Republicans Repel
Voting Rights Act Before a vote on the
renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act could occur- the House of Representative`s
Republicans leadership postponed the vote. Charles Babington of the Washington
Post writes that dissension arose in this legisitive chamber over new provisions
in the measure that mandates bilingual ballots in some places and the
continuation of Federal Election Monitoring in the South. Purportedly, the level
of opposition to the proposed renewal surprised House Speaker Dennis Hastert and
other Republican leaders. Since its passage- the 1965 Voting Rights gets the
credit for dramatically increasing the number of African Americans elected
officials throughout the south. On the renewal of the Voting Rights Act- the
House of Representative`s Speaker Dennis Hastert`s office said that the
Republican House leadership `is committed to passing the Voting Rights
legislation as soon as possible.` This
law stipulates that the Federal Justice
Department must approve in advance any modifications of voting procedures such
as poll taxes or literacy examinations that may act as mechanisms to hold down
the number of African Americans going to the polls. In defense of their position
that the Voting Rights out lived its purpose- current Georgia Republican United
States House of Representative member Jack Kinston said- `If you move a polling
place from the Baptist Church to the Methodist Church, you`ve got to go through
the Justice Department.` As a counter weight- Barbara Arnwine, executive
director of the Lawyers` committee for Civil Rights Under Law stated that ``a
bipartisan commission found evidence of recent voting rights violations in
Georgia, Texas and several other states.`
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