II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 739 

To protect the voting rights of Native American and Alaska Native voters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Ms. HARRIS, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

TESTER, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect the voting rights of Native American and Alaska 

Native voters. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American Vot5 ing Rights Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Constitution explicitly and implicitly 

9 grants Congress broad general powers to legislate on 


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1 issues relating to Indian Tribes, powers consistently 

2 described as plenary and exclusive. These powers 

3 arise from the grant of authority in the Indian Com4 merce Clause and through legislative matters arising 

5 under the Treaty Clause. 

6 (2) The Federal Government is responsible for 

7 upholding the obligations that the Federal Govern8 ment has agreed to through treaties, legislation, and 

9 executive orders, referred to as the Federal trust re10 sponsibility toward Indian Tribes and their mem11 bers. 

12 (3) The Supreme Court has repeatedly relied on 

13 the nature of this ‘‘government to government’’ rela14 tionship between the United States and sovereign 

15 Indian Tribes for congressional authority to enact 

16 ‘‘legislation that singles out Indians for particular 

17 and special treatment.’’ Morton v. Mancari, 417 

18 U.S. 535, 554–555 (1974). 

19 (4) Legislation removing barriers to Native 

20 American voting is vital for the fulfillment of 

21 Congress’s ‘‘unique obligation’’ toward Indians, par22 ticularly ensuring that Native American voters are 

23 fully included as ‘‘qualified members of the modern 

24 body politic.’’ Board of County Comm’rs v. Seber, 

25 318 U.S. 705, 715 (1943). 


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1 (5) Under the Elections Clause of article I, sec2 tion 4 of the Constitution, Congress has additional 

3 power to regulate any election conducted at least in 

4 part to select Members of Congress. Taken together, 

5 the Indian Commerce Clause and the Election 

6 Clause give Congress broad authority to enact legis7 lation to safeguard the voting rights of Native Amer8 ican voters. 

9 (6) Despite Congress’s decision to grant Native 

10 Americans Federal citizenship, and with it the pro11 tections of the Fifteenth Amendment, with passage 

12 of the Act of June 2, 1924 (Public Law 68–233; 43 

13 Stat. 253) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Citizen14 ship Act of 1924’’), States continued to deploy dis15 tinct methods for disenfranchising Indians by enact16 ing statutes to exclude from voter rolls Indians liv17 ing on reservations, requiring that Indians first ter18 minate their relationship with their Indian Tribe, re19 stricting the right to vote on account of a Tribal 

20 member’s ‘‘guardianship’’ status, and imposing lit21 eracy tests. 

22 (7) Barriers to voter access for Native Ameri23 cans persist today, and such barriers range from ob24 structing voter access, to vote dilution and inten25 tional malapportionment of electoral districts. 


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1 (8) The Native American Voting Rights Coali2 tion’s recent 9 field hearings in Indian Country and 

3 4-State survey of voter discrimination revealed a 

4 number of additional obstacles that Native Ameri5 cans must overcome in some States, including— 

6 (A) a lack of accessible registration and 

7 polling sites, either due to conditions such as 

8 geography, lack of paved roads, the absence of 

9 reliable and affordable broadband connectivity, 

10 and restrictions on the time and place that peo11 ple can register and vote, and the manner in 

12 which people can register and vote, including 

13 unequal opportunities for absentee, early, mail14 in, and in-person voting; 

15 (B) nontraditional addresses for residents 

16 on Indian reservations, which make voter reg17 istration, acquisition of mail-in ballots, and se18 curing required identification difficult, if not 

19 impossible; 

20 (C) inadequate language assistance for 

21 Tribal members, including lack of outreach and 

22 publicity, the failure to provide complete, accu23 rate, and uniform translations of all voting ma24 terials in the relevant Native language, and an 


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1 insufficient number of trained bilingual poll 

2 workers; and 

3 (D) voter identification laws that discrimi4 nate against Native Americans. 

5 (9) The Department of Justice and courts have 

6 also recognized that some jurisdictions have been 

7 unresponsive to reasonable requests from federally 

8 recognized Indian Tribes for more accessible voter 

9 registration sites and in-person voting locations. 

