With little accomplished by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, pressure continued in Congress for additional civil rights legislation. Performance under the 1957 act only highlighted the need for further laws. The key substantive provision, which authorized the federal government to seek injunctions to protect voting rights, had been utilized in only one case; yet it was clear that race-based voting rights violations were widespread. The Civil Rights Commission created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 documented massive denials of black voting rights in the South.

The Eisenhower administration again proposed legislation, but it tailored the legislation to reflect its experience with the 1957 act. The proposal did not include a measure authorizing federal protection of all civil rights; such a provision had been gutted by the Senate in 1957. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 sought to protect the franchise.

The administration proposed creation of a system of voting referees. Referee-based protection of voting rights could be invoked only via federal court action brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The referees authorized to register black voters would be appointed by the federal courts. The Civil Rights Commission favored a plan under which voting registrars, appointed from Washington, would be authorized to register voters without the need for any judicial action.

Debate over the bill began in the Senate after it was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois; but a filibuster precluded Senate action, and major consideration of the bill commenced in the House. There the administration's voting referee plan prevailed over the Commission's voting registrar plan.

The bill that emerged from the House had four main provisions: The act required state election officers to retain voter registration and qualification records in federal elections. Patterns or practices of abridgment of voting rights on account of race could be addressed by federal courts by declaring individuals qualified to vote. Federal courts also could appoint federal voting referees to take evidence and report to the court on the treatment of black voters. In a departure from the voting rights theme, the 1960 act imposed criminal penalties for obstruction of court orders, a provision designed to limit resistance to the Supreme Court's school Desegregation decisions. The act made it a federal offense to cross state borders to avoid prosecution for destroying buildings or other property.

Senate action quickly followed House passage of the bill. Despite the earlier filibuster, Southern senators now regarded the bill as sufficiently tame not to warrant serious opposition. Within fifteen days of House passage, the Senate had passed a bill. After the House agreed to minor Senate amendments, the Civil Rights Act of 1960 was signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower on May 6, 1960. Thurgood Marshall described it as "not worth the paper it's written on," whereas Lyndon Johnson termed it "one of Congress' finest hours."