Hearing Highlights Role of Voting Rights Act in Curbing Voting Abuse
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 3/9/2006
Evidence of continued voting discrimination against racial and language minorities since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) was last reauthorized in 1982 was presented at a House subcommittee hearing held March 8.Three key provisions of the VRA will expire on August 6, 2007: Section 5, the federal pre-clearance provision, which requires certain jurisdictions to obtain federal approval before making any voting or election changes; Section 203, which requires certain jurisdictions to provide language assistance to limited English proficient voters; and Sections 6-9, which authorize the Department of Justice to send federal examiners and observers to monitor elections.
Wednesday's House Subcommittee on the Constitution's oversight hearing followed hearings held last fall on each expiring provision. Four witnesses presented the findings of independent non-governmental reports that detail the state of voting rights since the VRA was last reauthorized.
"Despite the progress made during the last four decades ... there is no question that barriers to full and equal minority voter participation remain," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), who highlighted the findings of reports on each of the 14 states covered by the expiring provisions. The reports were commissioned by RenewtheVRA.org, a diverse and broad coalition of national civil rights groups that are examining the Voting Rights Act since the last reauthorization.
"During this time period [1982-2006], a second generation of discrimination has emerged. It is perhaps more insidious than it was a half century ago, but no less discriminatory. Whether it is an at-large election, an annexation, polling place change, or redistricting, changes in voting procedures and practices have resulted in discrimination against minority voters," Henderson said.
Bill Lann Lee, former assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division and co-chair of the nonpartisan, blue ribbon National Commission on the Voting Rights Act, and Commissioner Joe Rogers, former Colorado Lieutenant Governor, explained the findings of the National Commission report, which was released in February 2006.
That report, entitled "Protecting Minority Voters: The Voting Rights Act at Work," synthesizes testimony from 10 hearings on the Act and details discrimination in voting since 1982, the last time the Voting Rights Act was reauthorized.
According to the Commission's report, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and DOJ together have refused to preclear more than 1,100 voting changes in more than 650 Section 5 submissions since 1982. More than 200 jurisdictions have withdrawn proposed changes before DOJ made a determination.
"Whether the animus is hatred or power and whether the conduct is engaged by Democrats or Republicans, the end result - discrimination against minority voters - is the same," said Rogers.
ACLU President Nadine Strossen testified about the group's just released report, "The Case for Extending and Amending the Voting Rights Act Voting Rights Litigation, 1982-2006: A Report of the Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union," which details the ACLU's involvement in the litigation of 293 cases brought in 31 states, challenging voter discrimination and "the failure to comply with federal and state election laws" since June 1982.
"Because these cases were brought - or continued - after the 1982 Voting Rights Act reauthorization, and because they substantively document the problem of ongoing voting discrimination in the covered jurisdictions, they clearly demonstrate the need for extension of the special provisions that are scheduled to expire in 2007," said Strossen.