10 (10) According to the National Congress of 

11 American Indians, there is a wide gap between the 

12 voter registration and turnout rates of eligible Amer13 ican Indians and Alaska Natives, and the voter reg14 istration and turnout rates of non-Hispanic white 

15 and other racial and ethnic groups. 

16 (11) Despite these obstacles, the Native Amer17 ican vote continues to play a significant role in na18 tional, State, and local elections. 

19 (12) In Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and 

20 South Dakota, Native Americans comprise approxi21 mately 10 percent or more of the voting population. 

22 (13) The Native American vote also holds great 

23 potential, with over 1,000,000 voters who are eligible 

24 to vote, but are not registered to vote. 

25 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to fulfill the Federal Government’s trust re2 sponsibility to protect and promote Native Ameri3 cans’ exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed 

4 right to vote, including the right to register to vote 

5 and the ability to access all mechanisms for voting; 

6 (2) to establish preclearance procedures for a 

7 specific subset of State actions that have been used 

8 to restrict access to the polls on Indian lands; 

9 (3) to expand voter registration under the Na10 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

11 20506 et seq.) to cover all Federal facilities, at the 

12 request of the Indian Tribe; 

13 (4) to afford equal treatment to forms of identi14 fication unique to Indian Tribes and their members; 

15 (5) to clarify the obligations of States and polit16 ical subdivisions regarding the provision of trans17 lated voting materials for American Indians and 

18 Alaska Natives under section 203 of the Voting 

19 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503); 

20 (6) to provide Tribal leaders with a direct path21 way to request Federal election observers, and to 

22 allow public access to the reports of those election 

23 observers; and 


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1 (7) to direct the Department of Justice to con2 sult on an annual basis with Indian Tribes on issues 

3 related to voting. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean7 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self8 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

9 U.S.C. 5304). 

10 (2) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

11 includes— 

12 (A) any Indian country of an Indian Tribe, 

13 as defined under section 1151 of title 18, 

14 United States Code; 

15 (B) any land in Alaska owned, pursuant to 

16 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

17 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by an Indian Tribe that 

18 is a Native village (as defined in section 3 of 

19 that Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) or by a Village Cor20 poration that is associated with an Indian Tribe 

21 (as defined in section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

22 1602)); 

23 (C) any land on which the seat of the Trib24 al Government is located; and 


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1 (D) any land that is part or all of a Tribal 

2 designated statistical area associated with an 

3 Indian Tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na4 tive village statistical area associated with an 

5 Indian Tribe, as defined by the Census Bureau 

6 for the purposes of the most recent decennial 

7 census. 

8 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

10 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu11 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

12 (4) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

13 Government’’ means the recognized governing body 

14 of an Indian Tribe. 

15 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING 

16 TASK FORCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office for Civil Rights at the 

18 Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice 

19 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’) shall establish 

20 and administer, in coordination with the Department of 

21 the Interior, a Native American voting task force grant 

22 program, through which the Office shall provide financial 

23 assistance to eligible applicants to enable those eligible ap24 plicants to establish and operate a Native American VotVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S739.IS S739

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1 ing Task Force in each State with a federally recognized 

2 Indian Tribe. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Native American 

4 voting task force grant program is to— 

5 (1) increase voter outreach, education, registra6 tion, and turnout in Native American communities; 

7 (2) increase access to the ballot for Native 

8 American communities, including additional satellite, 

9 early voting, and absentee voting locations; 

10 (3) streamline and reduce inconsistencies in the 

11 voting process for Native Americans; 

12 (4) provide, in the community’s dominant lan13 guage, educational materials and classes on Indian 

14 lands about candidacy filing; 

15 (5) train and educate State and local employ16 ees, including poll workers, about— 

17 (A) the language assistance and voter as18 sistance requirements under sections 203 and 

19 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

20 U.S.C. 10503; 10508); and 

21 (B) voter identification laws under section 

22 8 of this Act; 

23 (6) identify model programs and best practices 

24 for providing language assistance to Native Amer25 ican communities; 


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1 (7) provide non-partisan poll watchers on elec2 tion day in Native American communities; 

3 (8) participate in and evaluate future redis4 tricting efforts; 

5 (9) address issues of internet connectivity as it 

6 relates to voter registration and ballot access in Na7 tive American communities; and 

8 (10) facilitate collaboration between local elec9 tion officials, Native American communities, and 

10 Tribal elections offices. 

11 (c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘eligible appli12 cant’’ means— 

13 (1) an Indian Tribe; 

14 (2) a Secretary of State of a State, or another 

15 official of a State entity responsible for overseeing 

16 elections; 

17 (3) a nonprofit organization that works, in 

18 whole or in part, on voting issues; or 

19 (4) a consortium of one or more of the entities 

20 described in paragraphs (1) through (3). 

