Chairman. I want the Members to know that they have a choice this afternoon. The choice is this: If they support the committee bill. they will be voting to force six Southern States of this Union to obtain Federal preclearance of any change in their voting laws. practices. or procedures for the next 10 years. because in 1964 they had a literacy test and less than 50 percent total voter turnout. even though in every election since 1964 they may have achieved a voter performance comparable to or better than that of northern jurisdictions. If the Members support the committee bill. they will be voting to force many other jurisdictions to obtain Federal preclearance of their voting laws and procedures for the next 10 years because in 1972 they may have had a 5 percent language minority amongst their population. an Englishonly ballot in that election. and less than a 50percent turnout. If the Members vote to support the committee bill. they will be voting to force the printing of ballots in multiple languages and dialects on the unproved assumption that language minorities are more literate in a language other than English.
Identified stereotypes
language minorities are more literate in a language other than English