Hello All:
Well, the Subprime Court (and don't try to correct me by calling it Supreme - it stopped being "supreme" when it made corporations human beings, eviscerated our rights to vote, and gave eminent domain to companies to mow down our homes for their own gain) - in their infinite ignorance, has seen fit to slap Black people in the face with both talons, while pretending to be objective and fair.
Of course, this is nothing new with them. The history books are filled with other instances when they trounced our rights, without so much as a "by your leave," and continued to operate as the law of the land, while Black people were being ground in the dust under the heels of the perpetrators they empowered. Such instances included the time when Judge Roger B. Taney had the temerity to say that "a Black man had no rights that a white man was bound to respect," in the so-called Dred Scott Decision. That little decision legitimized the fugitive slave law, which made it all right for a white man to waltz into a Black man's home and drag him or her back down South and into slavery, if it appeared that he or she had been a slave, once upon a time.
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| Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson Signed the Voting Rights Act into Law, August 6, 1965 |
Of course, the most egregious law of all was their condoning of slavery to begin with - and all those marvelous "black codes" given to the South by JC Calhoun, a congressional hound dog, who ruled South Carolina and other parts of the South with an racist iron fist.
I think what really surprised us all was the fact that here, in the 21st century, when you thought you just might be dealing with better informed, more intelligent (in)Justices, you find out that you were not only patently wrong, but you had been laboring under a delusion for a lot longer than you realized, while they slowly, through partisanship, sucked the very marrow out of the bone structure of justice and equality.
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| L-R: Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, Martin Luther King, Whitney M. Young, Jr. with President Lyndon B. Johnson |
I was a college student at the time the the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed, and had the privilege, along with my fellow students from Hampton Institute, in Hampton VA, in helping to register a large population of Black people in the Hampton Roads, Newport News, Portsmouth Virginia communities. These were people who had been frightened into feeling that if they ever dared tried to vote, they would be severely punished.
I distinctly remember how many times we had to actually sit down with them, and explain that nothing bad was going to happen to them; that if anyone bothered them, the President would make sure that they were dealt with. It was amazing to me that people were so frightened (I was originally from Oklahoma, where Blacks had always voted - so I didn't know.)
During the era of SNCC, NAACP, Urban League, SCLC, and other Black Civil Rights organizations that had all come together and consolidated their powers and efforts, through demonstrations, sit-ins, marches, meetings with the President, and other efforts across the board, made this happen. Lyndon Baines Johnson signed those bills into law.
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| LBJ AND MLK |
Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. After LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act, thousands of red necked, so-called solid citizens of the solid south-Democrats jumped out of the Democratic party and infiltrated The Republican party - heretofore known as the party of Lincoln - and transformed it into one of the most hellacious, draconian, demonic politically vengeful parties ever known to man. If the KKK has a political party, this is undoubtedly it!
If you don't believe it, look at their track record over the past 50 years in contrast to what they had done in a beneficent manner prior to the Voting Rights Act. We now have a group of people who feel they are entitled to reign terror on Black people - including President Obama (which is treason, by the way), by any negative means at their disposal - including trickery, lies, deceit, bribery, overthrow of government. (so when you hear the names Nixon, Regan, Bush, Ford, Bachman, Rand Paul, Boehner, Trump, and others, it should engender the urge to throw up immediately, the smell of sulfur should permeate their areas, etc. - lol).
And now, thanks to the subprime court, here we are again - where a vicious, racist edict has once again taken the rights away from millions of Black citizens across the country. They acted as though the law was no longer needed, since the rights were no longer egregiously violated. That's like saying that because you no longer see rats, you don't need the cat any more - guaranteed when you remove the cat, the rats will be right back out there, spoiling your environment with their germs. And if you take a good look at the repuglycon party, and all they've done in Texas, South Carolina, and other areas as soon as the announcement was handed down, I think you will see that my analogy was, indeed, correct.
I find it difficult to give respect to a body of people who were primarily put in place to be a continual block to Black rights. I find it amazingly disingenuous that they can come up with a law to protect "marriage equality," while they can't protect our RIGHT TO VOTE!!!
