Senate OKs voting-rights renewal

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 98 to 0 Thursday to renew key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which opened voting booths to millions of blacks, as Republicans sought to improve their standing with minorities before the fall election.

President Bush, addressing the NAACP's annual convention while the debate was under way, said he looked forward to signing the measure.

The law ended poll taxes, literacy tests and other election devices that had been used to keep blacks from voting. The provisions that were up for renewal require several states, mostly in the South, to obtain Justice Department approval before changing precinct boundaries, polling places, legislative districts, ballot formats and other voting procedures. They also require many jurisdictions to provide bilingual ballots or interpreters for voters whose English is not strong.

Those two provisions caused a minirevolt among House Republicans last week. GOP leaders had to scramble to defeat proposed amendments that they said would dilute the bill and prove politically embarrassing.

Addressing the nation's oldest civil-rights organization Thursday, Bush acknowledged bitter strains between his party and African Americans in an appearance that offered reminders that the president and Republicans remain deeply unpopular among black voters.

After shunning the NAACP for five years, the president got a polite but reserved reception as he outlined priorities he said he had in common with blacks, such as rebuilding the Gulf Coast, improving education and expanding home ownership.

"I understand that racism still lingers in America," he said. "It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart. And I understand that many African Americans distrust my political party."

That line generated boisterous applause and cheers from the audience.

Some said they were happy to receive Bush and hear him voice support for the voting-rights measure. But attendees here said little would be improved by one visit from the president during an election year.

Despite his administration's stated determination to reach out to black voters, Bush has failed to build goodwill in the black community, attendees and analysts said. His efforts have been set back by a variety of factors, including the unpopular war in Iraq, the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in the heavily black city of New Orleans and the appointment of conservative judges with poor civil-rights records.

Compiled from The Washington Post, The Associated Press and

The Baltimore Sun