Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB14 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 14
5	5	To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining
6	6	which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the
7	7	Act, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	SEPTEMBER19, 2023
10	10	Ms. S
11	11	EWELL(for herself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. CLARKof Massachusetts, Mr.
12	12	A
13	13	GUILAR, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. CHU, Mr.
14	14	N
15	15	ADLER, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. SCOTTof Virginia, Ms. WIL-
16	16	LIAMSof Georgia, Ms. JACKSONLEE, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Ms.
17	17	A
18	18	DAMS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASTROof Texas, Mr.
19	19	B
20	20	ISHOPof Georgia, Mr. GREENof Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JOHNSON
21	21	of Georgia, Ms. L
22	22	EEof California, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr.
23	23	C
24	24	ARSON, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mrs. DIN-
25	25	GELL, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HIGGINSof New York, Ms.
26	26	W
27	27	ATERS, Mr. LARSONof Connecticut, Mr. LIEU, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr.
28	28	M
29	29	EEKS, Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr.
30	30	P
31	31	AYNE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SMITHof Washington, Mr.
32	32	T
33	33	AKANO, Mr. THOMPSONof Mississippi, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VARGAS, Ms.
34	34	V
35	35	ELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMANSCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Ms.
36	36	W
37	37	ILSONof Florida, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BALINT, Mr.
38	38	B
39	39	ERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNTROCHESTER, Mr.
40	40	B
41	41	OWMAN, Mr. BOYLEof Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms.
42	42	B
43	43	UDZINSKI, Ms. BUSH, Ms. CARAVEO, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARTERof
44	44	Louisiana, Mr. C
45	45	ASAR, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. CHERFILUS-
46	46	M
47	47	CCORMICK, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CORREA,
48	48	Mr. C
49	49	OSTA, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. CROW, Mr.
50	50	C
51	51	UELLAR, Ms. DAVIDSof Kansas, Mr. DAVISof Illinois, Mr. DAVISof
52	52	North Carolina, Ms. D
53	53	EANof Pennsylvania, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms.
54	54	D
55	55	ELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. DOG-
56	56	GETT, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs.
57	57	F
58	58	LETCHER, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. LOISFRANKELof Florida, Mr. FROST,
59	59	Mr. G
60	60	ARAMENDI, Mr. ROBERTGARCIAof California, Ms. GARCIAof
61	61	Texas, Mr. G
62	62	ARCI´Aof Illinois, Mr. GOLDENof Maine, Mr. GOLDMANof
63	63	New York, Mr. G
64	64	OMEZ, Mr. VICENTEGONZALEZof Texas, Mr.
65	65	G
66	66	OTTHEIMER, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HOYER, Ms. HOYLEof
67	67	Oregon, Mr. I
68	68	VEY, Mr. JACKSONof North Carolina, Mr. JACKSONof Illi-
69	69	nois, Ms. J
70	70	ACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. KAPTUR,
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73	73	•HR 14 IH
74	74	Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLYof Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM
75	75	of New Jersey, Ms. K
76	76	USTER, Mr. LANDSMAN, Ms. LEEof Pennsylvania,
77	77	Ms. L
78	78	EEof Nevada, Ms. LEGERFERNANDEZ, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. LOFGREN,
79	79	Mr. L
80	80	YNCH, Mr. MAGAZINER, Ms. MANNING, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms.
81	81	M
82	82	CCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms.
83	83	M
84	84	ENG, Mr. MFUME, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. MULLIN, Mr.
85	85	H
86	86	ARDER of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. K HANNA, Mr.
87	87	K
88	88	RISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr.
89	89	N
90	90	ICKEL, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr.
91	91	P
92	92	ASCRELL, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. PELTOLA, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. PETERS, Ms.
93	93	P
94	94	ETTERSEN, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. PORTER,
95	95	Ms. P
96	96	RESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RUPPERS-
97	97	BERGER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SAR-
98	98	BANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER,
99	99	Ms. S
100	100	CHOLTEN, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. DAVIDSCOTTof Georgia, Mr. SHER-
101	101	MAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. SOTO, Ms.
102	102	S
103	103	PANBERGER, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. STANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms.
104	104	S
105	105	TRICKLAND, Mr. SWALWELL, Mrs. SYKES, Mr. THOMPSONof California,
106	106	Ms. T
107	107	ITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mrs. TORRESof California, Mr.
108	108	T
109	109	ORRESof New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr.
110	110	V
111	111	ASQUEZ, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. WILD, Mr. HIMES, Ms. MATSUI, Mr.
112	112	M
113	113	OULTON, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. THANEDAR, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) intro-
114	114	duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
115	115	diciary
116	116	A BILL
117	117	To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the
118	118	criteria for determining which States and political sub-
119	119	divisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for
120	120	other purposes.
121	121	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
122	122	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
123	123	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
124	124	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘John R. Lewis Voting 4
125	125	Rights Advancement Act of 2023’’. 5
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128	128	•HR 14 IH
129	129	SEC. 2. VOTE DILUTION, DENIAL, AND ABRIDGMENT 1
130	130	CLAIMS. 2
131	131	(a) I
132	132	NGENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Voting Rights 3
133	133	Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301(a)) is amended— 4
134	134	(1) by inserting after ‘‘applied by any State or 5
135	135	political subdivision’’ the following: ‘‘for the purpose 6
136	136	of, or’’; and 7
137	137	(2) by striking ‘‘as provided in subsection (b)’’ 8
138	138	and inserting ‘‘as provided in subsection (b), (c), (d), 9
139	139	or (f)’’. 10
140	140	(b) V
141	141	OTEDILUTION.—Section 2(b) of such Act (52 11
142	142	U.S.C. 10301(b)) is amended— 12
143	143	(1) by inserting after ‘‘A violation of subsection 13
144	144	(a)’’ the following: ‘‘for vote dilution’’; 14
145	145	(2) by inserting after the period at the end the 15
146	146	following: ‘‘For the purposes of this subsection:’’; 16
147	147	(3) by adding at the end the following new 17
148	148	paragraphs: 18
149	149	‘‘(1) To prevail in demonstrating that a rep-19
150	150	resentational, districting, or apportionment scheme 20
151	151	results in vote dilution, a plaintiff shall, as a thresh-21
152	152	old matter, establish that— 22
153	153	‘‘(A) the members of the protected class 23
154	154	are sufficiently numerous and geographically 24
155	155	compact to constitute a majority in a single- 25
156	156	member district; 26
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159	159	•HR 14 IH
160	160	‘‘(B) the members of the protected class 1
161	161	are politically cohesive; and 2
162	162	‘‘(C) the residents of that district who are 3
163	163	not the members of the protected class usually 4
164	164	vote sufficiently as a bloc to enable them to de-5
165	165	feat the preferred candidates of the members of 6
166	166	the protected class. 7
167	167	‘‘(2) Upon a plaintiff establishing the required 8
168	168	threshold showing under paragraph (1), a court shall 9
169	169	conduct a totality of the circumstances analysis with 10
170	170	respect to a claim of vote dilution to determine 11
171	171	whether there was a violation of subsection (a), 12
172	172	which shall include the following factors: 13
173	173	‘‘(A) The extent of any history of official 14
174	174	voting discrimination in the State or political 15
175	175	subdivision that affected the right of members 16
176	176	of the protected class to register, to vote, or 17
177	177	otherwise to participate in the political process. 18
178	178	‘‘(B) The extent to which voting in the 19
179	179	elections of the State or political subdivision is 20
180	180	racially polarized. 21
181	181	‘‘(C) The extent to which the State or po-22
182	182	litical subdivision has used voting practices or 23
183	183	procedures that tend to enhance the oppor-24
184	184	tunity for discrimination against the members 25
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187	187	•HR 14 IH
188	188	of the protected class, such as unusually large 1
189	189	election districts, majority vote requirements, 2
190	190	anti-single shot provisions, or other qualifica-3
191	191	tions, prerequisites, standards, practices, or 4
192	192	procedures that may enhance the opportunity 5
193	193	for discrimination against the members of the 6
194	194	protected class. 7
195	195	‘‘(D) If there is a candidate slating proc-8
196	196	ess, whether the members of the protected class 9
197	197	have been denied access to that process. 10
198	198	‘‘(E) The extent to which members of the 11
199	199	protected class in the State or political subdivi-12
200	200	sion bear the effects of discrimination, both 13
201	201	public or private, in such areas as education, 14
202	202	employment, health, housing, and transpor-15
203	203	tation, which hinder their ability to participate 16
204	204	effectively in the political process. 17
205	205	‘‘(F) Whether political campaigns have 18
206	206	been characterized by overt or subtle racial ap-19
207	207	peals. 20
208	208	‘‘(G) The extent to which members of the 21
209	209	protected class have been elected to public office 22
210	210	in the jurisdiction. 23
211	211	‘‘(3) In conducting a totality of the cir-24
212	212	cumstances analysis under paragraph (2), a court 25
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215	215	•HR 14 IH
216	216	may consider such other factors as the court may 1
217	217	determine to be relevant, including— 2
218	218	‘‘(A) whether there is a significant lack of 3
219	219	responsiveness on the part of elected officials to 4
220	220	the particularized needs of the members of the 5
221	221	protected class, including a lack of concern for 6
222	222	or responsiveness to the requests and proposals 7
223	223	of the members of the protected class, except 8
224	224	that compliance with a court order may not be 9
225	225	considered evidence of responsiveness on the 10
226	226	part of the jurisdiction; and 11
227	227	‘‘(B) whether the policy underlying the 12
228	228	State or political subdivision’s use of such vot-13
229	229	ing qualification, prerequisite to voting, or 14
230	230	standard, practice or procedure is tenuous. 15
231	231	In making this determination, a court shall consider 16
232	232	whether the qualification, prerequisite, standard, 17
233	233	practice, or procedure in question was designed to 18
234	234	advance and materially advances a valid and sub-19
235	235	stantiated State interest. 20
236	236	‘‘(4) A class of citizens protected by subsection 21
237	237	(a) may include a cohesive coalition of members of 22
238	238	different racial or language minority groups.’’; and 23
239	239	(4) V
240	240	OTE DENIAL OR ABRIDGEMENT .—Section 24
241	241	2 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10301), as amended by 25
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244	244	•HR 14 IH
245	245	subsections (a) and (b), is further amended by add-1
246	246	ing at the end the following: 2
247	247	‘‘(c)(1) A violation of subsection (a) resulting in vote 3
248	248	denial or abridgment is established if the challenged quali-4
249	249	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure— 5
250	250	‘‘(A) results or will result in members of a pro-6
251	251	tected class facing greater costs or burdens in par-7
252	252	ticipating in the political process than other voters; 8
253	253	and 9
254	254	‘‘(B) the greater costs or burdens are, at least 10
255	255	in part, caused by or linked to social and historical 11
256	256	conditions that have produced or produce on the 12
257	257	date of such challenge discrimination against mem-13
258	258	bers of the protected class. 14
259	259	In determining the existence of a burden for pur-15
260	260	poses of subparagraph (A), the absolute number or 16
261	261	the percent of voters affected or the presence of vot-17
262	262	ers who are not members of a protected class in the 18
263	263	affected area shall not be dispositive, and the af-19
264	264	fected area may be smaller than the jurisdiction to 20
265	265	which the qualification, prerequisite, standard, prac-21
266	266	tice, or procedure applies. 22
267	267	‘‘(2) The challenged qualification, prerequisite, stand-23
268	268	ard, practice, or procedure need only be a but-for cause 24
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271	271	•HR 14 IH
272	272	of the discriminatory result described in paragraph (1) or 1
273	273	perpetuate a pre-existing burdens or costs. 2
274	274	‘‘(3)(A) The factors that are relevant to a totality of 3
275	275	the circumstances analysis with respect to a claim of vote 4
276	276	denial or abridgement pursuant to this subsection include 5
277	277	the following: 6
278	278	‘‘(i) The extent of any history of official voting- 7
279	279	related discrimination in the State or political sub-8
280	280	division that affected the right of members of the 9
281	281	protected class to register, to vote, or otherwise to 10
282	282	participate in the political process. 11
283	283	‘‘(ii) The extent to which voting in the elections 12
284	284	of the State or political subdivision is racially polar-13
285	285	ized. 14
286	286	‘‘(iii) The extent to which the State or political 15
287	287	subdivision has used photographic voter identifica-16
288	288	tion requirements, documentary proof of citizenship 17
289	289	requirements, documentary proof of residence re-18
290	290	quirements, or other voting practices or procedures, 19
291	291	beyond those required by Federal law, that impair 20
292	292	the ability of members of the minority group to par-21
293	293	ticipate fully in the political process. 22
294	294	‘‘(iv) The extent to which minority group mem-23
295	295	bers bear the effects of discrimination, both public 24
296	296	or private, in areas such as education, employment, 25
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299	299	•HR 14 IH
300	300	health, housing, and transportation, which hinder 1
301	301	their ability to participate effectively in the political 2
302	302	process. 3
