WASHINGTON – The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a 25-year renewal of the landmark Voting Rights Act, but only after a cadre of Republican conservatives defied party leaders by pressing ahead with unsuccessful efforts to revise the measure.
Their attempts to modify what is called “the crown jewel” of the civil rights movement included shortening the bill’s life and repealing a requirement for bilingual ballots.
The modifications, derided by the bill’s sponsors as “stabbing the Voting Rights Act in the heart,” were defeated only because of an unusual coalition between virtually all of the chamber’s 201 Democrats and its Republican leaders.
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