ABSTRACT
Selma, Alabama, was a glaring example of the South's ongoing widespread denial of black voting rights. Whites accounted for 99 per cent of the electorate in Selma although they made up only approximately half of the city's 28,500 population. Complicated forms and tests were used to prevent black voter registration. Moreover, registration took place on only two days of the week. White election officials administered the whole process with extreme racial bias. Outside of Selma, in adjacent counties such as Lowndes and Wilcox, the situation was even worse. There, blacks outnumbered whites two-to-one, but not one single black person was registered to vote.
