The Rochester-area League of Women Voters will a forum on the Voting Rights Act at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 24. 

The forum will specifically address Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires the U.S. Justice Department to pre-clear any voting law or regulation changes in three New York counties, certain election districts across the country, and several states in their entirety. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the section was no longer needed, but provided for Congress to rewrite the section, says the League of Women Voters’ press release.

“LWV is strongly supporting a new writing of Section 4, to be passed by Congress and signed by the president this fall,” the League says. “It’s a fundamental right in this country to have fair, accessible elections for all Americans — young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural — in all states, counties, and municipalities. The LWV’s vision is to expand access to voting and to increase the number of citizens voting.”

The forum will be held at Asbury First Methodist Church, 1050 East Avenue.

Speakers include: League of Women Voters representatives; Monroe County Board of Elections Commissioners Thomas Ferrarese and Peter Quinn; Representative Louise Slaughter’s district director Patricia Larke; and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School president Marvin McMickle. Jeremy Moule

The Rochester school board policy committee will meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 24, and one of the items on the agenda is the district’s suspension policy. In-house suspension and how it is administered remains a controversial issue.

That same evening, Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will hold one of his coffee and conversation meetings where he takes questions from parents, teachers, students, and community members on any topic of concern.

Also, the board will hold its monthly business meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 26. All three meetings will be held at the district’s central office location, 131 West Broad Street. Tim Louis Macaluso

This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2013.