Photo by Public Citizen

Grim news on the long-delayed D.C. House Voting Rights Act. Roll Call reports (subscription only) from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s regular Tuesday press conference that the congressman is pulling the bill from consideration for the foreseeable future.

“As a result of there not being a consensus, I don’t think we’re going to be able to move the bill at this point in time,” Hoyer told reporters at his weekly briefing.

…

“I think it is a blot on our democracy. I will not give up on this bill. I will continue to work it. I have thought more about this bill over the last five months — and we’ve done some very big stuff — than I think any other bill.”

The voting rights act, as you’ll recall, was tripped up after passing the Senate with an amendment attached from Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) that would have stripped the District’s existing, post-Heller gun laws from the books.

And don’t hold your breath on Hoyer following through with those meek pledges to keep working on this particular bill. City Desk has the memo from D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s office that spells out exactly how the decision to kill the voting rights act was reached.

All agreed that there were good reasons to wait for now. Please understand that we are holding the bill for now, not giving up on voting rights.

This is big news in the voting rights community, so stay tuned for more.