House Begins Hearings on Voting Discrimination and Reauthorization of the VRA
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 10/18/2005
This story is the first in a series on Congress' hearings on the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Members of the House Judiciary Committee, civil rights leaders, and voting rights experts convened on October 18 for the first in a series of hearings to discuss the role the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) has played and continues to play in ending discrimination and promoting equal opportunity in voting.
A major focus of the hearings is the importance of the Act's temporary provisions, which are up for renewal in 2007.
The hearings are designed to educate Congress on the continued need for the VRA. Witnesses will discuss the prevalence of voting discrimination around the country and the role the VRA has played in curbing it.
Signed into law on August 6, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson after the brutal beatings of peaceful protest marchers in Selma on the day that came to be known as "bloody Sunday," the VRA is often considered to be one of the most successful civil rights legislation ever enacted. It prohibits discrimination based on race, authorizes the deployment of federal observers to jurisdictions where there is evidence of voter discrimination based on race, and requires certain jurisdictions to provide bilingual assistance to language minority voters.
The question looming over the hearings is whether or not the VRA will be reauthorized and, if so, in what form.
Reauthorization of the VRA is "critical," according to Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
"For the past 40 years, the Voting Rights Act has worked well to enfranchise the disenfranchised. But threats to minority voters and efforts to discourage minority voters continue," Henderson said. "In making our democracy work, it is imperative that we do everything we can to ensure that every citizen's right to vote is protected. Congressional reauthorization and strengthening of the Voting Rights Act will accomplish this vital goal."
Three key provisions of the VRA will expire in 2007 if not renewed by Congress; Section 5, the federal preclearance provision; Section 203, which requires certain jurisdictions to provide translated ballots and assistance to citizens who are limited English proficient; and Sections 6-9, which authorize the Department of Justice to send federal examiners and observers to monitor elections.
"The Voting Rights Act reauthorization process is one of the most important legislative acts Congress is going to consider this term. We hope and expect that at the end of that process Congress will have a strong record of discrimination before it and will vote to reauthorize the expiring provisions," said Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Witnesses for the October 18 hearing included Jack Kemp, former Congressman, HUD Secretary, and Republican vice presidential candidate; Joe Rogers, commissioner of the National Voting Rights Commission and former Colorado lt. governor; Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League; and Ann Marie Tallman, president and counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The hearings continue on October 20, 25, and 27.
