Formal protection did not end racial disenfranchisement. States used literacy tests, intimidation, discriminatory registration, white primaries, and other devices that avoided an explicit racial label while preserving exclusion. Courts and Congress gradually challenged those practices. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 supplied stronger federal enforcement tools for the amendment's promise.

For an exam question, focus on the prohibited basis. The Fifteenth Amendment addresses race, color, and previous servitude. The Nineteenth addresses sex, the Twenty-Fourth addresses poll taxes in federal elections, and the Twenty-Sixth protects citizens eighteen or older from age-based denial. Matching the barrier to the amendment is more reliable than matching only the historical period.

Video lesson: Voting rights | Political participation | US government and civics | Khan Academy