Voting Rights statute tested [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Sept. 7, 2006, 10:45PM
Voting Rights statute tested
Austin water district sues over portion dealing with minority participation


By JANET ELLIOTT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — When the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 wanted to move its sole polling place from a residential garage to a school four years ago, it had to pay a lawyer $1,250 to file a letter with the U.S. Department of Justice and wait two months for permission to make the change.

Even though district leaders said they wanted to move the polling location to boost voter turnout, they had to convince the Justice Department that the change wouldn't reduce minority voting participation. Known as "preclearance," the process is a key feature of the Voting Rights Act, the major civil rights legislation recently reauthorized by Congress for another 25 years.

Last month, the MUD challenged the constitutionality of the law in a federal lawsuit against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Civil rights groups fear the case could reverse decades of improvements for minority voters in Texas and 15 other states subject to the preclearance scrutiny.
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The strategy reflects a move to federal courts after conservative lawmakers failed to change the preclearance requirements. Several Republicans, mainly from Texas and other southern states, argued that the provision may violate the Constitution on grounds that it unfairly punishes states for long-past discrimination.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4171585.html