Letters to the Editor
Urges support for Voting Rights Act

Urges support for Voting Rights Act

For more than 40 years, the Voting Rights Act has protected and upheld the most fundamental building block of our great democracy: the right to vote and have one's vote counted.

Yet key provisions of the Voting Rights Act will expire next year unless the U.S Senate and the House of Representatives renews them now.

The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act

Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 (H.R. 9 in the House and S. 2703 in the Senate) awaits action in Congress. Our elected officials must act now to restore and preserve these vital civil rights protections.

The Voting Rights Act continues to enjoy the support of both political parties and Americans of every political persuasion. Considered to be one of our nation's most important civil rights laws, the Voting Rights Act ensures the rights of all citizens to vote regardless of race or ethnic background.

The provisions set to expire have been reauthorized four times over the years by bipartisan majorities of the House and Senate and signed into law by both Republican and Democratic Presidents. These provisions remain necessary because even today, as extensive hearings in the Senate and House have documented, some state and local governments try to use a new generation of creative tactics to stop racial and ethnic minority Americans from registering and voting.

So take a moment and encourage your Senators and Representative to support the bill and oppose any weakening amendments.

As a nation, we have made significant progress toward eliminating voting discrimination, but work remains. For that reason, these provisions are essential to ensure meaningful and fair representation, as well as equal voting rights for all

Now, as much as ever, we must do all we can to safeguard the right that all American citizens have to equal voting rights.

Gilbert Romero

Chandler, Ariz.

Donate to nhonews.com Report a Typo Contact
Most Read