303	303	‘‘(v) The use of overt or subtle racial appeals ei-4
304	304	ther in political campaigns or surrounding adoption 5
305	305	or maintenance of the challenged practice. 6
306	306	‘‘(vi) The extent to which members of the mi-7
307	307	nority group have been elected to public office in the 8
308	308	jurisdiction, provided that the fact that the minority 9
309	309	group is too small to elect candidates of its choice 10
310	310	shall not defeat a claim of vote denial or abridgment. 11
311	311	‘‘(vii) Whether there is a lack of responsiveness 12
312	312	on the part of elected officials to the particularized 13
313	313	needs of minority group members, including a lack 14
314	314	of concern for or responsiveness to the requests and 15
315	315	proposals of the group, except that compliance with 16
316	316	a court order may not be considered evidence of re-17
317	317	sponsiveness on the part of the jurisdiction. 18
318	318	‘‘(viii) Whether the policy underlying the State 19
319	319	or political subdivision’s use of the challenged quali-20
320	320	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-21
321	321	dure is tenuous. In making a determination under 22
322	322	this clause, a court shall consider whether the quali-23
323	323	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-24
324	324	dure in question was designed to advance and mate-25
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327	327	•HR 14 IH
328	328	rially advances a valid and substantiated State inter-1
329	329	est. 2
330	330	‘‘(ix) Subject to paragraph (4), such other fac-3
331	331	tors as the court may determine to be relevant. 4
332	332	‘‘(B) The factors described in subparagraph (A), indi-5
333	333	vidually and collectively, shall be considered as a means 6
334	334	of establishing that a voting practice amplifies the effects 7
335	335	of past or present discrimination in violation in subsection 8
336	336	(a). 9
337	337	‘‘(C) A plaintiff need not show any particular com-10
338	338	bination or number of factors to establish a violation of 11
339	339	subsection (a). 12
340	340	‘‘(4) The factors that are relevant to a totality of the 13
341	341	circumstances analysis with respect to a claim of vote de-14
342	342	nial or abridgement do not include the following: 15
343	343	‘‘(A) The degree to which the challenged quali-16
344	344	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-17
345	345	dure has a long pedigree or was in widespread use 18
346	346	at some earlier date. 19
347	347	‘‘(B) The use of an identical or similar quali-20
348	348	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-21
349	349	dure in other States or jurisdictions. 22
350	350	‘‘(C) The availability of other forms of voting 23
351	351	unimpacted by the challenged qualification, pre-24
352	352	requisite, standard, practice, or procedure to all 25
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355	355	•HR 14 IH
356	356	members of the electorate, including members of the 1
357	357	protected class, unless the jurisdiction is simulta-2
358	358	neously expanding such other practices to eliminate 3
359	359	any disproportionate burden imposed by the chal-4
360	360	lenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, 5
361	361	or procedure. 6
362	362	‘‘(D) Unsubstantiated defenses that the quali-7
363	363	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-8
364	364	dure is necessary to address criminal activity. 9
365	365	‘‘(d)(1) A violation of subsection (a) for the purpose 10
366	366	of vote denial or abridgement is established if the chal-11
367	367	lenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or 12
368	368	procedure is intended, at least in part, to dilute minority 13
369	369	voting strength or to deny or abridge the right of any cit-14
370	370	izen of the United States to vote on account of race, color, 15
371	371	or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 16
372	372	4(f)(2). 17
373	373	‘‘(2) Discrimination on account of race, color, or in 18
374	374	contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2) 19
375	375	need only be one purpose of a qualification, prerequisite, 20
376	376	standard, practice, or procedure to demonstrate a violation 21
377	377	of subsection (a). 22
378	378	‘‘(3) A qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, 23
379	379	or procedure intended to dilute minority voting strength 24
380	380	or to make it more difficult for minority voters to cast 25
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383	383	•HR 14 IH
384	384	a ballot that will be counted violates this subsection even 1
385	385	if an additional purpose of the qualification, prerequisite, 2
386	386	standard, practice, or procedure is to benefit a particular 3
387	387	political party or group. 4
388	388	‘‘(4) The context for the adoption of the challenged 5
389	389	qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-6
390	390	dure, including actions by official decisionmakers before 7
391	391	the challenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, prac-8
392	392	tice, or procedure, may be relevant to a violation of this 9
393	393	subsection. 10
394	394	‘‘(5) Claims under this subsection require proof of a 11
395	395	discriminatory impact but do not require proof of a viola-12
396	396	tion pursuant to subsection (b) or (c). 13
397	397	‘‘(e) For purposes of this section, the term ‘affected 14
398	398	area’ means any geographic area, in which members of 15
399	399	a protected class are affected by a qualification, pre-16
400	400	requisite, standard, practice, or procedure allegedly in vio-17
401	401	lation of this section, within a State (including any Indian 18
402	402	lands).’’. 19
403	403	SEC. 3. RETROGRESSION. 20
404	404	Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 21
405	405	U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), as amended by section 2 of this 22
406	406	Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-23
407	407	lowing: 24
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410	410	•HR 14 IH
411	411	‘‘(f) A violation of subsection (a) is established when 1
412	412	a State or political subdivision enacts or seeks to admin-2
413	413	ister any qualification or prerequisite to voting or stand-3
414	414	ard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting in any 4
415	415	election that has the purpose of or will have the effect 5
416	416	of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United 6
417	417	States on account of race or color, or in contravention of 7
418	418	the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), to participate 8
419	419	in the electoral process or elect their preferred candidates 9
420	420	of choice. This subsection applies to any action taken on 10
421	421	or after January 1, 2021, by a State or political subdivi-11
422	422	sion to enact or seek to administer any such qualification 12
423	423	or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice or proce-13
424	424	dure. 14
425	425	‘‘(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f), 15
426	426	final decisions of the United States District Court of the 16
427	427	District of Columbia on applications or petitions by States 17
428	428	or political subdivisions for preclearance under section 5 18
429	429	of any changes in voting prerequisites, standards, prac-19
430	430	tices, or procedures, supersede the provisions of subsection 20
431	431	(f).’’. 21
432	432	SEC. 4. VIOLATIONS TRIGGERING AUTHORITY OF COURT 22
433	433	TO RETAIN JURISDICTION. 23
434	434	(a) T
435	435	YPES OFVIOLATIONS.—Section 3(c) of the Vot-24
436	436	ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10302(c)) is amended 25
437	437	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
438	438	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14
439	439	•HR 14 IH
440	440	by striking ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth 1
441	441	amendment’’ and inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th 2
442	442	Amendment, violations of this Act, or violations of any 3
443	443	Federal law that prohibits discrimination in voting on the 4
444	444	basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 5
445	445	group,’’. 6
446	446	(b) C
447	447	ONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) of 7
448	448	such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by striking 8
449	449	‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendment’’ and 9
450	450	inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th Amendment, vio-10
451	451	lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 11
452	452	prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, 12
453	453	color, or membership in a language minority group,’’. 13
454	454	SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR COVERAGE OF STATES AND POLIT-14
455	455	ICAL SUBDIVISIONS. 15
456	456	(a) D
457	457	ETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 16
458	458	S
459	459	UBDIVISIONSSUBJECT TOSECTION4(a).— 17
460	460	(1) I
461	461	N GENERAL.—Section 4(b) of the Voting 18
462	462	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(b)) is amend-19
463	463	ed to read as follows: 20
464	464	‘‘(b) D
465	465	ETERMINATION OF STATES ANDPOLITICAL 21
466	466	S
467	467	UBDIVISIONSSUBJECT TOREQUIREMENTS.— 22
468	468	‘‘(1) E
469	469	XISTENCE OF VOTING RIGHTS VIOLA -23
470	470	TIONS DURING PREVIOUS 25 YEARS .— 24
471	471	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
472	472	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 15
473	473	•HR 14 IH
474	474	‘‘(A) STATEWIDE APPLICATION .—Sub-1
475	475	section (a) applies with respect to a State and 2
476	476	all political subdivisions within the State during 3
477	477	a calendar year if— 4
478	478	‘‘(i) fifteen or more voting rights vio-5
479	479	lations occurred in the State during the 6
480	480	previous 25 calendar years; 7
481	481	‘‘(ii) ten or more voting rights viola-8
482	482	tions occurred in the State during the pre-9
483	483	vious 25 calendar years, at least one of 10
484	484	which was committed by the State itself 11
485	485	(as opposed to a political subdivision with-12
486	486	in the State); or 13
487	487	‘‘(iii) three or more voting rights vio-14
488	488	lations occurred in the State during the 15
489	489	previous 25 calendar years and the State 16
490	490	itself administers the elections in the State 17
491	491	or political subdivisions in which the voting 18
492	492	rights violations occurred. 19
493	493	‘‘(B) A
494	494	PPLICATION TO SPECIFIC POLITICAL 20
495	495	SUBDIVISIONS.—Subsection (a) applies with re-21
496	496	spect to a political subdivision as a separate 22
497	497	unit during a calendar year if three or more 23
498	498	voting rights violations occurred in the subdivi-24
499	499	sion during the previous 25 calendar years. 25
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501	501	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 16
502	502	•HR 14 IH
503	503	‘‘(2) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.— 1
504	504	‘‘(A) I
505	505	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 2
506	506	subparagraph (B), if, pursuant to paragraph 3
507	507	(1), subsection (a) applies with respect to a 4
508	508	State or political subdivision during a calendar 5
509	509	year, subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 6
510	510	such State or political subdivision for the pe-7
511	511	riod— 8
512	512	‘‘(i) that begins on January 1 of the 9
513	513	year in which subsection (a) applies; and 10
514	514	‘‘(ii) that ends on the date which is 10 11
515	515	years after the date described in clause (i). 12
516	516	‘‘(B) N
517	517	O FURTHER APPLICATION AFTER 13
518	518	DECLARATORY JUDGMENT .— 14
519	519	‘‘(i) S
520	520	TATES.—If a State obtains a de-15
521	521	claratory judgment under subsection (a), 16
522	522	and the judgment remains in effect, sub-17
523	523	section (a) shall no longer apply to such 18
524	524	State pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) unless, 19
525	525	after the issuance of the declaratory judg-20
526	526	ment, paragraph (1)(A) applies to the 21
527	527	State solely on the basis of voting rights 22
528	528	violations occurring after the issuance of 23
529	529	the declaratory judgment. 24
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531	531	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 17
532	532	•HR 14 IH
533	533	‘‘(ii) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—If a 1
534	534	political subdivision obtains a declaratory 2
535	535	judgment under subsection (a), and the 3
536	536	judgment remains in effect, subsection (a) 4
537	537	shall no longer apply to such political sub-5
538	538	division pursuant to paragraph (1), includ-6
539	539	ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) (relating 7
540	540	to the statewide application of subsection 8
541	541	(a)), unless, after the issuance of the de-9
542	542	claratory judgment, paragraph (1)(B) ap-10
543	543	plies to the political subdivision solely on 11
544	544	the basis of voting rights violations occur-12
545	545	ring after the issuance of the declaratory 13
546	546	judgment. 14
547	547	‘‘(3) D
548	548	ETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIO -15
549	549	LATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a voting 16
550	550	rights violation occurred in a State or political sub-17
551	551	division if any of the following applies: 18
552	552	‘‘(A) J
553	553	UDICIAL RELIEF; VIOLATION OF 19
554	554	THE 14TH OR 15TH AMENDMENT .—Any final 20
555	555	judgment, or any preliminary, temporary, or de-21
556	556	claratory relief (that was not reversed on ap-22
557	557	peal), in which the plaintiff prevailed or a court 23
558	558	of the United States found that the plaintiff 24
559	559	demonstrated a likelihood of success on the 25
560	560	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
561	561	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 18
562	562	•HR 14 IH
563	563	merits or raised a serious question with regard 1
564	564	to race discrimination, in which any court of 2
565	565	the United States determined that a denial or 3
566	566	abridgement of the right of any citizen of the 4
567	567	United States to vote on account of race, color, 5
568	568	or membership in a language minority group 6
569	569	occurred, or that a voting qualification or pre-7
570	570	requisite to voting or standard, practice, or pro-8
571	571	cedure with respect to voting created an undue 9
572	572	burden on the right to vote in connection with 10
573	573	a claim that the law unduly burdened voters of 11
574	574	a particular race, color, or language minority 12
575	575	group, in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend-13
576	576	ment, anywhere within the State or subdivision. 14
577	577	‘‘(B) J
578	578	UDICIAL RELIEF; VIOLATIONS OF 15
579	579	THIS ACT.—Any final judgment, or any prelimi-16
580	580	nary, temporary, or declaratory relief (that was 17
581	581	not reversed on appeal) in which the plaintiff 18
582	582	prevailed or a court of the United States found 19
583	583	that the plaintiff demonstrated a likelihood of 20
584	584	success on the merits or raised a serious ques-21
585	585	tion with regard to race discrimination, in 22
