House delays voting rights bill

Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:03 PM ET
By Joanne Kenen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan bill to extend the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a crown jewel of the U.S. civil rights era, was unexpectedly and indefinitely delayed on Wednesday amid objections from some southern Republican lawmakers.

The controversy centered on extra scrutiny faced mostly by states in the U.S. South with a legacy of civil rights violations, and on requirements that some areas supply bilingual ballots to voters whose English is poor.

House Republican leaders, who had expected a fairly straightforward vote with support from both Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday afternoon, instead indefinitely put off consideration of the legislation, aides said. A vote is not likely before the July 4th holiday break.>>>cont

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