His mother paid the poll tax, along with those of his two brothers.

“That experience taught me to look at who is going to represent me, and how can I help that person to be elected,” Harris, who became a surgeon, said in an interview.

The only elections he has missed since, he said, were during the 18 months he was stationed in Germany in the Air Force a few years later.

The poll tax was one of many voter suppression measures eliminated in part through actions taken by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Aug. 6, 1965 when he signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered by many one of the most effective civil rights laws.

Harris spoke briefly at Lynchburg City Hall on Thursday, where over 60 people gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landmark legislation. Speakers talked of responsibility when urging everyone — especially the youth sitting in the back — to take advantage of civil rights their elders were denied for so long.

“I just felt everyone needed to know at one time, we had to pay a fee to vote,” Harris said in an interview.

For many at the event, recalling the impact of the historic legislation also was fitting time to discuss the need to protect the act going forward. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively nullified a provision of the Voting Rights Act that brought federal review to voting-related issues in many Southern states, including Virginia.

Speakers also talked about the need to protect the act going forward. In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down provisions requiring federal preclearance before certain states and localities change voting laws.

With reflection on the historic day that cleared the way to the polls for black Americans who had been blocked by Jim Crow laws in many states and localities, came a renewed challenge.

James Coleman, vice president of the Lynchburg Voters League who organized the event, read the speech Johnson made at the Capitol before signing legislation.

“This act is not only a victory for Negro leadership. This act is a great challenge to that leadership. It is a challenge which cannot be met simply by protests and demonstrations. It means that dedicated leaders must work around the clock to teach people their rights and their responsibilities and to lead them to exercise those rights and to fulfill those responsibilities and those duties to their country,” Coleman said, reading Johnson’s words.

Coleman listened to the speech to prepare for the event, which included a mock bill signing and election. Hearing Johnson’s words, he said, renewed that challenge for him. Thursday, he passed it on.

“We have a daily responsibility. We must be engaged daily,” Coleman said.

He said Churches United For Service, Lynchburg Voters League and other organizations kicked off an effort Thursday to begin registering people for the 2016 presidential election. Coleman said he wants anyone with the right to vote to be registered and participating in the democratic process.

The duty extends to all elections — not once every four years during a presidential race — said Patricia Bower, chairwoman of the Lynchburg Electoral Board.

“I still believe that the real promise of our democracy can’t be fully realized until more of us vote in every election, not just the presidential election. It’s a beef of mine,” Bower said. “… It’s been, embarrassing is the word we use, that city council election turnout is often around 20 percent. That’s really not good. We need to work on that,” Bower said

She added that Lynchburg’s turnout for the fall election featuring a Senate race was 36 percent.

Treney Tweedy, who was elected in May 2014 as the first female African American on Lynchburg City Council, said the Voting Rights Act will not be realized until voter participation is maximized.

“It affects our communities, our neighborhoods, our cities, our infrastructure; we have to have our vote present at the table. We have to have people in office that will appoint folks to boards and commissions that set the policies, the regulations, the legislation for our lives for the quality of lives we want in our neighborhood, locally, statewide and federal,” Tweedy said.

When John Robey was convicted of a felon, he lost his voting rights.

“I didn’t know how important it was until I lost it … You’re in the community, you live in the community — where you can’t even vote — but you’re working hard every day. You don’t have a voice,” Robey said.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe built on changes made by former Gov. Bob McDonnell to ease the process by which the governor’s office restores felons’ civil rights.

McAuliffe announced in June that outstanding court costs and fees will not prohibit felons from regaining their voting rights, although they must still pay the costs.

Bower said reaching people about these and other changes is important to voter participation.

Robey, whose rights were restored in 2010, said regaining them enabled him to help out in the community. He spoke specifically to the children Thursday, telling them to stay straight and also to honor their voting rights by using them.

“To be able to vote, to be able to have a voice in your community and in your country, you know, it’s a big thing.”