I find it disgusting that while they verbalize that we are "equal under the law," no such equality exists now, or has ever existed for any consistent period of time for Black people.
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| PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN GAVE BLACKS THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN 1865 |
By the way, this is not the first time our rights to vote were usurped - we were given the right to vote in 1865, subsequent to President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation. The 13th Amendment assured us the right to vote - so this should really have been an 150th Anniversary, instead of just 50 years. However, true to their racist character and nature, it was only adopted in some states, while others went to work to make sure that it never saw the light of day. Still, we did have, during Reconstruction, several Black elected officials who were voted into office because Black people during those days took their rights and responsibilities seriously, and participated fully, as they felt they should as now duly new made full citizens of the United States.
There are accolades enough to go around to everyone involved who played a vital role in making this happen 50 years ago; just like there are now a great many fingers pointing to blame and shame on the perpetrators who have now succeeded in depriving Black people of their rights.
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| Frederick Douglass was a confidante to President Lincoln |
And, unfortunately, while I am heaping coals of anger upon the heads of the (in)justices, I must say, that a good deal of blame can be laid at our own feet as Black people. Somehow we had fallen into a laxity where it appeared we were no longer interested in participating in our RESPONSIBILITY and RIGHT to VOTE. We had only turned out in droves on two occasions, since first being enfranchised: and those times were for both of President Obama's election and re-election as President of the US.
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| We call upon President Obama to use his EXECUTIVE POWERS TO REINSTATE AND STRENGTHEN OUR RIGHT TO VOTE |
And, while this is indeed laudable, it was not enough, because we let him down both times as well by not giving him the majority he needed to be able to continue doing a great job and carrying out his mission in the White House. It's amazing to me how we can emulate white folks so well in so many ways - wigs, dress, cars, equipment, technology, but we can't seem to find a way to "stand together" whenever something significant needs to be done. And by not learning those intricate little details, by not adapting some of those examples for ourselves, we allowed our power to slip between our fingers. It was obvious that we weren't paying attention to what was going on under our very noses - because we are now on the other side of the line again - practically having to count the number of bubbles in a bar or soap, or some other insanely ignorant thing they can come up with to prove that you aren't smart enough to vote.
1865 Voting Rights
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When the Civil War ended in 1865, President Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation and the 13th Amendment should have assured
African-Americans freedom and equality under the law. Unfortunately, not
everyone saw African-Americans as equal. Each Southern state decided
what rights freed slaves had. Many states put in place barriers so
African-Americans could not vote.
Black Codes
- States enacted different versions of black codes, all with the goal of treating African-Americans as inferior to whites. They could be arrested for being unemployed. They were prohibited from owning property in some states. African-Americans faced barriers to voting such as literacy tests and poll taxes, while illiterate and poor white people were allowed to vote.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/facts_7293343_1865-voting-rights-act.html
I truly hope that all it will take are petitions signed by millions of Black people to correct this, but I don't think it will be enough.
So, I am (we are?) calling upon President Obama to use his EXECUTIVE POWERS AS PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES TO RESTORE OUR RIGHT TO VOTE AS CITIZENS - FORTHWITH - or COME UP WITH AN EVEN BETTER, MORE FAR REACHING VOTING RIGHTS ACT.
For those of you who've never seen or read it, I am providing a copy of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; which was signed on August 6, 1965- Take some time to read it and know what's in it. Please don't tell me it's too long or involved. A lot hangs on this, and whatever the new incarnation turns out to be. By the way, remember that we had some forefathers and foremothers who also died for our right to READ AND WRITE - and there has been a concerted effort by the powers that be (whoever the heck they are) to dumb down our education, as well, by saying that Blacks don't read or write. Not only should you read this, but your kids, and their kids, friends, etc, as well. We have to know our rights, because ignorance is growing, and a good Black Mind is a terrible thing to waste.
