Home : Voting Rights

ACLU of Arkansas Takes Ballot Access Case to Federal Court on Behalf of Green Party Candidates (08/17/2006)
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas made its case in federal court today for Arkansas to officially recognize the state Green Party. At stake is access to the ballot for third party candidates and preservation of free public political dialogue.

ACLU Celebrates the 41st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (08/04/2006)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union recognizes and celebrates the 41st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), the landmark legislation that addresses and seeks to remedy barriers to voting for millions of Americans. The ACLU recently applauded Congress for passing by an overwhelming margin legislation to reauthorize the expiring provisions of the VRA. President Bush signed the act July 27.

ACLU Applauds As President Bush Signs Voting Rights Act Reauthorization (07/27/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded President Bush as he signed into law the "Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006." Congress rejected attempts to dilute the original intent of the bill and passed a "clean" reauthorization bill, which renews key provisions that would otherwise expire in 2007.

ACLU Applauds Senate Renewal of Voting Rights Act, Says Clean and Swift Vote Does Historic Law Justice (07/20/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the Senate’s swift reauthorization today of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law first passed in 1965 to prevent voting discrimination. The legislation passed unanimously without any damaging or weakening amendments on a vote of 98 to 0. The measure now heads to the president for his signature.

ACLU Applauds Senate Judiciary Vote on Voting Rights Act, Urges Senate to Pass a Clean Renewal Without Weakening Amendments (07/19/2006)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urged the Senate to quickly take up and pass a “clean,” unamended version Voting Rights Act today after the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the landmark legislation by a vote of 18-0, with no weakening amendments. The Voting Rights Act overwhelmingly passed the House last week, also without any damaging amendments.

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Missouri's Photo ID Voting Law (07/17/2006)
KANSAS CITY, MO -– Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court challenging a new law that requires Missouri’s voters to present state-issued photo identification cards at the polls in order to be eligible to vote.

ACLU Applauds Renewal of Voting Rights Act (07/13/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the vote of the House of Representatives approving renewal of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 civil rights legislation. The House passed a “clean” version of the bill, upholding key provisions that would otherwise expire in 2007 and turning back controversial challenges that would have weakened the bill.

ACLU Condemns Representative Westmoreland’s Attempts to Weaken Voting Rights Act, Representative Westmoreland Misrepresents ACLU Report to Suggest Georgia’s Voting Problems are a Thing of the Past (07/13/2006)
Washington, DC - The ACLU today had strong words for Representative Westmoreland, the Georgia Republican who has lobbied tirelessly for the dilution of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), that requires jurisdictions with significant histories of discrimination to get federal approval of any new voting practices or procedures. Throughout discussions of the VRA, Representative Westmoreland continues to refer to the work of the ACLU as merely documenting “alleged voting problems” in his state, despite both recent and numerous court findings of discrimination against Georgia.

ACLU of New Mexico Lawsuit Would Even Playing Field for New Political Parties (07/11/2006)
ALBUQUERQUE – The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, joined by the ACLU Voting Rights Project, today challenged a state law that forces new political parties to work much harder than existing parties to put their candidates on general election ballots.

ACLU Applauds House Defeat of Amendment to Defund the Voting Rights Act, Calls for Swift Passage of Clean Reauthorization Bill (06/29/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the House of Representatives for rejecting attempts to block enforcement of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. On a vote of 254 to 167, the House voted against an amendment offered by Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL) to the appropriations bill for the Justice Department that would have cut off funding for the language-assistance provisions of that historic civil rights law.