586	586	which any court of the United States deter-23
587	587	mined that a voting qualification or prerequisite 24
588	588	to voting or standard, practice, or procedure 25
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590	590	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 19
591	591	•HR 14 IH
592	592	with respect to voting was imposed or applied 1
593	593	or would have been imposed or applied any-2
594	594	where within the State or subdivision in a man-3
595	595	ner that resulted or would have resulted in a 4
596	596	denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen 5
597	597	of the United States to vote on account of race, 6
598	598	color, or membership in a language minority 7
599	599	group, in violation of subsection 4(e) or 4(f) or 8
600	600	section 2, 201, or 203 of this Act. 9
601	601	‘‘(C) F
602	602	INAL JUDGMENT; DENIAL OF DE-10
603	603	CLARATORY JUDGMENT .—In a final judgment 11
604	604	(that was not been reversed on appeal), any 12
605	605	court of the United States has denied the re-13
606	606	quest of the State or subdivision for a declara-14
607	607	tory judgment under section 3(c) or section 5, 15
608	608	and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 16
609	609	prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 17
610	610	procedure with respect to voting from being en-18
611	611	forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 19
612	612	‘‘(D) O
613	613	BJECTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN -20
614	614	ERAL.—The Attorney General has interposed 21
615	615	an objection under section 3(c) or section 5, 22
616	616	and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 23
617	617	prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 24
618	618	procedure with respect to voting from being en-25
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620	620	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 20
621	621	•HR 14 IH
622	622	forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 1
623	623	A violation per this subsection has not occurred 2
624	624	where an objection has been withdrawn by the 3
625	625	Attorney General, unless the withdrawal was in 4
626	626	response to a change in the law or practice that 5
627	627	served as the basis of the objection. A violation 6
628	628	under this subsection has not occurred where 7
629	629	the objection is based solely on a State or polit-8
630	630	ical subdivision’s failure to comply with a proce-9
631	631	dural process that would not otherwise con-10
632	632	stitute an independent violation of this act. 11
633	633	‘‘(E) C
634	634	ONSENT DECREE, SETTLEMENT, OR 12
635	635	OTHER AGREEMENT .—A consent decree, settle-13
636	636	ment, or other agreement was adopted or en-14
637	637	tered by a court of the United States or con-15
638	638	tained an admission of liability by the defend-16
639	639	ants, which resulted in the alteration or aban-17
640	640	donment of a voting practice anywhere in the 18
641	641	territory of such State or subdivision that was 19
642	642	challenged on the ground that the practice de-20
643	643	nied or abridged the right of any citizen of the 21
644	644	United States to vote on account of race, color, 22
645	645	or membership in a language minority group in 23
646	646	violation of subsection 4(e) or 4(f) or section 2, 24
647	647	201, or 203 of this Act, or the 14th or 15th 25
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649	649	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 21
650	650	•HR 14 IH
651	651	Amendment. An extension or modification of an 1
652	652	agreement as defined by this subsection that 2
653	653	has been in place for ten years or longer shall 3
654	654	count as an independent violation. If a court of 4
655	655	the United States finds that an agreement itself 5
656	656	as defined by this subsection denied or abridged 6
657	657	the right of any citizen of the United States to 7
658	658	vote on account of race, color, or membership in 8
659	659	a language minority group, violated subsection 9
660	660	4(e) or 4(f) or section 2, 201, or 203 of this 10
661	661	Act, or created an undue burden on the right 11
662	662	to vote in connection with a claim that the con-12
663	663	sent decree, settlement, or other agreement un-13
664	664	duly burdened voters of a particular race, color, 14
665	665	or language minority group, that finding shall 15
666	666	count as an independent violation. 16
667	667	‘‘(F) M
668	668	ULTIPLE VIOLATIONS.—Each vot-17
669	669	ing qualification or prerequisite to voting or 18
670	670	standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 19
671	671	voting, including each redistricting plan, found 20
672	672	to be a violation by a court of the United States 21
673	673	pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), or prevented 22
674	674	from enforcement pursuant to subsection (c) or 23
675	675	(d), or altered or abandoned pursuant to sub-24
676	676	section (e) shall count as an independent viola-25
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678	678	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 22
679	679	•HR 14 IH
680	680	tion. Within a redistricting plan, each violation 1
681	681	found to discriminate against any group of vot-2
682	682	ers based on race, color, or language minority 3
683	683	group shall count as an independent violation. 4
684	684	‘‘(4) T
685	685	IMING OF DETERMINATIONS .— 5
686	686	‘‘(A) D
687	687	ETERMINATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS 6
688	688	VIOLATIONS.—As early as practicable during 7
689	689	each calendar year, the Attorney General shall 8
690	690	make the determinations required by this sub-9
691	691	section, including updating the list of voting 10
692	692	rights violations occurring in each State and po-11
693	693	litical subdivision for the previous calendar 12
694	694	year. 13
695	695	‘‘(B) E
696	696	FFECTIVE UPON PUBLICATION IN 14
697	697	FEDERAL REGISTER .—A determination or cer-15
698	698	tification of the Attorney General under this 16
699	699	section or under section 8 or 13 shall be effec-17
700	700	tive upon publication in the Federal Register.’’. 18
701	701	(2) C
702	702	ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .—Section 4(a) 19
703	703	of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)) is amended— 20
704	704	(A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence 21
705	705	of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 22
706	706	striking ‘‘any State with respect to which’’ and 23
707	707	all that follows through ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 24
708	708	‘‘any State to which this subsection applies dur-25
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710	710	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 23
711	711	•HR 14 IH
712	712	ing a calendar year pursuant to determinations 1
713	713	made under subsection (b), or in any political 2
714	714	subdivision of such State (as such subdivision 3
715	715	existed on the date such determinations were 4
716	716	made with respect to such State), though such 5
717	717	determinations were not made with respect to 6
718	718	such subdivision as a separate unit, or in any 7
719	719	political subdivision with respect to which this 8
720	720	subsection applies during a calendar year pur-9
721	721	suant to determinations made with respect to 10
722	722	such subdivision as a separate unit under sub-11
723	723	section (b), unless’’; 12
724	724	(B) in paragraph (1) in the matter pre-13
725	725	ceding subparagraph (A), by striking the second 14
726	726	sentence; 15
727	727	(C) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘(in 16
728	728	the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de-17
729	729	claratory judgment under the second sentence 18
730	730	of this subsection)’’; 19
731	731	(D) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘(in 20
732	732	the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de-21
733	733	claratory judgment under the second sentence 22
734	734	of this subsection)’’; 23
735	735	(E) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(in the 24
736	736	case of a State or subdivision seeking a declara-25
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738	738	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 24
739	739	•HR 14 IH
740	740	tory judgment under the second sentence of this 1
741	741	subsection)’’; 2
742	742	(F) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘(in the 3
743	743	case of a State or subdivision which sought a 4
744	744	declaratory judgment under the second sentence 5
745	745	of this subsection)’’; 6
746	746	(G) by striking paragraphs (7) and (8); 7
747	747	and 8
748	748	(H) by redesignating paragraph (9) as 9
749	749	paragraph (7). 10
750	750	(b) C
751	751	LARIFICATION OFTREATMENT OFMEMBERS OF 11
752	752	L
753	753	ANGUAGEMINORITYGROUPS.—Section 4(a)(1) of such 12
754	754	Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘race 13
755	755	or color,’’ and inserting ‘‘race, color, or in contravention 14
756	756	of the guarantees of subsection (f)(2),’’. 15
757	757	(c) A
758	758	DMINISTRATIVEBAILOUT.— 16
759	759	(1) I
760	760	N GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Voting 17
761	761	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303) is amended 18
762	762	by adding at the end the following: 19
763	763	‘‘(g) A
764	764	DMINISTRATIVEBAILOUT.— 20
765	765	‘‘(1) D
766	766	ETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY .— 21
767	767	‘‘(A) I
768	768	N GENERAL.—After making a deter-22
769	769	mination under subsection (b)(1)(A) that the 23
770	770	provisions of subsection (a) apply with respect 24
771	771	to a State and all political subdivisions within 25
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773	773	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 25
774	774	•HR 14 IH
775	775	the State, the Attorney General shall determine 1
776	776	if any political subdivision of the State is eligi-2
777	777	ble for an exemption under this subsection, and 3
778	778	shall publish, in the Federal Register, a list of 4
779	779	all such political subdivisions. Any political sub-5
780	780	division included on such list is not subject to 6
781	781	any requirement under section 5 until the date 7
782	782	on which any application under this section has 8
783	783	been finally disposed of or no such application 9
784	784	may be made. 10
785	785	‘‘(B) R
786	786	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing 11
787	787	in this subsection may be construed to pro-12
788	788	vide— 13
789	789	‘‘(i) that the determinations made 14
790	790	pursuant to the creation of the list shall 15
791	791	have any binding or preclusive effect; or 16
792	792	‘‘(ii) that inclusion on the list— 17
793	793	‘‘(I) constitutes a final deter-18
794	794	mination by the Attorney General that 19
795	795	the listee is eligible for an exemption 20
796	796	pursuant to this subsection or that, in 21
797	797	the case of the listee, the provisions of 22
798	798	subparagraphs (A) through (F) of 23
799	799	subsection (a)(1) are satisfied; or 24
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801	801	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 26
802	802	•HR 14 IH
803	803	‘‘(II) entitles the listee to any ex-1
804	804	emption pursuant to this subsection. 2
805	805	‘‘(2) E
806	806	LIGIBILITY.—A political subdivision that 3
807	807	submits an application under paragraph (3) shall be 4
808	808	eligible for an exemption under this subsection only 5
809	809	if, during the ten years preceding the filing of the 6
810	810	application, and during the pendency of such appli-7
811	811	cation— 8
812	812	‘‘(A) no test or device referred to in sub-9
813	813	section (a)(1) has been used within such polit-10
814	814	ical subdivision for the purpose or with the ef-11
815	815	fect of denying or abridging the right to vote on 12
816	816	account of race or color or in contravention of 13
817	817	the guarantees of subsection (f)(2); 14
818	818	‘‘(B) no final judgment of any court of the 15
819	819	United States, other than the denial of declara-16
820	820	tory judgment under this section, has deter-17
821	821	mined that denials or abridgements of the right 18
822	822	to vote on account of race or color have oc-19
823	823	curred anywhere in the territory of such polit-20
824	824	ical subdivision or that denials or abridgements 21
825	825	of the right to vote in contravention of the 22
826	826	guarantees of subsection (f)(2) have occurred 23
827	827	anywhere in the territory of such subdivision 24
828	828	and no consent decree, settlement, or agreement 25
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831	831	•HR 14 IH
832	832	has been entered into resulting in any abandon-1
833	833	ment of a voting practice challenged on such 2
834	834	grounds; and no declaratory judgment under 3
835	835	this section shall be entered during the pend-4
836	836	ency of an action commenced before the filing 5
837	837	of an action under this section and alleging 6
838	838	such denials or abridgements of the right to 7
839	839	vote; 8
840	840	‘‘(C) no Federal examiners or observers 9
841	841	under this Act have been assigned to such polit-10
842	842	ical subdivision; 11
843	843	‘‘(D) such political subdivision and all gov-12
844	844	ernmental units within its territory have com-13
845	845	plied with section 5 of this Act, including com-14
846	846	pliance with the requirement that no change 15
847	847	covered by section 5 has been enforced without 16
848	848	preclearance under section 5, and have repealed 17
849	849	all changes covered by section 5 to which the 18
850	850	Attorney General has successfully objected or as 19
851	851	to which the United States District Court for 20
852	852	the District of Columbia has denied a declara-21
853	853	tory judgment; 22
854	854	‘‘(E) the Attorney General has not inter-23
855	855	posed any objection (that has not been over-24
856	856	turned by a final judgment of a court) and no 25
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858	858	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 28
859	859	•HR 14 IH
860	860	declaratory judgment has been denied under 1
861	861	section 5, with respect to any submission by or 2
862	862	on behalf of the plaintiff or any governmental 3
863	863	unit within its territory under section 5, and no 4
864	864	such submissions or declaratory judgment ac-5
865	865	tions are pending; and 6
866	866	‘‘(F) such political subdivision and all gov-7
867	867	ernmental units within its territory— 8
868	868	‘‘(i) have eliminated voting procedures 9
869	869	and methods of election which inhibit or 10
870	870	dilute equal access to the electoral process; 11
871	871	‘‘(ii) have engaged in constructive ef-12
872	872	forts to eliminate intimidation and harass-13
873	873	ment of persons exercising rights protected 14
874	874	under this Act; and 15
875	875	‘‘(iii) have engaged in other construc-16
876	876	tive efforts, such as expanded opportunity 17
877	877	for convenient registration and voting for 18
878	878	every person of voting age and the appoint-19
879	879	ment of minority persons as election offi-20
