MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A group retracing the steps of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march arrived Friday at the Alabama Capitol, calling for an end to new ballot restrictions enacted in the 50 years since the landmark Voting Rights Act.
Martin Luther King III stood near the place his famous father addressed marchers in 1965, saying the work is not yet complete and criticizing practices— including voter identification and reduced polling hours — that he said make it harder for people to cast ballots.
“We go all over the world promoting democracy, but right at home, it seems like we are suppressing democracy,” King said.
King questioned why voter registration is not done electronically and why voting is held for on only one day in the middle of the week.
“If you wanted to throw a party, and you wanted people to come, would you throw it on Tuesday?”
The re-enactment march was organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which called for a restoration of the Voting Rights Act requirement that states with histories of minority-voter suppression get federal permission before changing voting laws. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 struck down the formula that determined which states were covered, saying it was outdated.
Marchers left Selma on Monday after the nation marked the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the March 7, 1965 melee during which demonstrators were beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Weeks after the confrontation, Martin Luther King, Jr. led the march from Selma to Montgomery, arriving on March 25, 1965. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law later that year.
King paid tribute to the leaders of the civil rights, some famous and some not, but said the responsibility was on everyone to continue the work.
“What we’ve got to do is participate. Now is the time, Dad used to say,” King said.
Segregationist Gov. George Wallace in 1965 watched marchers from a window in the Alabama Capitol. On Friday, Gov. Robert Bentley shook King’s hand and welcomed the group to Montgomery.
However, some people greeted the Republican governor with chants of “Medicaid now.” Bentley has so far declined to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
About 100 people made the 54-mile trek along U.S. Highway 80 to Montgomery. A few were in their 60s and 70s and had marched in 1965. Others were born decades after that.
Denise Lassan, 54, a Buddhist monk from Atlanta, has marched the route to Montgomery more than 10 times.
Arriving in Montgomery on Friday, she said the route is inspirational because of what was accomplished there with nonviolent protest.
“It’s a sacred place,” Lassan said.
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