Us Congress 2025-2026 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	119THCONGRESS
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	MARCH5, 2025
10	10	Ms. S
11	11	EWELL(for herself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. CLARKof Massachusetts, Mr.
12	12	A
13	13	GUILAR, Mr. LIEU, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mr.
14	14	E
15	15	SPAILLAT, Ms. MENG, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. VEASEY, Mr.
16	16	S
17	17	COTTof Virginia, Ms. WILLIAMSof Georgia, Mr. FIGURES, Ms. ADAMS,
18	18	Mr. A
19	19	MO, Ms. ANSARI, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BALINT, Ms. BARRAGA´N,
20	20	Mrs. B
21	21	EATTY, Mr. BELL, Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP, Ms.
22	22	B
23	23	ONAMICI, Mr. BOYLEof Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY,
24	24	Ms. B
25	25	UDZINSKI, Ms. BYNUM, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTER
26	26	of Louisiana, Mr. C
27	27	ASAR, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CASTORof Flor-
28	28	ida, Mr. C
29	29	ASTROof Texas, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CHU, Mr.
30	30	C
31	31	ISNEROS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr.
32	32	C
33	33	ONNOLLY, Mr. CORREA, Mr. COSTA, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. CRAIG, Ms.
34	34	C
35	35	ROCKETT, Mr. CROW, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. DAVIDSof Kansas, Mr. DAVIS
36	36	of Illinois, Mr. D
37	37	AVISof North Carolina, Ms. DEANof Pennsylvania, Ms.
38	38	D
39	39	EGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr.
40	40	D
41	41	ESAULNIER, Ms. DEXTER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms.
42	42	E
43	43	LFRETH, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. EVANSof Pennsylvania, Mr. FIELDS, Mrs.
44	44	F
45	45	LETCHER, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. LOISFRANKELof Florida,
46	46	Ms. F
47	47	RIEDMAN, Mr. FROST, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI´Aof Illinois, Mr.
48	48	G
49	49	ARCIAof California, Ms. GARCIAof Texas, Ms. GILLEN, Mr. GOLDEN
50	50	of Maine, Mr. G
51	51	OLDMANof New York, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. VICENTEGON-
52	52	ZALEZof Texas, Ms. GOODLANDER, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GRAY, Mr.
53	53	G
54	54	REENof Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HARDERof California, Mrs. HAYES,
55	55	Mr. H
56	56	ERNA´NDEZ, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr.
57	57	H
58	58	OYER, Ms. HOYLEof Oregon, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. IVEY, Mr. JACKSON
59	59	of Illinois, Ms. J
60	60	ACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Ms.
61	61	J
62	62	OHNSONof Texas, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING,
63	63	Ms. K
64	64	ELLYof Illinois, Mr. KENNEDYof New York, Mr. KHANNA, Mr.
65	65	K
66	66	RISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Mr.
67	67	L
68	68	ARSONof Connecticut, Mr. LATIMER, Ms. LEEof Pennsylvania, Ms.
69	69	L
70	70	EEof Nevada, Ms. LEGERFERNANDEZ, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LICCARDO,
71	71	Ms. L
72	72	OFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. MANNION, Ms. MAT-
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75	75	•HR 14 IH
76	76	SUI, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCBRIDE, Mrs. MCCLAINDELANEY, Ms.
77	77	M
78	78	CCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MCDONALDRIVET, Mr. MCGARVEY,
79	79	Mr. M
80	80	CGOVERN, Mrs. MCIVER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr.
81	81	M
82	82	FUME, Mr. MIN, Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin, Ms. MORRISON, Mr.
83	83	M
84	84	OSKOWITZ, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER,
85	85	Mr. N
86	86	EAL, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr.
87	87	O
88	88	LSZEWSKI, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms.
89	89	P
90	90	ELOSI, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PETTERSEN, Ms. PINGREE, Ms.
91	91	P
92	92	LASKETT, Mr. POCAN, Ms. POU, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs.
93	93	R
94	94	AMIREZ, Ms. RANDALL, Mr. RILEYof New York, Ms. RIVAS, Ms. ROSS,
95	95	Mr. R
96	96	UIZ, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms.
97	97	S
98	98	CHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr.
99	99	D
100	100	AVIDSCOTTof Georgia, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. SIMON, Mr.
101	101	S
102	102	MITHof Washington, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. SOTO, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr.
103	103	S
104	104	TANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SUBRAMANYAM, Mr.
105	105	S
106	106	UOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL, Mrs. SYKES, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr.
107	107	T
108	108	HOMPSONof Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSONof California, Ms. TITUS, Ms.
109	109	T
110	110	LAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRESof California, Mr.
111	111	T
112	112	ORRESof New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRAN, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr.
113	113	V
114	114	ARGAS, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. VINDMAN, Ms.
115	115	W
116	116	ASSERMANSCHULTZ, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Mr.
117	117	W
118	118	HITESIDES, and Ms. WILSONof Florida) introduced the following bill;
119	119	which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
120	120	A BILL
121	121	To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the
122	122	criteria for determining which States and political sub-
123	123	divisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for
124	124	other purposes.
125	125	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
126	126	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
127	127	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
128	128	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘John R. Lewis Voting 4
129	129	Rights Advancement Act of 2025’’. 5
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132	132	•HR 14 IH
133	133	SEC. 2. VOTE DILUTION, DENIAL, AND ABRIDGMENT 1
134	134	CLAIMS. 2
135	135	(a) I
136	136	NGENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Voting Rights 3
137	137	Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301(a)) is amended— 4
138	138	(1) by inserting after ‘‘applied by any State or 5
139	139	political subdivision’’ the following: ‘‘for the purpose 6
140	140	of, or’’; and 7
141	141	(2) by striking ‘‘as provided in subsection (b)’’ 8
142	142	and inserting ‘‘as provided in subsection (b), (c), (d), 9
143	143	or (f)’’. 10
144	144	(b) V
145	145	OTEDILUTION.—Section 2(b) of such Act (52 11
146	146	U.S.C. 10301(b)) is amended— 12
147	147	(1) by inserting after ‘‘A violation of subsection 13
148	148	(a)’’ the following: ‘‘for vote dilution’’; 14
149	149	(2) by inserting after the period at the end the 15
150	150	following: ‘‘For the purposes of this subsection:’’; 16
151	151	(3) by adding at the end the following new 17
152	152	paragraphs: 18
153	153	‘‘(1) To prevail in demonstrating that a rep-19
154	154	resentational, districting, or apportionment scheme 20
155	155	results in vote dilution, a plaintiff shall, as a thresh-21
156	156	old matter, establish that— 22
157	157	‘‘(A) the members of the protected class 23
158	158	are sufficiently numerous and geographically 24
159	159	compact to constitute a majority in a single- 25
160	160	member district; 26
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163	163	•HR 14 IH
164	164	‘‘(B) the members of the protected class 1
165	165	are politically cohesive; and 2
166	166	‘‘(C) the residents of that district who are 3
167	167	not the members of the protected class usually 4
168	168	vote sufficiently as a bloc to enable them to de-5
169	169	feat the preferred candidates of the members of 6
170	170	the protected class. 7
171	171	‘‘(2) Upon a plaintiff establishing the required 8
172	172	threshold showing under paragraph (1), a court shall 9
173	173	conduct a totality of the circumstances analysis with 10
174	174	respect to a claim of vote dilution to determine 11
175	175	whether there was a violation of subsection (a), 12
176	176	which shall include the following factors: 13
177	177	‘‘(A) The extent of any history of official 14
178	178	voting discrimination in the State or political 15
179	179	subdivision that affected the right of members 16
180	180	of the protected class to register, to vote, or 17
181	181	otherwise to participate in the political process. 18
182	182	‘‘(B) The extent to which voting in the 19
183	183	elections of the State or political subdivision is 20
184	184	racially polarized. 21
185	185	‘‘(C) The extent to which the State or po-22
186	186	litical subdivision has used voting practices or 23
187	187	procedures that tend to enhance the oppor-24
188	188	tunity for discrimination against the members 25
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191	191	•HR 14 IH
192	192	of the protected class, such as unusually large 1
193	193	election districts, majority vote requirements, 2
194	194	anti-single shot provisions, or other qualifica-3
195	195	tions, prerequisites, standards, practices, or 4
196	196	procedures that may enhance the opportunity 5
197	197	for discrimination against the members of the 6
198	198	protected class. 7
199	199	‘‘(D) If there is a candidate slating proc-8
200	200	ess, whether the members of the protected class 9
201	201	have been denied access to that process. 10
202	202	‘‘(E) The extent to which members of the 11
203	203	protected class in the State or political subdivi-12
204	204	sion bear the effects of discrimination, both 13
205	205	public or private, in such areas as education, 14
206	206	employment, health, housing, and transpor-15
207	207	tation, which hinder their ability to participate 16
208	208	effectively in the political process. 17
209	209	‘‘(F) Whether political campaigns have 18
210	210	been characterized by overt or subtle racial ap-19
211	211	peals. 20
212	212	‘‘(G) The extent to which members of the 21
213	213	protected class have been elected to public office 22
214	214	in the jurisdiction. 23
215	215	‘‘(3) In conducting a totality of the cir-24
216	216	cumstances analysis under paragraph (2), a court 25
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219	219	•HR 14 IH
220	220	may consider such other factors as the court may 1
221	221	determine to be relevant, including— 2
222	222	‘‘(A) whether there is a significant lack of 3
223	223	responsiveness on the part of elected officials to 4
224	224	the particularized needs of the members of the 5
225	225	protected class, including a lack of concern for 6
226	226	or responsiveness to the requests and proposals 7
227	227	of the members of the protected class, except 8
228	228	that compliance with a court order may not be 9
229	229	considered evidence of responsiveness on the 10
230	230	part of the jurisdiction; and 11
231	231	‘‘(B) whether the policy underlying the 12
232	232	State or political subdivision’s use of such vot-13
233	233	ing qualification, prerequisite to voting, or 14
234	234	standard, practice or procedure is tenuous. 15
235	235	In making this determination, a court shall consider 16
236	236	whether the qualification, prerequisite, standard, 17
237	237	practice, or procedure in question was designed to 18
238	238	advance and materially advances a valid and sub-19
239	239	stantiated State interest. 20
240	240	‘‘(4) A class of citizens protected by subsection 21
241	241	(a) may include a cohesive coalition of members of 22
242	242	different racial or language minority groups.’’; and 23
243	243	(4) V
244	244	OTE DENIAL OR ABRIDGEMENT .—Section 24
245	245	2 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10301), as amended by 25
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248	248	•HR 14 IH
249	249	subsections (a) and (b), is further amended by add-1
250	250	ing at the end the following: 2
251	251	‘‘(c)(1) A violation of subsection (a) resulting in vote 3
252	252	denial or abridgment is established if the challenged quali-4
253	253	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure— 5
254	254	‘‘(A) results or will result in members of a pro-6
255	255	tected class facing greater costs or burdens in par-7
256	256	ticipating in the political process than other voters; 8
257	257	and 9
258	258	‘‘(B) the greater costs or burdens are, at least 10
259	259	in part, caused by or linked to social and historical 11
260	260	conditions that have produced or produce on the 12
261	261	date of such challenge discrimination against mem-13
262	262	bers of the protected class. 14
263	263	In determining the existence of a burden for pur-15
264	264	poses of subparagraph (A), the absolute number or 16
265	265	the percent of voters affected or the presence of vot-17
266	266	ers who are not members of a protected class in the 18
267	267	affected area shall not be dispositive, and the af-19
268	268	fected area may be smaller than the jurisdiction to 20
269	269	which the qualification, prerequisite, standard, prac-21
270	270	tice, or procedure applies. 22
271	271	‘‘(2) The challenged qualification, prerequisite, stand-23
272	272	ard, practice, or procedure need only be a but-for cause 24
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275	275	•HR 14 IH
276	276	of the discriminatory result described in paragraph (1) or 1
277	277	perpetuate a pre-existing burdens or costs. 2
278	278	‘‘(3)(A) The factors that are relevant to a totality of 3
279	279	the circumstances analysis with respect to a claim of vote 4
280	280	denial or abridgement pursuant to this subsection include 5
281	281	the following: 6
282	282	‘‘(i) The extent of any history of official voting- 7
283	283	related discrimination in the State or political sub-8
284	284	division that affected the right of members of the 9
285	285	protected class to register, to vote, or otherwise to 10
286	286	participate in the political process. 11
287	287	‘‘(ii) The extent to which voting in the elections 12
288	288	of the State or political subdivision is racially polar-13
289	289	ized. 14
290	290	‘‘(iii) The extent to which the State or political 15
291	291	subdivision has used photographic voter identifica-16
292	292	tion requirements, documentary proof of citizenship 17
293	293	requirements, documentary proof of residence re-18
294	294	quirements, or other voting practices or procedures, 19
295	295	beyond those required by Federal law, that impair 20
296	296	the ability of members of the minority group to par-21
297	297	ticipate fully in the political process. 22
298	298	‘‘(iv) The extent to which minority group mem-23
299	299	bers bear the effects of discrimination, both public 24
300	300	or private, in areas such as education, employment, 25
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303	303	•HR 14 IH