21 (d) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office, in coordination 

23 with the Department of the Interior and following 

24 consultation with Indian Tribes about the implemen25 tation of the Native American voting task force 


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1 grant program, shall establish guidelines for the 

2 process by which eligible applicants will submit ap3 plications. 

4 (2) APPLICATIONS.—Each eligible applicant de5 siring a grant under this section shall submit an ap6 plication, according to the process established under 

7 paragraph (1), and at such time, in such manner, 

8 and containing such information as the Attorney 

9 General may require. Such application shall in10 clude— 

11 (A) a certification that the applicant is an 

12 eligible applicant; 

13 (B) a proposed work plan addressing how 

14 the eligible applicant will establish and admin15 ister a Native American Voting Task Force 

16 that achieves the purposes described in sub17 section (b); 

18 (C) if the eligible applicant is a consortium 

19 as described in subsection (c)(4), a description 

20 of the proposed division of responsibilities be21 tween the participating entities; and 

22 (D) an explanation of the time period that 

23 the proposed Native American Voting Task 

24 Force will cover, which shall be a time period 

25 that is not more than 3 years. 


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1 (e) USES OF FUNDS.—A grantee receiving funds 

2 under this section shall use such funds to carry out one 

3 or more of the activities described in subsection (b), 

4 through the grantee’s Native American Voting Task 

5 Force. 

6 (f) RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

7 this section reduces State or local obligations provided for 

8 by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 

9 seq.), the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

10 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.), the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

11 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), or any other Federal law or 

12 regulation related to voting or the electoral process. 

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

15 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2034. 

16 SEC. 5. TRIBAL DESIGNATED VOTER REGISTRATION SITES. 

17 Section 7(a) of the National Voter Registration Act 

18 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

22 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

23 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

24 and 

25 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) at the request of an Indian Tribe, 

2 any Federal facility or federally funded facility 

3 that is primarily engaged in providing services 

4 to Indian Tribes and that provides such services 

5 to the requesting Indian Tribe; and 

6 ‘‘(D) at the request of an Indian Tribe, not 

7 less than one Federal facility or federally fund8 ed facility that is located on the Indian lands of 

9 the requesting Indian Tribe (which may be the 

10 Federal facility or federally funded facility de11 scribed in subparagraph (C)).’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(8) Where practicable, each Federal agency 

14 that operates a Federal facility or a federally funded 

15 facility that is subject to the provisions of paragraph 

16 (2)(C) or (D), shall designate one or more special 

17 days at a centralized location within the boundaries 

18 of the Indian lands of each applicable Indian Tribe 

19 for the purpose of informing members of the Indian 

20 Tribe of the timing, registration requirements, and 

21 voting procedures in elections for Federal office, at 

22 no cost to the Indian Tribe.’’. 

23 SEC. 6. ACCESSIBLE TRIBAL DESIGNATED POLLING SITES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) DESIGNATION OF STATE OFFICER.—Each 

2 of the several States whose territory contains all or 

3 part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands shall des4 ignate for each Indian Tribe an officer within that 

5 State who will be responsible for compliance with the 

6 provisions of this section. The State shall provide 

7 written notice to each such Indian Tribe of the offi8 cer so designated. 

