VOTING RIGHTS ACT:

EVIDENCE OF CONTINUED NEED

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

MARCH 8, 2006

Serial No. 109–103

Volume II

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov 

VOTING RIGHTS ACT: EVIDENCE OF CONTINUED NEED

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26–411 PDF 2006

VOTING RIGHTS ACT:

EVIDENCE OF CONTINUED NEED

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

MARCH 8, 2006

Serial No. 109–103

Volume II

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., Wisconsin, Chairman 

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois 

HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina 

LAMAR SMITH, Texas 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California 

WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee 

CHRIS CANNON, Utah 

SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama 

BOB INGLIS, South Carolina 

JOHN N. HOSTETTLER, Indiana 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

RIC KELLER, Florida 

DARRELL ISSA, California 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

TOM FEENEY, Florida 

TRENT FRANKS, Arizona 

LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas 

JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

RICK BOUCHER, Virginia 

JERROLD NADLER, New York 

ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia 

MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina 

ZOE LOFGREN, California 

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas 

MAXINE WATERS, California 

MARTIN T. MEEHAN, Massachusetts 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California 

LINDA T. SA ́ NCHEZ, California 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland 

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida

PHILIP G. KIKO, General Counsel-Chief of Staff 

PERRY H. APELBAUM, Minority Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman

TRENT FRANKS, Arizona 

WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee 

SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama 

JOHN N. HOSTETTLER, Indiana 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

TOM FEENEY, Florida 

JERROLD NADLER, New York 

JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan 

ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia 

MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland

PAUL B. TAYLOR, Chief Counsel 

E. STEWART JEFFRIES, Counsel 

HILARY FUNK, Counsel 

KIMBERLY BETZ, Full Committee Counsel 

DAVID LACHMANN, Minority Professional Staff Member 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

MARCH 8, 2006

OPENING STATEMENT 

Page 

The Honorable Steve Chabot, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Ohio, and Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution ............................ 1

The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New York, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution ....... 2

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Michigan, and Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution .............. 4

The Honorable Robert C. Scott, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Virginia, and Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution .......................... 5

The Honorable Melvin L. Watt, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of North Carolina, and Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution .............. 6

The Honorable Linda T. Sa ́nchez, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of California ................................................................................................ 8

The Honorable Chris Van Hollen, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Maryland, and Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution ............. 9

The Honorable David Scott, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Georgia .............................................................................................................. 9

WITNESSES 

The Honorable Bill Lann Lee, Chair, National Commission on the Voting 

Rights Act, and former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 12

Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 15

Ms. Nadine Strossen, President, American Civil Liberties Union, and Professor of Law, New York Law School 

Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 19

Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 21

Mr. Wade Henderson, Executive Director, Leadership Conference on Civil 

Rights 

Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 45

Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 47

The Honorable Joe Rogers, Commissioner, National Commission on the Voting Rights Act, and former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado 

Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 87

Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 90

APPENDIX 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD

Appendix to the Statements of the Honorable Bill Lann Lee and the Honorable Joe Rogers, ‘‘Protecting Minority Voters: The Voting Rights Act at 

Work, 1982–2005,’’ a report by the National Commission on the Voting 

Rights Act ............................................................................................................. 104

Appendix to the Statements of the Honorable Bill Lann Lee and the Honorable Joe Rogers, ‘‘Highlights of Hearings of the National Commission on 

the Voting Rights Act, 2005,’’ a report by the National Commission on 

the Voting Rights Act .......................................................................................... 291

Page

IV

Appendix to the Statement of Nadine Strossen, ‘‘VOTE: The Case for Extending an Amending the Voting Rights Act, Voting Rights Litigation, 1982–

2006,’’ a report of the Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties 

Union ..................................................................................................................... 378

Appendix to the Statement of Nadine Strossen, ‘‘Promises to Keep: The Impact of the Voting Rights Act in 2006’’ ............................................................... 1270

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Alaska, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1308

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Arizona, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1363

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Florida, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1456

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Georgia, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1499

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Louisiana, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1592

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Mississippi, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1709

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in North 

Carolina, 1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ...................................... 1728

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in New York, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 1836

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in South 

Carolina, 1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ...................................... 1928

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in South 

Dakota, 1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ........................................ 1986

Appendix to the Statement of Wade Henderson, ‘‘Voting Rights in Virginia, 

1982–2006,’’ a report of RenewTheVRA.org ....................................................... 2030

Material for the hearing record submitted by the Honorable Steve Chabot 

on March 16, 2006: 

United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, ‘‘The Effect of the Voting Rights Act’’ ................................................. 2093