304	304	health, housing, and transportation, which hinder 1
305	305	their ability to participate effectively in the political 2
306	306	process. 3
307	307	‘‘(v) The use of overt or subtle racial appeals ei-4
308	308	ther in political campaigns or surrounding adoption 5
309	309	or maintenance of the challenged practice. 6
310	310	‘‘(vi) The extent to which members of the mi-7
311	311	nority group have been elected to public office in the 8
312	312	jurisdiction, provided that the fact that the minority 9
313	313	group is too small to elect candidates of its choice 10
314	314	shall not defeat a claim of vote denial or abridgment. 11
315	315	‘‘(vii) Whether there is a lack of responsiveness 12
316	316	on the part of elected officials to the particularized 13
317	317	needs of minority group members, including a lack 14
318	318	of concern for or responsiveness to the requests and 15
319	319	proposals of the group, except that compliance with 16
320	320	a court order may not be considered evidence of re-17
321	321	sponsiveness on the part of the jurisdiction. 18
322	322	‘‘(viii) Whether the policy underlying the State 19
323	323	or political subdivision’s use of the challenged quali-20
324	324	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-21
325	325	dure is tenuous. In making a determination under 22
326	326	this clause, a court shall consider whether the quali-23
327	327	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-24
328	328	dure in question was designed to advance and mate-25
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331	331	•HR 14 IH
332	332	rially advances a valid and substantiated State inter-1
333	333	est. 2
334	334	‘‘(ix) Subject to paragraph (4), such other fac-3
335	335	tors as the court may determine to be relevant. 4
336	336	‘‘(B) The factors described in subparagraph (A), indi-5
337	337	vidually and collectively, shall be considered as a means 6
338	338	of establishing that a voting practice amplifies the effects 7
339	339	of past or present discrimination in violation in subsection 8
340	340	(a). 9
341	341	‘‘(C) A plaintiff need not show any particular com-10
342	342	bination or number of factors to establish a violation of 11
343	343	subsection (a). 12
344	344	‘‘(4) The factors that are relevant to a totality of the 13
345	345	circumstances analysis with respect to a claim of vote de-14
346	346	nial or abridgement do not include the following: 15
347	347	‘‘(A) The degree to which the challenged quali-16
348	348	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-17
349	349	dure has a long pedigree or was in widespread use 18
350	350	at some earlier date. 19
351	351	‘‘(B) The use of an identical or similar quali-20
352	352	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-21
353	353	dure in other States or jurisdictions. 22
354	354	‘‘(C) The availability of other forms of voting 23
355	355	unimpacted by the challenged qualification, pre-24
356	356	requisite, standard, practice, or procedure to all 25
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359	359	•HR 14 IH
360	360	members of the electorate, including members of the 1
361	361	protected class, unless the jurisdiction is simulta-2
362	362	neously expanding such other practices to eliminate 3
363	363	any disproportionate burden imposed by the chal-4
364	364	lenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, 5
365	365	or procedure. 6
366	366	‘‘(D) Unsubstantiated defenses that the quali-7
367	367	fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-8
368	368	dure is necessary to address criminal activity. 9
369	369	‘‘(d)(1) A violation of subsection (a) for the purpose 10
370	370	of vote denial or abridgement is established if the chal-11
371	371	lenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or 12
372	372	procedure is intended, at least in part, to dilute minority 13
373	373	voting strength or to deny or abridge the right of any cit-14
374	374	izen of the United States to vote on account of race, color, 15
375	375	or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 16
376	376	4(f)(2). 17
377	377	‘‘(2) Discrimination on account of race, color, or in 18
378	378	contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2) 19
379	379	need only be one purpose of a qualification, prerequisite, 20
380	380	standard, practice, or procedure to demonstrate a violation 21
381	381	of subsection (a). 22
382	382	‘‘(3) A qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, 23
383	383	or procedure intended to dilute minority voting strength 24
384	384	or to make it more difficult for minority voters to cast 25
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387	387	•HR 14 IH
388	388	a ballot that will be counted violates this subsection even 1
389	389	if an additional purpose of the qualification, prerequisite, 2
390	390	standard, practice, or procedure is to benefit a particular 3
391	391	political party or group. 4
392	392	‘‘(4) The context for the adoption of the challenged 5
393	393	qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce-6
394	394	dure, including actions by official decisionmakers before 7
395	395	the challenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, prac-8
396	396	tice, or procedure, may be relevant to a violation of this 9
397	397	subsection. 10
398	398	‘‘(5) Claims under this subsection require proof of a 11
399	399	discriminatory impact but do not require proof of a viola-12
400	400	tion pursuant to subsection (b) or (c). 13
401	401	‘‘(e) For purposes of this section, the term ‘affected 14
402	402	area’ means any geographic area, in which members of 15
403	403	a protected class are affected by a qualification, pre-16
404	404	requisite, standard, practice, or procedure allegedly in vio-17
405	405	lation of this section, within a State (including any Indian 18
406	406	lands).’’. 19
407	407	SEC. 3. RETROGRESSION. 20
408	408	Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 21
409	409	U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), as amended by section 2 of this 22
410	410	Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-23
411	411	lowing: 24
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414	414	•HR 14 IH
415	415	‘‘(f) A violation of subsection (a) is established when 1
416	416	a State or political subdivision enacts or seeks to admin-2
417	417	ister any qualification or prerequisite to voting or stand-3
418	418	ard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting in any 4
419	419	election that has the purpose of or will have the effect 5
420	420	of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United 6
421	421	States on account of race or color, or in contravention of 7
422	422	the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), to participate 8
423	423	in the electoral process or elect their preferred candidates 9
424	424	of choice. This subsection applies to any action taken on 10
425	425	or after January 1, 2021, by a State or political subdivi-11
426	426	sion to enact or seek to administer any such qualification 12
427	427	or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice or proce-13
428	428	dure. 14
429	429	‘‘(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f), 15
430	430	final decisions of the United States District Court of the 16
431	431	District of Columbia on applications or petitions by States 17
432	432	or political subdivisions for preclearance under section 5 18
433	433	of any changes in voting prerequisites, standards, prac-19
434	434	tices, or procedures, supersede the provisions of subsection 20
435	435	(f).’’. 21
436	436	SEC. 4. VIOLATIONS TRIGGERING AUTHORITY OF COURT 22
437	437	TO RETAIN JURISDICTION. 23
438	438	(a) T
439	439	YPES OFVIOLATIONS.—Section 3(c) of the Vot-24
440	440	ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10302(c)) is amended 25
441	441	VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:00 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
442	442	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14
443	443	•HR 14 IH
444	444	by striking ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth 1
445	445	amendment’’ and inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th 2
446	446	Amendment, violations of this Act, or violations of any 3
447	447	Federal law that prohibits discrimination in voting on the 4
448	448	basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 5
449	449	group,’’. 6
450	450	(b) C
451	451	ONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) of 7
452	452	such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by striking 8
453	453	‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendment’’ and 9
454	454	inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th Amendment, vio-10
455	455	lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 11
456	456	prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, 12
457	457	color, or membership in a language minority group,’’. 13
458	458	SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR COVERAGE OF STATES AND POLIT-14
459	459	ICAL SUBDIVISIONS. 15
460	460	(a) D
461	461	ETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 16
462	462	S
463	463	UBDIVISIONSSUBJECT TOSECTION4(a).— 17
464	464	(1) I
465	465	N GENERAL.—Section 4(b) of the Voting 18
466	466	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(b)) is amend-19
467	467	ed to read as follows: 20
468	468	‘‘(b) D
469	469	ETERMINATION OF STATES ANDPOLITICAL 21
470	470	S
471	471	UBDIVISIONSSUBJECT TOREQUIREMENTS.— 22
472	472	‘‘(1) E
473	473	XISTENCE OF VOTING RIGHTS VIOLA -23
474	474	TIONS DURING PREVIOUS 25 YEARS .— 24
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476	476	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15
477	477	•HR 14 IH
478	478	‘‘(A) STATEWIDE APPLICATION .—Sub-1
479	479	section (a) applies with respect to a State and 2
480	480	all political subdivisions within the State during 3
481	481	a calendar year if— 4
482	482	‘‘(i) fifteen or more voting rights vio-5
483	483	lations occurred in the State during the 6
484	484	previous 25 calendar years; 7
485	485	‘‘(ii) ten or more voting rights viola-8
486	486	tions occurred in the State during the pre-9
487	487	vious 25 calendar years, at least one of 10
488	488	which was committed by the State itself 11
489	489	(as opposed to a political subdivision with-12
490	490	in the State); or 13
491	491	‘‘(iii) three or more voting rights vio-14
492	492	lations occurred in the State during the 15
493	493	previous 25 calendar years and the State 16
494	494	itself administers the elections in the State 17
495	495	or political subdivisions in which the voting 18
496	496	rights violations occurred. 19
497	497	‘‘(B) A
498	498	PPLICATION TO SPECIFIC POLITICAL 20
499	499	SUBDIVISIONS.—Subsection (a) applies with re-21
500	500	spect to a political subdivision as a separate 22
501	501	unit during a calendar year if three or more 23
502	502	voting rights violations occurred in the subdivi-24
503	503	sion during the previous 25 calendar years. 25
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505	505	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16
506	506	•HR 14 IH
507	507	‘‘(2) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.— 1
508	508	‘‘(A) I
509	509	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 2
510	510	subparagraph (B), if, pursuant to paragraph 3
511	511	(1), subsection (a) applies with respect to a 4
512	512	State or political subdivision during a calendar 5
513	513	year, subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 6
514	514	such State or political subdivision for the pe-7
515	515	riod— 8
516	516	‘‘(i) that begins on January 1 of the 9
517	517	year in which subsection (a) applies; and 10
518	518	‘‘(ii) that ends on the date which is 10 11
519	519	years after the date described in clause (i). 12
520	520	‘‘(B) N
521	521	O FURTHER APPLICATION AFTER 13
522	522	DECLARATORY JUDGMENT .— 14
523	523	‘‘(i) S
524	524	TATES.—If a State obtains a de-15
525	525	claratory judgment under subsection (a), 16
526	526	and the judgment remains in effect, sub-17
527	527	section (a) shall no longer apply to such 18
528	528	State pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) unless, 19
529	529	after the issuance of the declaratory judg-20
530	530	ment, paragraph (1)(A) applies to the 21
531	531	State solely on the basis of voting rights 22
532	532	violations occurring after the issuance of 23
533	533	the declaratory judgment. 24
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536	536	•HR 14 IH
537	537	‘‘(ii) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—If a 1
538	538	political subdivision obtains a declaratory 2
539	539	judgment under subsection (a), and the 3
540	540	judgment remains in effect, subsection (a) 4
541	541	shall no longer apply to such political sub-5
542	542	division pursuant to paragraph (1), includ-6
543	543	ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) (relating 7
544	544	to the statewide application of subsection 8
545	545	(a)), unless, after the issuance of the de-9
546	546	claratory judgment, paragraph (1)(B) ap-10
547	547	plies to the political subdivision solely on 11
548	548	the basis of voting rights violations occur-12
549	549	ring after the issuance of the declaratory 13
550	550	judgment. 14
551	551	‘‘(3) D
552	552	ETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIO -15
553	553	LATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a voting 16
554	554	rights violation occurred in a State or political sub-17
555	555	division if any of the following applies: 18
556	556	‘‘(A) J
557	557	UDICIAL RELIEF; VIOLATION OF 19
558	558	THE 14TH OR 15TH AMENDMENT .—Any final 20
559	559	judgment, or any preliminary, temporary, or de-21
560	560	claratory relief (that was not reversed on ap-22
561	561	peal), in which the plaintiff prevailed or a court 23
562	562	of the United States found that the plaintiff 24
563	563	demonstrated a likelihood of success on the 25
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565	565	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18
566	566	•HR 14 IH
567	567	merits or raised a serious question with regard 1
568	568	to race discrimination, in which any court of 2
569	569	the United States determined that a denial or 3
570	570	abridgement of the right of any citizen of the 4
571	571	United States to vote on account of race, color, 5
572	572	or membership in a language minority group 6
573	573	occurred, or that a voting qualification or pre-7
574	574	requisite to voting or standard, practice, or pro-8
575	575	cedure with respect to voting created an undue 9
576	576	burden on the right to vote in connection with 10
577	577	a claim that the law unduly burdened voters of 11
578	578	a particular race, color, or language minority 12
579	579	group, in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend-13
580	580	ment, anywhere within the State or subdivision. 14
581	581	‘‘(B) J
582	582	UDICIAL RELIEF; VIOLATIONS OF 15
