September 13, 2005: ACLU-TN Program on Sept 24 - Forty Years Later: Renewing and Restoring the Voting Rights Act

For Immediate Release
September 13, 2005

For More Information, Contact
Hedy Weinberg, 615-320-7142

Forty Years Later: Renewing and Restoring the Voting Rights Act

Nashville - "40 Years Later: Renewing and Restoring the Voting Rights Act of
1965" is the topic of the ACLU-TN's annual membership meeting which will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2005 in Nashville.

Barry Hargrove, field organizer for the National ACLU Legislative Office,
will discuss the current effort underway in Congress to renew and strengthen the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and ways to support the reauthorization campaign. The program, which will begin at 2:30 p.m., will be held at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in Room 204.

According to Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN executive director, "The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been one of our most successful civil rights laws. Not only did it end literacy tests, poll taxes and other mechanisms that were used to deliberately disenfranchise voters, it has helped to advance an essential American freedom: the right to vote. In this way, the Act has guaranteed millions of minority voters the equal opportunity to participate in
elections and have their voices heard."

While most of the Voting Rights Act is permanent, some provisions are set to expire in 2007, including: a requirement that states with a documented
history of discriminatory voting practices obtain approval from federal
officials before they change election laws; provisions that guarantee access
to bilingual election materials for citizens with limited English
proficiency; and the authority to send federal examiners and observers to
monitor elections in order to prevent efforts to intimidate minority voters
at the polls.

Weinberg continued, "The Voting Rights Act gave voters real tools to
challenge discrimination at the ballot box, but that process is far from
complete. On the 40th anniversary of its passage, lawmakers should not only reflect on what the Act has accomplished but look at the extensive record of ongoing voting rights violations in order to lay the foundation for
reauthorization of the expiring provisions. Reauthorization of the Voting
Rights Act will require bi-partisan consensus and cooperation and ACLU-TN is joining with organizations across the state and country to call on Congress to renew and strengthen the Voting Rights Act to ensure equal political opportunity and equal access to the ballot box."

ACLU has created a new website dedicated to its Voting Rights Act
reauthorization campaign, available at http://www.votingrights.org. In
addition to containing fact sheets and background materials, the new web
site contains one of the most comprehensive historical timeline on voting
rights issues currently available on the world wide web.

ACLU-TN is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to translating the guarantees of the Bill of Rights into realities for all
Tennesseans. As the only statewide organization protecting and promoting
civil liberties, ACLU-TN pursues its mission through education, legislative,
advocacy, and public education activities.

For more information, please call 615-320-7142.