9 (2) PROVISION OF POLLING PLACES.—For each 

10 Indian Tribe that satisfies the obligations of sub11 section (c), and for each election for a Federal offi12 cial that is held 180 days or later after the date on 

13 which the Indian Tribe initially satisfies such obliga14 tions, any State or political subdivision whose terri15 tory contains all or part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian 

16 lands— 

17 (A) shall provide a minimum of one polling 

18 place for each precinct in which there are eligi19 ble voters who reside on Indian lands, in a loca20 tion selected by the Indian Tribe and at no cost 

21 to the Indian Tribe; 

22 (B) shall provide, at no cost to the Indian 

23 Tribe, additional polling places in locations se24 lected by an Indian Tribe if, based on the total25 ity of circumstances described in subsection (b), 


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1 it is shown that not providing those additional 

2 polling places would result in members of the 

3 Indian Tribe and individuals residing on the In4 dian Tribe’s Indian lands having less oppor5 tunity to vote than eligible voters in that State 

6 or political subdivision who are not members of 

7 an Indian Tribe and do not reside on Indian 

8 lands; 

9 (C) shall, at each polling place located on 

10 Indian lands and at no cost to the Indian Tribe, 

11 make voting machines, tabulation machines, 

12 ballots, provisional ballots, and other voting ma13 terials available to the same extent that such 

14 equipment and materials are made available at 

15 other polling places in the State or political 

16 subdivision that are not located on Indian 

17 lands; 

18 (D) shall, at each polling place located on 

19 Indian lands, conduct the election using the 

20 same voting procedures that are used at other 

21 polling places in the State or political subdivi22 sion that are not located on Indian lands; 

23 (E) shall, at each polling place located on 

24 Indian lands, provide training, compensation, 

25 and other benefits to election officials and poll 


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1 workers at no cost to the Indian Tribe and to 

2 the same extent that such training, compensa3 tion, and benefits are provided to election offi4 cials and poll workers at other polling places in 

5 the State or political subdivision that are not lo6 cated on Indian lands; 

7 (F) shall cooperate in good faith with the 

8 efforts of the Indian Tribe to satisfy the re9 quirements of subsection (c); and 

10 (G) may fulfill the State’s obligations 

11 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) by relocating 

12 existing polling places, by creating new polling 

13 places, or both. 

14 (b) EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOTE.—When 

15 assessing the opportunities to vote provided to members 

16 of an Indian Tribe and to other eligible voters in the State 

17 residing on Indian lands in order to determine the number 

18 of additional polling places (if any) that a State or political 

19 subdivision must provide in accordance with subsection 

20 (a)(2)(B), the State, political subdivision, and any court 

21 applying this section, shall consider the totality of cir22 cumstances of— 

23 (1) the number of voting-age citizens assigned 

24 to each polling place; 


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1 (2) the distances that voters must travel to 

2 reach the polling places; 

3 (3) the time that voters must spend traveling to 

4 reach the polling places, including under inclement 

5 weather conditions; 

6 (4) the modes of transportation, if any, that are 

7 available to voters to use to reach the polling places; 

8 (5) the existence of and access to public trans9 portation to the polling places; and 

10 (6) any other factor relevant to effectuating the 

11 purposes of this Act. 

12 (c) OBLIGATIONS OF THE INDIAN TRIBE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State and political sub14 division obligations under subsection (a)(2) shall 

15 apply with respect to an Indian Tribe only if that 

16 Indian Tribe files a standing request with the officer 

17 designated under subsection (a)(1) for a polling 

18 place or polling places for future elections, pursuant 

19 to subsection (a)(2)(A), or subsection (a)(2)(B) (if 

20 applicable), which— 

21 (A) specifies the number and locations of 

22 such polling places that the Indian Tribe is re23 questing; 

24 (B) certifies that the Indian Tribe has ar25 ranged access to the facilities in which such 


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1 polling places will be located, and that such ac2 cess is in accordance with Federal and State 

3 law; 

4 (C) certifies that the Indian Tribe will en5 sure that each such polling place will be open 

6 and available to all eligible voters who reside in 

7 the precinct or other geographic area assigned 

8 to such polling place, regardless of whether 

9 such eligible voters are members of the Indian 

10 Tribe or of any other Indian Tribe; and 

11 (D) requests that the State shall designate 

12 election officials and poll workers to staff such 

13 polling places, or certifies that the Indian Tribe 

14 will designate election officials and poll workers 

15 to staff such polling places on every day that 

16 the polling places will be open. 

17 (2) OPT OUT.—At any time that is 60 days or 

18 more before the date of an election, an Indian Tribe 

19 that previously has satisfied the obligations of para20 graph (1) may notify the State that the Indian Tribe 

21 intends to opt out of the standing request for one 

22 or more polling places that were requested in accord23 ance with subsection (a)(2)(A) or subsection 

24 (a)(2)(B) for a particular election or for all future 

25 elections. 