583	583	THIS ACT.—Any final judgment, or any prelimi-16
584	584	nary, temporary, or declaratory relief (that was 17
585	585	not reversed on appeal) in which the plaintiff 18
586	586	prevailed or a court of the United States found 19
587	587	that the plaintiff demonstrated a likelihood of 20
588	588	success on the merits or raised a serious ques-21
589	589	tion with regard to race discrimination, in 22
590	590	which any court of the United States deter-23
591	591	mined that a voting qualification or prerequisite 24
592	592	to voting or standard, practice, or procedure 25
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594	594	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19
595	595	•HR 14 IH
596	596	with respect to voting was imposed or applied 1
597	597	or would have been imposed or applied any-2
598	598	where within the State or subdivision in a man-3
599	599	ner that resulted or would have resulted in a 4
600	600	denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen 5
601	601	of the United States to vote on account of race, 6
602	602	color, or membership in a language minority 7
603	603	group, in violation of subsection 4(e) or 4(f) or 8
604	604	section 2, 201, or 203 of this Act. 9
605	605	‘‘(C) F
606	606	INAL JUDGMENT; DENIAL OF DE-10
607	607	CLARATORY JUDGMENT .—In a final judgment 11
608	608	(that was not been reversed on appeal), any 12
609	609	court of the United States has denied the re-13
610	610	quest of the State or subdivision for a declara-14
611	611	tory judgment under section 3(c) or section 5, 15
612	612	and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 16
613	613	prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 17
614	614	procedure with respect to voting from being en-18
615	615	forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 19
616	616	‘‘(D) O
617	617	BJECTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN -20
618	618	ERAL.—The Attorney General has interposed 21
619	619	an objection under section 3(c) or section 5, 22
620	620	and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 23
621	621	prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 24
622	622	procedure with respect to voting from being en-25
623	623	VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:00 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
624	624	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 20
625	625	•HR 14 IH
626	626	forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 1
627	627	A violation per this subsection has not occurred 2
628	628	where an objection has been withdrawn by the 3
629	629	Attorney General, unless the withdrawal was in 4
630	630	response to a change in the law or practice that 5
631	631	served as the basis of the objection. A violation 6
632	632	under this subsection has not occurred where 7
633	633	the objection is based solely on a State or polit-8
634	634	ical subdivision’s failure to comply with a proce-9
635	635	dural process that would not otherwise con-10
636	636	stitute an independent violation of this act. 11
637	637	‘‘(E) C
638	638	ONSENT DECREE, SETTLEMENT, OR 12
639	639	OTHER AGREEMENT .—A consent decree, settle-13
640	640	ment, or other agreement was adopted or en-14
641	641	tered by a court of the United States or con-15
642	642	tained an admission of liability by the defend-16
643	643	ants, which resulted in the alteration or aban-17
644	644	donment of a voting practice anywhere in the 18
645	645	territory of such State or subdivision that was 19
646	646	challenged on the ground that the practice de-20
647	647	nied or abridged the right of any citizen of the 21
648	648	United States to vote on account of race, color, 22
649	649	or membership in a language minority group in 23
650	650	violation of subsection 4(e) or 4(f) or section 2, 24
651	651	201, or 203 of this Act, or the 14th or 15th 25
652	652	VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:00 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
653	653	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 21
654	654	•HR 14 IH
655	655	Amendment. An extension or modification of an 1
656	656	agreement as defined by this subsection that 2
657	657	has been in place for ten years or longer shall 3
658	658	count as an independent violation. If a court of 4
659	659	the United States finds that an agreement itself 5
660	660	as defined by this subsection denied or abridged 6
661	661	the right of any citizen of the United States to 7
662	662	vote on account of race, color, or membership in 8
663	663	a language minority group, violated subsection 9
664	664	4(e) or 4(f) or section 2, 201, or 203 of this 10
665	665	Act, or created an undue burden on the right 11
666	666	to vote in connection with a claim that the con-12
667	667	sent decree, settlement, or other agreement un-13
668	668	duly burdened voters of a particular race, color, 14
669	669	or language minority group, that finding shall 15
670	670	count as an independent violation. 16
671	671	‘‘(F) M
672	672	ULTIPLE VIOLATIONS.—Each vot-17
673	673	ing qualification or prerequisite to voting or 18
674	674	standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 19
675	675	voting, including each redistricting plan, found 20
676	676	to be a violation by a court of the United States 21
677	677	pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), or prevented 22
678	678	from enforcement pursuant to subsection (c) or 23
679	679	(d), or altered or abandoned pursuant to sub-24
680	680	section (e) shall count as an independent viola-25
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682	682	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 22
683	683	•HR 14 IH
684	684	tion. Within a redistricting plan, each violation 1
685	685	found to discriminate against any group of vot-2
686	686	ers based on race, color, or language minority 3
687	687	group shall count as an independent violation. 4
688	688	‘‘(4) T
689	689	IMING OF DETERMINATIONS .— 5
690	690	‘‘(A) D
691	691	ETERMINATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS 6
692	692	VIOLATIONS.—As early as practicable during 7
693	693	each calendar year, the Attorney General shall 8
694	694	make the determinations required by this sub-9
695	695	section, including updating the list of voting 10
696	696	rights violations occurring in each State and po-11
697	697	litical subdivision for the previous calendar 12
698	698	year. 13
699	699	‘‘(B) E
700	700	FFECTIVE UPON PUBLICATION IN 14
701	701	FEDERAL REGISTER .—A determination or cer-15
702	702	tification of the Attorney General under this 16
703	703	section or under section 8 or 13 shall be effec-17
704	704	tive upon publication in the Federal Register.’’. 18
705	705	(2) C
706	706	ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .—Section 4(a) 19
707	707	of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)) is amended— 20
708	708	(A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence 21
709	709	of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 22
710	710	striking ‘‘any State with respect to which’’ and 23
711	711	all that follows through ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 24
712	712	‘‘any State to which this subsection applies dur-25
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714	714	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 23
715	715	•HR 14 IH
716	716	ing a calendar year pursuant to determinations 1
717	717	made under subsection (b), or in any political 2
718	718	subdivision of such State (as such subdivision 3
719	719	existed on the date such determinations were 4
720	720	made with respect to such State), though such 5
721	721	determinations were not made with respect to 6
722	722	such subdivision as a separate unit, or in any 7
723	723	political subdivision with respect to which this 8
724	724	subsection applies during a calendar year pur-9
725	725	suant to determinations made with respect to 10
726	726	such subdivision as a separate unit under sub-11
727	727	section (b), unless’’; 12
728	728	(B) in paragraph (1) in the matter pre-13
729	729	ceding subparagraph (A), by striking the second 14
730	730	sentence; 15
731	731	(C) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘(in 16
732	732	the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de-17
733	733	claratory judgment under the second sentence 18
734	734	of this subsection)’’; 19
735	735	(D) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘(in 20
736	736	the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de-21
737	737	claratory judgment under the second sentence 22
738	738	of this subsection)’’; 23
739	739	(E) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(in the 24
740	740	case of a State or subdivision seeking a declara-25
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743	743	•HR 14 IH
744	744	tory judgment under the second sentence of this 1
745	745	subsection)’’; 2
746	746	(F) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘(in the 3
747	747	case of a State or subdivision which sought a 4
748	748	declaratory judgment under the second sentence 5
749	749	of this subsection)’’; 6
750	750	(G) by striking paragraphs (7) and (8); 7
751	751	and 8
752	752	(H) by redesignating paragraph (9) as 9
753	753	paragraph (7). 10
754	754	(b) C
755	755	LARIFICATION OFTREATMENT OFMEMBERS OF 11
756	756	L
757	757	ANGUAGEMINORITYGROUPS.—Section 4(a)(1) of such 12
758	758	Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘race 13
759	759	or color,’’ and inserting ‘‘race, color, or in contravention 14
760	760	of the guarantees of subsection (f)(2),’’. 15
761	761	(c) A
762	762	DMINISTRATIVEBAILOUT.— 16
763	763	(1) I
764	764	N GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Voting 17
765	765	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303) is amended 18
766	766	by adding at the end the following: 19
767	767	‘‘(g) A
768	768	DMINISTRATIVEBAILOUT.— 20
769	769	‘‘(1) D
770	770	ETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY .— 21
771	771	‘‘(A) I
772	772	N GENERAL.—After making a deter-22
773	773	mination under subsection (b)(1)(A) that the 23
774	774	provisions of subsection (a) apply with respect 24
775	775	to a State and all political subdivisions within 25
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777	777	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 25
778	778	•HR 14 IH
779	779	the State, the Attorney General shall determine 1
780	780	if any political subdivision of the State is eligi-2
781	781	ble for an exemption under this subsection, and 3
782	782	shall publish, in the Federal Register, a list of 4
783	783	all such political subdivisions. Any political sub-5
784	784	division included on such list is not subject to 6
785	785	any requirement under section 5 until the date 7
786	786	on which any application under this section has 8
787	787	been finally disposed of or no such application 9
788	788	may be made. 10
789	789	‘‘(B) R
790	790	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing 11
791	791	in this subsection may be construed to pro-12
792	792	vide— 13
793	793	‘‘(i) that the determinations made 14
794	794	pursuant to the creation of the list shall 15
795	795	have any binding or preclusive effect; or 16
796	796	‘‘(ii) that inclusion on the list— 17
797	797	‘‘(I) constitutes a final deter-18
798	798	mination by the Attorney General that 19
799	799	the listee is eligible for an exemption 20
800	800	pursuant to this subsection or that, in 21
801	801	the case of the listee, the provisions of 22
802	802	subparagraphs (A) through (F) of 23
803	803	subsection (a)(1) are satisfied; or 24
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806	806	•HR 14 IH
807	807	‘‘(II) entitles the listee to any ex-1
808	808	emption pursuant to this subsection. 2
809	809	‘‘(2) E
810	810	LIGIBILITY.—A political subdivision that 3
811	811	submits an application under paragraph (3) shall be 4
812	812	eligible for an exemption under this subsection only 5
813	813	if, during the ten years preceding the filing of the 6
814	814	application, and during the pendency of such appli-7
815	815	cation— 8
816	816	‘‘(A) no test or device referred to in sub-9
817	817	section (a)(1) has been used within such polit-10
818	818	ical subdivision for the purpose or with the ef-11
819	819	fect of denying or abridging the right to vote on 12
820	820	account of race or color or in contravention of 13
821	821	the guarantees of subsection (f)(2); 14
822	822	‘‘(B) no final judgment of any court of the 15
823	823	United States, other than the denial of declara-16
824	824	tory judgment under this section, has deter-17
825	825	mined that denials or abridgements of the right 18
826	826	to vote on account of race or color have oc-19
827	827	curred anywhere in the territory of such polit-20
828	828	ical subdivision or that denials or abridgements 21
829	829	of the right to vote in contravention of the 22
830	830	guarantees of subsection (f)(2) have occurred 23
831	831	anywhere in the territory of such subdivision 24
832	832	and no consent decree, settlement, or agreement 25
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835	835	•HR 14 IH
836	836	has been entered into resulting in any abandon-1
837	837	ment of a voting practice challenged on such 2
838	838	grounds; and no declaratory judgment under 3
839	839	this section shall be entered during the pend-4
840	840	ency of an action commenced before the filing 5
841	841	of an action under this section and alleging 6
842	842	such denials or abridgements of the right to 7
843	843	vote; 8
844	844	‘‘(C) no Federal examiners or observers 9
845	845	under this Act have been assigned to such polit-10
846	846	ical subdivision; 11
847	847	‘‘(D) such political subdivision and all gov-12
848	848	ernmental units within its territory have com-13
849	849	plied with section 5 of this Act, including com-14
850	850	pliance with the requirement that no change 15
851	851	covered by section 5 has been enforced without 16
852	852	preclearance under section 5, and have repealed 17
853	853	all changes covered by section 5 to which the 18
854	854	Attorney General has successfully objected or as 19
855	855	to which the United States District Court for 20
856	856	the District of Columbia has denied a declara-21
857	857	tory judgment; 22
858	858	‘‘(E) the Attorney General has not inter-23
859	859	posed any objection (that has not been over-24
860	860	turned by a final judgment of a court) and no 25
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863	863	•HR 14 IH
864	864	declaratory judgment has been denied under 1
865	865	section 5, with respect to any submission by or 2
866	866	on behalf of the plaintiff or any governmental 3
867	867	unit within its territory under section 5, and no 4
868	868	such submissions or declaratory judgment ac-5
869	869	tions are pending; and 6
870	870	‘‘(F) such political subdivision and all gov-7
871	871	ernmental units within its territory— 8
