Heller’s bill has sensible voting requirements

Bill Thompson, Las Vegas

Saturday, May 10, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

I’m surprised at the Las Vegas Sun’s Friday editorial headlined “Abridging voter rights.”

The editorial states, “We believe that learning to speak, read and write English is important for all immigrants, and most are eventually successful. But why go to great lengths to make it difficult for or to disenfranchise those citizens whose circumstances have so far prevented them from fully gaining these skills?”

We are talking about naturalized citizens who, under U.S. law, are expected to have “the ability to read, write and speak ordinary English unless they are physically unable to do so due to a disability such as being blind or deaf, or suffer from a developmental disability or mental impairment.”

The exceptions are “Those over 50 years old on the date of filing who have lived here for a total of at least 20 years after admission as a permanent resident and those who are over 55 and have been legal permanent residents for at least 15 years.”

So we are accommodating citizens who have been here 15-20 years or more and have not learned English. Rep. Dean Heller’s bill is completely in line. The current requirement is another unnecessary taxpayer burden in the name of political correctness.