Since 1965, section 5 of the VRA requires all or parts of 16 states to receive permission from the courts or the Department of Justice before any changes in voting procedures can be made. This section expires in August 2007.

The following persons are available to answer questions and offer opinions on the VRA.

Edward Blum, senior fellow at CEO, facilitated the legal challenge to many racially gerrymandered voting districts across the country since 1993.

Abigail Thernstrom, board member of CEO and co-chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights, is the author of Whose Votes Count?(1987), a critical examination of the changes the courts and congress have made to the VRA.

Roger Clegg, general counsel at CEO, worked in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice from 1987 to 1991.

Linda Chavez, president of CEO and former director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has written extensively on the minority language provisions of the VRA.