Topic: Voting Rights Act
Senator: Graham
Date: SEPTEMBER 13, 2005
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GRAHAM: When it comes to voting rights, as I understand -- and we talked a lot about it, and we probably know more than all of us ever dreamed we would know about the Voting Rights Act -- that you were implementing a policy of President Reagan that wanted to pass the Voting Rights Act in its form that you received it. Is that correct?
ROBERTS: The proposal was to extend it for the longest period in history without change.
GRAHAM: And we've been through a long discourse about the effect and intent test. I think you've explained yourself very well that the Supreme Court in the Mobile case said the intent test applies to Section 2. Is that right?
ROBERTS: Section 2.
GRAHAM: But politics took over after that, didn't it? Because the effect test no longer -- that's not the test. Isn't it some compromise between Senator Kennedy and Senator Dole?
ROBERTS: There was a compromise in the test under Section 2, which is articulated in a paragraph describing what the criteria are, including a caution that this should not be read to promote proportional representation, which was some of the concern that the attorney general and President Reagan had.
GRAHAM: So between Dole, Senator Kennedy and President Reagan, a new test was called the totality of the circumstances?
ROBERTS: Yes.
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