 In 1889 the Louisiana constitution was amended to provide that all persons registering to vote would have to meet educational and property requirements unless their fathers or grandfathers were qualified to vote on January 1, 1867.That grandfather clause excluded African Americans, who could not vote at that time, and they were effectively disfranchised for much of the next several decades, until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 established authority for federal enforcement of constitutional voting rights.This meant they were excluded from juries and from running for any local or state office.