The Battalion
TATE
Friday • August 29, 1997
? )tjng Rights Act
iarza pushes to end
deral supervision
..
P JSTIN (AP) — Secretary of State Tony Garza, argu-
tiat Texas is a leader in making it easy for people to
Thursday said the time has come for the state to
:eed from some provisions of the federal Voting
tsAct.
arza said Texas should be exempt from require-
tsthat it first obtain U.S. Justice Department ap-
al of every election law change.
IWashington thinks we should keep putting up
such bureaucratic micromanagement like we
for the past 20 years, it can guess again. They’re
ig. We don’t need it,” Garza said.
I
be Voting Rights Act is an essential
redient if we are ever to obtain true
ice and democracy. ,,
GARY BLEDSOE
EXAS PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
position to the idea was voiced by groups repre-
g minorities.
e Voting Rights Act is an essential ingredient if
ever to obtain true justice and democracy,” said
Bledsoe, Texas president of the National Associa-
for the Advancement of Colored People,
ngress passed the act in 1965 to, in the words of a
court ruling, “banish the blight of racial dis-
lation in voting.”
id Garza said he isn’t talking about the part of the
iaranteeing citizens — regardless of race — the
to vote. That section applies in all 50 states,
ther, Garza said, he wants relief from the part of
iw called Section 5. It requires prior Justice De-
ent approval of election law changes made in
Southern states and Alaska, plus some counties
townships in seven more states.
’oday, Texas is one of the most progressive states
irms of making it easy for all citizens to register and
heck, astronauts can now vote from space —
and yet the federal government continues to operate in
a time-warp, subjecting Texas to burdensome supervi
sion that’s based on an outdated presumption of dis
crimination,” Garza said.
“It’s time to take Texas out from this specific provi
sion,” he said.
Both the NAACP and the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund said the Voting Rights
Act should remain in force.
The law “is basically a way of monitoring states to
ensure they do not violate the voting rights of minori
ties,” said MALDEF’s Al Kauffman. rt As long as Texas
proposes fair changes in voting, the Justice Department
will not object.”
NAACP president Bledsoe said intimidation of black
and Hispanic voters still occurs across the state, and
racial gerrymandering “continues at all levels” of elec
toral politics.
“The Voting Rights Act is needed to at least provide
an avenue for minorities to challenge these actions in
effective and efficient ways,” Bledsoe said. “If there are
problems with the law, the answer is not to throw the
baby out with the bath water.”
The “preclearance” requirement has delayed nu
merous actions approved by the Texas Legislature,
Garza said. That included state takeover of a financial
ly troubled school district, creation of new county
courts and management of scarce water resources, he
said.
Garza, a Republican appointed by Gov. George W.
Bush to be the state’s chief elections officer, empha
sized his commitment to the voting law’s main purpose
— making certain every citizen has a vote.
“The act... had a profound impact on the political
landscape of America, serving to markedly increase the
voice of minorities in the political process,” he said in
a letter to Texas congressmen.
He noted that Texas makes it easy to register to vote;
has a lengthy early voting period for casting “no excus
es” absentee ballots; and even conducts early voting in
places such as shopping malls.
However, Garza said, requiring prior federal ap
proval of Texas election laws has outlived its purpose
and is an insult to the Texas Legislature.
“It really is an affront to the integrity of the legisla
tive process in Texas,” he said.
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