Hundreds of marchers in Atlanta, Georgia have marked the 40th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Voting Rights Act to call for certain provisions of the landmark legislation to be renewed.
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and Congressman John Lewis were among the participants in Saturday's rally.
The 1965 voting law outlawed literacy tests and other measures designed to keep African-Americans and other minorities from voting.
Representative Lewis, a Democrat, used his party's weekly radio address to call on Congress to renew certain provisions of the law that are set to expire in 2007.
Mr. Lewis was among the voting rights activists beaten as they marched on Selma, Alabama in 1965. The brutal police crackdown sparked outrage that helped lead to approval of the legislation.
Some information for this story provided by AP.