Commentary: Betty Ireland

·  Voting Rights Act of 1965: State should remember anniversary of vital law

The Charleston Gazette, August 5, 2005

On Saturday, Americans likely will not notice the 40th anniversary of one of the most important laws ever enacted in our nation. Aug. 6 is the date when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark. It codified and effectuated the 15th Amendment’s permanent guarantee that no person shall be denied the right to vote on account of race or color. The law applied a nationwide prohibition against the denial or abridgment of the right to vote through literacy tests. In addition, the act contains several special provisions that impose even more stringent requirements in certain jurisdictions throughout the country.

Originally, the Voting Rights Act did not prohibit the poll tax, but directed the attorney general to challenge its use. In Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court held Virginia’s poll tax to be unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.

Born out of controversy and at a time of public strife and social change, the Voting Rights Act is generally considered the most successful piece of civil rights legislation ever adopted by Congress.

The act was the result of the call for freedom, dignity and racial tolerance that was the hallmark of the 1960s. Here is a brief history of events that led to the passage of the act, as described by the civil rights division’s section of the U.S. Department of Justice:

“By 1965, concerted efforts to break the grip of state disfranchisement had been under way for some time, but had achieved only modest success overall and in some areas had proved almost entirely ineffectual. The murder of voting rights activists in Philadelphia, Miss., gained national attention, along with numerous other acts of violence and terrorism.

“Finally, the unprovoked attack on March 7, 1965, by state troopers on peaceful marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., en route to the state capitol in Montgomery, persuaded the president and Congress to overcome Southern legislators’ resistance to effective voting rights legislation. President Johnson issued a call for a strong voting rights law and hearings began soon thereafter on the bill that would become the Voting Rights Act.”

Our elected officials responded and displayed the courage and moral character to rectify this situation.

Today, our nation faces its own turbulent times and challenges. American men and women are fighting on foreign soil in the name of freedom and democracy, and here in the United States, law enforcement agencies are battling terrorists in our cities. Our nation has suffered losses at the hands of people who don’t cherish free elections, personal choice and cultural respect.

It is appropriate for all West Virginians to take a moment this weekend to celebrate the freedoms and liberties we hold so dear and precious. None is more precious than the universal right to vote, which was made possible by the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. We must do everything in our power to protect and defend this right.

So I, as West Virginia’s secretary of state and chief election official, pledge to fight not only to increase voter registration and participation across our state, but also to fight to preserve the integrity and honor of our voting systems and election process.

Wherever voting or election fraud and abuse may take place, I will investigate these allegations vigorously and diligently. Because nothing is more sacred than upholding each person’s right to vote and to ensure the complete integrity of that vote.

Please pause for a moment Saturday to reflect on those liberties handed to this nation 40 years ago, with enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Ireland is West Virginia’s secretary of state.