VOTING RIGHTS ACT

WHEREAS, the Voting Rights Act is scheduled to expire in 1982; and

WHEREAS, this landmark civil rights act has resulted in the election of thousands of candidates all over the country who could not have won before this law was enacted; and

WHEREAS, the ability to vote and run for office is the most important political right in a democratic society; and

WHEREAS, the loss of protections guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act could well result in the return to discrimination in some American elections:

RESOLVED, that the AFT endorse and lobby for an extension of the Voting Rights Act; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support efforts by the AFL-CIO and civil rights groups such as the NAACP and A. Philip Randolph Institute in their efforts to secure passage of a bill to continue the protections of the Voting Rights Act.