872	872	‘‘(i) have eliminated voting procedures 9
873	873	and methods of election which inhibit or 10
874	874	dilute equal access to the electoral process; 11
875	875	‘‘(ii) have engaged in constructive ef-12
876	876	forts to eliminate intimidation and harass-13
877	877	ment of persons exercising rights protected 14
878	878	under this Act; and 15
879	879	‘‘(iii) have engaged in other construc-16
880	880	tive efforts, such as expanded opportunity 17
881	881	for convenient registration and voting for 18
882	882	every person of voting age and the appoint-19
883	883	ment of minority persons as election offi-20
884	884	cials throughout the jurisdiction and at all 21
885	885	stages of the election and registration 22
886	886	process. 23
887	887	‘‘(3) A
888	888	PPLICATION PERIOD.—Not later than 90 24
889	889	days after the publication of the list under para-25
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892	892	•HR 14 IH
893	893	graph (1), a political subdivision included on such 1
894	894	list may submit an application, containing such in-2
895	895	formation as the Attorney General may require, for 3
896	896	an exemption under this subsection. The Attorney 4
897	897	General shall provide notice in the Federal Register 5
898	898	of such application. 6
899	899	‘‘(4) C
900	900	OMMENT PERIOD .—During the 90-day 7
901	901	period beginning on the date that notice is published 8
902	902	under paragraph (3), the Attorney General shall give 9
903	903	interested persons an opportunity to submit objec-10
904	904	tions to the issuance of an exemption under this 11
905	905	subsection to a political subdivision on the basis that 12
906	906	the political subdivision is not eligible under para-13
907	907	graph (2) to the Attorney General. During the 1 14
908	908	year period beginning on the effective date of this 15
909	909	subsection, such 90-day period shall be extended by 16
910	910	an additional 30 days. The Attorney General shall 17
911	911	notify the political subdivision of each objection sub-18
912	912	mitted and afford the political subdivision an oppor-19
913	913	tunity to respond. 20
914	914	‘‘(5) D
915	915	ETERMINATION AS TO OBJECTIONS .—In 21
916	916	the case of a political subdivision with respect to 22
917	917	which an objection has been submitted under para-23
918	918	graph (4), the following shall apply: 24
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921	921	•HR 14 IH
922	922	‘‘(A) CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTIONS .— 1
923	923	The Attorney General shall consider and re-2
924	924	spond to each such objection (and any response 3
925	925	of the political subdivision thereto) during the 4
926	926	60-day period beginning on the day after the 5
927	927	comment period under paragraph (4) concludes. 6
928	928	‘‘(B) J
929	929	USTIFIED OBJECTIONS.—If the At-7
930	930	torney General determines that any such objec-8
931	931	tion is justified, the Attorney General shall pub-9
932	932	lish notice in the Federal Register denying the 10
933	933	application for an exemption under this sub-11
934	934	section. 12
935	935	‘‘(C) U
936	936	NJUSTIFIED OBJECTIONS .—If the 13
937	937	Attorney General determines that no objection 14
938	938	submitted is justified, each person that sub-15
939	939	mitted such an objection may, not later than 90 16
940	940	days after the end of the period established 17
941	941	under subparagraph (A), file, in the District 18
942	942	Court of the District of Columbia, an action for 19
943	943	judicial review of such determination in accord-20
944	944	ance with chapter 7 of title 5, United States 21
945	945	Code. 22
946	946	‘‘(6) E
947	947	XEMPTION.—The Attorney General may 23
948	948	issue an exemption, by publication in the Federal 24
949	949	Register, from the application of the provisions of 25
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952	952	•HR 14 IH
953	953	subsection (a) with respect to a political subdivision 1
954	954	that— 2
955	955	‘‘(A) is eligible under paragraph (2); and 3
956	956	‘‘(B) with respect to which no objection 4
957	957	under was submitted under paragraph (4) or 5
958	958	determined to be justified under paragraph (5). 6
959	959	‘‘(7) J
960	960	UDICIAL REVIEW.—Except as otherwise 7
961	961	explicitly provided in this subsection, no determina-8
962	962	tion under this subsection shall be subject to review 9
963	963	by any court, and all determinations under this sub-10
964	964	section are committed to the discretion of the Attor-11
965	965	ney General. 12
966	966	‘‘(8) S
967	967	AVINGS CLAUSE.—If a political subdivi-13
968	968	sion was not subject to the application of the provi-14
969	969	sions of subsection (a) by reason of a declaratory 15
970	970	judgment entered prior to the effective date of this 16
971	971	subsection, and such political subdivision has not 17
972	972	violated any eligibility requirement set forth in para-18
973	973	graph (2) at any time thereafter, then that political 19
974	974	subdivision shall not be subject to the requirements 20
975	975	of subsection (a).’’. 21
976	976	(2) C
977	977	ONFORMING AMENDMENT .— 22
978	978	(A) I
979	979	N GENERAL.—Section 4(a)(1) of the 23
980	980	Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 24
981	981	10303(a)(1)), as amended by this Act, is fur-25
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984	984	•HR 14 IH
985	985	ther amended by inserting after ‘‘the United 1
986	986	States District Court for the District of Colum-2
987	987	bia issues a declaratory judgment under this 3
988	988	section’’ the following: ‘‘, or, in the case of a 4
989	989	political subdivision, the Attorney General 5
990	990	issues an exemption under subsection (g)’’. 6
991	991	(B) E
992	992	XPIRATION OF TIME LIMIT .—On the 7
993	993	date that is 1 year after the effective date of 8
994	994	this subsection, section 4(g)(3) of the Voting 9
995	995	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(g)(3)) is 10
996	996	amended by striking ‘‘During the 1 year period 11
997	997	beginning on the effective date of this sub-12
998	998	section, such 90-day period shall be extended by 13
999	999	an additional 30 days.’’. For purposes of any 14
1000	1000	periods under such section commenced as of 15
1001	1001	such date, the 90-day period shall remain ex-16
1002	1002	tended by an additional 30 days. 17
1003	1003	SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL SUB-18
1004	1004	DIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE FOR 19
1005	1005	COVERED PRACTICES. 20
1006	1006	The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 21
1007	1007	seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 4 the 22
1008	1008	following: 23
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1011	1011	•HR 14 IH
1012	1012	‘‘SEC. 4A. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 1
1013	1013	SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE 2
1014	1014	FOR COVERED PRACTICES. 3
1015	1015	‘‘(a) P
1016	1016	RACTICE-BASEDPRECLEARANCE.— 4
1017	1017	‘‘(1) I
1018	1018	N GENERAL.—Each State and each polit-5
1019	1019	ical subdivision shall— 6
1020	1020	‘‘(A) identify any newly enacted or adopted 7
1021	1021	law, regulation, or policy that includes a voting 8
1022	1022	qualification or prerequisite to voting, or a 9
1023	1023	standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 10
1024	1024	voting, that is a covered practice described in 11
1025	1025	subsection (b); and 12
1026	1026	‘‘(B) ensure that no such covered practice 13
1027	1027	is implemented unless or until the State or po-14
1028	1028	litical subdivision, as the case may be, complies 15
1029	1029	with subsection (c). 16
1030	1030	‘‘(2) D
1031	1031	ETERMINATIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS 17
1032	1032	OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION.— 18
1033	1033	‘‘(A) I
1034	1034	N GENERAL.—As early as prac-19
1035	1035	ticable during each calendar year, the Attorney 20
1036	1036	General, in consultation with the Director of 21
1037	1037	the Bureau of the Census and the heads of 22
1038	1038	other relevant offices of the government, shall 23
1039	1039	make the determinations required by this sec-24
1040	1040	tion regarding voting-age populations and the 25
1041	1041	characteristics of such populations, and shall 26
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1044	1044	•HR 14 IH
1045	1045	publish a list of the States and political subdivi-1
1046	1046	sions to which a voting-age population char-2
1047	1047	acteristic described in subsection (b) applies. 3
1048	1048	‘‘(B) P
1049	1049	UBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG -4
1050	1050	ISTER.—A determination or certification of the 5
1051	1051	Attorney General under this paragraph shall be 6
1052	1052	effective upon publication in the Federal Reg-7
1053	1053	ister. 8
1054	1054	‘‘(b) C
1055	1055	OVEREDPRACTICES.—To assure that the right 9
1056	1056	of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or 10
1057	1057	abridged on account of race, color, or membership in a 11
1058	1058	language minority group as a result of the implementation 12
1059	1059	of certain qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or 13
1060	1060	standards, practices, or procedures with respect to voting 14
1061	1061	newly adopted in a State or political subdivision, the fol-15
1062	1062	lowing shall be covered practices subject to the require-16
1063	1063	ments described in subsection (a): 17
1064	1064	‘‘(1) C
1065	1065	HANGES TO METHOD OF ELECTION .— 18
1066	1066	Any change to the method of election— 19
1067	1067	‘‘(A) to add seats elected at-large in a 20
1068	1068	State or political subdivision where— 21
1069	1069	‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan-22
1070	1070	guage minority groups each represent 20 23
1071	1071	percent or more of the political subdivi-24
1072	1072	sion’s voting-age population; or 25
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1075	1075	•HR 14 IH
1076	1076	‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 1
1077	1077	represents 20 percent or more of the vot-2
1078	1078	ing-age population on Indian lands located 3
1079	1079	in whole or in part in the political subdivi-4
1080	1080	sion; or 5
1081	1081	‘‘(B) to convert one or more seats elected 6
1082	1082	from a single-member district to one or more 7
1083	1083	at-large seats or seats from a multi-member 8
1084	1084	district in a State or political subdivision 9
1085	1085	where— 10
1086	1086	‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan-11
1087	1087	guage minority groups each represent 20 12
1088	1088	percent or more of the political subdivi-13
1089	1089	sion’s voting-age population; or 14
1090	1090	‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 15
1091	1091	represents 20 percent or more of the vot-16
1092	1092	ing-age population on Indian lands located 17
1093	1093	in whole or in part in the political subdivi-18
1094	1094	sion. 19
1095	1095	‘‘(2) C
1096	1096	HANGES TO JURISDICTION BOUND -20
1097	1097	ARIES.—Any change or series of changes within a 21
1098	1098	year to the boundaries of a jurisdiction that reduces 22
1099	1099	by 3 or more percentage points the proportion of the 23
1100	1100	jurisdiction’s voting-age population that is comprised 24
1101	1101	of members of a single racial group or language mi-25
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1104	1104	•HR 14 IH
1105	1105	nority group in a State or political subdivision 1
1106	1106	where— 2
1107	1107	‘‘(A) two or more racial groups or lan-3
1108	1108	guage minority groups each represent 20 per-4
1109	1109	cent or more of the political subdivision’s vot-5
1110	1110	ing-age population; or 6
1111	1111	‘‘(B) a single language minority group rep-7
1112	1112	resents 20 percent or more of the voting-age 8
1113	1113	population on Indian lands located in whole or 9
1114	1114	in part in the political subdivision. 10
1115	1115	‘‘(3) C
1116	1116	HANGES THROUGH REDISTRICTING .— 11
1117	1117	Any change to the boundaries of election districts in 12
1118	1118	a State or political subdivision where any racial 13
1119	1119	group or language minority group that is not the 14
1120	1120	largest racial group or language minority group in 15
1121	1121	the jurisdiction and that represents 15 percent or 16
1122	1122	more of the State or political subdivision’s voting- 17
1123	1123	age population experiences a population increase of 18
1124	1124	at least 20 percent of its voting-age population, over 19
1125	1125	the preceding decade (as calculated by the Bureau 20
1126	1126	of the Census under the most recent decennial cen-21
1127	1127	sus), in the jurisdiction. 22
1128	1128	‘‘(4) C
1129	1129	HANGES IN DOCUMENTATION OR QUALI -23
1130	1130	FICATIONS TO VOTE.—Any change to requirements 24
1131	1131	for documentation or proof of identity to vote or reg-25
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1133	1133	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 37
1134	1134	•HR 14 IH
1135	1135	ister to vote that will exceed or be more stringent 1
1136	1136	than such requirements under State law on the day 2
1137	1137	before the date of enactment of the John R. Lewis 3
1138	1138	Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025; and fur-4
1139	1139	ther, if a State has in effect a requirement that an 5
1140	1140	individual present identification as a condition of re-6
1141	1141	ceiving and casting a ballot in an election for Fed-7
1142	1142	eral office, if the State does not permit the indi-8
1143	1143	vidual to meet the requirement and cast a ballot in 9
1144	1144	the election in the same manner as an individual 10
1145	1145	who presents identification— 11
1146	1146	‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de-12
1147	1147	sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro-13
1148	1148	priate State or local election official with a 14
1149	1149	sworn written statement, signed by the indi-15
1150	1150	vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 16
1151	1151	individual’s identity and attesting that the indi-17
1152	1152	vidual is eligible to vote in the election; and 18
1153	1153	‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de-19
1154	1154	sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 20
1155	1155	ballot the statement described in subparagraph 21
1156	1156	(A). 22
1157	1157	‘‘(5) C
1158	1158	HANGES TO MULTILINGUAL VOTING MA -23
1159	1159	TERIALS.—Any change that reduces multilingual 24
1160	1160	voting materials or alters the manner in which such 25
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1163	1163	•HR 14 IH
1164	1164	materials are provided or distributed, where no simi-1
1165	1165	lar reduction or alteration occurs in materials pro-2
1166	1166	vided in English for such election. 3
1167	1167	‘‘(6) C
1168	1168	HANGES THAT REDUCE , CONSOLIDATE, 4
1169	1169	OR RELOCATE VOTING LOCATIONS , OR REDUCE VOT-5
1170	1170	ING OPPORTUNITIES .—Any change that reduces, 6
