The right to vote should be a no-brainer, Congress

Americans are waking up this morning to singed grass and an inflated confidence in our goodness.

In the aftermath of Independence Day, we're puffed full of ourselves, the all-men-are-created-equal jazz from the Declaration of Independence still fresh on our lips.

It is then a perfect time to notice our hypocrisy, peering out amid the patriotic platitudes like bulky underwear. Our fine representatives in Congress, who presumably spent yesterday traveling their districts speaking of freedom and equality, are stumbling over a simple task: reauthorizing the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The 41-year-old civil-rights law is this country's most effective tool against discrimination at the ballot box. The act says in part: "No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color."

Any attempt to challenge a citizen's right to vote falls under the scrutiny of the act.

Without intervention from Congress, the law expires in 2007.

Renewing the act ought to be an easy election-year task. It is the kind of vote that requires minimal effort from politicians, but ought to deliver them maximum points from the public.

So it was bizarre to say the least when lawmakers from Southern states took to the halls of Congress — mere blocks from the Lincoln Memorial and its tribute to the principles of liberty and equal rights — and blocked renewal of the voting-rights law. Their reason? They take issue with the act's references to racism in the South.

Section 5 of the law really has Southern politicians riled up. The reason is, the section speaks to regions with a history of discrimination and populations that have been traditionally disenfranchised. The section, gulp, names names. Southern states are called out, as are Arizona and parts of California. Republicans' discomfort over the language reminds me of an old Southern saying: Stuck pigs squeal loudest.

The GOP in Congress ought to get it together and face in the fall elections whatever repercussions there might possibly be. Keeping the Voting Rights Act is paramount. Efforts to keep minorities from voting is not a relic of the past. It is difficult to recall the 2004 presidential election without thinking of the unholy role discrimination played in states such as Ohio and Florida.

The Justice Department, in charge of enforcing voting rights, is as busy today as ever fielding and investigating complaints of voter discrimination. Most of the reported irregularities occurred in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.

The Voting Rights Act hasn't outlived its usefulness. It was ushered in during a particularly turbulent period of the civil-rights struggles in the South. Americans turned on their TVs and radios and learned of the brutal attacks on civil-rights marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. President Lyndon Johnson asked Congress to pass legislation guaranteeing every citizen's right to vote. Bipartisan majorities in both houses swiftly complied.

No one questioned the need for special protections.

The blood of my forebears no longer runs in the streets, but vestiges of discrimination remain and so should protections against it.

Washington state doesn't have a particularly big dog in this fight. Four counties, Yakima, Franklin, Adams and King, have minority populations large enough to warrant remedies under the Voting Rights Act. King County is legally required to provide voting information in Chinese — it goes beyond the federal mandate and provides information in other languages as well. The three other counties must provide protection and information for Spanish speakers.

With growing immigrant populations, voter protections are necessary today. It isn't just about access to the polls, but ensuring equity in electoral machinations such as redistricting plans and efforts that resemble the poll taxes of old.

I can get just as dewy-eyed as anyone on the Fourth of July, but the rosy hue of my vision is tempered by my knowledge of history. Our ideals aren't yet our reality. Until that happens, legal protections like those embedded in the Voting Rights Act are critical.

Lynne K. Varner's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is lvarner@seattletimes.com