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| SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHAL AND PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON |
Have a pad and pencil handy - you're going to want to ask questions. And after you've read it, I strongly suggest that you get in touch with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund - either their national headquarters, or in your local affiliate - and find out what it all means and what YOU CAN DO TO HELP? They've been working on this and have had some measure of success in local disparate governmental battles. We now have go band together and help our Civil Rights Organizations, as well as our Fraternities and *Sororities, and community based organizations and churches, who are coming together to stand for our rights. We have to help them help us. When you get a petition to sign online or hard copy, sign it and make sure others do as well. When your son or daughter turns 18, before you give them that birthday gift, give them a voter registration card and make sure they fill it out immediately - and, oh yes, you mail it or deliver it for them.
We can't take a back seat to our future, and let others do all the doing for us. This is how the enemy got us to begin with - they knew that we'd be complacent and think that all things were going along smoothly. However, if you've been studying the pattern of the republycons, you'll see that they have been on the offensive aggressively ever since President Obama was elected. This isn't over yet - we've got to back our President, back each other, get back our rights, and stand together.
*{Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., is circulating petitions to reinstate our voting rights. If you receive a copy, please sign it immediately and send it back}.
Enough of my lecture, here is the original version of
THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES:
AN ACT To enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.
SEC. 2.
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.
SEC. 3.
(a) Whenever the Attorney General institutes a proceeding under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court shall authorize the appointment of Federal examiners by the United States Civil Service Commission in accordance with section 6 to serve for such period of time and for such political subdivisions as the court shall determine is appropriate to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment (1) as part of any interlocutory order if the court determines that the appointment of such examiners is necessary to enforce such guarantees or (2) as part of any final judgment if the court finds that violations of the fifteenth amendment justifying equitable relief have occurred in such State or subdivision: Provided, That the court need not authorize the appointment of examiners if any incidents of denial or abridgement of the right to vote on account of race or color (1) have been few in number and have been promptly and effectively corrected by State or local action, (2) the continuing effect of such incidents has been eliminated, and (3) there is no reasonable probability of their recurrence in the future.
(b) If in a proceeding instituted by the Attorney General under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court finds that a test or device has been used for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, it shall suspend the use of [p*339] tests and devices in such State or political subdivisions as the court shall determine is appropriate and for such period as it deems necessary.
(c) If in any proceeding instituted by the Attorney General under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court finds that violations of the fifteenth amendment justifying equitable relief have occurred within the territory of such State or political subdivision, the court, in addition to such relief as it may grant, shall retain jurisdiction for such period as it may deem appropriate and during such period no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect at the time the proceeding was commenced shall be enforced unless and until the court finds that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color: Provided, That such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure may be enforced if the qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure has been submitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney General and the Attorney General has not interposed an objection within sixty days after such submission, except that neither the court's finding nor the Attorney General's failure to object shall bar a subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure.
SEC. 4.
(a) To assure that the right of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or abridged on account of race or color, no citizen shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his failure to comply with any test or device in any State with respect to which the determinations have been [p*340] made under subsection (b) or in any political subdivision with respect to which such determinations have been made as a separate unit, unless the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in an action for a declaratory judgment brought by such State or subdivision against the United States has determined that no such test or device has been used during the five years preceding the filing of the action for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color: Provided, That no such declaratory judgment shall issue with respect to any plaintiff for a period of five years after the entry of a final judgment of any court of the United States, other than the denial of a declaratory judgment under this section, whether entered prior to or after the enactment of this Act, determining that denials or abridgments of the right to vote on account of race or color through the use of such tests or devices have occurred anywhere in the territory of such plaintiff. An action pursuant to this subsection shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court. The court shall retain jurisdiction of any action pursuant to this subsection for five years after judgment and shall reopen the action upon motion of the Attorney General alleging that a test or device has been used for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color.
If the Attorney General determines that he has no reason to believe that any such test or device has been used during the five years preceding the filing of the action for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, he shall consent to the entry of such judgment
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply in any State or in any political subdivision of a state which (1) the Attorney General determines maintained on November 1, 1964, any test or device, and with respect to which (2) the Director of the Census determines that less than 50 percentum of the persons of voting age residing therein were registered on November 1, 1964, or that less than 50 percentum of such persons voted in the presidential election of November 1964.
