[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] voted Thursday to renew the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) [text; DOJ backgrounder] for 25 years. The renewal bill [HR 9 summary; text, PDF] now goes to the Senate for approval after a final vote of 390-33 [roll call], with only Republicans dissenting. The House rejected several amendments that would have eased the procedures for states to follow, including one that would have decreased the renewal period to 10 years and another that would have dropped the requirement for ballots in multiple languages in districts with many non-English speakers.

House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced [JURIST report] the bill, which is known as the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, in May. It was brought back to the House floor after unanticipated objections by some Southern Republicans forced it off the agenda [JURIST report] at the last minute last month. AP has more.