Final answer:
The 1965 legislation designed to protect the voting rights of individuals regardless of race or color is the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It enforced the Fifteenth Amendment and eliminated discriminatory practices like literacy tests, allowing federal oversight of elections in areas with past discrimination.
Step-by-step explanation:
The legislation enacted in 1965 to ensure that no person would be deprived of the right to vote on account of color or race is the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act’s purpose was to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibited race-based voting qualifications. The Voting Rights Act gave the federal government the authority to oversee elections in areas that had a history of discrimination. It outlawed literacy tests and other barriers that had been used to disenfranchise racial minorities, particularly in Southern states.
By allowing for federal examiners to oversee voter registration and elections, and requiring areas with a history of discrimination to get new voting regulations pre-cleared by the federal government, the Voting Rights Act was a key piece of civil rights legislation. Although the act has faced challenges, most notably with the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013 which nullified some of its key enforcement provisions, it remains an integral part of the civil rights movement.