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Senate passes Voting Rights Act
By UPI
United Press International
July 21, 2006

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate voted 98-0 in Washington Thursday to extend the Voting Rights Act for 25 years.

President George W. Bush is expected to sign the bill within a few days. He featured the expected Senate passage earlier Thursday in a speech to the NAACP.

Much of the 1965 act is permanent law. But some provisions -- including requirements for bi-lingual ballots in districts with large numbers of voters who do not read English -- require renewal.

While no senators voted against the bill, a few senators from the South expressed reservations about the provision that requires states with a history of keeping blacks out of polling places to get federal approval for changes in voting laws, The Washington Post reported.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said his state has changed since 1965.

"Let me talk about the positive progress," Chambliss. "Today, a higher percentage of black citizens in Georgia are registered to vote than are white citizens -- 66 percent, compared to 59 percent. Today, a higher percentage of black citizens in Georgia turn out to vote than do white citizens -- 51 percent, compared to 49 percent."

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