Section 5, the so-called "temporary" or "special" provisions, which gave the federal government extraordinary "emergency" powers to eliminate voter discrimination, even had to be used in some parts of the North. This part of the statute required nine states and 66 counties in seven others with a long history of voter discrimination to pre-clear all voting procedures and laws, including redistricting plans and moving a polling station, with the U.S. Department of Justice. That section originally was intended to last no more than about five years because of its extraordinary nature, in effect pre-empting the Constitution's vesting of voting laws and procedures. I agree with Lewis, however, that problems remain, and Section 5 should be reauthorized in 2007 when it expires.

I hope partisanship does not taint the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act as it seems to be infecting so many other areas these days. Democratic Chairman Howard Dean already has tried to use the upcoming reauthorization of the act to portray Republicans as "hypocrites" on race. Such demagoguery is preposterous on its face, it's unconscionable and it must stop.

I accompanied Sen. Bill Frist last year when he attended the commemoration of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and I can attest he is sincere in his desire to reauthorize the act and guarantee all American citizens their right to vote. Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman spoke to the NAACP recently, giving a mea culpa and rejecting the "Southern Strategy" earlier employed by the party. Moreover, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has committed the administration to working closely with the Congress to reauthorize the act when it expires in 2007.

It should be obvious to all men and women of goodwill that the Bush administration and the Republican Party are sincere in their desire and intention to see all vestiges of voter discrimination eliminated.