WASHINGTON – Renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which eliminated many anti-black voting practices, suffered a setback Wednesday when House Republicans disagreed on whether to require bilingual ballots and federal oversight of Southern states.

The dissension in a closed caucus meeting grew so intense that it forced Republican leaders to postpone indefinitely a scheduled vote on renewing the act.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and three other leaders promised a vote on the renewal “as soon as possible.”

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