HOW THE REFEREE BLOWS THE WHISTLE

Key passage in the civil rights legislation that has provoked the Southern filibuster is the Federal Referee Plan, devised by the Justice Department, incorporated into a House bill by Ohio Republican William McCulloch, and carried over as well to the Senate as the foremost of the Administration's proposals. This, in general, is how the plan would work:

1. When a voter complains to the U.S. Attorney General that he has been denied the right to vote, the Attorney General may request a federal court to determine whether a "pattern" of discrimination exists in the locality. If the court so finds, the federal judge appoints a master in chancery, to be called a voting referee. The referee (or referees) would interview the complainant to determine his qualification to vote. (One area of compromise, devised by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson: a period of grace before the appointment of referees, which would give the state the chance to correct the "pattern.")

2. Once the pattern of discrimination has been determined, any other petitioner of the same race or group may, for a period of a year, seek through the referee a certificate qualifying him to vote and assuring him the right to vote and to be counted. He is required to swear that he has been denied the opportunity to register. Applying valid state laws--including "usages and customs" as they apply to whites--the referees would handle interviews out of the presence of state officials, would monitor the applications, keep stenographic records of any oral qualification tests. Along with documentary evidence, the referee would submit his list of qualified or unqualified voters to the court.

3. The Justice Department would then transmit a copy of the referee's report to the state attorney general or local voting officials with an order to show cause (within ten days) why the federal court should not formally order the proper registration of the qualified voters. The state would have an opportunity to prove the ineligibility of any individual, e.g., it might be proved that the petitioner is a nonresident of the state, but it could not arbitrarily hale the petitioner into court to dispute the referee's findings.

4. Armed with a federal court certificate, the qualified voter would then register and vote in both state and federal elections--if need be. in the presence of the referee, who would also attend the vote count. In cases where state officials refuse to comply (in the past, for example, registration boards have frustrated Negro attempts to vote merely by shutting their offices), they would be open to punishment for contempt of the federal court.

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