1171	1171	consolidates, or relocates voting locations, including 7
1172	1172	early, absentee, and election-day voting locations, or 8
1173	1173	reduces days or hours of in-person voting on any 9
1174	1174	Sunday during a period occurring prior to the date 10
1175	1175	of an election during which voters may cast ballots 11
1176	1176	in such election, or prohibits the provision of food or 12
1177	1177	non-alcoholic drink to persons waiting to vote in an 13
1178	1178	election except where the provision would violate 14
1179	1179	prohibitions on expenditures to influence voting— 15
1180	1180	‘‘(A) in one or more census tracts wherein 16
1181	1181	two or more language minority groups or racial 17
1182	1182	groups each represent 20 percent or more of 18
1183	1183	the voting-age population of the political sub-19
1184	1184	division; or 20
1185	1185	‘‘(B) on Indian lands wherein at least 20 21
1186	1186	percent of the voting-age population belongs to 22
1187	1187	a single language minority group. 23
1188	1188	‘‘(7) N
1189	1189	EW LIST MAINTENANCE PROCESS .—Any 24
1190	1190	change to the maintenance of voter registration lists 25
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1193	1193	•HR 14 IH
1194	1194	that adds a new basis for removal from the list of 1
1195	1195	active registered voters or that incorporates new 2
1196	1196	sources of information in determining a voter’s eligi-3
1197	1197	bility to vote, wherein such a change would have a 4
1198	1198	statistically significant disparate impact on the re-5
1199	1199	moval from voter rolls of members of racial groups 6
1200	1200	or language minority groups that constitute greater 7
1201	1201	than 5 percent of the voting-age population— 8
1202	1202	‘‘(A) in the case of a political subdivision 9
1203	1203	imposing such change if— 10
1204	1204	‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan-11
1205	1205	guage minority groups each represent 20 12
1206	1206	percent or more of the voting-age popu-13
1207	1207	lation of the political subdivision; or 14
1208	1208	‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 15
1209	1209	represents 20 percent or more of the vot-16
1210	1210	ing-age population on Indian lands located 17
1211	1211	in whole or in part in the political subdivi-18
1212	1212	sion; or 19
1213	1213	‘‘(B) in the case of a State imposing such 20
1214	1214	change, if two or more racial groups or lan-21
1215	1215	guage minority groups each represent 20 per-22
1216	1216	cent or more of the voting-age population of— 23
1217	1217	‘‘(i) the State; or 24
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1220	1220	•HR 14 IH
1221	1221	‘‘(ii) a political subdivision in the 1
1222	1222	State, except that the requirements under 2
1223	1223	subsections (a) and (c) shall apply only 3
1224	1224	with respect to each such political subdivi-4
1225	1225	sion. 5
1226	1226	‘‘(c) P
1227	1227	RECLEARANCE.— 6
1228	1228	‘‘(1) I
1229	1229	N GENERAL.—Whenever a State or polit-7
1230	1230	ical subdivision with respect to which the require-8
1231	1231	ments set forth in subsection (a) are in effect shall 9
1232	1232	enact, adopt, or seek to implement any covered prac-10
1233	1233	tice described under subsection (b), such State or 11
1234	1234	subdivision may institute an action in the United 12
1235	1235	States District Court for the District of Columbia 13
1236	1236	for a declaratory judgment that such covered prac-14
1237	1237	tice neither has the purpose nor will have the effect 15
1238	1238	of denying or abridging the right to vote on account 16
1239	1239	of race, color, or membership in a language minority 17
1240	1240	group, and unless and until the court enters such 18
1241	1241	judgment such covered practice shall not be imple-19
1242	1242	mented. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, such 20
1243	1243	covered practice may be implemented without such 21
1244	1244	proceeding if the covered practice has been sub-22
1245	1245	mitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate 23
1246	1246	official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney 24
1247	1247	General and the Attorney General has not inter-25
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1249	1249	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 41
1250	1250	•HR 14 IH
1251	1251	posed an objection within 60 days after such submis-1
1252	1252	sion, or upon good cause shown, to facilitate an ex-2
1253	1253	pedited approval within 60 days after such submis-3
1254	1254	sion, the Attorney General has affirmatively indi-4
1255	1255	cated that such objection will not be made. Neither 5
1256	1256	an affirmative indication by the Attorney General 6
1257	1257	that no objection will be made, nor the Attorney 7
1258	1258	General’s failure to object, nor a declaratory judg-8
1259	1259	ment entered under this section shall bar a subse-9
1260	1260	quent action to enjoin implementation of such cov-10
1261	1261	ered practice. In the event the Attorney General af-11
1262	1262	firmatively indicates that no objection will be made 12
1263	1263	within the 60-day period following receipt of a sub-13
1264	1264	mission, the Attorney General may reserve the right 14
1265	1265	to reexamine the submission if additional informa-15
1266	1266	tion comes to the Attorney General’s attention dur-16
1267	1267	ing the remainder of the 60-day period which would 17
1268	1268	otherwise require objection in accordance with this 18
1269	1269	section. Any action under this section shall be heard 19
1270	1270	and determined by a court of three judges in accord-20
1271	1271	ance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28, 21
1272	1272	United States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the 22
1273	1273	Supreme Court. 23
1274	1274	‘‘(2) D
1275	1275	ENYING OR ABRIDGING THE RIGHT TO 24
1276	1276	VOTE.—Any covered practice described in subsection 25
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1279	1279	•HR 14 IH
1280	1280	(b) that has the purpose of or will have the effect 1
1281	1281	of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the 2
1282	1282	United States on account of race, color, or member-3
1283	1283	ship in a language minority group, to elect their pre-4
1284	1284	ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the 5
1285	1285	right to vote within the meaning of paragraph (1) of 6
1286	1286	this subsection. 7
1287	1287	‘‘(3) P
1288	1288	URPOSE DEFINED.—The term ‘purpose’ 8
1289	1289	in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection shall in-9
1290	1290	clude any discriminatory purpose. 10
1291	1291	‘‘(4) P
1292	1292	URPOSE OF PARAGRAPH (2) .—The pur-11
1293	1293	pose of paragraph (2) of this subsection is to protect 12
1294	1294	the ability of such citizens to elect their preferred 13
1295	1295	candidates of choice. 14
1296	1296	‘‘(d) E
1297	1297	NFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General or any 15
1298	1298	aggrieved citizen may file an action in a Federal district 16
1299	1299	court to compel any State or political subdivision to satisfy 17
1300	1300	the obligations set forth in this section. Such actions shall 18
1301	1301	be heard and determined by a court of three judges under 19
1302	1302	section 2284 of title 28, United States Code. In any such 20
1303	1303	action, the court shall provide as a remedy that any voting 21
1304	1304	qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, prac-22
1305	1305	tice, or procedure with respect to voting, that is the sub-23
1306	1306	ject of the action under this subsection be enjoined unless 24
1307	1307	the court determines that— 25
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1310	1310	•HR 14 IH
1311	1311	‘‘(1) the voting qualification or prerequisite to 1
1312	1312	voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with re-2
1313	1313	spect to voting, is not a covered practice described 3
1314	1314	in subsection (b); or 4
1315	1315	‘‘(2) the State or political subdivision has com-5
1316	1316	plied with subsection (c) with respect to the covered 6
1317	1317	practice at issue. 7
1318	1318	‘‘(e) C
1319	1319	OUNTING OFRACIALGROUPS ANDLANGUAGE 8
1320	1320	M
1321	1321	INORITYGROUPS.—For purposes of this section, the cal-9
1322	1322	culation of the population of a racial group or a language 10
1323	1323	minority group shall be carried out using the methodology 11
1324	1324	in the guidance promulgated in the Federal Register on 12
1325	1325	February 9, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 7470). 13
1326	1326	‘‘(f) S
1327	1327	PECIALRULE.—For purposes of determina-14
1328	1328	tions under this section, any data provided by the Bureau 15
1329	1329	of the Census, whether based on estimation from sample 16
1330	1330	or actual enumeration, shall not be subject to challenge 17
1331	1331	or review in any court. 18
1332	1332	‘‘(g) M
1333	1333	ULTILINGUALVOTINGMATERIALS.—In this 19
1334	1334	section, the term ‘multilingual voting materials’ means 20
1335	1335	registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assist-21
1336	1336	ance, or other materials or information relating to the 22
1337	1337	electoral process, including ballots, provided in the lan-23
1338	1338	guage or languages of one or more language minority 24
1339	1339	groups.’’. 25
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1342	1342	•HR 14 IH
1343	1343	SEC. 7. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY TO ENFORCE THE 1
1344	1344	VOTING RIGHTS ACT. 2
1345	1345	(a) T
1346	1346	RANSPARENCY.— 3
1347	1347	(1) I
1348	1348	N GENERAL.—The Voting Rights Act of 4
1349	1349	1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) is amended by in-5
1350	1350	serting after section 5 the following new section: 6
1351	1351	‘‘SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING CHANGES TO PRO-7
1352	1352	TECT VOTING RIGHTS. 8
1353	1353	‘‘(a) N
1354	1354	OTICE OFENACTEDCHANGES.— 9
1355	1355	‘‘(1) N
1356	1356	OTICE OF CHANGES.—If a State or polit-10
1357	1357	ical subdivision makes any change in any qualifica-11
1358	1358	tion or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, 12
1359	1359	or procedure with respect to voting in any election 13
1360	1360	for Federal office that will result in the qualification 14
1361	1361	or prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure 15
1362	1362	being different from that which was in effect as of 16
1363	1363	180 days before the date of the election for Federal 17
1364	1364	office, the State or political subdivision shall provide 18
1365	1365	reasonable public notice in such State or political 19
1366	1366	subdivision and on the website of the State or polit-20
1367	1367	ical subdivision, of a concise description of the 21
1368	1368	change, including the difference between the 22
1369	1369	changed qualification or prerequisite, standard, prac-23
1370	1370	tice, or procedure and the prerequisite, standard, 24
1371	1371	practice, or procedure which was previously in effect. 25
1372	1372	The public notice described in this paragraph, in 26
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1375	1375	•HR 14 IH
1376	1376	such State or political subdivision and on the website 1
1377	1377	of a State or political subdivision, shall be in a for-2
1378	1378	mat that is reasonably convenient and accessible to 3
1379	1379	persons with disabilities who are eligible to vote, in-4
1380	1380	cluding persons who have low vision or are blind. 5
1381	1381	‘‘(2) D
1382	1382	EADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit-6
1383	1383	ical subdivision shall provide the public notice re-7
1384	1384	quired under paragraph (1) not later than 48 hours 8
1385	1385	after making the change involved. 9
1386	1386	‘‘(b) T
1387	1387	RANSPARENCY REGARDINGPOLLINGPLACE 10
1388	1388	R
1389	1389	ESOURCES.— 11
1390	1390	‘‘(1) I
1391	1391	N GENERAL.—In order to identify any 12
1392	1392	changes that may impact the right to vote of any 13
1393	1393	person, prior to the 30th day before the date of an 14
1394	1394	election for Federal office, each State or political 15
1395	1395	subdivision with responsibility for allocating reg-16
1396	1396	istered voters, voting machines, and official poll 17
1397	1397	workers to particular precincts and polling places 18
1398	1398	shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 19
1399	1399	or political subdivision and on the website of a State 20
1400	1400	or political subdivision, of the information described 21
1401	1401	in paragraph (2) for precincts and polling places 22
1402	1402	within such State or political subdivision. The public 23
1403	1403	notice described in this paragraph, in such State or 24
1404	1404	political subdivision and on the website of a State or 25
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1407	1407	•HR 14 IH
1408	1408	political subdivision, shall be in a format that is rea-1
1409	1409	sonably convenient and accessible to persons with 2
1410	1410	disabilities who are eligible to vote, including persons 3
1411	1411	who have low vision or are blind. 4
1412	1412	‘‘(2) I
1413	1413	NFORMATION DESCRIBED .—The informa-5
1414	1414	tion described in this paragraph with respect to a 6
1415	1415	precinct or polling place is each of the following: 7
1416	1416	‘‘(A) The name or number. 8
1417	1417	‘‘(B) In the case of a polling place, the lo-9
1418	1418	cation, including the street address, and wheth-10
1419	1419	er such polling place is accessible to persons 11
1420	1420	with disabilities. 12
1421	1421	‘‘(C) The voting-age population of the area 13
1422	1422	served by the precinct or polling place, broken 14
1423	1423	down by demographic group if such breakdown 15
1424	1424	is reasonably available to such State or political 16
1425	1425	subdivision. 17
1426	1426	‘‘(D) The number of registered voters as-18
1427	1427	signed to the precinct or polling place, broken 19
1428	1428	down by demographic group if such breakdown 20
1429	1429	is reasonably available to such State or political 21
1430	1430	subdivision. 22
1431	1431	‘‘(E) The number of voting machines as-23
1432	1432	signed, including the number of voting ma-24
1433	1433	chines accessible to persons with disabilities 25
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1436	1436	•HR 14 IH
1437	1437	who are eligible to vote, including persons who 1
1438	1438	have low vision or are blind. 2
1439	1439	‘‘(F) The number of official paid poll 3
1440	1440	workers assigned. 4
1441	1441	‘‘(G) The number of official volunteer poll 5
1442	1442	workers assigned. 6
1443	1443	‘‘(H) In the case of a polling place, the 7
1444	1444	dates and hours of operation. 8
1445	1445	‘‘(3) U
1446	1446	PDATES IN INFORMATION REPORTED .— 9
1447	1447	If a State or political subdivision makes any change 10
1448	1448	in any of the information described in paragraph 11
1449	1449	(2), the State or political subdivision shall provide 12
1450	1450	reasonable public notice in such State or political 13
