II 

Calendar No. 143 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 4 

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining 

which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the 

Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 5, 2021 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

WARNOCK, Mr. OSSOFF, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KELLY, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

LUJA ́N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. 

SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. SMITH, Ms. 

STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read the first time 

OCTOBER 6, 2021 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the 

criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘John R. Lewis Voting 

5 Rights Advancement Act of 2021’’. 

6 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

7 VOTING RIGHTS ACT 

8 SEC. 101. VOTE DILUTION, DENIAL, AND ABRIDGMENT 

9 CLAIMS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Voting Rights 

11 Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301(a)) is amended— 

12 (1) by inserting after ‘‘applied by any State or 

13 political subdivision’’ the following: ‘‘for the purpose 

14 of, or’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘as provided in subsection (b)’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘as provided in subsection (b), (c), (d), 

17 or (e)’’. 

18 (b) VOTE DILUTION.—Section 2 of such Act (52 

19 U.S.C. 10301), as amended by subsection (a), is further 

20 amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(b) A violation of subsection (a) for vote dilution is 

23 established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it 

24 is shown that the political processes leading to nomination 

25 or election in the State or political subdivision are not 


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1 equally open to participation by members of a class of citi2 zens protected by subsection (a) in that its members have 

3 less opportunity than other members of the electorate to 

4 participate in the political process and to elect representa5 tives of their choice. The extent to which members of a 

6 protected class have been elected to office in the State or 

7 political subdivision is one circumstance which may be 

8 considered: Provided, That nothing in this section estab9 lishes a right to have members of a protected class elected 

10 in numbers equal to their proportion in the population. 

11 The legal standard articulated in Thornburg v. Gingles, 

12 478 U.S. 30 (1986), governs claims under this subsection. 

13 For purposes of this subsection a class of citizens pro14 tected by subsection (a) may include a cohesive coalition 

15 of members of different racial or language minority 

16 groups.’’. 

17 (c) VOTE DENIAL OR ABRIDGEMENT.—Section 2 of 

18 such Act (52 U.S.C. 10301), as amended by subsections 

19 (a) and (b), is further amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(c)(1) A violation of subsection (a) for vote denial 

22 or abridgment is established if the challenged standard, 

23 practice, or procedure imposes a discriminatory burden on 

24 members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a), 

25 meaning that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) members of the protected class face great2 er difficulty in complying with the standard, prac3 tice, or procedure, considering the totality of the cir4 cumstances; and 

5 ‘‘(B) such greater difficulty is, at least in part, 

6 caused by or linked to social and historical condi7 tions that have produced or currently produce dis8 crimination against members of the protected class. 

9 ‘‘(2) The challenged standard, practice, or procedure 

10 need only be a but-for cause of the discriminatory burden 

11 or perpetuate a pre-existing discriminatory burden. 

12 ‘‘(3)(A) The totality of the circumstances for consid13 eration relative to a violation of subsection (a) for vote 

14 denial or abridgment shall include the following factors, 

15 which, individually and collectively, show how a voting 

16 standard, practice, or procedure can function to amplify 

17 the effects of past or present racial discrimination: 

18 ‘‘(i) The history of official voting-related dis19 crimination in the State or political subdivision. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The extent to which voting in the elections 

21 of the State or political subdivision is racially polar22 ized. 

23 ‘‘(iii) The extent to which the State or political 

24 subdivision has used unduly burdensome photo25 graphic voter identification requirements, documenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 tary proof of citizenship requirements, documentary 

2 proof of residence requirements, or other voting 

3 standards, practices, or procedures beyond those re4 quired by Federal law that may impair the ability of 

5 members of the protected class to participate fully in 

6 the political process. 

7 ‘‘(iv) The extent to which members of the pro8 tected class bear the effects of discrimination in 

9 areas such as education, employment, and health, 

10 which hinder the ability of those members to partici11 pate effectively in the political process. 

12 ‘‘(v) The use of overt or subtle racial appeals ei13 ther in political campaigns or surrounding the adop14 tion or maintenance of the challenged standard, 

15 practice, or procedure. 

16 ‘‘(vi) The extent to which members of the pro17 tected class have been elected to public office in the 

18 jurisdiction, except that the fact that the protected 

19 class is too small to elect candidates of its choice 

20 shall not defeat a claim of vote denial or abridgment 

21 under this section. 

22 ‘‘(vii) Whether there is a lack of responsiveness 

23 on the part of elected officials to the particularized 

24 needs of members of the protected class. 


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1 ‘‘(viii) Whether the policy underlying the State 

2 or political subdivision’s use of the challenged quali3 fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce4 dure has a tenuous connection to that qualification, 

5 prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure. 

6 ‘‘(B) A particular combination or number of 

7 factors under subparagraph (A) shall not be re8 quired to establish a violation of subsection (a) for 

9 vote denial or abridgment. 

10 ‘‘(C) The totality of the circumstances for con11 sideration relative to a violation of subsection (a) for 

12 vote denial or abridgment shall not include the fol13 lowing factors: 

14 ‘‘(i) The total number or share of members of 

15 a protected class on whom a challenged standard, 

16 practice, or procedure does not impose a material 

17 burden. 

18 ‘‘(ii) The degree to which the challenged stand19 ard, practice, or procedure has a long pedigree or 

20 was in widespread use at some earlier date. 

21 ‘‘(iii) The use of an identical or similar stand22 ard, practice, or procedure in other States or polit23 ical subdivisions. 

24 ‘‘(iv) The availability of other forms of voting 

25 unimpacted by the challenged standard, practice, or 


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1 procedure to all members of the electorate, including 

2 members of the protected class, unless the State or 

3 political subdivision is simultaneously expanding 

4 those other standards, practices, or procedures to 

5 eliminate any disproportionate burden imposed by 

6 the challenged standard, practice, or procedure. 

7 ‘‘(v) A prophylactic impact on potential criminal 

8 activity by individual voters, if such crimes have not 

9 occurred in the State or political subdivision in sub10 stantial numbers. 

11 ‘‘(vi) Mere invocation of interests in voter con12 fidence or prevention of fraud.’’. 

13 (d) INTENDED VOTE DILUTION OR VOTE DENIAL OR

14 ABRIDGMENT.—Section 2 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10301), 

15 as amended by subsections (a), (b), and (c) is further 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d)(1) A violation of subsection (a) is also estab18 lished if a challenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, 

19 practice, or procedure is intended, at least in part, to di20 lute the voting strength of a protected class or to deny 

21 or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States 

22 to vote on account of race, color, or in contravention of 

23 the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2). 

24 ‘‘(2) Discrimination on account of race or color, 

25 or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in 


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1 section 4(f)(2), need only be one purpose of a quali2 fication, prerequisite, standard, practice, or proce3 dure in order to establish a violation of subsection 

4 (a), as described in this subsection. A qualification, 

5 prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure in6 tended to dilute the voting strength of a protected 

7 class or to make it more difficult for members of a 

8 protected class to cast a ballot that will be counted 

9 constitutes a violation of subsection (a), as described 

10 in this subsection, even if an additional purpose of 

11 the qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or 

12 procedure is to benefit a particular political party or 

13 group. 

14 ‘‘(3) Recent context, including actions by offi15 cial decisionmakers in prior years or in other con16 texts preceding the decision responsible for the chal17 lenged qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, 

18 or procedure, and including actions by predecessor 

19 government actors or individual members of a deci20 sionmaking body, may be relevant to making a de21 termination about a violation of subsection (a), as 

22 described under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(4) A claim that a violation of subsection (a) 

24 has occurred, as described under this subsection, 

25 shall require proof of a discriminatory impact but 


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1 shall not require proof of violation of subsection (b) 

2 or (c).’’. 