880	880	cials throughout the jurisdiction and at all 21
881	881	stages of the election and registration 22
882	882	process. 23
883	883	‘‘(3) A
884	884	PPLICATION PERIOD.—Not later than 90 24
885	885	days after the publication of the list under para-25
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887	887	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 29
888	888	•HR 14 IH
889	889	graph (1), a political subdivision included on such 1
890	890	list may submit an application, containing such in-2
891	891	formation as the Attorney General may require, for 3
892	892	an exemption under this subsection. The Attorney 4
893	893	General shall provide notice in the Federal Register 5
894	894	of such application. 6
895	895	‘‘(4) C
896	896	OMMENT PERIOD .—During the 90-day 7
897	897	period beginning on the date that notice is published 8
898	898	under paragraph (3), the Attorney General shall give 9
899	899	interested persons an opportunity to submit objec-10
900	900	tions to the issuance of an exemption under this 11
901	901	subsection to a political subdivision on the basis that 12
902	902	the political subdivision is not eligible under para-13
903	903	graph (2) to the Attorney General. During the 1 14
904	904	year period beginning on the effective date of this 15
905	905	subsection, such 90-day period shall be extended by 16
906	906	an additional 30 days. The Attorney General shall 17
907	907	notify the political subdivision of each objection sub-18
908	908	mitted and afford the political subdivision an oppor-19
909	909	tunity to respond. 20
910	910	‘‘(5) D
911	911	ETERMINATION AS TO OBJECTIONS .—In 21
912	912	the case of a political subdivision with respect to 22
913	913	which an objection has been submitted under para-23
914	914	graph (4), the following shall apply: 24
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917	917	•HR 14 IH
918	918	‘‘(A) CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTIONS .— 1
919	919	The Attorney General shall consider and re-2
920	920	spond to each such objection (and any response 3
921	921	of the political subdivision thereto) during the 4
922	922	60-day period beginning on the day after the 5
923	923	comment period under paragraph (4) concludes. 6
924	924	‘‘(B) J
925	925	USTIFIED OBJECTIONS.—If the At-7
926	926	torney General determines that any such objec-8
927	927	tion is justified, the Attorney General shall pub-9
928	928	lish notice in the Federal Register denying the 10
929	929	application for an exemption under this sub-11
930	930	section. 12
931	931	‘‘(C) U
932	932	NJUSTIFIED OBJECTIONS .—If the 13
933	933	Attorney General determines that no objection 14
934	934	submitted is justified, each person that sub-15
935	935	mitted such an objection may, not later than 90 16
936	936	days after the end of the period established 17
937	937	under subparagraph (A), file, in the District 18
938	938	Court of the District of Columbia, an action for 19
939	939	judicial review of such determination in accord-20
940	940	ance with chapter 7 of title 5, United States 21
941	941	Code. 22
942	942	‘‘(6) E
943	943	XEMPTION.—The Attorney General may 23
944	944	issue an exemption, by publication in the Federal 24
945	945	Register, from the application of the provisions of 25
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947	947	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 31
948	948	•HR 14 IH
949	949	subsection (a) with respect to a political subdivision 1
950	950	that— 2
951	951	‘‘(A) is eligible under paragraph (2); and 3
952	952	‘‘(B) with respect to which no objection 4
953	953	under was submitted under paragraph (4) or 5
954	954	determined to be justified under paragraph (5). 6
955	955	‘‘(7) J
956	956	UDICIAL REVIEW.—Except as otherwise 7
957	957	explicitly provided in this subsection, no determina-8
958	958	tion under this subsection shall be subject to review 9
959	959	by any court, and all determinations under this sub-10
960	960	section are committed to the discretion of the Attor-11
961	961	ney General. 12
962	962	‘‘(8) S
963	963	AVINGS CLAUSE.—If a political subdivi-13
964	964	sion was not subject to the application of the provi-14
965	965	sions of subsection (a) by reason of a declaratory 15
966	966	judgment entered prior to the effective date of this 16
967	967	subsection, and such political subdivision has not 17
968	968	violated any eligibility requirement set forth in para-18
969	969	graph (2) at any time thereafter, then that political 19
970	970	subdivision shall not be subject to the requirements 20
971	971	of subsection (a).’’. 21
972	972	(2) C
973	973	ONFORMING AMENDMENT .— 22
974	974	(A) I
975	975	N GENERAL.—Section 4(a)(1) of the 23
976	976	Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 24
977	977	10303(a)(1)), as amended by this Act, is fur-25
978	978	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
979	979	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 32
980	980	•HR 14 IH
981	981	ther amended by inserting after ‘‘the United 1
982	982	States District Court for the District of Colum-2
983	983	bia issues a declaratory judgment under this 3
984	984	section’’ the following: ‘‘, or, in the case of a 4
985	985	political subdivision, the Attorney General 5
986	986	issues an exemption under subsection (g)’’. 6
987	987	(B) E
988	988	XPIRATION OF TIME LIMIT .—On the 7
989	989	date that is 1 year after the effective date of 8
990	990	this subsection, section 4(g)(3) of the Voting 9
991	991	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(g)(3)) is 10
992	992	amended by striking ‘‘During the 1 year period 11
993	993	beginning on the effective date of this sub-12
994	994	section, such 90-day period shall be extended by 13
995	995	an additional 30 days.’’. For purposes of any 14
996	996	periods under such section commenced as of 15
997	997	such date, the 90-day period shall remain ex-16
998	998	tended by an additional 30 days. 17
999	999	SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL SUB-18
1000	1000	DIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE FOR 19
1001	1001	COVERED PRACTICES. 20
1002	1002	The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 21
1003	1003	seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 4 the 22
1004	1004	following: 23
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1007	1007	•HR 14 IH
1008	1008	‘‘SEC. 4A. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 1
1009	1009	SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE 2
1010	1010	FOR COVERED PRACTICES. 3
1011	1011	‘‘(a) P
1012	1012	RACTICE-BASEDPRECLEARANCE.— 4
1013	1013	‘‘(1) I
1014	1014	N GENERAL.—Each State and each polit-5
1015	1015	ical subdivision shall— 6
1016	1016	‘‘(A) identify any newly enacted or adopted 7
1017	1017	law, regulation, or policy that includes a voting 8
1018	1018	qualification or prerequisite to voting, or a 9
1019	1019	standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 10
1020	1020	voting, that is a covered practice described in 11
1021	1021	subsection (b); and 12
1022	1022	‘‘(B) ensure that no such covered practice 13
1023	1023	is implemented unless or until the State or po-14
1024	1024	litical subdivision, as the case may be, complies 15
1025	1025	with subsection (c). 16
1026	1026	‘‘(2) D
1027	1027	ETERMINATIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS 17
1028	1028	OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION.— 18
1029	1029	‘‘(A) I
1030	1030	N GENERAL.—As early as prac-19
1031	1031	ticable during each calendar year, the Attorney 20
1032	1032	General, in consultation with the Director of 21
1033	1033	the Bureau of the Census and the heads of 22
1034	1034	other relevant offices of the government, shall 23
1035	1035	make the determinations required by this sec-24
1036	1036	tion regarding voting-age populations and the 25
1037	1037	characteristics of such populations, and shall 26
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1039	1039	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 34
1040	1040	•HR 14 IH
1041	1041	publish a list of the States and political subdivi-1
1042	1042	sions to which a voting-age population char-2
1043	1043	acteristic described in subsection (b) applies. 3
1044	1044	‘‘(B) P
1045	1045	UBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG -4
1046	1046	ISTER.—A determination or certification of the 5
1047	1047	Attorney General under this paragraph shall be 6
1048	1048	effective upon publication in the Federal Reg-7
1049	1049	ister. 8
1050	1050	‘‘(b) C
1051	1051	OVEREDPRACTICES.—To assure that the right 9
1052	1052	of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or 10
1053	1053	abridged on account of race, color, or membership in a 11
1054	1054	language minority group as a result of the implementation 12
1055	1055	of certain qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or 13
1056	1056	standards, practices, or procedures with respect to voting 14
1057	1057	newly adopted in a State or political subdivision, the fol-15
1058	1058	lowing shall be covered practices subject to the require-16
1059	1059	ments described in subsection (a): 17
1060	1060	‘‘(1) C
1061	1061	HANGES TO METHOD OF ELECTION .— 18
1062	1062	Any change to the method of election— 19
1063	1063	‘‘(A) to add seats elected at-large in a 20
1064	1064	State or political subdivision where— 21
1065	1065	‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan-22
1066	1066	guage minority groups each represent 20 23
1067	1067	percent or more of the political subdivi-24
1068	1068	sion’s voting-age population; or 25
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1070	1070	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 35
1071	1071	•HR 14 IH
1072	1072	‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 1
1073	1073	represents 20 percent or more of the vot-2
1074	1074	ing-age population on Indian lands located 3
1075	1075	in whole or in part in the political subdivi-4
1076	1076	sion; or 5
1077	1077	‘‘(B) to convert one or more seats elected 6
1078	1078	from a single-member district to one or more 7
1079	1079	at-large seats or seats from a multi-member 8
1080	1080	district in a State or political subdivision 9
1081	1081	where— 10
1082	1082	‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan-11
1083	1083	guage minority groups each represent 20 12
1084	1084	percent or more of the political subdivi-13
1085	1085	sion’s voting-age population; or 14
1086	1086	‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 15
1087	1087	represents 20 percent or more of the vot-16
1088	1088	ing-age population on Indian lands located 17
1089	1089	in whole or in part in the political subdivi-18
1090	1090	sion. 19
1091	1091	‘‘(2) C
1092	1092	HANGES TO JURISDICTION BOUND -20
1093	1093	ARIES.—Any change or series of changes within a 21
1094	1094	year to the boundaries of a jurisdiction that reduces 22
1095	1095	by 3 or more percentage points the proportion of the 23
1096	1096	jurisdiction’s voting-age population that is comprised 24
1097	1097	of members of a single racial group or language mi-25
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1099	1099	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 36
1100	1100	•HR 14 IH
1101	1101	nority group in a State or political subdivision 1
1102	1102	where— 2
1103	1103	‘‘(A) two or more racial groups or lan-3
1104	1104	guage minority groups each represent 20 per-4
1105	1105	cent or more of the political subdivision’s vot-5
1106	1106	ing-age population; or 6
1107	1107	‘‘(B) a single language minority group rep-7
1108	1108	resents 20 percent or more of the voting-age 8
1109	1109	population on Indian lands located in whole or 9
1110	1110	in part in the political subdivision. 10
1111	1111	‘‘(3) C
1112	1112	HANGES THROUGH REDISTRICTING .— 11
1113	1113	Any change to the boundaries of election districts in 12
1114	1114	a State or political subdivision where any racial 13
1115	1115	group or language minority group that is not the 14
1116	1116	largest racial group or language minority group in 15
1117	1117	the jurisdiction and that represents 15 percent or 16
1118	1118	more of the State or political subdivision’s voting- 17
1119	1119	age population experiences a population increase of 18
1120	1120	at least 20 percent of its voting-age population, over 19
1121	1121	the preceding decade (as calculated by the Bureau 20
1122	1122	of the Census under the most recent decennial cen-21
1123	1123	sus), in the jurisdiction. 22
1124	1124	‘‘(4) C
1125	1125	HANGES IN DOCUMENTATION OR QUALI -23
1126	1126	FICATIONS TO VOTE.—Any change to requirements 24
1127	1127	for documentation or proof of identity to vote or reg-25
1128	1128	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1129	1129	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 37
1130	1130	•HR 14 IH
1131	1131	ister to vote that will exceed or be more stringent 1
1132	1132	than such requirements under State law on the day 2
1133	1133	before the date of enactment of the John R. Lewis 3
1134	1134	Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2023; and fur-4
1135	1135	ther, if a State has in effect a requirement that an 5
1136	1136	individual present identification as a condition of re-6
1137	1137	ceiving and casting a ballot in an election for Fed-7
1138	1138	eral office, if the State does not permit the indi-8
1139	1139	vidual to meet the requirement and cast a ballot in 9
1140	1140	the election in the same manner as an individual 10
1141	1141	who presents identification— 11
1142	1142	‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de-12
1143	1143	sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro-13
1144	1144	priate State or local election official with a 14
1145	1145	sworn written statement, signed by the indi-15
1146	1146	vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 16
1147	1147	individual’s identity and attesting that the indi-17
1148	1148	vidual is eligible to vote in the election; and 18
1149	1149	‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de-19
1150	1150	sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 20
1151	1151	ballot the statement described in subparagraph 21
1152	1152	(A). 22
1153	1153	‘‘(5) C
1154	1154	HANGES TO MULTILINGUAL VOTING MA -23
1155	1155	TERIALS.—Any change that reduces multilingual 24
1156	1156	voting materials or alters the manner in which such 25
1157	1157	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1158	1158	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 38
1159	1159	•HR 14 IH
1160	1160	materials are provided or distributed, where no simi-1
1161	1161	lar reduction or alteration occurs in materials pro-2
1162	1162	vided in English for such election. 3
1163	1163	‘‘(6) C
1164	1164	HANGES THAT REDUCE , CONSOLIDATE, 4
1165	1165	OR RELOCATE VOTING LOCATIONS , OR REDUCE VOT-5
1166	1166	ING OPPORTUNITIES .—Any change that reduces, 6
1167	1167	consolidates, or relocates voting locations, including 7
1168	1168	early, absentee, and election-day voting locations, or 8
1169	1169	reduces days or hours of in-person voting on any 9
1170	1170	Sunday during a period occurring prior to the date 10
1171	1171	of an election during which voters may cast ballots 11
1172	1172	in such election, or prohibits the provision of food or 12