1451	1451	subdivision and on the website of a State or political 14
1452	1452	subdivision, of the change in the information not 15
1453	1453	later than 48 hours after the change occurs or, if 16
1454	1454	the change occurs fewer than 48 hours before the 17
1455	1455	date of the election for Federal office, as soon as 18
1456	1456	practicable after the change occurs. The public no-19
1457	1457	tice described in this paragraph and published on 20
1458	1458	the website of a State or political subdivision shall 21
1459	1459	be in a format that is reasonably convenient and ac-22
1460	1460	cessible to persons with disabilities who are eligible 23
1461	1461	to vote, including persons who have low vision or are 24
1462	1462	blind. 25
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1465	1465	•HR 14 IH
1466	1466	‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OFCHANGESRELATING TODE-1
1467	1467	MOGRAPHICS ANDELECTORALDISTRICTS.— 2
1468	1468	‘‘(1) R
1469	1469	EQUIRING PUBLIC NOTICE OF 3
1470	1470	CHANGES.—Not later than 10 days after making 4
1471	1471	any change in the constituency that will participate 5
1472	1472	in an election for Federal, State, or local office or 6
1473	1473	the boundaries of a voting unit or electoral district 7
1474	1474	in an election for Federal, State, or local office (in-8
1475	1475	cluding through redistricting, reapportionment, 9
1476	1476	changing from at-large elections to district-based 10
1477	1477	elections, or changing from district-based elections 11
1478	1478	to at-large elections), a State or political subdivision 12
1479	1479	shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 13
1480	1480	or political subdivision and on the website of a State 14
1481	1481	or political subdivision, of the demographic and elec-15
1482	1482	toral data described in paragraph (3) for each of the 16
1483	1483	geographic areas described in paragraph (2). 17
1484	1484	‘‘(2) G
1485	1485	EOGRAPHIC AREAS DESCRIBED .—The ge-18
1486	1486	ographic areas described in this paragraph are as 19
1487	1487	follows: 20
1488	1488	‘‘(A) The State as a whole, if the change 21
1489	1489	applies statewide, or the political subdivision as 22
1490	1490	a whole, if the change applies across the entire 23
1491	1491	political subdivision. 24
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1494	1494	•HR 14 IH
1495	1495	‘‘(B) If the change includes a plan to re-1
1496	1496	place or eliminate voting units or electoral dis-2
1497	1497	tricts, each voting unit or electoral district that 3
1498	1498	will be replaced or eliminated. 4
1499	1499	‘‘(C) If the change includes a plan to es-5
1500	1500	tablish new voting units or electoral districts, 6
1501	1501	each such new voting unit or electoral district. 7
1502	1502	‘‘(3) D
1503	1503	EMOGRAPHIC AND ELECTORAL DATA .— 8
1504	1504	The demographic and electoral data described in this 9
1505	1505	paragraph with respect to a geographic area de-10
1506	1506	scribed in paragraph (2) are each of the following: 11
1507	1507	‘‘(A) The voting-age population, broken 12
1508	1508	down by demographic group. 13
1509	1509	‘‘(B) If it is reasonably available to the 14
1510	1510	State or political subdivision involved, an esti-15
1511	1511	mate of the population of the area which con-16
1512	1512	sists of citizens of the United States who are 18 17
1513	1513	years of age or older, broken down by demo-18
1514	1514	graphic group. 19
1515	1515	‘‘(C) The number of registered voters, bro-20
1516	1516	ken down by demographic group if such break-21
1517	1517	down is reasonably available to the State or po-22
1518	1518	litical subdivision involved. 23
1519	1519	‘‘(D)(i) If the change applies to a State, 24
1520	1520	the actual number of votes, or (if it is not rea-25
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1523	1523	•HR 14 IH
1524	1524	sonably practicable for the State to ascertain 1
1525	1525	the actual number of votes) the estimated num-2
1526	1526	ber of votes received by each candidate in each 3
1527	1527	statewide election held during the 5-year period 4
1528	1528	which ends on the date the change involved is 5
1529	1529	made; and 6
1530	1530	‘‘(ii) if the change applies to only one polit-7
1531	1531	ical subdivision, the actual number of votes, or 8
1532	1532	(if it is not reasonably practicable for the polit-9
1533	1533	ical subdivision to ascertain the actual number 10
1534	1534	of votes) in each subdivision-wide election held 11
1535	1535	during the 5-year period which ends on the date 12
1536	1536	the change involved is made. 13
1537	1537	‘‘(4) V
1538	1538	OLUNTARY COMPLIANCE BY SMALLER JU -14
1539	1539	RISDICTIONS.—Compliance with this subsection shall 15
1540	1540	be voluntary for a political subdivision of a State un-16
1541	1541	less the subdivision is one of the following: 17
1542	1542	‘‘(A) A county or parish. 18
1543	1543	‘‘(B) A municipality with a population 19
1544	1544	greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu-20
1545	1545	reau of the Census under the most recent de-21
1546	1546	cennial census. 22
1547	1547	‘‘(C) A school district with a population 23
1548	1548	greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu-24
1549	1549	reau of the Census under the most recent de-25
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1552	1552	•HR 14 IH
1553	1553	cennial census. For purposes of this subpara-1
1554	1554	graph, the term ‘school district’ means the geo-2
1555	1555	graphic area under the jurisdiction of a local 3
1556	1556	educational agency (as defined in section 9101 4
1557	1557	of the Elementary and Secondary Education 5
1558	1558	Act of 1965). 6
1559	1559	‘‘(d) R
1560	1560	ULESREGARDINGFORMAT OF INFORMA-7
1561	1561	TION.—The Attorney General may issue rules specifying 8
1562	1562	a reasonably convenient and accessible format that States 9
1563	1563	and political subdivisions shall use to provide public notice 10
1564	1564	of information under this section. 11
1565	1565	‘‘(e) N
1566	1566	ODENIAL OFRIGHTTOVOTE.—The right to 12
1567	1567	vote of any person shall not be denied or abridged because 13
1568	1568	the person failed to comply with any change made by a 14
1569	1569	State or political subdivision to a voting qualification, pre-15
1570	1570	requisite, standard, practice, or procedure if the State or 16
1571	1571	political subdivision involved did not meet the applicable 17
1572	1572	requirements of this section with respect to the change. 18
1573	1573	‘‘(f) D
1574	1574	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 19
1575	1575	‘‘(1) the term ‘demographic group’ means each 20
1576	1576	group which section 2 protects from the denial or 21
1577	1577	abridgement of the right to vote on account of race 22
1578	1578	or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set 23
1579	1579	forth in section 4(f)(2); 24
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1582	1582	•HR 14 IH
1583	1583	‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 1
1584	1584	any general, special, primary, or runoff election held 2
1585	1585	solely or in part for the purpose of electing any can-3
1586	1586	didate for the office of President, Vice President, 4
1587	1587	Presidential elector, Senator, Member of the House 5
1588	1588	of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commis-6
1589	1589	sioner to the Congress; and 7
1590	1590	‘‘(3) the term ‘persons with disabilities’, means 8
1591	1591	individuals with a disability, as defined in section 3 9
1592	1592	of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.’’. 10
1593	1593	(2) C
1594	1594	ONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 3(a) 11
1595	1595	of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by 12
1596	1596	striking ‘‘in accordance with section 6’’. 13
1597	1597	(b) E
1598	1598	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 14
1599	1599	subsection (a)(1) shall apply with respect to changes which 15
1600	1600	are made on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 16
1601	1601	which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 17
1602	1602	SEC. 8. AUTHORITY TO ASSIGN OBSERVERS. 18
1603	1603	(a) C
1604	1604	LARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY INPOLITICAL 19
1605	1605	S
1606	1606	UBDIVISIONSSUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE.—Section 20
1607	1607	8(a)(2)(B) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 21
1608	1608	10305(a)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 22
1609	1609	‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment, 23
1610	1610	the assignment of observers is otherwise nec-24
1611	1611	essary to enforce the guarantees of the 14th or 25
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1614	1614	•HR 14 IH
1615	1615	15th Amendment or any provision of this Act 1
1616	1616	or any other Federal law protecting the right of 2
1617	1617	citizens of the United States to vote; or’’. 3
1618	1618	(b) A
1619	1619	SSIGNMENT OFOBSERVERSTOENFORCEBI-4
1620	1620	LINGUALELECTIONREQUIREMENTS.—Section 8(a) of 5
1621	1621	such Act (52 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 6
1622	1622	(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 7
1623	1623	(1); 8
1624	1624	(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-9
1625	1625	lowing: 10
1626	1626	‘‘(3) the Attorney General certifies with respect 11
1627	1627	to a political subdivision that— 12
1628	1628	‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 13
1629	1629	written meritorious complaints from residents, 14
1630	1630	elected officials, or civic participation organiza-15
1631	1631	tions that efforts to violate section 203 are like-16
1632	1632	ly to occur; or 17
1633	1633	‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment, 18
1634	1634	the assignment of observers is necessary to en-19
1635	1635	force the guarantees of section 203;’’; and 20
1636	1636	(3) by moving the margin for the continuation 21
1637	1637	text following paragraph (3), as added by paragraph 22
1638	1638	(2) of this subsection, 2 ems to the left. 23
1639	1639	(c) T
1640	1640	RANSFERRAL OFAUTHORITYOVEROBSERVERS 24
1641	1641	TO THEATTORNEYGENERAL.— 25
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1645	1645	(1) ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS .—Section 1
1646	1646	3(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 2
1647	1647	10302(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘United States 3
1648	1648	Civil Service Commission in accordance with section 4
1649	1649	6’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General in accordance 5
1650	1650	with section 8’’. 6
1651	1651	(2) O
1652	1652	BSERVERS; APPOINTMENT AND COM -7
1653	1653	PENSATION.—Section 8 of the Voting Rights Act of 8
1654	1654	1965 (52 U.S.C. 10305) is amended— 9
1655	1655	(A) in subsection (a)(2), in the matter fol-10
1656	1656	lowing subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘Director 11
1657	1657	of the Office of Personnel Management shall as-12
1658	1658	sign as many observers for such subdivision as 13
1659	1659	the Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General 14
1660	1660	shall assign as many observers for such subdivi-15
1661	1661	sion as the Attorney General’’; and 16
1662	1662	(B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Director 17
1663	1663	of the Office of Personnel Management’’ and 18
1664	1664	inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’. 19
1665	1665	(3) T
1666	1666	ERMINATION OF CERTAIN APPOINTMENTS 20
1667	1667	OF OBSERVERS.—Section 13(a)(1) of the Voting 21
1668	1668	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10309(a)(1)) is 22
1669	1669	amended by striking ‘‘notifies the Director of the Of-23
1670	1670	fice of Personnel Management,’’ and inserting ‘‘de-24
1671	1671	termines,’’. 25
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1675	1675	SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO SEEK RELIEF. 1
1676	1676	(a) P
1677	1677	OLLTAX.—Section 10(b) of the Voting Rights 2
1678	1678	Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10306(b)) is amended by striking 3
1679	1679	‘‘the Attorney General is authorized and directed to insti-4
1680	1680	tute forthwith in the name of the United States such ac-5
1681	1681	tions’’ and inserting ‘‘an aggrieved person or (in the name 6
1682	1682	of the United States) the Attorney General may institute 7
1683	1683	such actions’’. 8
1684	1684	(b) C
1685	1685	AUSE OFACTION.—Section 12(d) of the Voting 9
1686	1686	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10308(d)) is amended— 10
1687	1687	(1) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person has en-11
1688	1688	gaged’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in the name of 12
1689	1689	the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Whenever 13
1690	1690	there are reasonable grounds to believe that any per-14
1691	1691	son has implemented or will implement any voting 15
1692	1692	qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, 16
1693	1693	practice, or procedure that would (A) deny any cit-17
1694	1694	izen the right to vote in violation of the 14th, 15th, 18
1695	1695	19th, 24th, or 26th Amendments, or (B) would vio-19
1696	1696	late this Act (except for section 4A) or any other 20
1697	1697	Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the 21
1698	1698	basis of race, color, or membership in a language 22
1699	1699	minority group in the voting process, an aggrieved 23
1700	1700	person or (in the name of the United States) the At-24
1701	1701	torney General may institute’’; and 25
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1704	1704	•HR 14 IH
1705	1705	(2) by striking ‘‘, and including an order di-1
1706	1706	rected to the State and State or local election offi-2
1707	1707	cials to require them (1) to permit persons listed 3
1708	1708	under chapters 103 to 107 of this title to vote and 4
1709	1709	(2) to count such votes’’. 5
1710	1710	(c) J
1711	1711	UDICIALRELIEF.—Section 204 of the Voting 6
1712	1712	Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10504) is amended by 7
1713	1713	striking ‘‘Whenever the Attorney General has reason to 8
1714	1714	believe’’ and all that follows through ‘‘as he deems appro-9
1715	1715	priate’’ and inserting ‘‘Whenever there are reasonable 10
1716	1716	grounds to believe that a State or political subdivision has 11
1717	1717	engaged or is about to engage in any act or practice pro-12
1718	1718	hibited by a provision of title II, an aggrieved person or 13
1719	1719	(in the name of the United States) the Attorney General 14
1720	1720	may institute an action in a district court of the United 15
1721	1721	States, for a restraining order, a preliminary or perma-16
1722	1722	nent injunction, or such other order as may be appro-17
1723	1723	priate’’. 18
1724	1724	(d) E
1725	1725	NFORCEMENT OF TWENTY-SIXTHAMEND-19
1726	1726	MENT.—Section 301(a)(1) of the Voting Rights Act of 20
1727	1727	1965 (52 U.S.C. 10701) is amended by striking ‘‘The At-21
