National Commission on the Voting Rights Act
Launches Hearings to Examine Voting Discrimination
Panel to Dispel Myths, Document Stories and Write Report

WASHINGTON, September, 2005 – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has launched the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act with a series of regional hearings across the country soliciting testimony from attorneys, experts, advocates and first-hand experiences of voters to document the record of discrimination in voting since 1982, the last time the Voting Rights Act was reauthorized. The National Commission is writing a report that will be available to stakeholders during the upcoming reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

The non-partisan Commission is composed of eight leading academics, policy officials and civil rights advocates. Former Senator Charles M. Mathias, Jr. (R-MD) is Honorary Chair of the Commission. The Chair of the Commission is Bill Lann Lee, the former assistant attorney general for civil rights. The other Commissioners are former Congress member John Buchanan (R-AL); labor and women’s rights activist Dolores Huerta; U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner and Indian affairs advocate Elsie Meeks; Harvard professor and noted civil rights lawyer Charles Ogletree; and former Colorado Lt. Governor Joe Rogers.

“The panel is providing a tremendous public service. But we are all stakeholders in this process” notes Lawyers’ Committee Executive Director Barbara Arnwine. “Our goal is to build a record that is enriched by the knowledge-base of a far-flung array of people across the country. The collective voices will ultimately provide a wealth of content to assure results from which we can all share and benefit.”

The VRA, particularly the expiring provisions, has been essential to minority political participation in light of demographic shifts and the expansion of Latino and Asian communities. Even the first Americans, indigenous and American Indian populations, have gained greater protections under the VRA.

The Commission has held regional hearings in Montgomery, AL, Phoenix, New York, Minneapolis, Orlando, and Rapid City, SD. Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Jackson, MS will hold hearings by the end of October.

The National Commission on the Voting Rights Act will release a report in early 2006. More at http://votingrightsact.org

For additional information or to schedule an interview with Barbara Arnwine or Commission members, contact Tiana Allen at 202.833.9771 x116 or tiana @ mckpr.com.
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The National Commission on the Voting Rights Act is a non-partisan panel convened by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Co-sponsors of the Commission are from leading civil rights organizations including: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Demos, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, NAACP National Voter Fund, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, National Congress of American Indians, People for the American Way Foundation, Project Vote, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

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