1173	1173	non-alcoholic drink to persons waiting to vote in an 13
1174	1174	election except where the provision would violate 14
1175	1175	prohibitions on expenditures to influence voting— 15
1176	1176	‘‘(A) in one or more census tracts wherein 16
1177	1177	two or more language minority groups or racial 17
1178	1178	groups each represent 20 percent or more of 18
1179	1179	the voting-age population of the political sub-19
1180	1180	division; or 20
1181	1181	‘‘(B) on Indian lands wherein at least 20 21
1182	1182	percent of the voting-age population belongs to 22
1183	1183	a single language minority group. 23
1184	1184	‘‘(7) N
1185	1185	EW LIST MAINTENANCE PROCESS .—Any 24
1186	1186	change to the maintenance of voter registration lists 25
1187	1187	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1188	1188	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 39
1189	1189	•HR 14 IH
1190	1190	that adds a new basis for removal from the list of 1
1191	1191	active registered voters or that incorporates new 2
1192	1192	sources of information in determining a voter’s eligi-3
1193	1193	bility to vote, wherein such a change would have a 4
1194	1194	statistically significant disparate impact on the re-5
1195	1195	moval from voter rolls of members of racial groups 6
1196	1196	or language minority groups that constitute greater 7
1197	1197	than 5 percent of the voting-age population— 8
1198	1198	‘‘(A) in the case of a political subdivision 9
1199	1199	imposing such change if— 10
1200	1200	‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan-11
1201	1201	guage minority groups each represent 20 12
1202	1202	percent or more of the voting-age popu-13
1203	1203	lation of the political subdivision; or 14
1204	1204	‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 15
1205	1205	represents 20 percent or more of the vot-16
1206	1206	ing-age population on Indian lands located 17
1207	1207	in whole or in part in the political subdivi-18
1208	1208	sion; or 19
1209	1209	‘‘(B) in the case of a State imposing such 20
1210	1210	change, if two or more racial groups or lan-21
1211	1211	guage minority groups each represent 20 per-22
1212	1212	cent or more of the voting-age population of— 23
1213	1213	‘‘(i) the State; or 24
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1215	1215	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 40
1216	1216	•HR 14 IH
1217	1217	‘‘(ii) a political subdivision in the 1
1218	1218	State, except that the requirements under 2
1219	1219	subsections (a) and (c) shall apply only 3
1220	1220	with respect to each such political subdivi-4
1221	1221	sion. 5
1222	1222	‘‘(c) P
1223	1223	RECLEARANCE.— 6
1224	1224	‘‘(1) I
1225	1225	N GENERAL.—Whenever a State or polit-7
1226	1226	ical subdivision with respect to which the require-8
1227	1227	ments set forth in subsection (a) are in effect shall 9
1228	1228	enact, adopt, or seek to implement any covered prac-10
1229	1229	tice described under subsection (b), such State or 11
1230	1230	subdivision may institute an action in the United 12
1231	1231	States District Court for the District of Columbia 13
1232	1232	for a declaratory judgment that such covered prac-14
1233	1233	tice neither has the purpose nor will have the effect 15
1234	1234	of denying or abridging the right to vote on account 16
1235	1235	of race, color, or membership in a language minority 17
1236	1236	group, and unless and until the court enters such 18
1237	1237	judgment such covered practice shall not be imple-19
1238	1238	mented. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, such 20
1239	1239	covered practice may be implemented without such 21
1240	1240	proceeding if the covered practice has been sub-22
1241	1241	mitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate 23
1242	1242	official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney 24
1243	1243	General and the Attorney General has not inter-25
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1245	1245	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 41
1246	1246	•HR 14 IH
1247	1247	posed an objection within 60 days after such submis-1
1248	1248	sion, or upon good cause shown, to facilitate an ex-2
1249	1249	pedited approval within 60 days after such submis-3
1250	1250	sion, the Attorney General has affirmatively indi-4
1251	1251	cated that such objection will not be made. Neither 5
1252	1252	an affirmative indication by the Attorney General 6
1253	1253	that no objection will be made, nor the Attorney 7
1254	1254	General’s failure to object, nor a declaratory judg-8
1255	1255	ment entered under this section shall bar a subse-9
1256	1256	quent action to enjoin implementation of such cov-10
1257	1257	ered practice. In the event the Attorney General af-11
1258	1258	firmatively indicates that no objection will be made 12
1259	1259	within the 60-day period following receipt of a sub-13
1260	1260	mission, the Attorney General may reserve the right 14
1261	1261	to reexamine the submission if additional informa-15
1262	1262	tion comes to the Attorney General’s attention dur-16
1263	1263	ing the remainder of the 60-day period which would 17
1264	1264	otherwise require objection in accordance with this 18
1265	1265	section. Any action under this section shall be heard 19
1266	1266	and determined by a court of three judges in accord-20
1267	1267	ance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28, 21
1268	1268	United States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the 22
1269	1269	Supreme Court. 23
1270	1270	‘‘(2) D
1271	1271	ENYING OR ABRIDGING THE RIGHT TO 24
1272	1272	VOTE.—Any covered practice described in subsection 25
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1274	1274	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 42
1275	1275	•HR 14 IH
1276	1276	(b) that has the purpose of or will have the effect 1
1277	1277	of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the 2
1278	1278	United States on account of race, color, or member-3
1279	1279	ship in a language minority group, to elect their pre-4
1280	1280	ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the 5
1281	1281	right to vote within the meaning of paragraph (1) of 6
1282	1282	this subsection. 7
1283	1283	‘‘(3) P
1284	1284	URPOSE DEFINED.—The term ‘purpose’ 8
1285	1285	in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection shall in-9
1286	1286	clude any discriminatory purpose. 10
1287	1287	‘‘(4) P
1288	1288	URPOSE OF PARAGRAPH (2) .—The pur-11
1289	1289	pose of paragraph (2) of this subsection is to protect 12
1290	1290	the ability of such citizens to elect their preferred 13
1291	1291	candidates of choice. 14
1292	1292	‘‘(d) E
1293	1293	NFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General or any 15
1294	1294	aggrieved citizen may file an action in a Federal district 16
1295	1295	court to compel any State or political subdivision to satisfy 17
1296	1296	the obligations set forth in this section. Such actions shall 18
1297	1297	be heard and determined by a court of three judges under 19
1298	1298	section 2284 of title 28, United States Code. In any such 20
1299	1299	action, the court shall provide as a remedy that any voting 21
1300	1300	qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, prac-22
1301	1301	tice, or procedure with respect to voting, that is the sub-23
1302	1302	ject of the action under this subsection be enjoined unless 24
1303	1303	the court determines that— 25
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1305	1305	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 43
1306	1306	•HR 14 IH
1307	1307	‘‘(1) the voting qualification or prerequisite to 1
1308	1308	voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with re-2
1309	1309	spect to voting, is not a covered practice described 3
1310	1310	in subsection (b); or 4
1311	1311	‘‘(2) the State or political subdivision has com-5
1312	1312	plied with subsection (c) with respect to the covered 6
1313	1313	practice at issue. 7
1314	1314	‘‘(e) C
1315	1315	OUNTING OFRACIALGROUPS ANDLANGUAGE 8
1316	1316	M
1317	1317	INORITYGROUPS.—For purposes of this section, the cal-9
1318	1318	culation of the population of a racial group or a language 10
1319	1319	minority group shall be carried out using the methodology 11
1320	1320	in the guidance promulgated in the Federal Register on 12
1321	1321	February 9, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 7470). 13
1322	1322	‘‘(f) S
1323	1323	PECIALRULE.—For purposes of determina-14
1324	1324	tions under this section, any data provided by the Bureau 15
1325	1325	of the Census, whether based on estimation from sample 16
1326	1326	or actual enumeration, shall not be subject to challenge 17
1327	1327	or review in any court. 18
1328	1328	‘‘(g) M
1329	1329	ULTILINGUALVOTINGMATERIALS.—In this 19
1330	1330	section, the term ‘multilingual voting materials’ means 20
1331	1331	registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assist-21
1332	1332	ance, or other materials or information relating to the 22
1333	1333	electoral process, including ballots, provided in the lan-23
1334	1334	guage or languages of one or more language minority 24
1335	1335	groups.’’. 25
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1338	1338	•HR 14 IH
1339	1339	SEC. 7. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY TO ENFORCE THE 1
1340	1340	VOTING RIGHTS ACT. 2
1341	1341	(a) T
1342	1342	RANSPARENCY.— 3
1343	1343	(1) I
1344	1344	N GENERAL.—The Voting Rights Act of 4
1345	1345	1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) is amended by in-5
1346	1346	serting after section 5 the following new section: 6
1347	1347	‘‘SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING CHANGES TO PRO-7
1348	1348	TECT VOTING RIGHTS. 8
1349	1349	‘‘(a) N
1350	1350	OTICE OFENACTEDCHANGES.— 9
1351	1351	‘‘(1) N
1352	1352	OTICE OF CHANGES.—If a State or polit-10
1353	1353	ical subdivision makes any change in any qualifica-11
1354	1354	tion or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, 12
1355	1355	or procedure with respect to voting in any election 13
1356	1356	for Federal office that will result in the qualification 14
1357	1357	or prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure 15
1358	1358	being different from that which was in effect as of 16
1359	1359	180 days before the date of the election for Federal 17
1360	1360	office, the State or political subdivision shall provide 18
1361	1361	reasonable public notice in such State or political 19
1362	1362	subdivision and on the website of the State or polit-20
1363	1363	ical subdivision, of a concise description of the 21
1364	1364	change, including the difference between the 22
1365	1365	changed qualification or prerequisite, standard, prac-23
1366	1366	tice, or procedure and the prerequisite, standard, 24
1367	1367	practice, or procedure which was previously in effect. 25
1368	1368	The public notice described in this paragraph, in 26
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1370	1370	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 45
1371	1371	•HR 14 IH
1372	1372	such State or political subdivision and on the website 1
1373	1373	of a State or political subdivision, shall be in a for-2
1374	1374	mat that is reasonably convenient and accessible to 3
1375	1375	persons with disabilities who are eligible to vote, in-4
1376	1376	cluding persons who have low vision or are blind. 5
1377	1377	‘‘(2) D
1378	1378	EADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit-6
1379	1379	ical subdivision shall provide the public notice re-7
1380	1380	quired under paragraph (1) not later than 48 hours 8
1381	1381	after making the change involved. 9
1382	1382	‘‘(b) T
1383	1383	RANSPARENCY REGARDINGPOLLINGPLACE 10
1384	1384	R
1385	1385	ESOURCES.— 11
1386	1386	‘‘(1) I
1387	1387	N GENERAL.—In order to identify any 12
1388	1388	changes that may impact the right to vote of any 13
1389	1389	person, prior to the 30th day before the date of an 14
1390	1390	election for Federal office, each State or political 15
1391	1391	subdivision with responsibility for allocating reg-16
1392	1392	istered voters, voting machines, and official poll 17
1393	1393	workers to particular precincts and polling places 18
1394	1394	shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 19
1395	1395	or political subdivision and on the website of a State 20
1396	1396	or political subdivision, of the information described 21
1397	1397	in paragraph (2) for precincts and polling places 22
1398	1398	within such State or political subdivision. The public 23
1399	1399	notice described in this paragraph, in such State or 24
1400	1400	political subdivision and on the website of a State or 25
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1403	1403	•HR 14 IH
1404	1404	political subdivision, shall be in a format that is rea-1
1405	1405	sonably convenient and accessible to persons with 2
1406	1406	disabilities who are eligible to vote, including persons 3
1407	1407	who have low vision or are blind. 4
1408	1408	‘‘(2) I
1409	1409	NFORMATION DESCRIBED .—The informa-5
1410	1410	tion described in this paragraph with respect to a 6
1411	1411	precinct or polling place is each of the following: 7
1412	1412	‘‘(A) The name or number. 8
1413	1413	‘‘(B) In the case of a polling place, the lo-9
1414	1414	cation, including the street address, and wheth-10
1415	1415	er such polling place is accessible to persons 11
1416	1416	with disabilities. 12
1417	1417	‘‘(C) The voting-age population of the area 13
1418	1418	served by the precinct or polling place, broken 14
1419	1419	down by demographic group if such breakdown 15
1420	1420	is reasonably available to such State or political 16
1421	1421	subdivision. 17
1422	1422	‘‘(D) The number of registered voters as-18
1423	1423	signed to the precinct or polling place, broken 19
1424	1424	down by demographic group if such breakdown 20
1425	1425	is reasonably available to such State or political 21
1426	1426	subdivision. 22
1427	1427	‘‘(E) The number of voting machines as-23
1428	1428	signed, including the number of voting ma-24
1429	1429	chines accessible to persons with disabilities 25
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1431	1431	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 47
1432	1432	•HR 14 IH
1433	1433	who are eligible to vote, including persons who 1
1434	1434	have low vision or are blind. 2
1435	1435	‘‘(F) The number of official paid poll 3
1436	1436	workers assigned. 4
1437	1437	‘‘(G) The number of official volunteer poll 5
1438	1438	workers assigned. 6
1439	1439	‘‘(H) In the case of a polling place, the 7
1440	1440	dates and hours of operation. 8
1441	1441	‘‘(3) U
1442	1442	PDATES IN INFORMATION REPORTED .— 9
1443	1443	If a State or political subdivision makes any change 10
1444	1444	in any of the information described in paragraph 11
1445	1445	(2), the State or political subdivision shall provide 12
1446	1446	reasonable public notice in such State or political 13
1447	1447	subdivision and on the website of a State or political 14
1448	1448	subdivision, of the change in the information not 15
1449	1449	later than 48 hours after the change occurs or, if 16
1450	1450	the change occurs fewer than 48 hours before the 17
