WHO WILL STAND UP AGAINST KKK-REPUBLICANS WHO WANT TO DESTROY THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT? PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY STEPS INTO THE BREACH

Ralph Neas went on the warpath today against the 4 anti-democratic amendments far right Republican extremists are using in their jihad to gut the Federal Voting Rights Act. "This is a time for principled bipartisanship," says Neas. "Representatives-- Republican and Democrat alike-- should overwhelmingly reject every effort to undermine the Voting Rights Act. The VRA is one of the crowning achievements of the civil rights movement. It has helped America live up to its ideals, protected the right to vote for millions of citizens, and given the Justice Department and citizens the legal power to challenge actions by states and localities that would undermine the right to vote."

David Dreier's House Rules Committee has declared the 4 deadly amendments in order and the stage is set for a showdown this week, probably today. The first two amendments seek to weaken Section 5, the very heart and guts of the VRA. It specifically protects minorities in states with clear histories of trying to prevent the from voting (like by starting civil wars and things like that). Section 5 forces these states and localities-- one which have in the past tried to prevent minorities from voting-- to submit proposed changes in voting procedures to the Justice Department for a non-partisan evaluation of the potential impact those changes might have on minority voters. The 2 KKK-Republicans that want to screw with that are Charlie Norwood (R-TX) and Steven Colbert's old friend, who many claim is the stupidest and most ignorant man ever elected to the Congress, Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).


The Norwood and Westmoreland amendments seek to change the formula that determines which jurisdictions are required to seek Justice Department OKs for voting changes. Under Norwood's proposed rule, jurisdictions with 50% voter turnout in three successive presidential elections would no longer be covered. According to Neas, "Norwood’s proposal wrongly suggests that increases in registration and turnout, sometimes accomplished in spite of obstacles created by election officials, somehow disprove the continued existence or impact of voting discrimination. That defies both logic and the clear evidence that discrimination still exists in jurisdictions that discriminated for over 100 years. The depressed registration and turnout levels used to develop the Section 5 formula were deemed evidence of the larger problem of entrenched discrimination. Turnout levels themselves are not the target of Section 5-- discrimination is. In fact, Norwood’s proposal would actually punish voters who worked hard to achieve higher registration and participation-- often in spite of obstacles created by election officials-- by using their accomplishment as a justification for stripping them of the Voting Rights Act’s protections. That perverse result would fly in the face of decades of bipartisan consensus on the protection of voting rights."

Westmoreland's loony proposal is a blatant attempt by a bitter, vicious racist and fascist to "turn Section 5 on its head and effectively dismantle voting rights enforcement. Rep. Westmoreland’s proposal would require the Attorney General to annually determine whether each state and political subdivision subject to Section 5 preclearance requirements meets the requirements to be exempt from the Act. It takes the responsibility for documenting eligibility for exemption from the Act’s requirements away from local officials and puts them squarely on the [very politically-appointed] Attorney General and Department of Justice. This amendment would make enforcement of the Act nearly impossible. There are nearly 900 jurisdictions covered nationwide by Section 5 and Westmoreland’s amendment would require that the Department of Justice spend nearly all of its time conducting investigations to determine where discrimination no longer exists, rather than enforcing the Voting Rights Act and taking steps to stop discrimination. The genius of Section 5 is that it places the burden on covered jurisdictions to prove that they no longer discriminate. It forces them to consciously avoid potentially discriminatory changes. All local election officials should be doing this anyway. Westmoreland’s amendment shifts this burden by essentially assuming that discrimination no longer exists (a fundamentally flawed assumption not supported by the facts) and forcing the Department of Justice to prove that it does. The passage of the photo I.D. requirement in Westmoreland’s own state in 2005 is a clear example of the continued existence of overt discrimination against minority populations and the importance of Section 5."


Two more reactionary maniacs, Florida's bigoted and xenophobic Cliff Stearns and Iowa's disgrace, Steve King, are the right wing's point men on wrecking Section 203. This is the part of the VRA that ensures that American citizens who aren't fluent in English have the ability to cast an informed ballot by requiring that translations of non-partisan voter information materials and ballots be available in areas with significant numbers of voters (10,000 or 5%) whose first language is not English. Neas explains that this "encourages civic participation and strengthens our democracy. Several members are introducing an amendment to completely kill the reauthorization of Section 203’s bilingual ballot requirements, an effort that can only be seen as demagoguery. There is no good reason to make it harder for U.S. citizens to cast an informed vote." Their efforts are a particular slap in the face to Hispanic citizens, Asian-Americans, Native Alaskans and other indigenous Americans. Although the last time Stearns introduced this xenophobic crap, it was defeated 254-167, there is no doubt the far right of the GOP has every intention of jamming it into the bill again. Elana Levin has a great explanation of what's going on with this.

The 4th killer amendment, brought to you by one of the Tom DeLay-created Texas gerrymander wingnuts, Louie Gohmert, is an attempt to re-authorize the expiring sections for 10 years instead of 25 years. As Neas said, "Given the centrality of voting rights to our democracy, and the damage that has been inflicted by their suppression, the nation should commit to their protection for another generation. There is no good rationale for imposing such a short time-frame that will not even cover two Presidential election cycles on these important and effective provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
Before a group of House Republicans balked, there had been a bipartisan commitment by congressional leaders to move swiftly to reauthorize these important sections of the Voting Rights Act.  This week provides responsible House members of both parties with an opportunity to embrace that principled bipartisanship. Before them today will be a straightforward choice between supporting one of the most successful democracy-strengthening laws in our history or weakening it for some hoped-for short-term political gain. Senators will soon face the same choice."


LATE AFTERNOON UPDATE: FAIRNESS AND SANITY PREVAILED FOR A CHANGE

The cabal of extremist Southern Republicans determined to destroy the Voting Rights Act with a series of killer amendments was beaten back and the Act was extended by an overwhelming margin: 390-33, with most Republicans joining all the Democrats in favor. Only the most vicious, unrepentent GOP racists and hard-core xenophobes refused to join in authorizing the extension. Today's Hall of Shame includes:

Richard Baker (LA)
Gresham Barrett (SC)
Roscoe Bartlett (MD)
Joe Barton (TX)
Jo Bonner (AL)
Dan Burton (IN)
John Campbell (CA)
Michael Conaway (TX)
Nathan Deal (GA)
John Doolittle (CA)
John Duncan (TN)
Terry Everett (AL)
Virginia Foxx (NC)
Trent Franks (AZ)
Scott Garrett (NJ)
Phil Gingrey (GA)
Joel Hefley (CO)
Jeb Hensarling (TX)
Wally Herger (CA)
Sam Johnson (TX)
Steve King (IA)
John Linder (GA)
Patrick McHenry (NC)
Gary Miller (CA)
Charlie Norwood (GA)
Ron Paul (TX)
Tom Price (GA)
Dana Rohrabacher (CA)
Edward Royce (CA)
John Shadegg (AZ)
Tom Tancredo (CO)
Mac Thornberry (TX)
Lynn Westmoreland (GA)