Guarding the Right to Vote

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Applying primarily to six Southern states, it suspended the literacy tests and other devices used to exclude black voters, empowered federal examiners to help with registration and required the states to get Justice Department approval of changes in voting regulations. The results have been impressive: 3.5 million blacks are registered in the South today, compared with 1 million in 1965. The number of Southern blacks holding elected office has jumped 2,000% to nearly 1,600.

Still, there is much room for improvement. Only 2% of Southern officeholders are black, and 2.5 million eligible blacks remain unregistered. Less than half the eligible Spanish-surnamed Americans in the Southwest are signed up at the polls. Last week, the House voted to extend the act another ten years and expand its provisions. Literacy tests would be banned nationwide; Texas and the parts of states with large Spanish-speaking populations would fall under the law, as would all of Alaska, many of whose natives speak no English; Asians in Hawaii and American Indians would be protected. The House bill is expected to be passed by the Senate. It remains for the Government to ensure that it is vigorously enforced.

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