1451	1451	date of the election for Federal office, as soon as 18
1452	1452	practicable after the change occurs. The public no-19
1453	1453	tice described in this paragraph and published on 20
1454	1454	the website of a State or political subdivision shall 21
1455	1455	be in a format that is reasonably convenient and ac-22
1456	1456	cessible to persons with disabilities who are eligible 23
1457	1457	to vote, including persons who have low vision or are 24
1458	1458	blind. 25
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1461	1461	•HR 14 IH
1462	1462	‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OFCHANGESRELATING TODE-1
1463	1463	MOGRAPHICS ANDELECTORALDISTRICTS.— 2
1464	1464	‘‘(1) R
1465	1465	EQUIRING PUBLIC NOTICE OF 3
1466	1466	CHANGES.—Not later than 10 days after making 4
1467	1467	any change in the constituency that will participate 5
1468	1468	in an election for Federal, State, or local office or 6
1469	1469	the boundaries of a voting unit or electoral district 7
1470	1470	in an election for Federal, State, or local office (in-8
1471	1471	cluding through redistricting, reapportionment, 9
1472	1472	changing from at-large elections to district-based 10
1473	1473	elections, or changing from district-based elections 11
1474	1474	to at-large elections), a State or political subdivision 12
1475	1475	shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 13
1476	1476	or political subdivision and on the website of a State 14
1477	1477	or political subdivision, of the demographic and elec-15
1478	1478	toral data described in paragraph (3) for each of the 16
1479	1479	geographic areas described in paragraph (2). 17
1480	1480	‘‘(2) G
1481	1481	EOGRAPHIC AREAS DESCRIBED .—The ge-18
1482	1482	ographic areas described in this paragraph are as 19
1483	1483	follows: 20
1484	1484	‘‘(A) The State as a whole, if the change 21
1485	1485	applies statewide, or the political subdivision as 22
1486	1486	a whole, if the change applies across the entire 23
1487	1487	political subdivision. 24
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1490	1490	•HR 14 IH
1491	1491	‘‘(B) If the change includes a plan to re-1
1492	1492	place or eliminate voting units or electoral dis-2
1493	1493	tricts, each voting unit or electoral district that 3
1494	1494	will be replaced or eliminated. 4
1495	1495	‘‘(C) If the change includes a plan to es-5
1496	1496	tablish new voting units or electoral districts, 6
1497	1497	each such new voting unit or electoral district. 7
1498	1498	‘‘(3) D
1499	1499	EMOGRAPHIC AND ELECTORAL DATA .— 8
1500	1500	The demographic and electoral data described in this 9
1501	1501	paragraph with respect to a geographic area de-10
1502	1502	scribed in paragraph (2) are each of the following: 11
1503	1503	‘‘(A) The voting-age population, broken 12
1504	1504	down by demographic group. 13
1505	1505	‘‘(B) If it is reasonably available to the 14
1506	1506	State or political subdivision involved, an esti-15
1507	1507	mate of the population of the area which con-16
1508	1508	sists of citizens of the United States who are 18 17
1509	1509	years of age or older, broken down by demo-18
1510	1510	graphic group. 19
1511	1511	‘‘(C) The number of registered voters, bro-20
1512	1512	ken down by demographic group if such break-21
1513	1513	down is reasonably available to the State or po-22
1514	1514	litical subdivision involved. 23
1515	1515	‘‘(D)(i) If the change applies to a State, 24
1516	1516	the actual number of votes, or (if it is not rea-25
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1519	1519	•HR 14 IH
1520	1520	sonably practicable for the State to ascertain 1
1521	1521	the actual number of votes) the estimated num-2
1522	1522	ber of votes received by each candidate in each 3
1523	1523	statewide election held during the 5-year period 4
1524	1524	which ends on the date the change involved is 5
1525	1525	made; and 6
1526	1526	‘‘(ii) if the change applies to only one polit-7
1527	1527	ical subdivision, the actual number of votes, or 8
1528	1528	(if it is not reasonably practicable for the polit-9
1529	1529	ical subdivision to ascertain the actual number 10
1530	1530	of votes) in each subdivision-wide election held 11
1531	1531	during the 5-year period which ends on the date 12
1532	1532	the change involved is made. 13
1533	1533	‘‘(4) V
1534	1534	OLUNTARY COMPLIANCE BY SMALLER JU -14
1535	1535	RISDICTIONS.—Compliance with this subsection shall 15
1536	1536	be voluntary for a political subdivision of a State un-16
1537	1537	less the subdivision is one of the following: 17
1538	1538	‘‘(A) A county or parish. 18
1539	1539	‘‘(B) A municipality with a population 19
1540	1540	greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu-20
1541	1541	reau of the Census under the most recent de-21
1542	1542	cennial census. 22
1543	1543	‘‘(C) A school district with a population 23
1544	1544	greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu-24
1545	1545	reau of the Census under the most recent de-25
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1547	1547	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 51
1548	1548	•HR 14 IH
1549	1549	cennial census. For purposes of this subpara-1
1550	1550	graph, the term ‘school district’ means the geo-2
1551	1551	graphic area under the jurisdiction of a local 3
1552	1552	educational agency (as defined in section 9101 4
1553	1553	of the Elementary and Secondary Education 5
1554	1554	Act of 1965). 6
1555	1555	‘‘(d) R
1556	1556	ULESREGARDINGFORMAT OF INFORMA-7
1557	1557	TION.—The Attorney General may issue rules specifying 8
1558	1558	a reasonably convenient and accessible format that States 9
1559	1559	and political subdivisions shall use to provide public notice 10
1560	1560	of information under this section. 11
1561	1561	‘‘(e) N
1562	1562	ODENIAL OFRIGHTTOVOTE.—The right to 12
1563	1563	vote of any person shall not be denied or abridged because 13
1564	1564	the person failed to comply with any change made by a 14
1565	1565	State or political subdivision to a voting qualification, pre-15
1566	1566	requisite, standard, practice, or procedure if the State or 16
1567	1567	political subdivision involved did not meet the applicable 17
1568	1568	requirements of this section with respect to the change. 18
1569	1569	‘‘(f) D
1570	1570	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 19
1571	1571	‘‘(1) the term ‘demographic group’ means each 20
1572	1572	group which section 2 protects from the denial or 21
1573	1573	abridgement of the right to vote on account of race 22
1574	1574	or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set 23
1575	1575	forth in section 4(f)(2); 24
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1578	1578	•HR 14 IH
1579	1579	‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 1
1580	1580	any general, special, primary, or runoff election held 2
1581	1581	solely or in part for the purpose of electing any can-3
1582	1582	didate for the office of President, Vice President, 4
1583	1583	Presidential elector, Senator, Member of the House 5
1584	1584	of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commis-6
1585	1585	sioner to the Congress; and 7
1586	1586	‘‘(3) the term ‘persons with disabilities’, means 8
1587	1587	individuals with a disability, as defined in section 3 9
1588	1588	of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.’’. 10
1589	1589	(2) C
1590	1590	ONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 3(a) 11
1591	1591	of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by 12
1592	1592	striking ‘‘in accordance with section 6’’. 13
1593	1593	(b) E
1594	1594	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 14
1595	1595	subsection (a)(1) shall apply with respect to changes which 15
1596	1596	are made on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 16
1597	1597	which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 17
1598	1598	SEC. 8. AUTHORITY TO ASSIGN OBSERVERS. 18
1599	1599	(a) C
1600	1600	LARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY INPOLITICAL 19
1601	1601	S
1602	1602	UBDIVISIONSSUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE.—Section 20
1603	1603	8(a)(2)(B) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 21
1604	1604	10305(a)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 22
1605	1605	‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment, 23
1606	1606	the assignment of observers is otherwise nec-24
1607	1607	essary to enforce the guarantees of the 14th or 25
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1610	1610	•HR 14 IH
1611	1611	15th Amendment or any provision of this Act 1
1612	1612	or any other Federal law protecting the right of 2
1613	1613	citizens of the United States to vote; or’’. 3
1614	1614	(b) A
1615	1615	SSIGNMENT OFOBSERVERSTOENFORCEBI-4
1616	1616	LINGUALELECTIONREQUIREMENTS.—Section 8(a) of 5
1617	1617	such Act (52 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 6
1618	1618	(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 7
1619	1619	(1); 8
1620	1620	(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-9
1621	1621	lowing: 10
1622	1622	‘‘(3) the Attorney General certifies with respect 11
1623	1623	to a political subdivision that— 12
1624	1624	‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 13
1625	1625	written meritorious complaints from residents, 14
1626	1626	elected officials, or civic participation organiza-15
1627	1627	tions that efforts to violate section 203 are like-16
1628	1628	ly to occur; or 17
1629	1629	‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment, 18
1630	1630	the assignment of observers is necessary to en-19
1631	1631	force the guarantees of section 203;’’; and 20
1632	1632	(3) by moving the margin for the continuation 21
1633	1633	text following paragraph (3), as added by paragraph 22
1634	1634	(2) of this subsection, 2 ems to the left. 23
1635	1635	(c) T
1636	1636	RANSFERRAL OFAUTHORITYOVEROBSERVERS 24
1637	1637	TO THEATTORNEYGENERAL.— 25
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1640	1640	•HR 14 IH
1641	1641	(1) ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS .—Section 1
1642	1642	3(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 2
1643	1643	10302(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘United States 3
1644	1644	Civil Service Commission in accordance with section 4
1645	1645	6’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General in accordance 5
1646	1646	with section 8’’. 6
1647	1647	(2) O
1648	1648	BSERVERS; APPOINTMENT AND COM -7
1649	1649	PENSATION.—Section 8 of the Voting Rights Act of 8
1650	1650	1965 (52 U.S.C. 10305) is amended— 9
1651	1651	(A) in subsection (a)(2), in the matter fol-10
1652	1652	lowing subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘Director 11
1653	1653	of the Office of Personnel Management shall as-12
1654	1654	sign as many observers for such subdivision as 13
1655	1655	the Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General 14
1656	1656	shall assign as many observers for such subdivi-15
1657	1657	sion as the Attorney General’’; and 16
1658	1658	(B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Director 17
1659	1659	of the Office of Personnel Management’’ and 18
1660	1660	inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’. 19
1661	1661	(3) T
1662	1662	ERMINATION OF CERTAIN APPOINTMENTS 20
1663	1663	OF OBSERVERS.—Section 13(a)(1) of the Voting 21
1664	1664	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10309(a)(1)) is 22
1665	1665	amended by striking ‘‘notifies the Director of the Of-23
1666	1666	fice of Personnel Management,’’ and inserting ‘‘de-24
1667	1667	termines,’’. 25
1668	1668	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
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1670	1670	•HR 14 IH
1671	1671	SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO SEEK RELIEF. 1
1672	1672	(a) P
1673	1673	OLLTAX.—Section 10(b) of the Voting Rights 2
1674	1674	Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10306(b)) is amended by striking 3
1675	1675	‘‘the Attorney General is authorized and directed to insti-4
1676	1676	tute forthwith in the name of the United States such ac-5
1677	1677	tions’’ and inserting ‘‘an aggrieved person or (in the name 6
1678	1678	of the United States) the Attorney General may institute 7
1679	1679	such actions’’. 8
1680	1680	(b) C
1681	1681	AUSE OFACTION.—Section 12(d) of the Voting 9
1682	1682	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10308(d)) is amended— 10
1683	1683	(1) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person has en-11
1684	1684	gaged’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in the name of 12
1685	1685	the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Whenever 13
1686	1686	there are reasonable grounds to believe that any per-14
1687	1687	son has implemented or will implement any voting 15
1688	1688	qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, 16
1689	1689	practice, or procedure that would (A) deny any cit-17
1690	1690	izen the right to vote in violation of the 14th, 15th, 18
1691	1691	19th, 24th, or 26th Amendments, or (B) would vio-19
1692	1692	late this Act (except for section 4A) or any other 20
1693	1693	Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the 21
1694	1694	basis of race, color, or membership in a language 22
1695	1695	minority group in the voting process, an aggrieved 23
1696	1696	person or (in the name of the United States) the At-24
1697	1697	torney General may institute’’; and 25
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1700	1700	•HR 14 IH
1701	1701	(2) by striking ‘‘, and including an order di-1
1702	1702	rected to the State and State or local election offi-2
1703	1703	cials to require them (1) to permit persons listed 3
1704	1704	under chapters 103 to 107 of this title to vote and 4
1705	1705	(2) to count such votes’’. 5
1706	1706	(c) J
1707	1707	UDICIALRELIEF.—Section 204 of the Voting 6
1708	1708	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10504) is amended by 7
1709	1709	striking ‘‘Whenever the Attorney General has reason to 8
1710	1710	believe’’ and all that follows through ‘‘as he deems appro-9
1711	1711	priate’’ and inserting ‘‘Whenever there are reasonable 10
1712	1712	grounds to believe that a State or political subdivision has 11
1713	1713	engaged or is about to engage in any act or practice pro-12
1714	1714	hibited by a provision of title II, an aggrieved person or 13
1715	1715	(in the name of the United States) the Attorney General 14
1716	1716	may institute an action in a district court of the United 15
1717	1717	States, for a restraining order, a preliminary or perma-16
1718	1718	nent injunction, or such other order as may be appro-17
1719	1719	priate’’. 18
1720	1720	(d) E
1721	1721	NFORCEMENT OF TWENTY-SIXTHAMEND-19
1722	1722	MENT.—Section 301(a)(1) of the Voting Rights Act of 20
1723	1723	1965 (52 U.S.C. 10701) is amended by striking ‘‘The At-21
1724	1724	torney General is directed to institute’’ and all that follows 22
1725	1725	through ‘‘Constitution of the United States’’ and inserting 23
1726	1726	‘‘An aggrieved person or (in the name of the United 24
1727	1727	States) the Attorney General may institute an action in 25