A determination or certification of the Attorney General or of the Director of the Census under this section or under section 6 or section 13 shall not be reviewable in any court and shall be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
(c) The phrase "test or device" shall mean any requirement that a person as a prerequisite for voting or registration for voting (1) demonstrate the ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter, (2) demonstrate any educational achievement or his knowledge of any particular subject, (3) possess good moral character, or (4) prove his qualifications by the voucher of registered voters or members of any other class.
(d) For purposes of this section no State or political subdivision shall be determined to have engaged in the use of tests or devices for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color if (1) incidents of such use have been few in number and have been promptly and effectively corrected by State or local action, (2) the continuing effect of such incidents has been eliminated, and (3) there is no reasonable probability of their recurrence in the future.
(e)(1) Congress hereby declares that to secure the rights under the fourteenth amendment of persons educated in American-flag schools in which the predominant [p*342] classroom language was other than English, it is necessary to prohibit the States from conditioning the right to vote of such persons on ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter in the English language. (2) No person who demonstrates that he has successfully completed the sixth primary grade in a public school in, or a private school accredited by, any State or territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in which the predominant classroom language was other than English, shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his inability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter in the English language, except that, in States in which State law provides that a different level of education is presumptive of literacy, he shall demonstrate that he has successfully completed an equivalent level of education in a public school in, or a private school accredited by, any State or territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in which the predominant classroom language was other than English.
SEC. 5.
Whenever a State or political subdivision with respect to which the prohibitions set forth in section 4(a) are in effect shall enact or seek to administer any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect on November 1, 1964, such State or subdivision may institute an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, and unless and until the court enters such judgment no person shall be denied the right to vote for failure to comply with such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, [p*343] or procedure: Provided, That such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure may be enforced without such proceeding if the qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure has been submitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney General and the Attorney General has not interposed an objection within sixty days after such submission, except that neither the Attorney General's failure to object nor a declaratory judgment entered under this section shall bar a subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure. Any action under this section shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court.
SEC. 6.
Whenever (a) a court has authorized the appointment of examiners pursuant to the provisions of section 3(a), or (b) unless a declaratory judgment has been rendered under section 4(a), the Attorney General certifies with respect to any political subdivision named in, or included within the scope of, determinations made under section 4(b) that (1) he has received complaints in writing from twenty or more residents of such political subdivision alleging that they have been denied the right to vote under color of law on account of race or color, and that he believes such complaints to be meritorious, or (2) that, in his judgment (considering, among other factors, whether the ratio of nonwhite persons to white persons registered to vote within such subdivision appears to him to be reasonably attributable to violations of the fifteenth amendment or whether substantial evidence exists that bona fide efforts are being made within such subdivision to comply with the fifteenth amendment), the appointment of examiners is otherwise necessary to [p*344] enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment, the Civil Service Commission shall appoint as many examiners for such subdivision as it may deem appropriate to prepare and maintain lists of persons eligible to vote in Federal, State, and local elections. Such examiners, hearing officers provided for in section 9(a), and other persons deemed necessary by the Commission to carry out the provisions and purposes of this Act shall be appointed, compensated, and separated without regard to the provisions of any statute administered by the Civil Service Commission, and service under this Act shall not be considered employment for the purposes of any statute administered by the Civil Service Commission, except the provisions of section 9 of the Act of August 2, 1939, as amended (5 U.S.C. 118i), prohibiting partisan political activity: Provided, That the Commission is authorized, after consulting the head of the appropriate department or agency, to designate suitable persons in the official service of the United States, with their consent, to serve in these positions. Examiners and hearing officers shall have the power to administer oaths.
SEC. 7.
(a) The examiners for each political subdivision shall, at such places as the Civil Service Commission shall by regulation designate, examine applicants concerning their qualifications for voting. An application to an examiner shall be in such form as the Commission may require and shall contain allegations that the applicant is not otherwise registered to vote.
