H.R. 3112. is one of the most significant bills we will have before us this session. Yet. seldom has a bill come before us so encumbered by myths. Particularly hobbled by myths are the minority language provisions. which authorize voting assistance to Hispanics. American Indians. Asian Americans. and Alaskan Natives. The lack of voting assistance for these groups has acted as an electoral bar. just as literacy tests stopped the blacks from voting in the sixties. Myth No. 1 is that bilingual elections are unnecessarily costlynot true. According to testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. language assistance costs account for only a small fraction of the total election costs.
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literacy tests