3 SEC. 102. RETROGRESSION. 

4 Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

5 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), as amended by section 101 of this 

6 Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(e) A violation of subsection (a) is established when 

9 a State or political subdivision enacts or seeks to admin10 ister any qualification or prerequisite to voting or stand11 ard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting in any 

12 election that has the purpose of or will have the effect 

13 of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United 

14 States on account of race or color, or in contravention of 

15 the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), to participate 

16 in the electoral process or elect their preferred candidates 

17 of choice. This subsection applies to any action taken on 

18 or after January 1, 2021, by a State or political subdivi19 sion to enact or seek to administer any such qualification 

20 or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice or proce21 dure. 

22 ‘‘(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (e), 

23 final decisions of the United States District Court of the 

24 District of Columbia on applications or petitions by States 

25 or political subdivisions for preclearance under section 5 


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1 of any changes in voting prerequisites, standards, prac2 tices, or procedures, supersede the provisions of subsection 

3 (e).’’. 

4 SEC. 103. VIOLATIONS TRIGGERING AUTHORITY OF COURT 

5 TO RETAIN JURISDICTION. 

6 (a) TYPES OF VIOLATIONS.—Section 3(c) of the Vot7 ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10302(c)) is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth 

9 amendment’’ and inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th 

10 Amendment, violations of this Act, or violations of any 

11 Federal law that prohibits discrimination in voting on the 

12 basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 

13 group,’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) of 

15 such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendment’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th Amendment, vio18 lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 

19 prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, 

20 color, or membership in a language minority group,’’. 

21 SEC. 104. CRITERIA FOR COVERAGE OF STATES AND POLIT22 ICAL SUBDIVISIONS. 

23 (a) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL

24 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO SECTION 4(a).— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b) of the Voting 

2 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(b)) is amend3 ed to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL

5 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) EXISTENCE OF VOTING RIGHTS VIOLA7 TIONS DURING PREVIOUS 25 YEARS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) STATEWIDE APPLICATION.—Sub9 section (a) applies with respect to a State and 

10 all political subdivisions within the State during 

11 a calendar year if— 

12 ‘‘(i) fifteen or more voting rights vio13 lations occurred in the State during the 

14 previous 25 calendar years; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) ten or more voting rights viola16 tions occurred in the State during the pre17 vious 25 calendar years, at least one of 

18 which was committed by the State itself 

19 (as opposed to a political subdivision with20 in the State). 

21 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC POLITICAL

22 SUBDIVISIONS.—Subsection (a) applies with re23 spect to a political subdivision as a separate 

24 unit during a calendar year if three or more 


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1 voting rights violations occurred in the subdivi2 sion during the previous 25 calendar years. 

3 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), if, pursuant to paragraph 

6 (1), subsection (a) applies with respect to a 

7 State or political subdivision during a calendar 

8 year, subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 

9 such State or political subdivision for the pe10 riod— 

11 ‘‘(i) that begins on January 1 of the 

12 year in which subsection (a) applies; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) that ends on the date which is 10 

14 years after the date described in clause (i). 

15 ‘‘(B) NO FURTHER APPLICATION AFTER

16 DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(i) STATES.—If a State obtains a de18 claratory judgment under subsection (a), 

19 and the judgment remains in effect, sub20 section (a) shall no longer apply to such 

21 State and all political subdivisions in the 

22 State pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) unless, 

23 after the issuance of the declaratory judg24 ment, paragraph (1)(A) applies to the 

25 State solely on the basis of voting rights 


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1 violations occurring after the issuance of 

2 the declaratory judgment. 

3 ‘‘(ii) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—If a 

4 political subdivision obtains a declaratory 

5 judgment under subsection (a), and the 

6 judgment remains in effect, subsection (a) 

7 shall no longer apply to such political sub8 division pursuant to paragraph (1), includ9 ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) (relating 

10 to the statewide application of subsection 

11 (a)), unless, after the issuance of the de12 claratory judgment, paragraph (1)(B) ap13 plies to the political subdivision solely on 

14 the basis of voting rights violations occur15 ring after the issuance of the declaratory 

16 judgment. 

17 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIO18 LATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a voting 

19 rights violation occurred in a State or political sub20 division if any of the following applies: 

21 ‘‘(A) JUDICIAL RELIEF; VIOLATION OF

22 THE 14TH OR 15TH AMENDMENT.—Any final 

23 judgment (that was not reversed on appeal) oc24 curred, in which the plaintiff prevailed and in 

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1 mined that a denial or abridgement of the right 

2 of any citizen of the United States to vote on 

3 account of race, color, or membership in a lan4 guage minority group occurred, or that a voting 

5 qualification or prerequisite to voting or stand6 ard, practice, or procedure with respect to vot7 ing created an undue burden on the right to 

8 vote in connection with a claim that the law un9 duly burdened voters of a particular race, color, 

10 or language minority group, in violation of the 

11 14th or 15th Amendment to the Constitution of 

12 the United States, anywhere within the State or 

13 subdivision. 

14 ‘‘(B) JUDICIAL RELIEF; VIOLATIONS OF

15 THIS ACT.—Any final judgment (that was not 

16 reversed on appeal) occurred in which the plain17 tiff prevailed and in which any court of the 

18 United States determined that a voting quali19 fication or prerequisite to voting or standard, 

20 practice, or procedure with respect to voting 

21 was imposed or applied or would have been im22 posed or applied anywhere within the State or 

23 subdivision in a manner that resulted or would 

24 have resulted in a denial or abridgement of the 

25 right of any citizen of the United States to vote 


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1 on account of race, color, or membership in a 

2 language minority group, in violation of sub3 section (e) or (f) or section 2, 201, or 203. 

4 ‘‘(C) FINAL JUDGMENT; DENIAL OF DE5 CLARATORY JUDGMENT.—In a final judgment 

6 (that was not been reversed on appeal), any 

7 court of the United States has denied the re8 quest of the State or subdivision for a declara9 tory judgment under section 3(c) or section 5, 

10 and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 

11 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 

12 procedure with respect to voting from being en13 forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 

14 ‘‘(D) OBJECTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN15 ERAL.—The Attorney General has interposed 

16 an objection under section 3(c) or section 5, 

17 and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 

18 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 

19 procedure with respect to voting from being en20 forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 

21 A violation under this subparagraph has not oc22 curred where an objection has been withdrawn 

23 by the Attorney General, unless the withdrawal 

24 was in response to a change in the law or prac25 tice that served as the basis of the objection. A 


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1 violation under this subparagraph has not oc2 curred where the objection is based solely on a 

3 State or political subdivision’s failure to comply 

4 with a procedural process that would not other5 wise count as an independent violation of this 

6 Act. 

7 ‘‘(E) CONSENT DECREE, SETTLEMENT, OR

8 OTHER AGREEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(i) AGREEMENT.—A consent decree, 

10 settlement, or other agreement was adopt11 ed or entered by a court of the United 

12 States that contains an admission of liabil13 ity by the defendants, which resulted in the 

14 alteration or abandonment of a voting 

15 practice anywhere in the territory of such 

16 State or subdivision that was challenged on 

17 the ground that the practice denied or 

18 abridged the right of any citizen of the 

19 United States to vote on account of race, 

20 color, or membership in a language minor21 ity group in violation of subsection (e) or 

22 (f) or section 2, 201, or 203, or the 14th 

23 or 15th Amendment. 