(b) Any person whom the examiner finds, in accordance with instructions received under section 9(b), to have the qualifications prescribed by State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States shall promptly be placed on a list of eligible voters. A challenge to such listing may be made in accordance with section 9(a) and shall not be the basis for a prosecution under section 12 of this Act. The examiner [p*345] shall certify and transmit such list, and any supplements as appropriate, at least once a month, to the offices of the appropriate election officials, with copies to the Attorney General and the attorney general of the State, and any such lists and supplements thereto transmitted during the month shall be available for public inspection on the last business day of the month and, in any event, not later than the forty-fifth day prior to any election. The appropriate State or local election official shall place such names on the official voting list. Any person whose name appears on the examiner's list shall be entitled and allowed to vote in the election district of his residence unless and until the appropriate election officials shall have been notified that such person has been removed from such list in accordance with subsection (d): Provided, That no person shall be entitled to vote in any election by virtue of this Act unless his name shall have been certified and transmitted on such a list to the offices of the appropriate election officials at least forty-five days prior to such election.
(c) The examiner shall issue to each person whose name appears on such a list a certificate evidencing his eligibility to vote.
(d) A person whose name appears on such a list shall be removed therefrom by an examiner if (1) such person has been successfully challenged in accordance with the procedure prescribed in section 9, or (2) he has been determined by an examiner to have lost his eligibility to vote under State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
Sec. 8.
Whenever an examiner is serving under this Act in any political subdivision, the Civil Service Commission may assign, at the request of the Attorney General, one or more persons, who may be officers of the United States, (1) to enter and attend at any place for holding an election in such subdivision for the purpose [p*346] of observing whether persons who are entitled to vote are being permitted to vote, and (2) to enter and attend at any place for tabulating the votes cast at any election held in such subdivision for the purpose of observing whether votes cast by persons entitled to vote are being properly tabulated. Such persons so assigned shall report to an examiner appointed for such political subdivision, to the Attorney General, and if the appointment of examiners has been authorized pursuant to section 3(a), to the court.
SEC. 9.
(a) Any challenge to a listing on an eligibility list prepared by an examiner shall be heard and determined by a hearing officer appointed by and responsible to the Civil Service Commission and under such rules as the Commission shall by regulation prescribe. Such challenge shall be entertained only if filed at such office within the State as the Civil Service Commission shall by regulation designate, and within ten days after the listing of the challenged person is made available for public inspection, and if supported by (1) the affidavits of at least two persons having personal knowledge of the facts constituting grounds for the challenge, and (2) a certification that a copy of the challenge and affidavits have been served by mail or in person upon the person challenged at his place of residence set out in the application. Such challenge shall be determined within fifteen days after it has been filed. A petition for review of the decision of the hearing officer may be filed in the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the person challenged resides within fifteen days after service of such decision by mail on the person petitioning for review but no decision of a hearing officer shall be reversed unless clearly erroneous. Any person listed shall be entitled and allowed to vote pending final determination by the hearing officer and by the court [p*347]
(b) The times, places, procedures, and form for application and listing pursuant to this Act and removals from the eligibility lists shall be prescribed by regulations promulgated by the Civil Service Commission and the Commission shall, after consultation with the Attorney General, instruct examiners concerning applicable State law not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States with respect to (1) the qualifications required for listing, and (2) loss of eligibility to vote.
(c) Upon the request of the applicant or the challenger or on its own motion the Civil Service Commission shall have the power to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence relating to any matter pending before it under the authority of this section. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena, any district court of the United States or the United States court of any territory or possession, or the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, within the jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or is domiciled or transacts business, or has appointed an agent for receipt of service of process, upon application by the Attorney General of the United States shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before the Commission or a hearing officer, there to produce pertinent, relevant, and nonprivileged documentary evidence if so ordered, or there to give testimony touching the matter under investigation, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof.
SEC. 10.
