NALEO Educational Fund Urges Holder to Strengthen Voting Rights Enforcement


For Immediate Release January 19, 2009	Contact: Rosalind Gold (213) 747-7606, ext. 4420 rgold@naleo.org William Ramos (202) 546-2536 wramos@naleo.org

NALEO EDUCATIONAL FUND URGES SECRETARY-DESIGNATE HOLDER TO STRENGTHEN ENFORCEMENT OF VOTING RIGHTS PROTECTIONS
LOS ANGELES, CA — The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate hearing on the confirmation of Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General: “We are greatly encouraged by Attorney General-designate Eric Holder’s overall commitment to the protection of civil rights during the confirmation hearing held by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The Attorney General-designate also emphasized the need to “revitalize” the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) by providing it with strong support and greater resources. He also promised to restore the credibility of the Civil Rights Division by eliminating political and partisan personnel actions. “We urge the Attorney General-designate, if confirmed, to make stronger enforcement of voting rights protections a top priority in his efforts to restore the DOJ’s commitment to civil rights. In particular, we urge him to ensure that the DOJ vigorously enforces state and local compliance with all of the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). These include the requirement that certain jurisdictions provide language assistance to those Latino and other language-minority citizens who are not yet fully proficient in English, and the VRA’s Section 2 prohibitions against discriminatory voting practices. “We also hope that the Attorney General-designate will prepare the DOJ to carefully scrutinize the efforts of states when they initiate and complete post-2010 state redistricting activities. This includes the implementation of California’s Proposition 11, a flawed ballot measure opposed by leading civil rights group that creates a redistricting commission to draw state electoral boundaries. In addition, we urge him to strengthen enforcement of federal voter registration and election reform laws to eliminate unfair barriers in the electoral process. “During his confirmation hearing, the Attorney General-designate explicitly promised to defend the constitutionality of the VRA, which is being challenged in the Supreme Court, and he noted that the DOJ would be proud to do so. We hope that he will demonstrate that pride by providing strong leadership for the DOJ’s efforts to ensure that all Americans can become full participants in our nation’s democracy, and we look forward to working with him to achieve this goal.”
### About NALEO Educational Fund: The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading non-partisan, non-profit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.
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LOS ANGELES, CA — The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate hearing on the confirmation of Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General:

“We are greatly encouraged by Attorney General-designate Eric Holder’s overall commitment to the protection of civil rights during the confirmation hearing held by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The Attorney General-designate also emphasized the need to “revitalize” the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) by providing it with strong support and greater resources. He also promised to restore the credibility of the Civil Rights Division by eliminating political and partisan personnel actions.

“We urge the Attorney General-designate, if confirmed, to make stronger enforcement of voting rights protections a top priority in his efforts to restore the DOJ’s commitment to civil rights. In particular, we urge him to ensure that the DOJ vigorously enforces state and local compliance with all of the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). These include the requirement that certain jurisdictions provide language assistance to those Latino and other language-minority citizens who are not yet fully proficient in English, and the VRA’s Section 2 prohibitions against discriminatory voting practices.

“We also hope that the Attorney General-designate will prepare the DOJ to carefully scrutinize the efforts of states when they initiate and complete post-2010 state redistricting activities. This includes the implementation of California’s Proposition 11, a flawed ballot measure opposed by leading civil rights group that creates a redistricting commission to draw state electoral boundaries. In addition, we urge him to strengthen enforcement of federal voter registration and election reform laws to eliminate unfair barriers in the electoral process.

“During his confirmation hearing, the Attorney General-designate explicitly promised to defend the constitutionality of the VRA, which is being challenged in the Supreme Court, and he noted that the DOJ would be proud to do so. We hope that he will demonstrate that pride by providing strong leadership for the DOJ’s efforts to ensure that all Americans can become full participants in our nation’s democracy, and we look forward to working with him to achieve this goal.”