24 ‘‘(ii) INDEPENDENT VIOLATIONS.—A 

25 voluntary extension or continuation of a 


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1 consent decree, settlement, or agreement 

2 described in clause (i) shall not count as 

3 an independent violation under this sub4 paragraph. Any other extension or modi5 fication of such a consent decree, settle6 ment, or agreement, if the consent decree, 

7 settlement, or agreement has been in place 

8 for ten years or longer, shall count as an 

9 independent violation under this subpara10 graph. If a court of the United States 

11 finds that a consent decree, settlement, or 

12 agreement described in clause (i) itself de13 nied or abridged the right of any citizen of 

14 the United States to vote on account of 

15 race, color, or membership in a language 

16 minority group, violated subsection (e) or 

17 (f) or section 2, 201, or 203, or created an 

18 undue burden on the right to vote in con19 nection with a claim that the consent de20 cree, settlement, or other agreement un21 duly burdened voters of a particular race, 

22 color, or language minority group, that 

23 finding shall count as an independent vio24 lation under this subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(F) MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS.—Each in2 stance in which a voting qualification or pre3 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or pro4 cedure with respect to voting, including each re5 districting plan, is found to be a violation by a 

6 court of the United States pursuant to subpara7 graph (A) or (B), or prevented from being en8 forced pursuant to subparagraph (C) or (D), or 

9 altered or abandoned pursuant to subparagraph 

10 (E) shall count as an independent violation 

11 under this paragraph. Within a redistricting 

12 plan, each violation under this paragraph found 

13 to discriminate against any group of voters 

14 based on race, color, or language minority 

15 group shall count as an independent violation 

16 under this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(4) TIMING OF DETERMINATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS

19 VIOLATIONS.—As early as practicable during 

20 each calendar year, the Attorney General shall 

21 make the determinations required by this sub22 section, including updating the list of voting 

23 rights violations occurring in each State and po24 litical subdivision for the previous calendar 

25 year. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE UPON PUBLICATION IN

2 FEDERAL REGISTER.—A determination or cer3 tification of the Attorney General under this 

4 section or under section 8 or 13 shall be effec5 tive upon publication in the Federal Register.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 4(a) 

7 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)) is amended— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence 

9 of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 

10 striking ‘‘any State with respect to which’’ and 

11 all that follows through ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘any State to which this subsection applies dur13 ing a calendar year pursuant to determinations 

14 made under subsection (b), or in any political 

15 subdivision of such State (as such subdivision 

16 existed on the date such determinations were 

17 made with respect to such State), though such 

18 determinations were not made with respect to 

19 such subdivision as a separate unit, or in any 

20 political subdivision with respect to which this 

21 subsection applies during a calendar year pur22 suant to determinations made with respect to 

23 such subdivision as a separate unit under sub24 section (b), unless’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre2 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking the second 

3 sentence; 

4 (C) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘(in 

5 the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de6 claratory judgment under the second sentence 

7 of this subsection)’’; 

8 (D) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘(in 

9 the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de10 claratory judgment under the second sentence 

11 of this subsection)’’; 

12 (E) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(in the 

13 case of a State or subdivision seeking a declara14 tory judgment under the second sentence of this 

15 subsection)’’; 

16 (F) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘(in the 

17 case of a State or subdivision which sought a 

18 declaratory judgment under the second sentence 

19 of this subsection)’’; 

20 (G) by striking paragraphs (7) and (8); 

21 and 

22 (H) by redesignating paragraph (9) as 

23 paragraph (7). 

24 (b) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF

25 LANGUAGE MINORITY GROUPS.—Section 4(a)(1) of such 


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1 Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)(1)), as amended by subsection 

2 (a), is further amended, in the first sentence, by striking 

3 ‘‘race or color,’’ and inserting ‘‘race or color, or in con4 travention of the guarantees of subsection (f)(2),’’. 

5 (c) FACILITATING BAILOUT.—Section 4(a) of the 

6 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)), as 

7 amended by subsection (a), is further amended— 

8 (1) by striking paragraph (1)(C); 

9 (2) by inserting at the beginning of paragraph 

10 (7), as redesignated by subsection (a)(2)(H), the fol11 lowing: ‘‘Any plaintiff seeking a declaratory judg12 ment under this subsection on the grounds that the 

13 plaintiff meets the requirements of paragraph (1) 

14 may request that the Attorney General consent to 

15 entry of judgment.’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) If a political subdivision is subject to the applica18 tion of this subsection, due to the applicability of sub19 section (b)(1)(A), the political subdivision may seek a de20 claratory judgment under this section if the subdivision 

21 demonstrates that the subdivision meets the criteria estab22 lished by the subparagraphs of paragraph (1), for the 10 

23 years preceding the date on which subsection (a) applied 

24 to the political subdivision under subsection (b)(1)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(9) If a political subdivision was not subject to the 

2 application of this subsection by reason of a declaratory 

3 judgment entered prior to the date of enactment of the 

4 John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, 

5 and is not, subsequent to that date of enactment, subject 

6 to the application of this subsection under subsection 

7 (b)(1)(B), then that political subdivision shall not be sub8 ject to the requirements of this subsection.’’. 

9 SEC. 105. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL SUB10 DIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE FOR 

11 COVERED PRACTICES. 

12 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 

13 seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 4 the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 4A. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 

16 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE 

17 FOR COVERED PRACTICES. 

18 ‘‘(a) PRACTICE-BASED PRECLEARANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State and each polit20 ical subdivision shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) identify any newly enacted or adopted 

22 law, regulation, or policy that includes a voting 

23 qualification or prerequisite to voting, or a 

24 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 


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1 voting, that is a covered practice described in 

2 subsection (b); and 

3 ‘‘(B) ensure that no such covered practice 

4 is implemented unless or until the State or po5 litical subdivision, as the case may be, complies 

6 with subsection (c). 

7 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS

8 OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As early as prac10 ticable during each calendar year, the Attorney 

11 General, in consultation with the Director of 

12 the Bureau of the Census and the heads of 

13 other relevant offices of the government, shall 

14 make the determinations required by this sec15 tion regarding voting-age populations and the 

16 characteristics of such populations, and shall 

17 publish a list of the States and political subdivi18 sions to which a voting-age population char19 acteristic described in subsection (b) applies. 

20 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG21 ISTER.—A determination (including a certifi22 cation) of the Attorney General under this 

23 paragraph shall be effective upon publication in 

24 the Federal Register. 


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1 ‘‘(b) COVERED PRACTICES.—To assure that the right 

2 of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or 

3 abridged on account of race, color, or membership in a 

4 language minority group as a result of the implementation 

5 of certain qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or 

6 standards, practices, or procedures with respect to voting, 

7 newly adopted in a State or political subdivision, the fol8 lowing shall be covered practices subject to the require9 ments described in subsection (a): 

10 ‘‘(1) CHANGES TO METHOD OF ELECTION.— 

11 Any change to the method of election— 

12 ‘‘(A) to add seats elected at-large in a 

13 State or political subdivision where— 

14 ‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan15 guage minority groups each represent 20 

16 percent or more of the voting-age popu17 lation in the State or political subdivision, 

18 respectively; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 

20 represents 20 percent or more of the vot21 ing-age population on Indian lands located 

22 in whole or in part in the State or political 

23 subdivision; or 

24 ‘‘(B) to convert one or more seats elected 

25 from a single-member district to one or more 


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1 at-large seats or seats from a multi-member 

2 district in a State or political subdivision 

3 where— 

4 ‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan5 guage minority groups each represent 20 

6 percent or more of the voting-age popu7 lation in the State or political subdivision, 

8 respectively; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 

10 represents 20 percent or more of the vot11 ing-age population on Indian lands located 

12 in whole or in part in the State or political 

13 subdivision. 