(a) The Congress finds that the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting (i) precludes persons of limited means from voting or imposes unreasonable financial hardship upon such persons [p*348] as a precondition to their exercise of the franchise, (ii) does not bear a reasonable relationship to any legitimate State interest in the conduct of elections, and (iii) in some areas has the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color. Upon the basis of these findings, Congress declares that the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some areas by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting.
(b) In the exercise of the powers of Congress under section 5 of the fourteenth amendment and section 2 of the fifteenth amendment, the Attorney General is authorized and directed to institute forthwith in the name of the United States such actions, including actions against States or political subdivisions, for declaratory judgment or injunctive relief against the enforcement of any requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting, or substitute therefor enacted after November 1, 1964, as will be necessary to implement the declaration of subsection (a) and the purposes of this section.
(c) The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction of such actions which shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court. It shall be the duty of the judges designated to hear the case to assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date, to participate in the hearing and determination thereof, and to cause the case to be in every way expedited.
(d) During the pendency of such actions, and thereafter if the courts, notwithstanding this action by the Congress, should declare the requirement of the payment of a poll tax to be constitutional, no citizen of the United States who is a resident of a State or political [p*349] subdivision with respect to which determinations have been made under subsection 4(b) and a declaratory judgment has not been entered under subsection 4(a), during the first year he becomes otherwise entitled to vote by reason of registration by State or local officials or listing by an examiner, shall be denied the right to vote for failure to pay a poll tax if he tenders payment of such tax for the current year to an examiner or to the appropriate State or local official at least forty-five days prior to election, whether or not such tender would be timely or adequate under State law. An examiner shall have authority to accept such payment from any person authorized by this Act to make an application for listing, and shall issue a receipt for such payment. The examiner shall transmit promptly any such poll tax payment to the office of the State or local official authorized to receive such payment under State law, together with the name and address of the applicant.
SEC. 11.
(a) No person acting under color of law shall fail or refuse to permit any person to vote who is entitled to vote under any provision of this Act or is otherwise qualified to vote, or willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report such person's vote.
(b) No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for exercising any powers or duties under section 3(a), 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12(e).
(c) Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information as to his name, address, or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, or conspires with another [p*350] individual for the purpose of encouraging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both: Provided, however, That this provision shall be applicable only to general, special, or primary elections held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the United States Senate, Member of the United States House of Representatives, or Delegates or Commissioners from the territories or possessions, or Resident Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(d) Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of an examiner or hearing officer knowingly and willfully falsifies or conceals a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
SEC. 12.
(a) Whoever shall deprive or attempt to deprive any person of any right secured by section 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, or 10 or shall violate section 11(a) or (b), shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(b) Whoever, within a year following an election in a political subdivision in which an examiner has been appointed (1) destroys, defaces, mutilates, or otherwise alters the marking of a paper ballot which has been cast in such election, or (2) alters any official record of voting in such election tabulated from a voting machine or otherwise, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both [p*351]
(c) Whoever conspires to violate the provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this section, or interferes with any right secured by section 2, 3 4, 5, 7, 10, or 11(a) or (b) shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(d) Whenever any person has engaged or there are reasonable grounds to believe that any person is about to engage in any act or practice prohibited by section 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, or subsection (b) of this section, the Attorney General may institute for the United States, or in the name of the United States, an action for preventive relief, including an application for a temporary or permanent injunction, restraining order, or other order, and including an order directed to the State and State or local election officials to require them (1) to permit persons listed under this Act to vote and (2) to count such votes.
(e) Whenever in any political subdivision in which there are examiners appointed pursuant to this Act any persons allege to such an examiner within forty-eight hours after the closing of the polls that notwithstanding (1) their listing under this Act or registration by an appropriate election official and (2) their eligibility to vote, they have not been permitted to vote in such election, the examiner shall forthwith notify the Attorney General if such allegations in his opinion appear to be well founded. Upon receipt of such notification, the Attorney General may forthwith file with the district court an application for an order providing for the marking, casting, and counting of the ballots of such persons and requiring the inclusion of their votes in the total vote before the results of such election shall be deemed final and any force or effect given thereto. The district court shall hear and determine such matters immediately after the filing of such application. The remedy provided [p*352] in this subsection shall not preclude any remedy available under State or Federal law.
