The National Urban League has confirmed that Marc Morial, president of the organization, is encouraging Urban League affiliates throughout the nation to participate in the Keep the Vote Alive! March and Rally in Atlanta on August 6th.

Keep the Vote Alive! is sponsored by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and commemorates the 40th Anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act. The march and rally aim to start the debate about the future of the Voting Rights Act – key provisions of which expire in 2007.

Although some people question whether the Voting Rights Act should be made permanent or should apply uniformly throughout the nation, civil rights lawyer Ted Stephens, Director Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, indicates that such efforts, no matter how well-meaning, constitute a “trap” that may render the Voting Rights Act unconstitutionally unenforceable. Race-conscious remedies for racial discrimination must be narrowly tailored to address a legitimate governmental interest. Thus, provisions of the act probably cannot be applied indefinitely, or to regions of the country with no comparable history of race discrimination. The most likely permanent solution would be a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote.

Keep the Vote Alive! begins at 10:00 a.m. with a march on Peachtree at 10th Street and ends in Piedmont Park with an all-day rally. Other events taking place in the park during the Rally include Hip-hop, R&B and Gospel music, spoken word artists, a health fair and Democracy School.

Keep the Vote Alive Pro-Democracy March and Rally is also supported by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the AFL-CIO and a host of other organizations. The march also supports the right of workers to organize, the fight for a living wage, an end to the war in Iraq, high quality public education, accessible, affordable health care for all Americans, a secure Social Security system, gender equity, clean air and water, a sustainable environment, and the right to personal privacy. But without the right to vote, and to have that vote counted, none of these other freedoms are guaranteed.

Confirmed participants include Congressman John Lewis, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Coach Ken Carter, Ambassador Andrew Young, AME Bishop Vashti McKenzie, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney; Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, Convener of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda; SCLC President Charles Steele, SEIU President Andy Stern, Tish Tallman of MALDEF, Barbara Arnwine of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.