1728	1728	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1729	1729	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 57
1730	1730	•HR 14 IH
1731	1731	a district court of the United States, for a restraining 1
1732	1732	order, a preliminary or permanent injunction, or such 2
1733	1733	other order as may be appropriate to implement the twen-3
1734	1734	ty-sixth amendment to the Constitution of the United 4
1735	1735	States’’. 5
1736	1736	SEC. 10. PREVENTIVE RELIEF. 6
1737	1737	Section 12(d) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 7
1738	1738	U.S.C. 10308(d)), as amended by section 9, is further 8
1739	1739	amended by adding at the end the following: 9
1740	1740	‘‘(2)(A) In considering any motion for preliminary re-10
1741	1741	lief in any action for preventive relief described in this sub-11
1742	1742	section, the court shall grant the relief if the court deter-12
1743	1743	mines that the complainant has raised a serious question 13
1744	1744	as to whether the challenged voting qualification or pre-14
1745	1745	requisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure vio-15
1746	1746	lates this Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the 16
1747	1747	hardship imposed on the defendant by the grant of the 17
1748	1748	relief will be less than the hardship which would be im-18
1749	1749	posed on the plaintiff if the relief were not granted. 19
1750	1750	‘‘(B) In making its determination under this para-20
1751	1751	graph with respect to a change in any voting qualification, 21
1752	1752	prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure 22
1753	1753	with respect to voting, the court shall consider all relevant 23
1754	1754	factors and give due weight to the following factors, if they 24
1755	1755	are present: 25
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1757	1757	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 58
1758	1758	•HR 14 IH
1759	1759	‘‘(i) Whether the qualification, prerequisite, 1
1760	1760	standard, practice, or procedure in effect prior to the 2
1761	1761	change was adopted as a remedy for a Federal court 3
1762	1762	judgment, consent decree, or admission regarding— 4
1763	1763	‘‘(I) discrimination on the basis of race or 5
1764	1764	color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend-6
1765	1765	ment; 7
1766	1766	‘‘(II) a violation of the 19th, 24th, or 26th 8
1767	1767	Amendments; 9
1768	1768	‘‘(III) a violation of this Act; or 10
1769	1769	‘‘(IV) voting discrimination on the basis of 11
1770	1770	race, color, or membership in a language minor-12
1771	1771	ity group in violation of any other Federal or 13
1772	1772	State law. 14
1773	1773	‘‘(ii) Whether the qualification, prerequisite, 15
1774	1774	standard, practice, or procedure in effect prior to the 16
1775	1775	change served as a ground for the dismissal or set-17
1776	1776	tlement of a claim alleging— 18
1777	1777	‘‘(I) discrimination on the basis of race or 19
1778	1778	color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend-20
1779	1779	ment; 21
1780	1780	‘‘(II) a violation of the 19th, 24th, or 26th 22
1781	1781	Amendment; 23
1782	1782	‘‘(III) a violation of this Act; or 24
1783	1783	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1784	1784	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 59
1785	1785	•HR 14 IH
1786	1786	‘‘(IV) voting discrimination on the basis of 1
1787	1787	race, color, or membership in a language minor-2
1788	1788	ity group in violation of any other Federal or 3
1789	1789	State law. 4
1790	1790	‘‘(iii) Whether the change was adopted fewer 5
1791	1791	than 180 days before the date of the election with 6
1792	1792	respect to which the change is to take or takes ef-7
1793	1793	fect. 8
1794	1794	‘‘(iv) Whether the defendant has failed to pro-9
1795	1795	vide timely or complete notice of the adoption of the 10
1796	1796	change as required by applicable Federal or State 11
1797	1797	law. 12
1798	1798	‘‘(3) A jurisdiction’s inability to enforce its voting or 13
1799	1799	election laws, regulations, policies, or redistricting plans, 14
1800	1800	standing alone, shall not be deemed to constitute irrep-15
1801	1801	arable harm to the public interest or to the interests of 16
1802	1802	a defendant in an action arising under the Constitution 17
1803	1803	or any Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the 18
1804	1804	basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 19
1805	1805	group in the voting process, for the purposes of deter-20
1806	1806	mining whether a stay of a court’s order or an interlocu-21
1807	1807	tory appeal under section 1253 of title 28, United States 22
1808	1808	Code, is warranted.’’. 23
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1810	1810	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 60
1811	1811	•HR 14 IH
1812	1812	SEC. 11. RELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS 1
1813	1813	LAWS. 2
1814	1814	(a) I
1815	1815	NGENERAL.— 3
1816	1816	(1) R
1817	1817	ELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF VOTING 4
1818	1818	RIGHTS LAWS.—In this section, the term ‘‘prohibited 5
1819	1819	act or practice’’ means— 6
1820	1820	(A) any act or practice— 7
1821	1821	(i) that creates an undue burden on 8
1822	1822	the fundamental right to vote in violation 9
1823	1823	of the 14th Amendment to the Constitu-10
1824	1824	tion of the United States or violates the 11
1825	1825	Equal Protection Clause of the 14th 12
1826	1826	Amendment to the Constitution of the 13
1827	1827	United States; or 14
1828	1828	(ii) that is prohibited by the 15th, 15
1829	1829	19th, 24th, or 26th Amendment to the 16
1830	1830	Constitution of the United States, section 17
1831	1831	2004 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 18
1832	1832	10101), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 19
1833	1833	U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter 20
1834	1834	Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 21
1835	1835	20501 et seq.), the Uniformed and Over-22
1836	1836	seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 23
1837	1837	U.S.C. 20301 et seq.), the Help America 24
1838	1838	Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et 25
1839	1839	seq.), the Voting Accessibility for the El-26
1840	1840	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1841	1841	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 61
1842	1842	•HR 14 IH
1843	1843	derly and Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 1
1844	1844	20101 et seq.), or section 2003 of the Re-2
1845	1845	vised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10102); and 3
1846	1846	(B) any act or practice in violation of any 4
1847	1847	Federal law that prohibits discrimination with 5
1848	1848	respect to voting, including the Americans with 6
1849	1849	Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 7
1850	1850	seq.). 8
1851	1851	(2) R
1852	1852	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this 9
1853	1853	section shall be construed to diminish the authority 10
1854	1854	or scope of authority of any person to bring an ac-11
1855	1855	tion under any Federal law. 12
1856	1856	(3) A
1857	1857	TTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 722(b) of the 13
1858	1858	Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by 14
1859	1859	inserting ‘‘a provision described in section 2(a) of 15
1860	1860	the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 16
1861	1861	of 2023,’’ after ‘‘title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 17
1862	1862	1964,’’. 18
1863	1863	(b) G
1864	1864	ROUNDS FOREQUITABLERELIEF.—In any ac-19
1865	1865	tion for equitable relief pursuant to a law listed under sub-20
1866	1866	section (a), proximity of the action to an election shall not 21
1867	1867	be a valid reason to deny such relief, or stay the operation 22
1868	1868	of or vacate the issuance of such relief, unless the party 23
1869	1869	opposing the issuance or continued operation of relief 24
1870	1870	meets the burden of proving by clear and convincing evi-25
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1872	1872	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 62
1873	1873	•HR 14 IH
1874	1874	dence that the issuance of the relief would be so close in 1
1875	1875	time to the election as to cause irreparable harm to the 2
1876	1876	public interest or that compliance with such relief would 3
1877	1877	impose serious burdens on the party opposing relief. 4
1878	1878	(1) I
1879	1879	N GENERAL.—In considering whether to 5
1880	1880	grant, deny, stay, or vacate any order of equitable 6
1881	1881	relief, the court shall give substantial weight to the 7
1882	1882	public’s interest in expanding access to the right to 8
1883	1883	vote. A State’s generalized interest in enforcing its 9
1884	1884	enacted laws shall not be a relevant consideration in 10
1885	1885	determining whether equitable relief is warranted. 11
1886	1886	(2) P
1887	1887	RESUMPTIVE SAFE HARBOR .—Where equi-12
1888	1888	table relief is sought either within 30 days of the 13
1889	1889	adoption or reasonable public notice of the chal-14
1890	1890	lenged policy or practice, or more than 45 days be-15
1891	1891	fore the date of an election to which the relief being 16
1892	1892	sought will apply, proximity to the election will be 17
1893	1893	presumed not to constitute a harm to the public in-18
1894	1894	terest or a burden on the party opposing relief. 19
1895	1895	(c) G
1896	1896	ROUNDS FORSTAY ORVACATUR INFEDERAL 20
1897	1897	C
1898	1898	LAIMSINVOLVINGVOTINGRIGHTS.— 21
1899	1899	(1) P
1900	1900	ROSPECTIVE EFFECT .—In reviewing an 22
1901	1901	application for a stay or vacatur of equitable relief 23
1902	1902	granted pursuant to a law listed in subsection (a), 24
1903	1903	a court shall give substantial weight to the reliance 25
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1905	1905	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 63
1906	1906	•HR 14 IH
1907	1907	interests of citizens who acted pursuant to such 1
1908	1908	order under review. In fashioning a stay or vacatur, 2
1909	1909	a reviewing court shall not order relief that has the 3
1910	1910	effect of denying or abridging the right to vote of 4
1911	1911	any citizen who has acted in reliance on the order. 5
1912	1912	(2) W
1913	1913	RITTEN EXPLANATION .—No stay or 6
1914	1914	vacatur under this subsection shall issue unless the 7
1915	1915	reviewing court makes specific findings that the pub-8
1916	1916	lic interest, including the public’s interest in expand-9
1917	1917	ing access to the ballot, will be harmed by the con-10
1918	1918	tinuing operation of the equitable relief or that com-11
1919	1919	pliance with such relief will impose serious burdens 12
1920	1920	on the party seeking such a stay or vacatur such 13
1921	1921	that those burdens substantially outweigh the bene-14
1922	1922	fits to the public interest. In reviewing an applica-15
1923	1923	tion for a stay or vacatur of equitable relief, findings 16
1924	1924	of fact made in issuing the order under review shall 17
1925	1925	not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. 18
1926	1926	SEC. 12. ENFORCEMENT OF VOTING RIGHTS BY ATTORNEY 19
1927	1927	GENERAL. 20
1928	1928	Section 12 of the Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C. 21
1929	1929	10308), as amended by this Act, is further amended by 22
1930	1930	adding at the end the following: 23
1931	1931	‘‘(g) V
1932	1932	OTINGRIGHTSENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY 24
1933	1933	G
1934	1934	ENERAL.— 25
1935	1935	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1936	1936	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 64
1937	1937	•HR 14 IH
1938	1938	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to fulfill the At-1
1939	1939	torney General’s responsibility to enforce the Voting 2
1940	1940	Rights Act and other Federal civil rights statutes 3
1941	1941	that protect the right to vote, the Attorney General 4
1942	1942	(or upon designation by the Attorney General, the 5
1943	1943	Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights) is au-6
1944	1944	thorized, before commencing a civil action, to issue 7
1945	1945	a demand for inspection and information in writing 8
1946	1946	to any State or political subdivision, or other govern-9
1947	1947	mental representative or agent, with respect to any 10
1948	1948	relevant documentary material that he has reason to 11
1949	1949	believe is within their possession, custody, or control. 12
1950	1950	A demand by the Attorney General under this sec-13
1951	1951	tion may require— 14
1952	1952	‘‘(A) the production of such documentary 15
1953	1953	material for inspection and copying; 16
1954	1954	‘‘(B) answers in writing to written ques-17
1955	1955	tions with respect to such documentary mate-18
1956	1956	rial; or 19
1957	1957	‘‘(C) both. 20
1958	1958	‘‘(2) C
1959	1959	ONTENTS OF AN ATTORNEY GENERAL 21
1960	1960	DEMAND.— 22
1961	1961	‘‘(A) I
1962	1962	N GENERAL.—Any demand issued 23
1963	1963	under paragraph (1), shall include a sworn cer-24
1964	1964	tificate to identify the voting qualification or 25
1965	1965	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
1966	1966	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 65
1967	1967	•HR 14 IH
1968	1968	prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 1
1969	1969	procedure with respect to voting, or other vot-2
1970	1970	ing related matter or issue, whose lawfulness 3
1971	1971	the Attorney General is investigating and to 4
1972	1972	identify the civil provisions of the Federal civil 5
1973	1973	rights statute that protects the right to vote 6
1974	1974	under which the investigation is being con-7
1975	1975	ducted. The demand shall be reasonably cal-8
1976	1976	culated to lead to the discovery of documentary 9
1977	1977	material and information relevant to such civil 10
1978	1978	rights investigation. Documentary material in-11
1979	1979	cludes any material upon which relevant infor-12
1980	1980	mation is recorded, and includes written or 13
1981	1981	printed materials, photographs, tapes, or mate-14
1982	1982	rials upon which information is electronically or 15
1983	1983	magnetically recorded. Such demands are aimed 16
1984	1984	at the Attorney General having the ability to in-17
1985	1985	spect and obtain copies of relevant materials (as 18
1986	1986	well as obtain information) related to voting 19
1987	1987	and are not aimed at the Attorney General tak-20
1988	1988	ing possession of original records, particularly 21
1989	1989	those that are required to be retained by State 22
1990	1990	and local election officials under Federal or 23
1991	1991	State law. 24
1992	1992	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00065 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
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1994	1994	•HR 14 IH
1995	1995	‘‘(B) NO REQUIREMENT FOR PRODUC -1
1996	1996	TION.—Any demand issued under paragraph 2
1997	1997	(1) may not require the production of any docu-3
1998	1998	mentary material or the submission of any an-4
1999	1999	swers in writing to written questions if such 5
2000	2000	material or answers would be protected from 6