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1 (d) FEDERAL POLLING SITES.—At an Indian Tribe’s 

2 request, each State shall designate as voter polling facili3 ties any of the facilities identified in accordance with sec4 tion 7(a)(2)(C) or (D) of the of the National Voter Reg5 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)), at no cost 

6 to the Indian Tribe, provided that the facility meets the 

7 requirements of Federal and State law as applied to other 

8 polling places within the State or political subdivision. The 

9 applicable agency of the Federal Government shall ensure 

10 that such designated facilities are made available as poll11 ing places. 

12 (e) MAIL-IN BALLOTING.—In States or political sub13 divisions that permit absentee or mail-in balloting, the fol14 lowing shall apply with respect to an election for Federal 

15 office: 

16 (1) All postage shall be prepaid by the Federal 

17 Government and each ballot postmarked the day the 

18 ballot is received at a postal facility located on In19 dian lands. 

20 (2) An Indian Tribe may designate a Tribal 

21 Government building as a ballot pickup and collec22 tion location at no cost to the Indian Tribe. The ap23 plicable State or political subdivision shall collect 

24 ballots from that location. 


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1 (3) The State or political subdivision shall pro2 vide mail-in and absentee ballots to each registered 

3 voter residing on Indian lands in the State or polit4 ical subdivision without requiring a residential ad5 dress, a mail-in or absentee ballot request, or an ex6 cuse for a mail-in or absentee ballot. 

7 (4) The address of a designated Tribal Govern8 ment building that is a ballot pickup and collection 

9 location under paragraph (2) may serve as the ad10 dress and mailing address for voters living on Indian 

11 lands if the designated Tribal Government building 

12 is in the same precinct as that voter. If such des13 ignated Tribal Government building is not in the 

14 same precinct as the voter, the voter may use the 

15 designated Tribal Government building as a mailing 

16 address and may separately designate the voter’s ap17 propriate precinct through a description of the vot18 er’s address, as specified in section 9428.4(a)(2) of 

19 title 11, Code of Federal Regulations. 

20 (5) In the case of a State or political subdivi21 sion that is a covered State or political subdivision 

22 under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

23 (52 U.S.C. 10503), that State or political subdivi24 sion shall provide absentee or mail-in voting mate25 rials in the language of the applicable minority 


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1 group as well as in the English language, bilingual 

2 election voting assistance, and written translations 

3 of all voting materials in the language of the appli4 cable minority group, as required by section 203 of 

5 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), 

6 as amended by this Act. 

7 (f) EARLY VOTING.—In a State or political subdivi8 sion that provides for early voting, that State or political 

9 subdivision shall provide not less than one early voting lo10 cation on Indian lands, upon the request of the applicable 

11 Indian Tribe and at a site selected by the applicable In12 dian Tribe. 

13 (g) ENFORCEMENT.— 

14 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen15 eral may bring a civil action in an appropriate dis16 trict court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as 

17 is necessary to carry out this section. 

18 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

19 (A) A person or Tribal Government who is 

20 aggrieved by a violation of this section may pro21 vide written notice of the violation to the chief 

22 election official of the State involved. 

23 (B) An aggrieved person or Tribal Govern24 ment may bring a civil action in an appropriate 


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1 district court for declaratory or injunctive relief 

2 with respect to a violation of this section, if— 

3 (i) that person or Tribal Government 

4 provides the notice described in subpara5 graph (A); and 

6 (ii)(I) in the case of a violation that 

7 occurs more than 120 days before the date 

8 of an election for Federal office, the viola9 tion remains and 90 days or more have 

10 passed since the date on which the chief 

11 election official of the State receives the 

12 notice under subparagraph (A); or 

13 (II) in the case of a violation that oc14 curs 120 days or less before the date of an 

15 election for Federal office, the violation re16 mains and 20 days or more have passed 

17 since the date on which the chief election 

18 official of the State receives the notice 

19 under subparagraph (A). 

20 (C) In the case of a violation of this sec21 tion that occurs 30 days or less before the date 

22 of an election for Federal office, an aggrieved 

23 person or Tribal Government may bring a civil 

24 action in an appropriate district court for de25 claratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 


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1 violation without providing notice to the chief 

2 election official of the State under subpara3 graph (A). 

