A new Louisiana law will protect the voting rights of displaced New Orleans residents. Christian Roselund has the story.

By Christian Roselund

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco is expected to sign into law SB 22 and HB 12. The two bills will allow more voters to vote absentee and also set up satellite voting centers in ten parishes. Lawmakers say the intent of these bills is to allow those displaced to continue to vote in local elections where they lived before the storm. In New Orleans alone there three hundred thousand fewer people living in the city than before Katrina. HB 12 had initially been defeated, triggering a walkout by the Louisiana Black Caucus. But an amended version of the bill passed on Wednesday. Gov. Kathleen Blanco told local press this week that she couldn't say the effort to keep the displaced from voting was not racially motivated. Joe Cook, Executive Director of ACLU Louisiana, explains the importance of these measures.

[Joe Cook] : "You put a barrier up and a lot of people won't exercise their
right to vote. And people have already been through too many changes. We should not disenfranchise them on top of that."