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HOUSTON, TX - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says its newest battle is really an old one.

The civil rights organization's national convention kicks off this weekend in Houston. It will focus on voter participation and the NAACP's efforts to battle what it sees as restrictive voting laws that various states have passed the last few years.

At a news conference Friday, NAACP officials compared recent voting laws to poll taxes or literacy tests from the 19th century that disenfranchised black voters.

Between 6,000 and 7,000 members are expected to attend this year's convention, which starts Saturday and runs through July 12.

Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder and Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, are among the scheduled speakers.