4 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

5 section shall be construed to prevent a State or po6 litical subdivision from providing additional polling 

7 places on Indian lands if no request was made by an 

8 Indian Tribe under this section. 

9 SEC. 7. TRIBAL PRECLEARANCE. 

10 (a) ACTIONS REQUIRING PRECLEARANCE.—No State 

11 or political subdivision may carry out any of the following 

12 activities unless the requirements of subsection (b) have 

13 been met: 

14 (1) Eliminating the only polling place or voter 

15 registration site on the Indian lands of an Indian 

16 Tribe. 

17 (2) Moving or consolidating a polling place or 

18 voter registration site on the Indian lands of an In19 dian Tribe to a location 1 mile or further from the 

20 existing location of the polling place or voter reg21 istration site. 

22 (3) Moving or consolidating a polling place on 

23 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe to a location 

24 across a river, lake, mountain, or other natural 


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1 boundary such that it makes travel difficult for a 

2 voter, regardless of distance. 

3 (4) Eliminating in-person voting on the Indian 

4 lands of an Indian Tribe by designating an Indian 

5 reservation as a permanent absentee voting location, 

6 unless— 

7 (A) the entire State is or becomes a per8 manent absentee voting State; or 

9 (B) the Indian Tribe requests such a des10 ignation. 

11 (5) Removing an early voting location or other12 wise diminishing early voting opportunities on In13 dian lands. 

14 (6) Decreasing the number of days or hours 

15 that an in-person or early voting location is open on 

16 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe or changing the 

17 dates of in-person or early voting on the Indian 

18 lands of an Indian Tribe. 

19 (b) PRECLEARANCE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this 

21 subsection have been met if— 

22 (A) the impacted Tribal Government sub23 mits to the Attorney General the Tribal Govern24 ment’s written consent to the proposed activity 

25 described in subsection (a); 


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1 (B) the State or political subdivision insti2 tutes an action in the United States District 

3 Court for the District of Columbia for a declar4 atory judgment, and a declaratory judgment is 

5 issued, establishing that the specified activity 

6 described in subsection (a) that the State or po7 litical subdivision desires to carry out neither 

8 has the purpose nor will have the effect of deny9 ing or abridging the right to vote on account of 

10 race or color, or membership in a language mi11 nority group; or 

12 (C) the chief legal officer or other appro13 priate official of such State or political subdivi14 sion submits a request to carry out the specified 

15 activity described in subsection (a) to the Attor16 ney General and the Attorney General has not 

17 interposed an objection within 60 days after 

18 such submission, or upon good cause shown, to 

19 facilitate an expedited approval within 60 days 

20 after such submission, the Attorney General has 

21 affirmatively indicated that such objection will 

22 not be made. 

23 (2) NO LIMITATION ON FUTURE ACTIONS.— 

24 Neither an affirmative indication by the Attorney 

25 General that no objection will be made, nor the AtVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S739.IS S739

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1 torney General’s failure to object, nor a declaratory 

2 judgment entered under this section, nor a written 

3 consent issued under paragraph (1)(A) shall bar a 

4 subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of an activ5 ity described in subsection (a). In the event the At6 torney General affirmatively indicates that no objec7 tion will be made within the 60-day period following 

8 receipt of a submission, the Attorney General may 

9 reserve the right to reexamine the submission if ad10 ditional information comes to the Attorney General’s 

11 attention during the remainder of the 60-day period 

12 which would otherwise require objection in accord13 ance with this section. Any action under this section 

14 shall be heard and determined by a court of 3 judges 

15 in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of 

16 title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal 

17 shall lie to the Supreme Court. 

18 SEC. 8. TRIBAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION. 

19 (a) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT IDENTIFICATION.—If a 

20 State or political subdivision requires an individual to 

21 present identification for the purposes of voting or reg22 istering to vote in an election for Federal office, an identi23 fication card issued by a federally recognized Tribal Gov24 ernment, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health 

25 Service, or any other Tribal or Federal agency issuing 


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1 identification cards to Indian voters shall be treated as 

2 a valid form of identification for such purposes. 