14 ‘‘(2) CHANGES TO POLITICAL SUBDIVISION

15 BOUNDARIES.—Any change or series of changes 

16 within a year to the boundaries of a political subdivi17 sion that reduces by 3 or more percentage points the 

18 percentage of the political subdivision’s voting-age 

19 population that is comprised of members of a single 

20 racial group or language minority group in the polit21 ical subdivision where— 

22 ‘‘(A) two or more racial groups or lan23 guage minority groups each represent 20 per24 cent or more of the political subdivision’s vot25 ing-age population; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a single language minority group rep2 resents 20 percent or more of the voting-age 

3 population on Indian lands located in whole or 

4 in part in the political subdivision. 

5 ‘‘(3) CHANGES THROUGH REDISTRICTING.— 

6 Any change to the boundaries of districts for Fed7 eral, State, or local elections in a State or political 

8 subdivision where any racial group or language mi9 nority group that is not the largest racial group or 

10 language minority group in the jurisdiction and that 

11 represents 15 percent or more of the State or polit12 ical subdivision’s voting-age population experiences a 

13 population increase of at least 20 percent of its vot14 ing-age population, over the preceding decade (as 

15 calculated by the Bureau of the Census under the 

16 most recent decennial census), in the jurisdiction. 

17 ‘‘(4) CHANGES IN DOCUMENTATION OR QUALI18 FICATIONS TO VOTE.—Any change to requirements 

19 for documentation or proof of identity to vote or reg20 ister to vote in elections for Federal, State, or local 

21 offices that will exceed or be more stringent than 

22 such requirements under State law on the day before 

23 the date of enactment of the John R. Lewis Voting 

24 Rights Advancement Act of 2021. 


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1 ‘‘(5) CHANGES TO MULTILINGUAL VOTING MA2 TERIALS.—Any change that reduces multilingual 

3 voting materials or alters the manner in which such 

4 materials are provided or distributed, where no simi5 lar reduction or alteration occurs in materials pro6 vided in English for such election. 

7 ‘‘(6) CHANGES THAT REDUCE, CONSOLIDATE, 

8 OR RELOCATE VOTING LOCATIONS, OR REDUCE VOT9 ING OPPORTUNITIES.—Any change that reduces, 

10 consolidates, or relocates voting locations in elections 

11 for Federal, State, or local office, including early, 

12 absentee, and election-day voting locations, or re13 duces days or hours of in-person voting on any Sun14 day during a period occurring prior to the date of 

15 an election for Federal, State, or local office during 

16 which voters may cast ballots in such election, or 

17 prohibits the provision of food or non–alcoholic drink 

18 to persons waiting to vote in an election for Federal, 

19 State, or local office, except where the provision 

20 would violate prohibitions on expenditures to influ21 ence voting, if the location change, reduction in days 

22 or hours, or prohibition applies— 

23 ‘‘(A) in one or more census tracts in which 

24 two or more language minority groups or racial 


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1 groups each represent 20 percent or more of 

2 the voting-age population; or 

3 ‘‘(B) on Indian lands in which at least 20 

4 percent of the voting-age population belongs to 

5 a single language minority group. 

6 ‘‘(7) NEW LIST MAINTENANCE PROCESS.—Any 

7 change to the maintenance process for voter reg8 istration lists that adds a new basis for removal 

9 from the list of active voters registered to vote in 

10 elections for Federal, State, or local office, or that 

11 incorporates new sources of information in deter12 mining a voter’s eligibility to vote in elections for 

13 Federal, State, or local office, if such a change 

14 would have a statistically significant disparate im15 pact, concerning the removal from voter rolls, on 

16 members of racial groups or language minority 

17 groups that constitute greater than 5 percent of the 

18 voting-age population— 

19 ‘‘(A) in the case of a political subdivision 

20 imposing such change if— 

21 ‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan22 guage minority groups each represent 20 

23 percent or more of the voting-age popu24 lation of the political subdivision; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 

2 represents 20 percent or more of the vot3 ing-age population on Indian lands located 

4 in whole or in part in the political subdivi5 sion; or 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a State imposing such 

7 change, if two or more racial groups or lan8 guage minority groups each represent 20 per9 cent or more of the voting-age population of— 

10 ‘‘(i) the State; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) a political subdivision in the 

12 State, except that the requirements under 

13 subsections (a) and (c) shall apply only 

14 with respect to each such political subdivi15 sion individually. 

16 ‘‘(c) PRECLEARANCE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ACTION .—Whenever a State or polit19 ical subdivision with respect to which the re20 quirements set forth in subsection (a) are in ef21 fect shall enact, adopt, or seek to implement 

22 any covered practice described under subsection 

23 (b), such State or subdivision may institute an 

24 action in the United States District Court for 

25 the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 ment that such covered practice neither has the 

2 purpose nor will have the effect of denying or 

3 abridging the right to vote on account of race, 

4 color, or membership in a language minority 

5 group, and unless and until the court enters 

6 such judgment such covered practice shall not 

7 be implemented. 

8 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO ATTORNEY GEN9 ERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

11 subparagraph (A), such covered practice 

12 may be implemented without such pro13 ceeding if the covered practice has been 

14 submitted by the chief legal officer or other 

15 appropriate official of such State or sub16 division to the Attorney General and the 

17 Attorney General has not interposed an ob18 jection within 60 days after such submis19 sion, or upon good cause shown, to facili20 tate an expedited approval within 60 days 

21 after such submission, the Attorney Gen22 eral has affirmatively indicated that such 

23 objection will not be made. For purposes of 

24 determining whether expedited consider25 ation of approval is required under this 


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1 subparagraph or section 5(a), an exigency 

2 such as a natural disaster, that requires a 

3 change in a voting qualification or pre4 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or 

5 procedure with respect to voting during the 

6 period of 30 days before a Federal election, 

7 shall be considered to be good cause re8 quiring that expedited consideration. 

9 ‘‘(ii) EFFECT OF INDICATION.—Nei10 ther an affirmative indication by the Attor11 ney General that no objection will be made, 

12 nor the Attorney General’s failure to ob13 ject, nor a declaratory judgment entered 

14 under this subsection shall bar a subse15 quent action to enjoin implementation of 

16 such covered practice. In the event the At17 torney General affirmatively indicates that 

18 no objection will be made within the 60- 

19 day period following receipt of a submis20 sion, the Attorney General may reserve the 

21 right to reexamine the submission if addi22 tional information comes to the Attorney 

23 General’s attention during the remainder 

24 of the 60-day period which would otherwise 


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1 require objection in accordance with this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(C) COURT.—Any action under this sub4 section shall be heard and determined by a 

5 court of three judges in accordance with the 

6 provisions of section 2284 of title 28, United 

7 States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Su8 preme Court. 

9 ‘‘(2) DENYING OR ABRIDGING THE RIGHT TO

10 VOTE.—Any covered practice described in subsection 

11 (b) that has the purpose of or will have the effect 

12 of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the 

13 United States on account of race, color, or member14 ship in a language minority group, to elect their pre15 ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the 

16 right to vote within the meaning of paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE DEFINED.—The term ‘purpose’ 

18 in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall include any discrimi19 natory purpose. 

20 ‘‘(4) PURPOSE OF PARAGRAPH (2).—The pur21 pose of paragraph (2) is to protect the ability of 

22 such citizens to elect their preferred candidates of 

23 choice. 

24 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General or any 

25 aggrieved citizen may file an action in a district court of 


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1 the United States to compel any State or political subdivi2 sion to satisfy the obligations set forth in this section. 

3 Such an action shall be heard and determined by a court 

4 of three judges under section 2284 of title 28, United 

5 States Code. In any such action, the court shall provide 

6 as a remedy that implementation of any voting qualifica7 tion or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or 

8 procedure with respect to voting, that is the subject of the 

9 action under this subsection be enjoined unless the court 

10 determines that— 

11 ‘‘(1) the voting qualification or prerequisite to 

12 voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with re13 spect to voting, is not a covered practice described 

14 in subsection (b); or 

15 ‘‘(2) the State or political subdivision has com16 plied with subsection (c) with respect to the covered 

17 practice at issue. 

