(Washington, DC) -

Floor Statement by Rep. Cynthia McKinney

The Voting Rights Act passed to put an end to intimidation of poor and black voters.

Sadly, acts of intimidation and voter fraud directed at black voters are not just a thing of the past.

In 2000, Florida's black were intimidated and illegally removed from the voter rolls.

In 2002 in my district in Georgia, we learned that crossover voting can be used as effectively as the all-white primaries once were.

In 2004, Ohio's black voters faced intimidation and fabricated long lines by misallocating the voting machines.

Tom DeLay's Texas redistricting was ruled by this Supreme Court to violate Latino voting rights.

And just last week, the Georgia Legislature's second Voter ID bill got smacked down by the courts for a second time.

The Voting Rights Act is relevant and necessary to protect the right to vote.