Statement By U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin On The Voting Rights Act Reauthorization And Amendments Act Of 2006, HR 9, Honoring Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, And Coretta Scott King

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation that I have co-sponsored.

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 seeks to ensure that all Americans – regardless of race, ethnicity, language spoken, or disability – have the right and the opportunity to vote.  The VRA seeks to implement the guarantee of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was adopted by Congress and the states after the Civil War during Reconstruction.

The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified 136 years ago, provides that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”  For nearly a century thereafter, despite this clear language, millions of minorities were denied full participation in the electoral process through the notorious Jim Crow laws.  Not until Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 did this country begin to genuinely fulfill its commitment to this most fundamental right. 

Today, over 40 years after President Lyndon Johnson gathered with prominent civil rights leaders to sign the Act into law, the VRA continues to play a critical role in guaranteeing that every American may enter the polls and have their vote count.

This country has come along way since the original enactment of the VRA.  In many of the districts and states that had previously blocked African-Americans from the polls, African-Americans and whites now vote in nearly equal numbers. The great-grandchildren of slaves now hold elected offices across the country. 

Our work, though, is not complete.  Committee testimony on this bill reminded us that efforts to disenfranchise remain.  While the most egregious impediments to full voting have been eliminated, many more subtle, yet still insidious impediments remain. The VRA ensures our vigilance towards continued efforts to disenfranchise minority voters.

In the last few elections in Maryland, for example, minority voters have continued to face intimidation and fraud, and poll workers have improperly turned away voters and refused to let them cast provisional ballots.  For example, in 2002 flyers were distributed in some African-American neighborhoods in Baltimore City urging people to vote on the wrong day, and warning them to pay parking tickets and overdue rent before they tried to vote.

While the VRA was born in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, the Act has evolved with our society through regular amendments and renewals. In 1970, 1975, 1982, and 1992, the VRA was amended and extended.  Each renewal by Congress was a confirmation of the continued need and effectiveness of the VRA’s tools.

Today, this Congress again uses its power to enforce the 15th Amendment.  We must renew the VRA to continue to protect the rights of minority voters.

The reauthorization of the VRA properly extends scrutiny in the form of federal examiners and observers who watch over the operations of elections around the country, while providing for the termination of examiners where appropriate. Examiners and observers have studied and monitored the mechanics of thousands of elections to ensure that legitimate votes are counted and eligible voters are not turned away.

Reauthorization facilitates continued enforcement of Section 4 “preclearance” procedures that review changes to election law to ensure that such changes do not adversely effect minorities.  Preclearance creates a procedure to ensure that election law changes and redistricting do not discriminate against minority voters.  Preclearance provides an added level of protection in jurisdictions where election laws had previously been abused.  I am pleased that this legislation overturns two recent Supreme Court decisions that weakened the preclearance provisions of the VRA.

I will oppose any amendments calling for a new formula for Section 4 preclearance procedures.  The applicability of the VRA does not need to be recalculated by the Congress.  The original formula for determining which states and municipalities are covered by Section 4 has functioned well for forty years.  More importantly, the criteria for “bailing out” of Section 4 is reasoned, precise, and attainable.  The law allows for states to graduate from the VRA’s constraints when clear evidence is offered that the state or municipality retains no lingering obstructions to electoral participation by minority voters.

Finally, reauthorization promotes access to the polls by limited-English speakers.  It is crucial that new citizens be afforded all the rights and privileges of the Constitution.  Citizens with limited-English speaking abilities should not be disenfranchised.

In Maryland, for example, the bilingual provisions of the VRA are absolutely critical.  In 2002, in Montgomery County, Maryland, the County Board of Elections received notice that recent demographic data regarding the growth of the Hispanic population indicated the county would need to abide by Section 203 of the VRA.  The election staff complied with the VRA and converted signs, documents, and ballots to be bilingual.  Many of Montgomery County’s 122,000 Hispanic residents benefited from the assistance.  In the future, other language minorities in Maryland (such as Asian-Americans) may need the assistance the VRA prescribes.

I will also oppose efforts to reauthorize this law for less than the full 25 years.  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.