18 ‘‘(e) COUNTING OF RACIAL GROUPS AND LANGUAGE

19 MINORITY GROUPS.—For purposes of this section, the cal20 culation of the population of a racial group or a language 

21 minority group shall be carried out using the methodology 

22 in the guidance of the Department of Justice entitled 

23 ‘Guidance Concerning Redistricting Under Section 5 of 

24 the Voting Rights Act; Notice’ (76 Fed. Reg. 7470 (Feb25 ruary 9, 2011)). 


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1 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of determina2 tions under this section, any data provided by the Bureau 

3 of the Census, whether based on estimation from a sample 

4 or actual enumeration, shall not be subject to challenge 

5 or review in any court. 

6 ‘‘(g) MULTILINGUAL VOTING MATERIALS.—In this 

7 section, the term ‘multilingual voting materials’ means 

8 registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assist9 ance, or other materials or information relating to the 

10 electoral process, including ballots, provided in the lan11 guage or languages of one or more language minority 

12 groups.’’. 

13 SEC. 106. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY TO ENFORCE THE 

14 VOTING RIGHTS ACT. 

15 (a) TRANSPARENCY.—The Voting Rights Act of 1965 

16 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

17 section 5 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING CHANGES TO PRO19 TECT VOTING RIGHTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) NOTICE OF ENACTED CHANGES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) NOTICE OF CHANGES.—If a State or polit22 ical subdivision makes any change in any qualifica23 tion or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, 

24 or procedure with respect to voting in any election 

25 for Federal office that will result in the qualification 


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1 or prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure 

2 being different from that which was in effect as of 

3 180 days before the date of the election for Federal 

4 office, the State or political subdivision shall provide 

5 reasonable public notice in such State or political 

6 subdivision and on the website of the State or polit7 ical subdivision, of a concise description of the 

8 change, including the difference between the 

9 changed qualification or prerequisite, standard, prac10 tice, or procedure and the qualification, prerequisite, 

11 standard, practice, or procedure which was pre12 viously in effect. The public notice described in this 

13 paragraph, in such State or political subdivision and 

14 on the website of a State or political subdivision, 

15 shall be in a format that is reasonably convenient 

16 and accessible to persons with disabilities who are el17 igible to vote, including persons who have low vision 

18 or are blind. 

19 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit20 ical subdivision shall provide the public notice re21 quired under paragraph (1) not later than 48 hours 

22 after making the change involved. 

23 ‘‘(b) TRANSPARENCY REGARDING POLLING PLACE

24 RESOURCES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to identify any 

2 changes that may impact the right to vote of any 

3 person, prior to the 30th day before the date of an 

4 election for Federal office, each State or political 

5 subdivision with responsibility for allocating reg6 istered voters, voting machines, and official poll 

7 workers to particular precincts and polling places 

8 shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 

9 or political subdivision and on the website of a State 

10 or political subdivision, of the information described 

11 in paragraph (2) for precincts and polling places 

12 within such State or political subdivision. The public 

13 notice described in this paragraph, in such State or 

14 political subdivision and on the website of a State or 

15 political subdivision, shall be in a format that is rea16 sonably convenient and accessible to persons with 

17 disabilities who are eligible to vote, including persons 

18 who have low vision or are blind. 

19 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa20 tion described in this paragraph with respect to a 

21 precinct or polling place is each of the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) The name or number. 

23 ‘‘(B) In the case of a polling place, the lo24 cation, including the street address, and whethVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 er such polling place is accessible to persons 

2 with disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(C) The voting-age population of the area 

4 served by the precinct or polling place, broken 

5 down by demographic group if such breakdown 

6 is reasonably available to such State or political 

7 subdivision. 

8 ‘‘(D) The number of registered voters as9 signed to the precinct or polling place, broken 

10 down by demographic group if such breakdown 

11 is reasonably available to such State or political 

12 subdivision. 

13 ‘‘(E) The number of voting machines as14 signed, including the number of voting ma15 chines accessible to persons with disabilities 

16 who are eligible to vote, including persons who 

17 have low vision or are blind. 

18 ‘‘(F) The number of official paid poll 

19 workers assigned. 

20 ‘‘(G) The number of official volunteer poll 

21 workers assigned. 

22 ‘‘(H) In the case of a polling place, the 

23 dates and hours of operation. 

24 ‘‘(3) UPDATES IN INFORMATION REPORTED.— 

25 If a State or political subdivision makes any change 


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1 in any of the information described in paragraph 

2 (2), the State or political subdivision shall provide 

3 reasonable public notice in such State or political 

4 subdivision and on the website of a State or political 

5 subdivision, of the change in the information not 

6 later than 48 hours after the change occurs or, if 

7 the change occurs fewer than 48 hours before the 

8 date of the election for Federal office, as soon as 

9 practicable after the change occurs. The public no10 tice described in this paragraph and published on 

11 the website of a State or political subdivision shall 

12 be in a format that is reasonably convenient and ac13 cessible to persons with disabilities who are eligible 

14 to vote, including persons who have low vision or are 

15 blind. 

16 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OF CHANGES RELATING TO DE17 MOGRAPHICS AND ELECTORAL DISTRICTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) REQUIRING PUBLIC NOTICE OF

19 CHANGES.—Not later than 10 days after making 

20 any change in the constituency that will participate 

21 in an election for Federal, State, or local office or 

22 the boundaries of a voting unit or electoral district 

23 in an election for Federal, State, or local office (in24 cluding through redistricting, reapportionment, 

25 changing from at-large elections to district-based 


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1 elections, or changing from district-based elections 

2 to at-large elections), a State or political subdivision 

3 shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 

4 or political subdivision and on the website of a State 

5 or political subdivision, of the demographic and elec6 toral data described in paragraph (3) for each of the 

7 geographic areas described in paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC AREAS DESCRIBED.—The ge9 ographic areas described in this paragraph are as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(A) The State as a whole, if the change 

12 applies statewide, or the political subdivision as 

13 a whole, if the change applies across the entire 

14 political subdivision. 

15 ‘‘(B) If the change includes a plan to re16 place or eliminate voting units or electoral dis17 tricts, each voting unit or electoral district that 

18 will be replaced or eliminated. 

19 ‘‘(C) If the change includes a plan to es20 tablish new voting units or electoral districts, 

21 each such new voting unit or electoral district. 

22 ‘‘(3) DEMOGRAPHIC AND ELECTORAL DATA.— 

23 The demographic and electoral data described in this 

24 paragraph with respect to a geographic area de25 scribed in paragraph (2) are each of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The voting-age population, broken 

2 down by demographic group. 

3 ‘‘(B) The number of registered voters, bro4 ken down by demographic group if such break5 down is reasonably available to the State or po6 litical subdivision involved. 

7 ‘‘(C)(i) If the change applies to a State, 

8 the actual number of votes, or (if it is not rea9 sonably practicable for the State to ascertain 

10 the actual number of votes) the estimated num11 ber of votes received by each candidate in each 

12 statewide election held during the 5-year period 

13 which ends on the date the change involved is 

14 made; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) if the change applies to only one polit16 ical subdivision, the actual number of votes, or 

17 (if it is not reasonably practicable for the polit18 ical subdivision to ascertain the actual number 

19 of votes) the estimated number of votes in each 

20 subdivision-wide election held during the 5-year 

21 period which ends on the date the change in22 volved is made. 

