Speech #1020161445

Although the ideal of broadbased voter participation has been firmly incorporated into the Constitution. registration procedures adopted in many States have had the effectand often the intent--of denying the right to vote to large numbers of citizens. especially racial. religious. and ethnic minorities. The turnofthecentury registration laws that swept the country had the goodGovernment purpose of preventing ballot fraud. But those laws also served the ulterior motive of reducing access to the ballot box for the waves of new immigrants reaching our shores. Under .ese laws. voters were frequently required to register many months before election day. and registration was frequently further restricted by limiting the number and the hours of registration sites. In 1959. the first report on voting rights by the U.S.