House Leadership Pulls Voting Rights Act From Floor Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C.--A full vote by the House of Representatives on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) was tabled by the House leadership on Wednesday, June 21, despite the act’s overwhelming bipartisan support in the body’s Judiciary Committee.

The VRA, some key provisions of which are set to expire in 2007, focuses on permanent and non-permanent remedies to ensure that voters -- regardless of ethnicity -- have unrestricted voting access. For some voters, it also mandates language assistance, such as bilingual ballots or interpreters at polling sites. An amendment challenging the language assistance provisions of the VRA would affect Hispanic, Asian-American, Native Alaskan and Native American voters.

Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C., and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon, said he was “disappointed” in the decision to pull the VRA from the legislative calendar. “We fear that pulling the bill could send the wrong message about whether the bill enjoys broad bipartisan support and that delaying consideration until after the July 4 recess could give those with partisan intentions space and time to politicize the issue.” During the past year, Watt has been fully invested in supporting the passage of VRA. A spokesperson for Watt called the current impasse very “personal” to the Congressman.

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