THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

August 9, 2005, Tuesday

VOTING RIGHTS ISSUE HASN'T GONE AWAY

By: HELEN THOMAS, Syndicated columnist

There is apprehension among civil rights groups that some key parts of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act may be diluted or eliminated when the law comes up for renewal in 2007.

Some court rulings have weakened the law, which civil rights leaders want to strengthen because they believe voter discrimination continues.

Among possible targets for weakening is the law's requirement that all or part of 16 states must get Justice Department approval of any changes in their voting programs. This pre-clearance rule applies to all the Southern states and to parts of other states such as New York and South Dakota.

In addition, the law requires that more than 450 counties and townships provide language assistance to voters with limited English skills.

States' rights supporters resent those federal oversight requirements.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the administration will work with Congress on legislation to renew the law, but he has been vague on the touchy question of whether President Bush would support the renewal of the tough parts of law.

Those of us who want to protect the right to vote were encouraged by remarks by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library in Austin, Texas, on Monday.

Johnson signed the bill, which was part of his Great Society legislative program, shortly after the civil rights march on Selma, Ala., where protesters were brutally attacked by police. The law bans racial discrimination nationwide in voting.

Gonzales praised it as "one of the most successful pieces of civil rights legislation ever enacted."

Gonzales has said the Justice Department has set a goal to "make voting easier and cheating harder."

The department currently has 124 election-fraud investigations under way.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said it was an "open question" whether some sections of the act should be renewed.

Johnson did a lot of arm-twisting to win passage of the legislation. But in stressing his civil rights agenda, he alienated many of his Southern cronies in the Senate where he had served as the majority leader.

In a visit to the Oval Office, one of those senators chided Johnson: "When you were in the Senate, you were a Southerner."

Johnson replied: "I'm president now, president of all the people."

Before the law was passed, blacks were still fighting for their voting rights that were thwarted by various legal devices, including literacy tests and poll taxes. Some potential black voters found themselves disenfranchised because they could not recite the U.S. Constitution or pay the poll tax.

Meantime, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law and other civil rights groups have created a National Commission on the Voting Rights Act to establish a documented record that shows discrimination continues.

The panel has been holding hearings to gather information from citizens and government officials. The blue ribbon, non-partisan panel held its first hearing in Selma last March and has been holding sessions across the country this summer.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers are concerned about memorandums written by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts when he was a Justice Department lawyer during the Reagan administration.

The memos defended the Reagan administration's opposition to tougher provisions in the Voting Rights Act and show that Roberts was trying to develop a more conservative approach to civil rights.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a veteran of the civil rights struggle, said Roberts should be grilled on his current stand on that law during his confirmation hearings.

Jamin Raskin, a professor of constitutional law at American University, says a "Right to Vote" constitutional amendment is needed.

I believe that is long overdue.

Helen Thomas is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. E-mail: helent§hearstdc.com. Copyright 2005 Hearst Newspapers.