally on S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act of ...archives.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 5The Senate Passes the Voting Rights Actsenate.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 6Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post