Hatch and Bennet Work to Pass Voting Rights Act

None by KCPW

The Measure Sails Through the Senate 98 - 0

(KCPW News) The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed reauthorization of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with the help of Utah Senators Hatch and Bennett. According to Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake branch of the NAACP, Senator Hatch made an impassioned speech in favor of the bill before the Judiciary Committee's Wednesday vote and worked to stop amendments that would have weakened the measure.

The Voting Rights Act Reauthorization is designed to eliminate voting discrimination by extending provisions that provide language assistance to voters, allow the federal government to monitor domestic elections, and require Alaska, Alabama, Arizona Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia to obtain Justice Department approval before changing voting procedures.

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