Support the Passage of the Voting Rights Act Today!

July 18, 2006

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) emerged in the 1965 as a result of the Civil Rights Movement which guarantees all American citizens equal access to the ballot. The act prohibited discrimination based on race. VRA, the most successful civil rights act in American history, barred against poll taxes, literacy tests, and other challenges posed to keep minority voters from the polls.

Without the VRA, millions of immigrants, Asians included, who are not English proficient would be faced with a formidable obstruction, blocking their proper rights to democracy and the freedom to vote. The VRA has given minority citizens, Americans, the right to full civic participation.

Asian Americans have long suffered discrimination at the polls and still face language barriers when attempting to participate in their own country. The struggle to reauthorize one of nation’s most important civil rights laws won a monumental victory in the House of Representatives.

On Thursday, an overwhelming majority passed H.R. 9, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Corretta Scott King Voting Rights Act (VRA) Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006—reaffirming the need to address racial discrimination and language barriers that impact our community. [Click here to see how your representative voted.]

Just as important is the fact that the House defeated all four amendments to the bill that would have greatly weakened the Voting Rights Act’s Protections. With this victory, and with your leadership and participation from each of you, we are one step closer to renewing and reinforcing the Voting Rights Act—but we need all the help we can get to push this important legislation through the Senate and signed into law by the President before August.

What's the Next Step?
This week, we need you to tell your Senators that "S. 2703 must be moved quickly and without amendment through the Judiciary Committee and through the full Senate before the August recess". Please call your Senator today at 202-224-3121.

Don't know your Senator...Click here!

In addition, please help us generate calls to the following members of the Judiciary Committee who have co-sponsored S. 2703 and may be instrumental in moving the bill forward without amendment: Specter (PA), Brownback (KS), DeWine (OH), and Grassley (IA). Please thank for their support.

Take a minute now to also sign this APIAVote Petition which will be dropped off at Capitol Hill, along with other petitions from the Civil Rights Community.

Did you know?

• Asian Americans have long been excluded from the voting. Chinese Americans were prohibited from voting until the Chinese Exclusion act of 1882 was repealed in 1943. Likewise, Japanese Americans faced strict racial restrictions barred against Japanese voters under the 1790 Naturalization law.

• In 1975, Section 203 was added to the VRA as a provision which requires supplementary bilingual voting materials and assistance to those who are limited English or illiterate. The amendment of Section 203 is a tremendous gain to expand civic participation in the APIA community. Certain jurisdictions are required to translate all voting material (i.e.: registration cards and information packets,) and that interpreters must be provided at poll sites. This section opens doors for participation that have historically been closed to Asian Americans. By providing language assistace, the VRA gives Asian Americans a real voice in the political process.

• Today as the second fastest growing racial population in the United States, the APIA community is on the move towards an increase voter turnout and a healthy democracy where all voices are heard.

• Over 67% of the Asian American Population was born outside of the United States
  Of which, 63% speak a language other than English as their primary language.
  Currently 5 Asian Languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese) in over 16 jurisdictions are protected with the Voting Rights Act.

More reasons for why you should care…

A summary of the bill can be viewed here.

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APIAVote Petition to Renew the Voting Rights Act

I BELIEVE that our country has come a long way since the Voting Rights Act (VRA) was signed into law in 1965, but that the struggle for equality is not over.

I UNDERSTAND that Asian Americans have long faced barriers from participating in the voting process.

I UNDERSTAND that today, millions of Americans rely on the protections of the Voting Rights Act -- and that if Congress fails to renew the Act’s key temporary provisions it will jeopardize the ability of these Americans to exercise their right to vote and elect candidates of their choice.

I AGREE that Congress must protect minority voting rights and prevent a return to past discrimination by renewing and restoring the Voting Rights Act.