23 ‘‘(4) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE BY SMALLER JU24 RISDICTIONS.—Compliance with this subsection shall 


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1 be voluntary for a political subdivision of a State un2 less the subdivision is one of the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A county or parish. 

4 ‘‘(B) A municipality with a population 

5 greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu6 reau of the Census under the most recent de7 cennial census. 

8 ‘‘(C) A school district with a population 

9 greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu10 reau of the Census under the most recent de11 cennial census. For purposes of this subpara12 graph, the term ‘school district’ means the geo13 graphic area under the jurisdiction of a local 

14 educational agency (as defined in section 8101 

15 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

16 Act of 1965). 

17 ‘‘(d) RULES REGARDING FORMAT OF INFORMA18 TION.—The Attorney General may issue rules specifying 

19 a reasonably convenient and accessible format that States 

20 and political subdivisions shall use to provide public notice 

21 of information under this section. 

22 ‘‘(e) NO DENIAL OF RIGHT TO VOTE.—The right to 

23 vote of any person shall not be denied or abridged because 

24 the person failed to comply with any change made by a 

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1 requisite, standard, practice, or procedure if the State or 

2 political subdivision involved did not meet the applicable 

3 requirements of this section with respect to the change. 

4 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘demographic group’ means each 

6 group which section 2 protects from the denial or 

7 abridgement of the right to vote on account of race 

8 or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set 

9 forth in section 4(f)(2); 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 

11 any general, special, primary, or runoff election held 

12 solely or in part for the purpose of electing any can13 didate for the office of President, Vice President, 

14 Presidential elector, Senator, Member of the House 

15 of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commis16 sioner to the Congress; and 

17 ‘‘(3) the term ‘persons with disabilities’, means 

18 individuals with a disability, as defined in section 3 

19 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a)(1) shall apply with respect to changes which 

22 are made on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 

23 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 107. AUTHORITY TO ASSIGN OBSERVERS. 

2 (a) CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY IN POLITICAL

3 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE.—Section 

4 8(a)(2)(B) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

5 10305(a)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment, 

7 the assignment of observers is otherwise nec8 essary to enforce the guarantees of the 14th or 

9 15th Amendment or any provision of this Act 

10 or any other Federal law protecting the right of 

11 citizens of the United States to vote; or’’. 

12 (b) ASSIGNMENT OF OBSERVERS TO ENFORCE BI13 LINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 8(a) of 

14 such Act (52 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

16 (1); 

17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General certifies with respect 

20 to a political subdivision that— 

21 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 

22 written meritorious complaints from residents, 

23 elected officials, or civic participation organiza24 tions that efforts to violate section 203 are like25 ly to occur; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment, 

2 the assignment of observers is necessary to en3 force the guarantees of section 203;’’; and 

4 (3) by moving the margin for the continuation 

5 text following paragraph (3), as added by paragraph 

6 (2) of this subsection, 2 ems to the left. 

7 (c) TRANSFERRAL OF AUTHORITY OVER OBSERVERS

8 TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

9 (1) ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS.—Section 

10 3(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

11 10302(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘United States 

12 Civil Service Commission in accordance with section 

13 6’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General in accordance 

14 with section 8’’. 

15 (2) OBSERVERS; APPOINTMENT AND COM16 PENSATION.—Section 8 of the Voting Rights Act of 

17 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10305) is amended— 

18 (A) in subsection (a), in the flush matter 

19 at the end, by striking ‘‘Director of the Office 

20 of Personnel Management shall assign as many 

21 observers for such subdivision as the Director’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘Attorney General shall assign as 

23 many observers for such subdivision as the At24 torney General’’; 


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1 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Director 

2 of the Office of Personnel Management’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

4 (C) in subsection (c), by adding at the end 

5 the following: ‘‘The Director of the Office of 

6 Personnel Management may, with the consent 

7 of the Attorney General, assist in the selection, 

8 recruitment, hiring, training, or deployment of 

9 these or other individuals authorized by the At10 torney General for the purpose of observing 

11 whether persons who are entitled to vote are 

12 being permitted to vote and whether those votes 

13 are being properly tabulated.’’. 

14 (3) TERMINATION OF CERTAIN APPOINTMENTS

15 OF OBSERVERS.—Section 13(a)(1) of the Voting 

16 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10309(a)(1)) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘notifies the Director of the Of18 fice of Personnel Management,’’ and inserting ‘‘de19 termines,’’. 

20 SEC. 108. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO SEEK RELIEF. 

21 (a) POLL TAX.—Section 10(b) of the Voting Rights 

22 Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10306(b)) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘the Attorney General is authorized and directed to insti24 tute forthwith in the name of the United States such ac25 tions,’’ and inserting ‘‘an aggrieved person or (in the name 


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1 of the United States) the Attorney General may institute 

2 such actions’’. 

3 (b) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Section 12(d) of the Voting 

4 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10308(d)) is amended to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(d) Whenever there are reasonable grounds to be7 lieve that any person has engaged in, or is about to engage 

8 in, any act or practice that would (1) deny any citizen 

9 the right to register, to cast a ballot, or to have that ballot 

10 counted properly and included in the appropriate totals 

11 of votes cast in violation of the 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, 

12 or 26th Amendments to the Constitution of the United 

13 States, (2) violate subsection (a) or (b) of section 11, or 

14 (3) violate any other provision of this Act or any other 

15 Federal voting rights law that prohibits discrimination on 

16 the basis of race, color, or membership in a language mi17 nority group, an aggrieved person or (in the name of the 

18 United States) the Attorney General may institute an ac19 tion for preventive relief, including an application for a 

20 temporary or permanent injunction, restraining order, or 

21 other appropriate order. Nothing in this subsection shall 

22 be construed to create a cause of action for civil enforce23 ment of criminal provisions of this or any other Act.’’. 

24 (c) JUDICIAL RELIEF.—Section 204 of the Voting 

25 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10504) is amended by 


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1 striking the first sentence and inserting the following: 

2 ‘‘Whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that 

3 a State or political subdivision has engaged or is about 

4 to engage in any act or practice prohibited by a provision 

5 of this title, an aggrieved person or (in the name of the 

6 United States) the Attorney General may institute an ac7 tion in a district court of the United States, for a restrain8 ing order, a preliminary or permanent injunction, or such 

9 other order as may be appropriate.’’. 

10 (d) ENFORCEMENT OF TWENTY-SIXTH AMEND11 MENT.—Section 301(a)(1) of the Voting Rights Act of 

12 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10701(a)(1)) is amended to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(a)(1) An aggrieved person or (in the name of the 

15 United States) the Attorney General may institute an ac16 tion in a district court of the United States, for a restrain17 ing order, a preliminary or permanent injunction, or such 

18 other order as may be appropriate to implement the 26th 

19 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.’’. 

20 SEC. 109. PREVENTIVE RELIEF. 

21 Section 12(d) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

22 U.S.C. 10308(d)), as amended by section 108, is further 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2)(A) In considering any motion for preliminary re25 lief in any action for preventive relief described in this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 section, the court shall grant the relief if the court deter2 mines that the complainant has raised a serious question 

3 as to whether the challenged voting qualification or pre4 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure vio5 lates any of the provisions listed in section 11(a)(1) of the 

6 John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and, on 

7 balance, the hardship imposed on the defendant by the 

8 grant of the relief will be less than the hardship which 

9 would be imposed on the plaintiff if the relief were not 

10 granted. 

