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Offers the author's commentary about the recounting of votes in Florida for the 2000 United States presidential election. Comparisons of the recount to attempts by African-Americans to gain the right to vote in Selma, Alabama in 1965; Disproportionate amount of African-American votes that were disqualified; Opinion that it would be wrong not to count all the votes in Florida.

This article relates the author's experience of the progress of the Voting Right Act (VRA) in the U.S. There has been tremendous progress of the VRA since its passage. Gone are the poll taxes, literacy tests, and the efforts in denying African American citizens the right to register to vote. But there is a lot to achieve full equality that democracy requires. The Jim Crow segregation I experienced was developed to stop the strides gained during Reconstruction. It is through this lens of history that we must view our present circumstances. I experienced the systematic dehumanization of African Americans in the South. Members of the right-wing groups advised state registrars on ways to prevent black voter registration. In response, the civil rights movement sponsored voter registration drives and demonstrations. On March 15, 1965, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress which resulted to the passage of the VRA. Several provisions lie at the core of the VRA and have guaranteed millions of minority voters the right to vote and power at the polling place. While the VRA has been successful and has revolutionized enfranchisement, a plethora of reasons remain to justify voting practices under its current provisions. This is a question of protecting U.S. democracy. Let us continue to ensure the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy as we export those values around the world.