Eric Holder to speak at NAACP convention in Houston

HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to speak at the NAACP convention in Houston. That’s as the group launches a battle against voter ID laws that they contend will reverse gains made during the tumultuous civil rights era.

Holder was originally scheduled to speak Monday but cancelled at the last minute. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says he will address the group on Tuesday.

NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous likened the fight against conservative-backed voter ID laws passed in several states to “Selma and Montgomery times,” referring to historic Alabama civil rights confrontations of the mid-1960s.

He challenged those attending the annual convention to redouble to get out the vote in November.