WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Republican leaders canceled a planned vote in the U.S. House to renew the 1965 Voting Rights Act, after a number of GOP lawmakers voiced their dissent.
The lawmakers said the civil rights measure unfairly singles out Southern states and promotes multilingual ballots, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper said Republican leaders had hailed the imminent approval of the landmark anti-discrimination law in a rare bipartisan press event on the steps of the Capitol last month. But lawmakers critical of the bill mutinied in a closed meeting of House Republicans Wednesday morning just hours before the vote was expected to occur.
GOP leaders issued a statement Wednesday declaring the House will move ahead with a vote on the civil rights law once the concerns of lawmakers are addressed, the newspaper said.
