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On August 6, 1965,
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 89-110, known as the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. The Act gives the Attorney General the responsibility
for enforcement of rights guaranteed to citizens under the 14th and 15th
Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. This includes ensuring that states and
political subdivisions are prevented from employing voting qualifications,
prerequisites, standards, practices and procedures which deny or abridge a
U.S. Citizen's right to vote on account of race, color, or language.
The Act authorizes the U. S.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide Examiners and Observers to
political subdivisions (counties) and their cities and other political units
as determined by the Attorney General. Examiners may be requested for the
purpose of listing (registering) voters and receiving complaints during
elections. Observers are requested for the purpose of entering and attending
at any place at which an election is being held in such subdivision to
observe whether persons who are entitled to vote are being permitted to
vote, and to observe whether votes cast by persons entitled to vote are
being properly tabulated. Reports of complaints received and observation
exercises are submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The
Attorney General relies on the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division,
DOJ, to carry out the day-to-day enforcement of the Act. The Director of OPM
has placed program responsibility with the Assistant
Director of Oversight who has assigned the program to a Voting
Rights Manager. A Voting Rights Administrator in Denver (Lakewood),
Colorado, supervises Voting Rights Coordinators and support staff in
Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Denver to manage the day-to-day program
responsibilities and the exercises which take place nationwide.
Within their respective geographic jurisdictions, primary responsibility is
assigned to Atlanta for race-based coverage and Native American
language-based coverage in the South; Denver (Lakewood) handles race-based
coverage in Texas, and Native American, Chinese, and Spanish language-based
coverage in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, and Texas; and,
Philadelphia is assigned Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese language exercises in
New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Michigan. In addition, listings of
Federally registered voters are maintained and support provided to a
nationwide toll-free telephone service for Examiner coverage.
OPM and DOJ have a working
relationship that has evolved to effectuate the goals of the Voting Rights
Act while addressing the functions of both Federal agencies.
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