11 ‘‘(B) In making its determination under this para12 graph with respect to a change in any voting qualification, 

13 prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure 

14 with respect to voting, the court shall consider all relevant 

15 factors and give due weight to the following factors, if they 

16 are present: 

17 ‘‘(i) Whether the qualification, prerequisite, 

18 standard, practice, or procedure in effect prior to the 

19 change was adopted as a remedy for a Federal court 

20 judgment, consent decree, or admission regarding— 

21 ‘‘(I) discrimination on the basis of race or 

22 color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend23 ment to the Constitution of the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a violation of the 19th, 24th, or 26th 

2 Amendments to the Constitution of the United 

3 States; 

4 ‘‘(III) a violation of this Act; or 

5 ‘‘(IV) voting discrimination on the basis of 

6 race, color, or membership in a language minor7 ity group in violation of any other Federal or 

8 State law. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Whether the qualification, prerequisite, 

10 standard, practice, or procedure in effect prior to the 

11 change served as a ground for the dismissal or set12 tlement of a claim alleging— 

13 ‘‘(I) discrimination on the basis of race or 

14 color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend15 ment to the Constitution of the United States; 

16 ‘‘(II) a violation of the 19th, 24th, or 26th 

17 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

18 States; 

19 ‘‘(III) a violation of this Act; or 

20 ‘‘(IV) voting discrimination on the basis of 

21 race, color, or membership in a language minor22 ity group in violation of any other Federal or 

23 State law. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Whether the change was adopted fewer 

25 than 180 days before the date of the election with 


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1 respect to which the change is to take or takes ef2 fect. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Whether the defendant has failed to pro4 vide timely or complete notice of the adoption of the 

5 change as required by applicable Federal or State 

6 law. 

7 ‘‘(3) A jurisdiction’s inability to enforce its voting or 

8 election laws, regulations, policies, or redistricting plans, 

9 standing alone, shall not be deemed to constitute irrep10 arable harm to the public interest or to the interests of 

11 a defendant in an action arising under the Constitution 

12 or any Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the 

13 basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 

14 group in the voting process, for the purposes of deter15 mining whether a stay of a court’s order or an interlocu16 tory appeal under section 1253 of title 28, United States 

17 Code, is warranted.’’. 

18 SEC. 110. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

19 Section 203(b)(1) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

20 (52 U.S.C. 10503(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘2032’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘2037’’. 

22 SEC. 111. RELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS 

23 LAWS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) RELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF VOTING

2 RIGHTS LAWS.—In this section, the term ‘‘prohibited 

3 act or practice’’ means— 

4 (A) any act or practice— 

5 (i) that creates an undue burden on 

6 the fundamental right to vote in violation 

7 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitu8 tion of the United States or violates the 

9 Equal Protection Clause of the 14th 

10 Amendment to the Constitution of the 

11 United States; or 

12 (ii) that is prohibited by the 15th, 

13 19th, 24th, or 26th Amendment to the 

14 Constitution of the United States, section 

15 2004 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 

16 10101), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

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

18 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

19 20501 et seq.), the Uniformed and Over20 seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 

21 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.), the Help America 

22 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et 

23 seq.), the Voting Accessibility for the El24 derly and Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 20101 et seq.), or section 2003 of the Re2 vised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10102); and 

3 (B) any act or practice in violation of any 

4 Federal law that prohibits discrimination with 

5 respect to voting, including the Americans with 

6 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 

7 seq.). 

8 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

9 section shall be construed to diminish the authority 

10 or scope of authority of any person to bring an ac11 tion under any Federal law. 

12 (3) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 722(b) of the 

13 Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by 

14 inserting ‘‘a provision described in section 111(a)(1) 

15 of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement 

16 Act of 2021,’’ after ‘‘title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

17 of 1964,’’. 

18 (b) GROUNDS FOR EQUITABLE RELIEF.—In any ac19 tion for equitable relief pursuant to a law listed under sub20 section (a), proximity of the action to an election shall not 

21 be a valid reason to deny such relief, or stay the operation 

22 of or vacate the issuance of such relief, unless the party 

23 opposing the issuance or continued operation of relief 

24 meets the burden of proving by clear and convincing evi25 dence that the issuance of the relief would be so close in 


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1 time to the election as to cause irreparable harm to the 

2 public interest or that compliance with such relief would 

3 impose serious burdens on the party opposing relief. 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In considering whether to 

5 grant, deny, stay, or vacate any order of equitable 

6 relief, the court shall give substantial weight to the 

7 public’s interest in expanding access to the right to 

8 vote. A State’s generalized interest in enforcing its 

9 enacted laws shall not be a relevant consideration in 

10 determining whether equitable relief is warranted. 

11 (2) PRESUMPTIVE SAFE HARBOR.—Where equi12 table relief is sought either within 30 days of the 

13 adoption or reasonable public notice of the chal14 lenged policy or practice, or more than 45 days be15 fore the date of an election to which the relief being 

16 sought will apply, proximity to the election will be 

17 presumed not to constitute a harm to the public in18 terest or a burden on the party opposing relief. 

19 (c) GROUNDS FOR STAY OR VACATUR IN FEDERAL

20 CLAIMS INVOLVING VOTING RIGHTS.— 

21 (1) PROSPECTIVE EFFECT.—In reviewing an 

22 application for a stay or vacatur of equitable relief 

23 granted pursuant to a law listed in subsection (a), 

24 a court shall give substantial weight to the reliance 

25 interests of citizens who acted pursuant to such 


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1 order under review. In fashioning a stay or vacatur, 

2 a reviewing court shall not order relief that has the 

3 effect of denying or abridging the right to vote of 

4 any citizen who has acted in reliance on the order. 

5 (2) WRITTEN EXPLANATION.—No stay or 

6 vacatur under this subsection shall issue unless the 

7 reviewing court makes specific findings that the pub8 lic interest, including the public’s interest in expand9 ing access to the ballot, will be harmed by the con10 tinuing operation of the equitable relief or that com11 pliance with such relief will impose serious burdens 

12 on the party seeking such a stay or vacatur such 

13 that those burdens substantially outweigh the bene14 fits to the public interest. In reviewing an applica15 tion for a stay or vacatur of equitable relief, findings 

16 of fact made in issuing the order under review shall 

17 not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. 

18 SEC. 112. PROTECTION OF TABULATED VOTES. 

19 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10307) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in section 11— 

22 (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) No person acting under color of law shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) fail or refuse to permit any person to vote 

2 who is entitled to vote under Federal law or is other3 wise qualified to vote; 

4 ‘‘(2) willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, 

5 and report such person’s vote; or 

6 ‘‘(3) willfully fail or refuse to certify the aggre7 gate tabulations of such persons’ votes or certify the 

8 election of the candidates receiving sufficient such 

9 votes to be elected to office.’’; and 

10 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘sub11 section (a) or’’ after ‘‘duties under’’; and 

12 (2) in section 12— 

13 (A) in subsection (b)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘a year following an 

15 election in a political subdivision in which 

16 an observer has been assigned’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘22 months following an election for 

18 Federal office’’; and 

19 (ii) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: ‘‘Whenever the Attorney General 

21 has reasonable grounds to believe that any 

22 person has engaged in or is about to en23 gage in an act in violation of this sub24 section, the Attorney General may institute 

25 (in the name of the United States) a civil 


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1 action in Federal district court seeking ap2 propriate relief.’’; 

3 (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or so4 licits a violation of’’ after ‘‘conspires to violate’’; 

5 and 

6 (C) in subsection (e), by striking the first 

7 and second sentences and inserting the fol8 lowing: ‘‘If, after the closing of the polls in an 

9 election for Federal office, persons allege that 

10 notwithstanding (1) their registration by an ap11 propriate election official and (2) their eligi12 bility to vote in the political subdivision, their 

13 ballots have not been counted in such election, 

14 and if upon prompt receipt of notifications of 

15 these allegations, the Attorney General finds 

16 such allegations to be well founded, the Attor17 ney General may forthwith file with the district 

18 court an application for an order providing for 

19 the counting and certification of the ballots of 

20 such persons and requiring the inclusion of 

21 their votes in the total vote for all applicable of22 fices before the results of such election shall be 

23 deemed final and any force or effect given 

24 thereto.’’. 