1728	1728	torney General is directed to institute’’ and all that follows 22
1729	1729	through ‘‘Constitution of the United States’’ and inserting 23
1730	1730	‘‘An aggrieved person or (in the name of the United 24
1731	1731	States) the Attorney General may institute an action in 25
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1734	1734	•HR 14 IH
1735	1735	a district court of the United States, for a restraining 1
1736	1736	order, a preliminary or permanent injunction, or such 2
1737	1737	other order as may be appropriate to implement the twen-3
1738	1738	ty-sixth amendment to the Constitution of the United 4
1739	1739	States’’. 5
1740	1740	SEC. 10. PREVENTIVE RELIEF. 6
1741	1741	Section 12(d) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 7
1742	1742	U.S.C. 10308(d)), as amended by section 9, is further 8
1743	1743	amended by adding at the end the following: 9
1744	1744	‘‘(2)(A) In considering any motion for preliminary re-10
1745	1745	lief in any action for preventive relief described in this sub-11
1746	1746	section, the court shall grant the relief if the court deter-12
1747	1747	mines that the complainant has raised a serious question 13
1748	1748	as to whether the challenged voting qualification or pre-14
1749	1749	requisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure vio-15
1750	1750	lates this Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the 16
1751	1751	hardship imposed on the defendant by the grant of the 17
1752	1752	relief will be less than the hardship which would be im-18
1753	1753	posed on the plaintiff if the relief were not granted. 19
1754	1754	‘‘(B) In making its determination under this para-20
1755	1755	graph with respect to a change in any voting qualification, 21
1756	1756	prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure 22
1757	1757	with respect to voting, the court shall consider all relevant 23
1758	1758	factors and give due weight to the following factors, if they 24
1759	1759	are present: 25
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1762	1762	•HR 14 IH
1763	1763	‘‘(i) Whether the qualification, prerequisite, 1
1764	1764	standard, practice, or procedure in effect prior to the 2
1765	1765	change was adopted as a remedy for a Federal court 3
1766	1766	judgment, consent decree, or admission regarding— 4
1767	1767	‘‘(I) discrimination on the basis of race or 5
1768	1768	color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend-6
1769	1769	ment; 7
1770	1770	‘‘(II) a violation of the 19th, 24th, or 26th 8
1771	1771	Amendments; 9
1772	1772	‘‘(III) a violation of this Act; or 10
1773	1773	‘‘(IV) voting discrimination on the basis of 11
1774	1774	race, color, or membership in a language minor-12
1775	1775	ity group in violation of any other Federal or 13
1776	1776	State law. 14
1777	1777	‘‘(ii) Whether the qualification, prerequisite, 15
1778	1778	standard, practice, or procedure in effect prior to the 16
1779	1779	change served as a ground for the dismissal or set-17
1780	1780	tlement of a claim alleging— 18
1781	1781	‘‘(I) discrimination on the basis of race or 19
1782	1782	color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend-20
1783	1783	ment; 21
1784	1784	‘‘(II) a violation of the 19th, 24th, or 26th 22
1785	1785	Amendment; 23
1786	1786	‘‘(III) a violation of this Act; or 24
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1789	1789	•HR 14 IH
1790	1790	‘‘(IV) voting discrimination on the basis of 1
1791	1791	race, color, or membership in a language minor-2
1792	1792	ity group in violation of any other Federal or 3
1793	1793	State law. 4
1794	1794	‘‘(iii) Whether the change was adopted fewer 5
1795	1795	than 180 days before the date of the election with 6
1796	1796	respect to which the change is to take or takes ef-7
1797	1797	fect. 8
1798	1798	‘‘(iv) Whether the defendant has failed to pro-9
1799	1799	vide timely or complete notice of the adoption of the 10
1800	1800	change as required by applicable Federal or State 11
1801	1801	law. 12
1802	1802	‘‘(3) A jurisdiction’s inability to enforce its voting or 13
1803	1803	election laws, regulations, policies, or redistricting plans, 14
1804	1804	standing alone, shall not be deemed to constitute irrep-15
1805	1805	arable harm to the public interest or to the interests of 16
1806	1806	a defendant in an action arising under the Constitution 17
1807	1807	or any Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the 18
1808	1808	basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 19
1809	1809	group in the voting process, for the purposes of deter-20
1810	1810	mining whether a stay of a court’s order or an interlocu-21
1811	1811	tory appeal under section 1253 of title 28, United States 22
1812	1812	Code, is warranted.’’. 23
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1815	1815	•HR 14 IH
1816	1816	SEC. 11. RELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS 1
1817	1817	LAWS. 2
1818	1818	(a) I
1819	1819	NGENERAL.— 3
1820	1820	(1) R
1821	1821	ELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF VOTING 4
1822	1822	RIGHTS LAWS.—In this section, the term ‘‘prohibited 5
1823	1823	act or practice’’ means— 6
1824	1824	(A) any act or practice— 7
1825	1825	(i) that creates an undue burden on 8
1826	1826	the fundamental right to vote in violation 9
1827	1827	of the 14th Amendment to the Constitu-10
1828	1828	tion of the United States or violates the 11
1829	1829	Equal Protection Clause of the 14th 12
1830	1830	Amendment to the Constitution of the 13
1831	1831	United States; or 14
1832	1832	(ii) that is prohibited by the 15th, 15
1833	1833	19th, 24th, or 26th Amendment to the 16
1834	1834	Constitution of the United States, section 17
1835	1835	2004 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 18
1836	1836	10101), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 19
1837	1837	U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter 20
1838	1838	Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 21
1839	1839	20501 et seq.), the Uniformed and Over-22
1840	1840	seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 23
1841	1841	U.S.C. 20301 et seq.), the Help America 24
1842	1842	Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et 25
1843	1843	seq.), the Voting Accessibility for the El-26
1844	1844	VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:00 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
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1846	1846	•HR 14 IH
1847	1847	derly and Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 1
1848	1848	20101 et seq.), or section 2003 of the Re-2
1849	1849	vised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10102); and 3
1850	1850	(B) any act or practice in violation of any 4
1851	1851	Federal law that prohibits discrimination with 5
1852	1852	respect to voting, including the Americans with 6
1853	1853	Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 7
1854	1854	seq.). 8
1855	1855	(2) R
1856	1856	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this 9
1857	1857	section shall be construed to diminish the authority 10
1858	1858	or scope of authority of any person to bring an ac-11
1859	1859	tion under any Federal law. 12
1860	1860	(3) A
1861	1861	TTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 722(b) of the 13
1862	1862	Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by 14
1863	1863	inserting ‘‘a provision described in section 2(a) of 15
1864	1864	the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 16
1865	1865	of 2025,’’ after ‘‘title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 17
1866	1866	1964,’’. 18
1867	1867	(b) G
1868	1868	ROUNDS FOREQUITABLERELIEF.—In any ac-19
1869	1869	tion for equitable relief pursuant to a law listed under sub-20
1870	1870	section (a), proximity of the action to an election shall not 21
1871	1871	be a valid reason to deny such relief, or stay the operation 22
1872	1872	of or vacate the issuance of such relief, unless the party 23
1873	1873	opposing the issuance or continued operation of relief 24
1874	1874	meets the burden of proving by clear and convincing evi-25
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1877	1877	•HR 14 IH
1878	1878	dence that the issuance of the relief would be so close in 1
1879	1879	time to the election as to cause irreparable harm to the 2
1880	1880	public interest or that compliance with such relief would 3
1881	1881	impose serious burdens on the party opposing relief. 4
1882	1882	(1) I
1883	1883	N GENERAL.—In considering whether to 5
1884	1884	grant, deny, stay, or vacate any order of equitable 6
1885	1885	relief, the court shall give substantial weight to the 7
1886	1886	public’s interest in expanding access to the right to 8
1887	1887	vote. A State’s generalized interest in enforcing its 9
1888	1888	enacted laws shall not be a relevant consideration in 10
1889	1889	determining whether equitable relief is warranted. 11
1890	1890	(2) P
1891	1891	RESUMPTIVE SAFE HARBOR .—Where equi-12
1892	1892	table relief is sought either within 30 days of the 13
1893	1893	adoption or reasonable public notice of the chal-14
1894	1894	lenged policy or practice, or more than 45 days be-15
1895	1895	fore the date of an election to which the relief being 16
1896	1896	sought will apply, proximity to the election will be 17
1897	1897	presumed not to constitute a harm to the public in-18
1898	1898	terest or a burden on the party opposing relief. 19
1899	1899	(c) G
1900	1900	ROUNDS FORSTAY ORVACATUR INFEDERAL 20
1901	1901	C
1902	1902	LAIMSINVOLVINGVOTINGRIGHTS.— 21
1903	1903	(1) P
1904	1904	ROSPECTIVE EFFECT .—In reviewing an 22
1905	1905	application for a stay or vacatur of equitable relief 23
1906	1906	granted pursuant to a law listed in subsection (a), 24
1907	1907	a court shall give substantial weight to the reliance 25
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1910	1910	•HR 14 IH
1911	1911	interests of citizens who acted pursuant to such 1
1912	1912	order under review. In fashioning a stay or vacatur, 2
1913	1913	a reviewing court shall not order relief that has the 3
1914	1914	effect of denying or abridging the right to vote of 4
1915	1915	any citizen who has acted in reliance on the order. 5
1916	1916	(2) W
1917	1917	RITTEN EXPLANATION .—No stay or 6
1918	1918	vacatur under this subsection shall issue unless the 7
1919	1919	reviewing court makes specific findings that the pub-8
1920	1920	lic interest, including the public’s interest in expand-9
1921	1921	ing access to the ballot, will be harmed by the con-10
1922	1922	tinuing operation of the equitable relief or that com-11
1923	1923	pliance with such relief will impose serious burdens 12
1924	1924	on the party seeking such a stay or vacatur such 13
1925	1925	that those burdens substantially outweigh the bene-14
1926	1926	fits to the public interest. In reviewing an applica-15
1927	1927	tion for a stay or vacatur of equitable relief, findings 16
1928	1928	of fact made in issuing the order under review shall 17
1929	1929	not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. 18
1930	1930	SEC. 12. ENFORCEMENT OF VOTING RIGHTS BY ATTORNEY 19
1931	1931	GENERAL. 20
1932	1932	Section 12 of the Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C. 21
1933	1933	10308), as amended by this Act, is further amended by 22
1934	1934	adding at the end the following: 23
1935	1935	‘‘(g) V
1936	1936	OTINGRIGHTSENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY 24
1937	1937	G
1938	1938	ENERAL.— 25
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1941	1941	•HR 14 IH
1942	1942	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to fulfill the At-1
1943	1943	torney General’s responsibility to enforce the Voting 2
1944	1944	Rights Act and other Federal civil rights statutes 3
1945	1945	that protect the right to vote, the Attorney General 4
1946	1946	(or upon designation by the Attorney General, the 5
1947	1947	Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights) is au-6
1948	1948	thorized, before commencing a civil action, to issue 7
1949	1949	a demand for inspection and information in writing 8
1950	1950	to any State or political subdivision, or other govern-9
1951	1951	mental representative or agent, with respect to any 10
1952	1952	relevant documentary material that he has reason to 11
1953	1953	believe is within their possession, custody, or control. 12
1954	1954	A demand by the Attorney General under this sec-13
1955	1955	tion may require— 14
1956	1956	‘‘(A) the production of such documentary 15
1957	1957	material for inspection and copying; 16
1958	1958	‘‘(B) answers in writing to written ques-17
1959	1959	tions with respect to such documentary mate-18
1960	1960	rial; or 19
1961	1961	‘‘(C) both. 20
1962	1962	‘‘(2) C
1963	1963	ONTENTS OF AN ATTORNEY GENERAL 21
1964	1964	DEMAND.— 22
1965	1965	‘‘(A) I
1966	1966	N GENERAL.—Any demand issued 23
1967	1967	under paragraph (1), shall include a sworn cer-24
1968	1968	tificate to identify the voting qualification or 25
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1971	1971	•HR 14 IH
1972	1972	prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 1
1973	1973	procedure with respect to voting, or other vot-2
1974	1974	ing related matter or issue, whose lawfulness 3
1975	1975	the Attorney General is investigating and to 4
1976	1976	identify the civil provisions of the Federal civil 5
1977	1977	rights statute that protects the right to vote 6
1978	1978	under which the investigation is being con-7
1979	1979	ducted. The demand shall be reasonably cal-8
1980	1980	culated to lead to the discovery of documentary 9
1981	1981	material and information relevant to such civil 10
1982	1982	rights investigation. Documentary material in-11
1983	1983	cludes any material upon which relevant infor-12
1984	1984	mation is recorded, and includes written or 13
1985	1985	printed materials, photographs, tapes, or mate-14
1986	1986	rials upon which information is electronically or 15
1987	1987	magnetically recorded. Such demands are aimed 16
1988	1988	at the Attorney General having the ability to in-17
1989	1989	spect and obtain copies of relevant materials (as 18
1990	1990	well as obtain information) related to voting 19
1991	1991	and are not aimed at the Attorney General tak-20
1992	1992	ing possession of original records, particularly 21
1993	1993	those that are required to be retained by State 22
1994	1994	and local election officials under Federal or 23
1995	1995	State law. 24
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1998	1998	•HR 14 IH
1999	1999	‘‘(B) NO REQUIREMENT FOR PRODUC -1
2000	2000	TION.—Any demand issued under paragraph 2
2001	2001	(1) may not require the production of any docu-3
2002	2002	mentary material or the submission of any an-4
2003	2003	swers in writing to written questions if such 5
2004	2004	material or answers would be protected from 6
2005	2005	disclosure under the standards applicable to 7