Dr. James Thomas Tucker and Dr. Rodolfo Espino,’’ Minority Language 

Assistance Practices in Public Elections: Executive Summary’’ March 

7, 2006 ............................................................................................................ 2094

Dr. James Thomas Tucker and Dr. Rodolfo Espino, ‘‘Minority Language 

Assistance Practices in Public Elections’’ March 7, 2006 .......................... 2124

Edward Blum, ‘‘An Assessment of Voting Rights Progress in North Carolina’’ ................................................................................................................ 2352

Edward Blum, ‘‘An Assessment of Voting Rights Progress in Alaska, 

Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Dakota’’ ........................................ 2387

Material for the hearing record submitted by the Honorable Melvin L. Watt 

on March 16, 2006: 

Yishaiya Absoch, et al, ‘‘An Assessment of Racially Polarized Voting 

For and Against Latino Candidates’’ ........................................................... 2415

Angelo N. Ancheta, ‘‘Language Accomodation and the Right to Vote’’ ........ 2451

David J. Becker, ‘‘Saving Section 5: Reflections on Georgia v. Ashcroft, 

and Its Impact on Renewal of the Voting Rights Act ................................ 2481

Michael Jones-Correa & Israel Waismel-Manor, ‘‘Verifying Implementation of Language Provisions in the Voting Rights Act’’ ............................. 2514

Luis Ricardo Fraga & Maria Lizet Ocampo, ‘‘The Deterrent Effect of 

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act: The Role of More Information 

Requests’’ ....................................................................................................... 2537

Christian R. Grose, ‘‘Black-Majority Districts or Black Influence Districts? 

Evaluating the Effect of Descriptive Representation on the Substantive 

Representation of African-Americans in Black-Majority and Black Influence Districts in the Wake of Georgia v. Ashcroft’’ ................................ 2576

Zoltan Hajnal & Jessica Trounstine, ‘‘Transforming Votes into Victories: 

Turnout, Institutional Context, and Minority Representation in Local 

Politics’’ .......................................................................................................... 2626

J. Gerald Hebert, ‘‘An Assessment of the Bailout Provisions of the Voting 

Rights Act’’ ..................................................................................................... 2664

David Lublin & Cheryl Lampkin, ‘‘Racial Redistricting and the Election 

of African-American County Supervisors in Mississippi’’ .......................... 2703

Allan M. Parnell, ‘‘Assessing the Effectiveness of Section 5 Preclearance 

of Annexations in North Carolina’’ .............................................................. 2734

Page

V

Material for the hearing record submitted by the Honorable Melvin L. Watt 

on March 16, 2006—Continued

Gary M. Segura & Nathan D. Woods, ‘‘Majority-Minority Districts, Coethnic Candidates, and Mobilization Effects .............................................. 2761

Material for the hearing record submitted by the Honorable Steve Chabot 

on March 16, 2006: 

Jim Boulet, Jr., & Peter Weyrich, ‘‘Without Our Consent: Abuses of 

Bilingual Voting Statues in the New Millennium’’ .................................... 2798

Statement of Shiny Liu, Resident, Fresh Meadows, New York .................... 2835

Statement of Byung Soo Park, Resident, Flushing, New York .................... 2836

Statement of Henry Yee, Co-Chair, Chinatown Resident Association, Boston .................................................................................................................. 2837

National Commission on the Voting Rights Act, Appendix to Hearings: 

Table of Contents and Appendix Materials ................................................ 2840

National Commission on the Voting Rights Act, Appendix to Hearings: 

Table of Contents and Appendix Materials (continued) ............................ 4298

(1455)

A P P E N D I X ( C o n t i n u e d ) 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD

1456

APPENDIX TO THE STATEMENT OF WADE HENDERSON, ‘‘VOTING RIGHTS IN FLORIDA, 

1982–2006,’’ A REPORT OF RENEWTHEVRA.ORG


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APPENDIX TO THE STATEMENT OF WADE HENDERSON, ‘‘VOTING RIGHTS IN GEORGIA, 

1982–2006,’’ A REPORT OF RENEWTHEVRA.ORG


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APPENDIX TO THE STATEMENT OF WADE HENDERSON, ‘‘VOTING RIGHTS IN LOUISIANA, 

1982–2006,’’ A REPORT OF RENEWTHEVRA.ORG


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APPENDIX TO THE STATEMENT OF WADE HENDERSON, ‘‘VOTING RIGHTS IN

MISSISSIPPI, 1982–2006,’’ A REPORT OF RENEWTHEVRA.ORG


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APPENDIX TO THE STATEMENT OF WADE HENDERSON, ‘‘VOTING RIGHTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA, 1982–2006,’’ A REPORT OF RENEWTHEVRA.ORG


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