(f) The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction of proceedings instituted pursuant to this section and shall exercise the same without regard to whether a person asserting rights under the provisions of this Act shall have exhausted any administrative or other remedies that may be provided by law
SEC. 13.
Listing procedures shall be terminated in any political subdivision of any State (a) with respect to examiners appointed pursuant to clause (b) of section 6 whenever the Attorney General notifies the Civil Service Commission, or whenever the District Court for the District of Columbia determines in an action for declaratory judgment brought by any political subdivision with respect to which the Director of the Census has determined that more than 50 percentum of the nonwhite persons of voting age residing therein are registered to vote, (1) that all persons listed by an examiner for such subdivision have been placed on the appropriate voting registration roll, and (2) that there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that persons will be deprived of or denied the right to vote on account of race or color in such subdivision, and (b), with respect to examiners appointed pursuant to section 3(a), upon order of the authorizing court. A political subdivision may petition the Attorney General for the termination of listing procedures under clause (a) of this section, and may petition the Attorney General to request the Director of the Census to take such survey or census as may be appropriate for the making of the determination provided for in this section. The District Court for the District of Columbia shall have jurisdiction to require such survey or census to be made by the Director of the Census and it shall require him to do so if it deems the Attorney [p*353] General's refusal to request such survey or census to be arbitrary or unreasonable.
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SEC. 14.
(a) All cases of criminal contempt arising under the provisions of this Act shall be governed by section 151 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (42 U.S.C.1995).
(b) No court other than the District Court for the District of Columbia or a court of appeals in any proceeding under section 9 shall have jurisdiction to issue any declaratory judgment pursuant to section 4 or section 5 or any restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction against the execution or enforcement of any provision of this Act or any action of any Federal officer or employee pursuant hereto.
(c)(1) The terms "vote" or "voting" shall include all action necessary to make a vote effective in any primary, special, or general election, including, but not limited to, registration, listing pursuant to this Act, or other action required by law prerequisite to voting, casting a ballot, and having such ballot counted properly and included in the appropriate totals of votes cast with respect to candidates for public or party office and propositions for which votes are received in an election. (2) The term "political subdivision" shall mean any county or parish, except that, where registration for voting is not conducted under the supervision of a county or parish, the term shall include any other subdivision of a State which conducts registration for voting.
(d) In any action for a declaratory judgment brought pursuant to section 4 or section 5 of this Act, subpoenas for witnesses who are required to attend the District Court for the District of Columbia may be served in any judicial district of the United States: Provided, That no writ of subpoena shall issue for witnesses without the District of Columbia at a greater distance than one hundred [p*354] miles from the place of holding court without the permission of the District Court for the District of Columbia being first had upon proper application and cause shown.
SEC. 15.
Section 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C.1971), as amended by section 131 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (71 Stat. 637), and amended by section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 90), and as further amended by section 101 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 241), is further amended as follows:
(a) Delete the word "Federal" wherever it appears in subsections (a) and (c); (b) Repeal subsection (f) and designate the present subsections (g) and (h) as (f) and (g), respectively.
SEC. 16.
The Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, jointly, shall make a full and complete study to determine whether, under the laws or practices of any State or States, there are preconditions to voting, which might tend to result in discrimination against citizens serving in the Armed Forces of the United States seeking to vote. Such officials shall, jointly, make a report to the Congress not later than June 30, 1966, containing the results of such study, together with a list of any States in which such preconditions exist, and shall include in such report such recommendations for legislation as they deem advisable to prevent discrimination in voting against citizens serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.
SEC. 17.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to deny, impair, or otherwise adversely affect the right to vote of any person registered to vote under the law of any State or political subdivision.
SEC. 18. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act [p*355]
SEC 19. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of the provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Approved August 6, 1965.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria
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