2001	2001	disclosure under the standards applicable to 7
2002	2002	discovery requests under the Federal Rules of 8
2003	2003	Civil Procedure in an action in which the Attor-9
2004	2004	ney General or the United States is a party. 10
2005	2005	‘‘(C) D
2006	2006	OCUMENTARY MATERIAL .—If the 11
2007	2007	demand issued under paragraph (1) requires 12
2008	2008	the production of documentary material, it 13
2009	2009	shall— 14
2010	2010	‘‘(i) identify the class of documentary 15
2011	2011	material to be produced with such definite-16
2012	2012	ness and certainty as to permit such mate-17
2013	2013	rial to be fairly identified; and 18
2014	2014	‘‘(ii) prescribe a return date for pro-19
2015	2015	duction of the documentary material at 20
2016	2016	least twenty days after issuance of the de-21
2017	2017	mand to give the State or political subdivi-22
2018	2018	sion, or other governmental representative 23
2019	2019	or agent, a reasonable period of time for 24
2020	2020	assembling the documentary material and 25
2021	2021	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
2022	2022	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 67
2023	2023	•HR 14 IH
2024	2024	making it available for inspection and 1
2025	2025	copying. 2
2026	2026	‘‘(D) A
2027	2027	NSWERS TO WRITTEN QUES -3
2028	2028	TIONS.—If the demand issued under paragraph 4
2029	2029	(1) requires answers in writing to written ques-5
2030	2030	tions, it shall— 6
2031	2031	‘‘(i) set forth with specificity the writ-7
2032	2032	ten question to be answered; and 8
2033	2033	‘‘(ii) prescribe a date at least twenty 9
2034	2034	days after the issuance of the demand for 10
2035	2035	submitting answers in writing to the writ-11
2036	2036	ten questions. 12
2037	2037	‘‘(E) S
2038	2038	ERVICE.—A demand issued under 13
2039	2039	paragraph (1) may be served by a United 14
2040	2040	States marshal or a deputy marshal, or by cer-15
2041	2041	tified mail, at any place within the territorial 16
2042	2042	jurisdiction of any court of the United States. 17
2043	2043	‘‘(3) R
2044	2044	ESPONSES TO AN ATTORNEY GENERAL 18
2045	2045	DEMAND.—A State or political subdivision, or other 19
2046	2046	governmental representative or agent, must, with re-20
2047	2047	spect to any documentary material or any answer in 21
2048	2048	writing produced under this subsection, provide a 22
2049	2049	sworn certificate, in such form as the demand issued 23
2050	2050	under paragraph (1) designates, by a person having 24
2051	2051	knowledge of the facts and circumstances relating to 25
2052	2052	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
2053	2053	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 68
2054	2054	•HR 14 IH
2055	2055	such production or written answer, authorized to act 1
2056	2056	on behalf of the State or political subdivision, or 2
2057	2057	other governmental representative or agent, upon 3
2058	2058	which the demand was served. The certificate— 4
2059	2059	‘‘(A) shall state that— 5
2060	2060	‘‘(i) all of the documentary material 6
2061	2061	required by the demand and in the posses-7
2062	2062	sion, custody, or control of the State or po-8
2063	2063	litical subdivision, or other governmental 9
2064	2064	representative or agent, has been produced; 10
2065	2065	‘‘(ii) that with respect to every answer 11
2066	2066	in writing to a written question, all infor-12
2067	2067	mation required by the question and in the 13
2068	2068	possession, custody, control, or knowledge 14
2069	2069	of the State or political subdivision, or 15
2070	2070	other governmental representative or 16
2071	2071	agent, has been submitted; or 17
2072	2072	‘‘(iii) both; or 18
2073	2073	‘‘(B) provide the basis for any objection to 19
2074	2074	producing the documentary material or answer-20
2075	2075	ing the written question. 21
2076	2076	To the extent that any information is not furnished, 22
2077	2077	the information shall be identified and reasons set 23
2078	2078	forth with particularity regarding the reasons why 24
2079	2079	the information was not furnished. 25
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2081	2081	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 69
2082	2082	•HR 14 IH
2083	2083	‘‘(4) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.— 1
2084	2084	‘‘(A) P
2085	2085	ETITION FOR ENFORCEMENT .— 2
2086	2086	Whenever any State or political subdivision, or 3
2087	2087	other governmental representative or agent, 4
2088	2088	fails to comply with demand issued by the At-5
2089	2089	torney General under paragraph (1), the Attor-6
2090	2090	ney General may file, in a district court of the 7
2091	2091	United States in which the State or political 8
2092	2092	subdivision, or other governmental representa-9
2093	2093	tive or agent, is located, a petition for a judicial 10
2094	2094	order enforcing the Attorney General demand 11
2095	2095	issued under paragraph (1). 12
2096	2096	‘‘(B) P
2097	2097	ETITION TO MODIFY.— 13
2098	2098	‘‘(i) I
2099	2099	N GENERAL.—Any State or po-14
2100	2100	litical subdivision, or other governmental 15
2101	2101	representative or agent, that is served with 16
2102	2102	a demand issued by the Attorney General 17
2103	2103	under paragraph (1) may file in the United 18
2104	2104	States District Court for the District of 19
2105	2105	Columbia a petition for an order of the 20
2106	2106	court to modify or set aside the demand of 21
2107	2107	the Attorney General. 22
2108	2108	‘‘(ii) P
2109	2109	ETITION TO MODIFY.—Any pe-23
2110	2110	tition to modify or set aside a demand of 24
2111	2111	the Attorney General issued under para-25
2112	2112	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
2113	2113	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 70
2114	2114	•HR 14 IH
2115	2115	graph (1) must be filed within 20 days 1
2116	2116	after the date of service of the Attorney 2
2117	2117	General’s demand or at any time before 3
2118	2118	the return date specified in the Attorney 4
2119	2119	General’s demand, whichever date is ear-5
2120	2120	lier. 6
2121	2121	‘‘(iii) C
2122	2122	ONTENTS OF PETITION .—The 7
2123	2123	petition shall specify each ground upon 8
2124	2124	which the petitioner relies in seeking relief 9
2125	2125	under clause (i), and may be based upon 10
2126	2126	any failure of the Attorney General’s de-11
2127	2127	mand to comply with the provisions of this 12
2128	2128	section or upon any constitutional or other 13
2129	2129	legal right or privilege of the State or po-14
2130	2130	litical subdivision, or other governmental 15
2131	2131	representative or agent. During the pend-16
2132	2132	ency of the petition in the court, the court 17
2133	2133	may stay, as it deems proper, the running 18
2134	2134	of the time allowed for compliance with the 19
2135	2135	Attorney General’s demand, in whole or in 20
2136	2136	part, except that the State or political sub-21
2137	2137	division, or other governmental representa-22
2138	2138	tive or agent, filing the petition shall com-23
2139	2139	ply with any portions of the Attorney Gen-24
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2142	2142	•HR 14 IH
2143	2143	eral’s demand not sought to be modified or 1
2144	2144	set aside.’’. 2
2145	2145	SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS. 3
2146	2146	Title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 4
2147	2147	10301) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5
2148	2148	‘‘SEC. 21. DEFINITIONS. 6
2149	2149	‘‘In this Act: 7
2150	2150	‘‘(1) I
2151	2151	NDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ has the mean-8
2152	2152	ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self- 9
2153	2153	Determination and Education Assistance Act. 10
2154	2154	‘‘(2) I
2155	2155	NDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘Indian lands’ 11
2156	2156	means— 12
2157	2157	‘‘(A) any Indian country of an Indian 13
2158	2158	tribe, as such term is defined in section 1151 14
2159	2159	of title 18, United States Code; 15
2160	2160	‘‘(B) any land in Alaska that is owned, 16
2161	2161	pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle-17
2162	2162	ment Act, by an Indian tribe that is a Native 18
2163	2163	village (as such term is defined in section 3 of 19
2164	2164	such Act), or by a Village Corporation that is 20
2165	2165	associated with the Indian tribe (as such term 21
2166	2166	is defined in section 3 of such Act); 22
2167	2167	‘‘(C) any land on which the seat of govern-23
2168	2168	ment of the Indian tribe is located; and 24
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2171	2171	•HR 14 IH
2172	2172	‘‘(D) any land that is part or all of a tribal 1
2173	2173	designated statistical area associated with the 2
2174	2174	Indian tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na-3
2175	2175	tive village statistical area associated with the 4
2176	2176	tribe, as defined by the Bureau of the Census 5
2177	2177	for the purposes of the most recent decennial 6
2178	2178	census. 7
2179	2179	‘‘(3) I
2180	2180	NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ or 8
2181	2181	‘tribe’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ 9
2182	2182	in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 10
2183	2183	Education Assistance Act. 11
2184	2184	‘‘(4) T
2185	2185	RIBAL GOVERNMENT .—The term ‘Tribal 12
2186	2186	Government’ means the recognized governing body 13
2187	2187	of an Indian Tribe. 14
2188	2188	‘‘(5) V
2189	2189	OTING-AGE POPULATION .—The term 15
2190	2190	‘voting-age population’ means the numerical size of 16
2191	2191	the population within a State, within a political sub-17
2192	2192	division, or within a political subdivision that con-18
2193	2193	tains Indian lands, as the case may be, that consists 19
2194	2194	of persons age 18 or older, as calculated by the Bu-20
2195	2195	reau of the Census under the most recent decennial 21
2196	2196	census.’’. 22
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2199	2199	•HR 14 IH
2200	2200	SEC. 14. ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 1
2201	2201	Section 14(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 2
2202	2202	U.S.C. 10310(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 3
2203	2203	following: 4
2204	2204	‘‘(4) The term ‘prevailing party’ means a party to an 5
2205	2205	action that receives at least some of the benefit sought 6
2206	2206	by such action, states a colorable claim, and can establish 7
2207	2207	that the action was a significant cause of a change to the 8
2208	2208	status quo.’’. 9
2209	2209	SEC. 15. OTHER TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND-10
2210	2210	MENTS. 11
2211	2211	(a) A
2212	2212	CTIONSCOVEREDUNDERSECTION3.—Section 12
2213	2213	3(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 13
2214	2214	10302(c)) is amended— 14
2215	2215	(1) by striking ‘‘any proceeding instituted by 15
2216	2216	the Attorney General or an aggrieved person under 16
2217	2217	any statute to enforce’’ and inserting ‘‘any action 17
2218	2218	under any statute in which a party (including the 18
2219	2219	Attorney General) seeks to enforce’’; and 19
2220	2220	(2) by striking ‘‘at the time the proceeding was 20
2221	2221	commenced’’ and inserting ‘‘at the time the action 21
2222	2222	was commenced’’. 22
2223	2223	(b) C
2224	2224	LARIFICATION OFTREATMENT OFMEMBERS OF 23
2225	2225	L
2226	2226	ANGUAGEMINORITYGROUPS.—Section 4(f) of such Act 24
2227	2227	(52 U.S.C. 10303(f)) is amended— 25
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2230	2230	•HR 14 IH
2231	2231	(1) in paragraph (1), by striking the second 1
2232	2232	sentence; and 2
2233	2233	(2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 3
2234	2234	(c) P
2235	2235	ERIODDURINGWHICHCHANGES INVOTING 4
2236	2236	P
2237	2237	RACTICESARESUBJECT TOPRECLEARANCE UNDER 5
2238	2238	S
2239	2239	ECTION5.—Section 5 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10304) 6
2240	2240	is amended— 7
2241	2241	(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘based upon 8
2242	2242	determinations made under the first sentence of sec-9
2243	2243	tion 4(b) are in effect’’ and inserting ‘‘are in effect 10
2244	2244	during a calendar year’’; 11
2245	2245	(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘November 1, 12
2246	2246	1964’’ and all that follows through ‘‘November 1, 13
2247	2247	1972’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable date of cov-14
2248	2248	erage’’; and 15
2249	2249	(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-16
2250	2250	section: 17
2251	2251	‘‘(e) The term ‘applicable date of coverage’ means, 18
2252	2252	with respect to a State or political subdivision— 19
2253	2253	‘‘(1) June 25, 2013, if the most recent deter-20
2254	2254	mination for such State or subdivision under section 21
2255	2255	4(b) was made on or before December 31, 2021; or 22
2256	2256	‘‘(2) the date on which the most recent deter-23
2257	2257	mination for such State or subdivision under section 24
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2260	2260	•HR 14 IH
2261	2261	4(b) was made, if such determination was made 1
2262	2262	after December 31, 2021.’’. 2
2263	2263	SEC. 16. SEVERABILITY. 3
2264	2264	If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 4
2265	2265	by this Act, or the application of such a provision or 5
2266	2266	amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be 6
2267	2267	unconstitutional or is otherwise enjoined or unenforceable, 7
2268	2268	the remainder of this Act and amendments made by this 8
2269	2269	Act, and the application of the provisions and amendment 9
2270	2270	to any person or circumstance, and any remaining provi-10
2271	2271	sion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, shall not be af-11
2272	2272	fected by the holding. 12
2273	2273	SEC. 17. GRANTS TO ASSIST WITH NOTICE REQUIREMENTS 13
2274	2274	UNDER THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. 14
2275	2275	(a) I
2276	2276	NGENERAL.—The Attorney General shall make 15
2277	2277	grants each fiscal year to small jurisdictions who submit 16
2278	2278	applications under subsection (b) for purposes of assisting 17
2279	2279	such small jurisdictions with compliance with the require-18
2280	2280	ments of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to submit or pub-19
2281	2281	lish notice of any change to a qualification, prerequisite, 20
2282	2282	standard, practice or procedure affecting voting. 21
2283	2283	(b) A
2284	2284	PPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 22
2285	2285	this section, a small jurisdiction shall submit an applica-23
2286	2286	tion to the Attorney General in such form and containing 24
2287	2287	such information as the Attorney General may require re-25
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2290	2290	•HR 14 IH
2291	2291	garding the compliance of such small jurisdiction with the 1
2292	2292	provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 2
2293	2293	(c) S
2294	2294	MALLJURISDICTIONDEFINED.—For purposes 3
2295	2295	of this section, the term ‘‘small jurisdiction’’ means any 4
2296	2296	political subdivision of a State with a population of 10,000 5
2297	2297	or less. 6
2298	2298	Æ
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