NALEO Condemns Derailment of Voting Rights Act Renewa

“Today, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) strongly condemned the actions of a small group of U.S Representatives who prevented a House floor vote on H.R. 9, legislation to renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The House was expected to vote on H.R. 9 this week.

Today, NALEO is also bringing together a panel of experts at its 23rd Annual Conference in Dallas to address the critical importance of the Voting Rights Act for the Latino community. According to Arturo Vargas, executive director of NALEO, “The Voting Rights Act is one of our nation’s most successful pieces of civil rights legislation. It has protected our community’s right to vote, and removed obstacles to our political participation. In the two decades following the last major Voting Rights Act reauthorization, Latinos have made significant political advances. In 1984, there were 3,128 Latino elected officials - in January 2006, that number had increased by 64 percent to 5,132.”"

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