Protecting Minority Voters: The Voting Rights Act, 1982-2005.

The National Commission on the Voting Rights Act
has released, Protecting Minority Voters: The Voting
Rights Act, 1982-2005 [PDF]

The report, which was spearheaded by the Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law, collects research and testimony
from voters in an effort to encourage lawmakers to renew
provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that will expire in August
2007.

An article today in the Houston Chronicle summarizes the report's
findings:

*Polling places and voting hours in minority neighborhoods are routinely
changed shortly before elections.

*Election officials were found to have illegally purged voter lists and
refused to translate election materials for citizens who are not fluent
in English.

*Voters and advocates complained to federal officials about unfair
election practices more often between 1982 and 2004 than between
1965 and 1982, data compiled from Department of Justice records show.