Speech #890087253

Had the percentage fallen below 50 percent. then every one of our 100 counties would have been subjected to the sanctions of this bill. Since only 34 counties are said to have voted less than 50 percent in the 1964 elections. only these 34 counties are presumed to have violated the 15th amendment. In other words. in my home State. to show how ridiculous this legislation is. 34 counties will be subjected to Federal jurisdiction with no literacy test required. while the remaining 66 counties of North Carolina will still use a literacy test for voting applicants. Arkansas has no literacy test. In 1964 only 49.9 percent of the votingage population voted. It would not be covered by this bill. but North Carolina. which voted 51.8 percent of its votingage population would be covered. The absurdity of the percentage formula is further illustrated by comparing North Carolina. which has a literacy test. with its neighbor. Tennessee. which has none. North Carolinas voting percentage was 51.8 percent while that of Tennessee was 51.1 percent. In North Carolina. 34 out of 100 counties had a percentage of less than 50 percent. In Tennessee. 22 out of 95 counties had a voting percentage of less than 50 percent. Can it be demonstrated by any law or logic that North Carolina is guilty of discrimination under the 15th amendment. while Tennessee is not. simply because Tennessee has no literacy test. In Louisiana. 47.3 percent of the people voted. In Texas only 44.4 percent voted. Under H.R. 6400. these statistics would be used to justify the conclusion that there were violations of the 15th amendment in Louisiana but none in the State of Texas. Why? Because Louisiana has a literacy test and Texas does not. Let us take another example. Again. 34 counties in North Carolina. under this bill. would be presumed in violation of the 15th amendment. Yet there are 137 counties in Texas which voted less than 50 percent. but these counties are not covered by this bill. The State of Texas. which voted only 44.4 percent. is deemed not guilty of discrimination simply because it had no literacy test. Get this: 19 of North Carolinas condemned counties actually had a higher voting percentage than the "guiltless" State of Texas. According to statistics submitted by the Attorney General. 75 percent of the votingage population in North Carolina is registered.