1965 Voting Rights Provisions To Expire.

Source: AP via Yahoo News

1965 called, and they would like their voter rights law back.

Well actually, people would like the expiring provisions set to expire August 6th, 2007, to be renewed.

NEW YORK -- On what would become known as "Bloody Sunday," voting rights marchers in March 1965 reached the highest point on the Edmund Pettus Bridge near Selma, Ala., and saw a blue sea of uniforms awaiting them at the end of the bridge.

Television would show images of Alabama state troopers armed with guns, night sticks, bull whips and tear gas severely beating marchers. Days later, President Lyndon Johnson promised to bring Congress an effective voting rights bill, and that August he signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered one of the most significant laws in the nation's history.

Now, more than four decades later, sections of the act are set to expire. The looming expiration date -- Aug. 6, 2007 -- has ignited debate over the provisions' effectiveness and relevance, and over whether they should be extended.

It also has generated rumors, mostly on the Internet, that black Americans will lose the right to vote en masse next year. The rumors have prompted officials at the U.S. Justice Department to post a notice on their Web site.

I deplore those who think there is no need to renew these voter protections. Has everyone forgot the horrible response to Katrina already? This government in general has a poor record on race relations.

Critical parts include:

The provisions -- last renewed by Congress in 1982 for 25 years -- cover a wide range of protections. They allow the government to approve new voting procedures in areas with histories of discrimination and send election monitors to make sure voters are allowed to cast ballots and their votes are counted. The provisions also send officials to register voters in counties where blacks are refused registration.

"It's a myth that we stand to lose the right to vote, but we do stand to lose critical protections that have allowed us to participate fully in the political process," said Debo Adegbile, associate director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "We've seen consistently, even with the provisions in place, continuing efforts to weaken minority voices in the electoral process."

The provisions also require interpreters and translated election materials in precincts with high populations of non-white voters who have difficulty understanding English, said Margaret Fung, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

This act must be renewed. Minority voters in this country must know that their vote counts, and that they can vote without any additional hassles.

Besides, with the 2008 presidential election coming up, this is hardly the time to remove oversight at the polls.

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