2006	2006	discovery requests under the Federal Rules of 8
2007	2007	Civil Procedure in an action in which the Attor-9
2008	2008	ney General or the United States is a party. 10
2009	2009	‘‘(C) D
2010	2010	OCUMENTARY MATERIAL .—If the 11
2011	2011	demand issued under paragraph (1) requires 12
2012	2012	the production of documentary material, it 13
2013	2013	shall— 14
2014	2014	‘‘(i) identify the class of documentary 15
2015	2015	material to be produced with such definite-16
2016	2016	ness and certainty as to permit such mate-17
2017	2017	rial to be fairly identified; and 18
2018	2018	‘‘(ii) prescribe a return date for pro-19
2019	2019	duction of the documentary material at 20
2020	2020	least twenty days after issuance of the de-21
2021	2021	mand to give the State or political subdivi-22
2022	2022	sion, or other governmental representative 23
2023	2023	or agent, a reasonable period of time for 24
2024	2024	assembling the documentary material and 25
2025	2025	VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:00 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14
2026	2026	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 67
2027	2027	•HR 14 IH
2028	2028	making it available for inspection and 1
2029	2029	copying. 2
2030	2030	‘‘(D) A
2031	2031	NSWERS TO WRITTEN QUES -3
2032	2032	TIONS.—If the demand issued under paragraph 4
2033	2033	(1) requires answers in writing to written ques-5
2034	2034	tions, it shall— 6
2035	2035	‘‘(i) set forth with specificity the writ-7
2036	2036	ten question to be answered; and 8
2037	2037	‘‘(ii) prescribe a date at least twenty 9
2038	2038	days after the issuance of the demand for 10
2039	2039	submitting answers in writing to the writ-11
2040	2040	ten questions. 12
2041	2041	‘‘(E) S
2042	2042	ERVICE.—A demand issued under 13
2043	2043	paragraph (1) may be served by a United 14
2044	2044	States marshal or a deputy marshal, or by cer-15
2045	2045	tified mail, at any place within the territorial 16
2046	2046	jurisdiction of any court of the United States. 17
2047	2047	‘‘(3) R
2048	2048	ESPONSES TO AN ATTORNEY GENERAL 18
2049	2049	DEMAND.—A State or political subdivision, or other 19
2050	2050	governmental representative or agent, must, with re-20
2051	2051	spect to any documentary material or any answer in 21
2052	2052	writing produced under this subsection, provide a 22
2053	2053	sworn certificate, in such form as the demand issued 23
2054	2054	under paragraph (1) designates, by a person having 24
2055	2055	knowledge of the facts and circumstances relating to 25
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2058	2058	•HR 14 IH
2059	2059	such production or written answer, authorized to act 1
2060	2060	on behalf of the State or political subdivision, or 2
2061	2061	other governmental representative or agent, upon 3
2062	2062	which the demand was served. The certificate— 4
2063	2063	‘‘(A) shall state that— 5
2064	2064	‘‘(i) all of the documentary material 6
2065	2065	required by the demand and in the posses-7
2066	2066	sion, custody, or control of the State or po-8
2067	2067	litical subdivision, or other governmental 9
2068	2068	representative or agent, has been produced; 10
2069	2069	‘‘(ii) that with respect to every answer 11
2070	2070	in writing to a written question, all infor-12
2071	2071	mation required by the question and in the 13
2072	2072	possession, custody, control, or knowledge 14
2073	2073	of the State or political subdivision, or 15
2074	2074	other governmental representative or 16
2075	2075	agent, has been submitted; or 17
2076	2076	‘‘(iii) both; or 18
2077	2077	‘‘(B) provide the basis for any objection to 19
2078	2078	producing the documentary material or answer-20
2079	2079	ing the written question. 21
2080	2080	To the extent that any information is not furnished, 22
2081	2081	the information shall be identified and reasons set 23
2082	2082	forth with particularity regarding the reasons why 24
2083	2083	the information was not furnished. 25
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2086	2086	•HR 14 IH
2087	2087	‘‘(4) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.— 1
2088	2088	‘‘(A) P
2089	2089	ETITION FOR ENFORCEMENT .— 2
2090	2090	Whenever any State or political subdivision, or 3
2091	2091	other governmental representative or agent, 4
2092	2092	fails to comply with demand issued by the At-5
2093	2093	torney General under paragraph (1), the Attor-6
2094	2094	ney General may file, in a district court of the 7
2095	2095	United States in which the State or political 8
2096	2096	subdivision, or other governmental representa-9
2097	2097	tive or agent, is located, a petition for a judicial 10
2098	2098	order enforcing the Attorney General demand 11
2099	2099	issued under paragraph (1). 12
2100	2100	‘‘(B) P
2101	2101	ETITION TO MODIFY.— 13
2102	2102	‘‘(i) I
2103	2103	N GENERAL.—Any State or po-14
2104	2104	litical subdivision, or other governmental 15
2105	2105	representative or agent, that is served with 16
2106	2106	a demand issued by the Attorney General 17
2107	2107	under paragraph (1) may file in the United 18
2108	2108	States District Court for the District of 19
2109	2109	Columbia a petition for an order of the 20
2110	2110	court to modify or set aside the demand of 21
2111	2111	the Attorney General. 22
2112	2112	‘‘(ii) P
2113	2113	ETITION TO MODIFY.—Any pe-23
2114	2114	tition to modify or set aside a demand of 24
2115	2115	the Attorney General issued under para-25
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2118	2118	•HR 14 IH
2119	2119	graph (1) must be filed within 20 days 1
2120	2120	after the date of service of the Attorney 2
2121	2121	General’s demand or at any time before 3
2122	2122	the return date specified in the Attorney 4
2123	2123	General’s demand, whichever date is ear-5
2124	2124	lier. 6
2125	2125	‘‘(iii) C
2126	2126	ONTENTS OF PETITION .—The 7
2127	2127	petition shall specify each ground upon 8
2128	2128	which the petitioner relies in seeking relief 9
2129	2129	under clause (i), and may be based upon 10
2130	2130	any failure of the Attorney General’s de-11
2131	2131	mand to comply with the provisions of this 12
2132	2132	section or upon any constitutional or other 13
2133	2133	legal right or privilege of the State or po-14
2134	2134	litical subdivision, or other governmental 15
2135	2135	representative or agent. During the pend-16
2136	2136	ency of the petition in the court, the court 17
2137	2137	may stay, as it deems proper, the running 18
2138	2138	of the time allowed for compliance with the 19
2139	2139	Attorney General’s demand, in whole or in 20
2140	2140	part, except that the State or political sub-21
2141	2141	division, or other governmental representa-22
2142	2142	tive or agent, filing the petition shall com-23
2143	2143	ply with any portions of the Attorney Gen-24
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2146	2146	•HR 14 IH
2147	2147	eral’s demand not sought to be modified or 1
2148	2148	set aside.’’. 2
2149	2149	SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS. 3
2150	2150	Title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 4
2151	2151	10301) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5
2152	2152	‘‘SEC. 21. DEFINITIONS. 6
2153	2153	‘‘In this Act: 7
2154	2154	‘‘(1) I
2155	2155	NDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ has the mean-8
2156	2156	ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self- 9
2157	2157	Determination and Education Assistance Act. 10
2158	2158	‘‘(2) I
2159	2159	NDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘Indian lands’ 11
2160	2160	means— 12
2161	2161	‘‘(A) any Indian country of an Indian 13
2162	2162	tribe, as such term is defined in section 1151 14
2163	2163	of title 18, United States Code; 15
2164	2164	‘‘(B) any land in Alaska that is owned, 16
2165	2165	pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle-17
2166	2166	ment Act, by an Indian tribe that is a Native 18
2167	2167	village (as such term is defined in section 3 of 19
2168	2168	such Act), or by a Village Corporation that is 20
2169	2169	associated with the Indian tribe (as such term 21
2170	2170	is defined in section 3 of such Act); 22
2171	2171	‘‘(C) any land on which the seat of govern-23
2172	2172	ment of the Indian tribe is located; and 24
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2175	2175	•HR 14 IH
2176	2176	‘‘(D) any land that is part or all of a tribal 1
2177	2177	designated statistical area associated with the 2
2178	2178	Indian tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na-3
2179	2179	tive village statistical area associated with the 4
2180	2180	tribe, as defined by the Bureau of the Census 5
2181	2181	for the purposes of the most recent decennial 6
2182	2182	census. 7
2183	2183	‘‘(3) I
2184	2184	NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ or 8
2185	2185	‘tribe’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ 9
2186	2186	in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 10
2187	2187	Education Assistance Act. 11
2188	2188	‘‘(4) T
2189	2189	RIBAL GOVERNMENT .—The term ‘Tribal 12
2190	2190	Government’ means the recognized governing body 13
2191	2191	of an Indian Tribe. 14
2192	2192	‘‘(5) V
2193	2193	OTING-AGE POPULATION .—The term 15
2194	2194	‘voting-age population’ means the numerical size of 16
2195	2195	the population within a State, within a political sub-17
2196	2196	division, or within a political subdivision that con-18
2197	2197	tains Indian lands, as the case may be, that consists 19
2198	2198	of persons age 18 or older, as calculated by the Bu-20
2199	2199	reau of the Census under the most recent decennial 21
2200	2200	census.’’. 22
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2203	2203	•HR 14 IH
2204	2204	SEC. 14. ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 1
2205	2205	Section 14(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 2
2206	2206	U.S.C. 10310(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 3
2207	2207	following: 4
2208	2208	‘‘(4) The term ‘prevailing party’ means a party to an 5
2209	2209	action that receives at least some of the benefit sought 6
2210	2210	by such action, states a colorable claim, and can establish 7
2211	2211	that the action was a significant cause of a change to the 8
2212	2212	status quo.’’. 9
2213	2213	SEC. 15. OTHER TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND-10
2214	2214	MENTS. 11
2215	2215	(a) A
2216	2216	CTIONSCOVEREDUNDERSECTION3.—Section 12
2217	2217	3(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 13
2218	2218	10302(c)) is amended— 14
2219	2219	(1) by striking ‘‘any proceeding instituted by 15
2220	2220	the Attorney General or an aggrieved person under 16
2221	2221	any statute to enforce’’ and inserting ‘‘any action 17
2222	2222	under any statute in which a party (including the 18
2223	2223	Attorney General) seeks to enforce’’; and 19
2224	2224	(2) by striking ‘‘at the time the proceeding was 20
2225	2225	commenced’’ and inserting ‘‘at the time the action 21
2226	2226	was commenced’’. 22
2227	2227	(b) C
2228	2228	LARIFICATION OFTREATMENT OFMEMBERS OF 23
2229	2229	L
2230	2230	ANGUAGEMINORITYGROUPS.—Section 4(f) of such Act 24
2231	2231	(52 U.S.C. 10303(f)) is amended— 25
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2234	2234	•HR 14 IH
2235	2235	(1) in paragraph (1), by striking the second 1
2236	2236	sentence; and 2
2237	2237	(2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 3
2238	2238	(c) P
2239	2239	ERIODDURINGWHICHCHANGES INVOTING 4
2240	2240	P
2241	2241	RACTICESARESUBJECT TOPRECLEARANCE UNDER 5
2242	2242	S
2243	2243	ECTION5.—Section 5 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10304) 6
2244	2244	is amended— 7
2245	2245	(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘based upon 8
2246	2246	determinations made under the first sentence of sec-9
2247	2247	tion 4(b) are in effect’’ and inserting ‘‘are in effect 10
2248	2248	during a calendar year’’; 11
2249	2249	(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘November 1, 12
2250	2250	1964’’ and all that follows through ‘‘November 1, 13
2251	2251	1972’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable date of cov-14
2252	2252	erage’’; and 15
2253	2253	(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-16
2254	2254	section: 17
2255	2255	‘‘(e) The term ‘applicable date of coverage’ means, 18
2256	2256	with respect to a State or political subdivision— 19
2257	2257	‘‘(1) June 25, 2013, if the most recent deter-20
2258	2258	mination for such State or subdivision under section 21
2259	2259	4(b) was made on or before December 31, 2025; or 22
2260	2260	‘‘(2) the date on which the most recent deter-23
2261	2261	mination for such State or subdivision under section 24
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2264	2264	•HR 14 IH
2265	2265	4(b) was made, if such determination was made 1
2266	2266	after December 31, 2025.’’. 2
2267	2267	SEC. 16. SEVERABILITY. 3
2268	2268	If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 4
2269	2269	by this Act, or the application of such a provision or 5
2270	2270	amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be 6
2271	2271	unconstitutional or is otherwise enjoined or unenforceable, 7
2272	2272	the remainder of this Act and amendments made by this 8
2273	2273	Act, and the application of the provisions and amendment 9
2274	2274	to any person or circumstance, and any remaining provi-10
2275	2275	sion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, shall not be af-11
2276	2276	fected by the holding. 12
2277	2277	SEC. 17. GRANTS TO ASSIST WITH NOTICE REQUIREMENTS 13
2278	2278	UNDER THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. 14
2279	2279	(a) I
2280	2280	NGENERAL.—The Attorney General shall make 15
2281	2281	grants each fiscal year to small jurisdictions who submit 16
2282	2282	applications under subsection (b) for purposes of assisting 17
2283	2283	such small jurisdictions with compliance with the require-18
2284	2284	ments of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to submit or pub-19
2285	2285	lish notice of any change to a qualification, prerequisite, 20
2286	2286	standard, practice or procedure affecting voting. 21
2287	2287	(b) A
2288	2288	PPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 22
2289	2289	this section, a small jurisdiction shall submit an applica-23
2290	2290	tion to the Attorney General in such form and containing 24
2291	2291	such information as the Attorney General may require re-25
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2294	2294	•HR 14 IH
2295	2295	garding the compliance of such small jurisdiction with the 1
2296	2296	provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 2
2297	2297	(c) S
2298	2298	MALLJURISDICTIONDEFINED.—For purposes 3
2299	2299	of this section, the term ‘‘small jurisdiction’’ means any 4
2300	2300	political subdivision of a State with a population of 10,000 5
2301	2301	or less. 6
2302	2302	Æ
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