3 (b) VALIDITY OF TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.— 

4 An individual shall not be required to show that a Tribal 

5 identification card includes a residential address or an ex6 piration date in order for such Tribal identification card 

7 to be considered valid for purposes of voting or registering 

8 to vote. The voter may instead separately designate the 

9 voter’s appropriate voting precinct through a description 

10 of the voter’s address that conforms with the regulations 

11 for national mail voter registration forms, as established 

12 under section 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Federal 

13 Regulations. 

14 (c) ONLINE REGISTRATION.—If a State or political 

15 subdivision requires an identification card for an indi16 vidual to register to vote online or to vote online, that 

17 State or political subdivision shall consider an identifica18 tion card as described in subsection (a) to be a valid form 

19 of identification for the purpose of registering to vote on20 line or voting online. 

21 SEC. 9. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

22 Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

23 U.S.C. 10503) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (b)(3)(C), by striking ‘‘1990’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF VOTING MATERIALS IN THE LAN4 GUAGE OF A MINORITY GROUP.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any State or po6 litical subdivision subject to the prohibition of sub7 section (b) of this section provides any registration 

8 or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or 

9 other materials or information relating to the elec10 toral process, including ballots, it shall provide them 

11 in the language of the applicable minority group as 

12 well as in the English language. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(i) In the case of a minority group 

16 that is not American Indian or Alaska Na17 tive and the language of that minority 

18 group is oral or unwritten, the State or po19 litical subdivision shall only be required to 

20 furnish, in the covered language, oral in21 structions, assistance, translation of voting 

22 materials, or other information relating to 

23 registration and voting. 

24 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a minority group 

25 that is American Indian or Alaska Native, 


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1 the State or political subdivision shall only 

2 be required to furnish in the covered lan3 guage oral instructions, assistance, or 

4 other information relating to registration 

5 and voting, including all voting materials, 

6 if the Tribal Government of that minority 

7 group has certified that the language of 

8 the applicable American Indian or Alaska 

9 Native language is presently unwritten or 

10 the Tribal Government does not want writ11 ten translations in the minority language. 

12 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION

13 WORKERS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the 

14 State or political division may be required to provide 

15 written translations of voting materials, with the 

16 consent of any applicable Indian Tribe, to election 

17 workers to ensure that the translations from English 

18 to the language of a minority group are complete, 

19 accurate, and uniform.’’. 

20 SEC. 10. FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO PROTECT TRIBAL VOT21 ING RIGHTS. 

22 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF

23 1965.—Section 8(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

24 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

2 semicolon; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by adding ‘‘or’’ after 

4 the semicolon; and 

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General has received a writ8 ten complaint from an Indian Tribe that efforts to 

9 deny or abridge the right to vote under the color of 

10 law on account of race or color, or in contravention 

11 of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), are 

12 likely to occur;’’. 

13 (b) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORTS.—The Attorney 

14 General shall make publicly available the reports of a Fed15 eral election observer appointed pursuant to section 

16 (8)(a)(3) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

17 10305(a)(3)), as added by subsection (a), not later than 

18 6 months after the date that such reports are submitted 

19 to the Attorney General, except that any personally identi20 fiable information relating to a voter or the substance of 

21 the voter’s ballot shall not be made public. 

22 SEC. 11. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

23 The Attorney General shall consult annually with In24 dian Tribes regarding issues related to voting in elections 

25 for Federal office. 


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1 SEC. 12. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, EXPERT FEES, LITIGATION EX2 PENSES. 

3 In a civil action under this Act, the court shall award 

4 the prevailing party, other than the United States, reason5 able attorney fees, including litigation expenses, reason6 able expert fees, and costs. 

7 SEC. 13. SEVERABILITY; RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 

8 (a) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

9 the application of such a provision to any person, entity, 

10 or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remaining provi11 sions of this Act and the application of all provisions of 

12 this Act to any other person, entity, or circumstance shall 

13 not be affected by the invalidity. 

14 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

15 this Act shall invalidate, or limit the rights, remedies, or 

16 procedures available under, or supersede, restrict, or limit 

17 the application of, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

18 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter Registration 

19 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.), the Help America 

20 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), or any other 

21 Federal law or regulation related to voting or the electoral 

22 process. 

23 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

25 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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