Voting Rights Act and Naturalized Citizens

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is holding up extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, insisting that the House strip away the provision requiring bilingual assistance at certain polling places. People who need the assistance “either they are naturalized citizens who did not meet the required language proficiency or they grew up in an ethnic enclave without benefit of learning English. If that’s the case, it’s high time they learned it,” said King in April.

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