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1 SEC. 113. ENFORCEMENT OF VOTING RIGHTS BY ATTORNEY 

2 GENERAL. 

3 Section 12 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

4 U.S.C. 10308), as amended by this Act, is further amend5 ed by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(g) VOTING RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY

7 GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to fulfill the At9 torney General’s responsibility to enforce this Act 

10 and other Federal laws that protect the right to 

11 vote, the Attorney General (or upon designation by 

12 the Attorney General, the Assistant Attorney Gen13 eral for Civil Rights) is authorized, before com14 mencing a civil action, to issue a demand for inspec15 tion and information in writing to any State or polit16 ical subdivision, or other governmental representa17 tive or agent, with respect to any relevant documen18 tary material that the Attorney General has reason 

19 to believe is within their possession, custody, or con20 trol. A demand by the Attorney General under this 

21 subsection may require— 

22 ‘‘(A) the production of such documentary 

23 material for inspection and copying; 

24 ‘‘(B) answers in writing to written ques25 tions with respect to such documentary mate26 rial; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) both the production described under 

2 subparagraph (A) and the answers described 

3 under subparagraph (B). 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF AN ATTORNEY GENERAL

5 DEMAND.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any demand issued 

7 under paragraph (1), shall include a sworn cer8 tificate to identify the voting qualification or 

9 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 

10 procedure with respect to voting, or other vot11 ing related matter or issue, whose lawfulness 

12 the Attorney General is investigating and to 

13 identify the Federal law that protects the right 

14 to vote under which the investigation is being 

15 conducted. The demand shall be reasonably cal16 culated to lead to the discovery of documentary 

17 material and information relevant to such inves18 tigation. Documentary material includes any 

19 material upon which relevant information is re20 corded, and includes written or printed mate21 rials, photographs, tapes, or materials upon 

22 which information is electronically or magneti23 cally recorded. Such demands shall be aimed at 

24 the Attorney General having the ability to in25 spect and obtain copies of relevant materials (as 


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1 well as obtain information) related to voting 

2 and are not aimed at the Attorney General tak3 ing possession of original records, particularly 

4 those that are required to be retained by State 

5 and local election officials under Federal or 

6 State law. 

7 ‘‘(B) NO REQUIREMENT FOR PRODUC8 TION.—Any demand issued under paragraph 

9 (1) may not require the production of any docu10 mentary material or the submission of any an11 swers in writing to written questions if such 

12 material or answers would be protected from 

13 disclosure under the standards applicable to 

14 discovery requests under the Federal Rules of 

15 Civil Procedure in an action in which the Attor16 ney General or the United States is a party. 

17 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTARY MATERIAL.—If the 

18 demand issued under paragraph (1) requires 

19 the production of documentary material, it 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) identify the class of documentary 

22 material to be produced with such definite23 ness and certainty as to permit such mate24 rial to be fairly identified; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) prescribe a return date for pro2 duction of the documentary material at 

3 least 20 days after issuance of the demand 

4 to give the State or political subdivision, or 

5 other governmental representative or 

6 agent, a reasonable period of time for as7 sembling the documentary material and 

8 making it available for inspection and 

9 copying. 

10 ‘‘(D) ANSWERS TO WRITTEN QUES11 TIONS.—If the demand issued under paragraph 

12 (1) requires answers in writing to written ques13 tions, it shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) set forth with specificity the writ15 ten question to be answered; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) prescribe a date at least 20 days 

17 after the issuance of the demand for sub18 mitting answers in writing to the written 

19 questions. 

20 ‘‘(E) SERVICE.—A demand issued under 

21 paragraph (1) may be served by a United 

22 States marshal or a deputy marshal, or by cer23 tified mail, at any place within the territorial 

24 jurisdiction of any court of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RESPONSES TO AN ATTORNEY GENERAL

2 DEMAND.—A State or political subdivision, or other 

3 governmental representative or agent, shall, with re4 spect to any documentary material or any answer in 

5 writing produced under this subsection, provide a 

6 sworn certificate, in such form as the demand issued 

7 under paragraph (1) designates, by a person having 

8 knowledge of the facts and circumstances relating to 

9 such production or written answer, authorized to act 

10 on behalf of the State or political subdivision, or 

11 other governmental representative or agent, upon 

12 which the demand was served. The certificate— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall state that— 

14 ‘‘(i) all of the documentary material 

15 required by the demand and in the posses16 sion, custody, or control of the State or po17 litical subdivision, or other governmental 

18 representative or agent, has been produced; 

19 ‘‘(ii) with respect to every answer in 

20 writing to a written question, all informa21 tion required by the question and in the 

22 possession, custody, control, or knowledge 

23 of the State or political subdivision, or 

24 other governmental representative or 

25 agent, has been submitted; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the requirements described in 

2 both clause (i) and clause (ii) have been 

3 met; or 

4 ‘‘(B) provide the basis for any objection to 

5 producing the documentary material or answer6 ing the written question. 

7 To the extent that any information is not furnished, 

8 the information shall be identified and reasons set 

9 forth with particularity regarding the reasons why 

10 the information was not furnished. 

11 ‘‘(4) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) PETITION FOR ENFORCEMENT.— 

13 Whenever any State or political subdivision, or 

14 other governmental representative or agent, 

15 fails to comply with demand issued by the At16 torney General under paragraph (1), the Attor17 ney General may file, in a district court of the 

18 United States in which the State or political 

19 subdivision, or other governmental representa20 tive or agent, is located, a petition for a judicial 

21 order enforcing the Attorney General demand 

22 issued under paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(B) PETITION TO MODIFY.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any State or po25 litical subdivision, or other governmental 


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1 representative or agent, that is served with 

2 a demand issued by the Attorney General 

3 under paragraph (1) may file in the United 

4 States District Court for the District of 

5 Columbia a petition for an order of the 

6 court to modify or set aside the demand of 

7 the Attorney General. 

8 ‘‘(ii) PETITION TO MODIFY.—Any pe9 tition to modify or set aside a demand of 

10 the Attorney General issued under para11 graph (1) must be filed within 20 days 

12 after the date of service of the Attorney 

13 General’s demand or at any time before 

14 the return date specified in the Attorney 

15 General’s demand, whichever date is ear16 lier. 

17 ‘‘(iii) CONTENTS OF PETITION.—The 

18 petition shall specify each ground upon 

19 which the petitioner relies in seeking relief 

20 under clause (i), and may be based upon 

21 any failure of the Attorney General’s de22 mand to comply with the provisions of this 

23 section or upon any constitutional or other 

24 legal right or privilege of the State or po25 litical subdivision, or other governmental 


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1 representative or agent. During the pend2 ency of the petition in the court, the court 

3 may stay, as it deems proper, the running 

4 of the time allowed for compliance with the 

5 Attorney General’s demand, in whole or in 

6 part, except that the State or political sub7 division, or other governmental representa8 tive or agent, filing the petition shall com9 ply with any portions of the Attorney Gen10 eral’s demand not sought to be modified or 

11 set aside.’’. 

12 SEC. 114. DEFINITIONS. 

13 Title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

14 10301) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 21. DEFINITIONS. 

16 ‘‘In this Act: 

17 ‘‘(1) INDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ has the mean18 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self19 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

20 U.S.C. 5304). 

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

22 means— 

23 ‘‘(A) any Indian country of an Indian 

24 tribe, as such term is defined in section 1151 

25 of title 18, United States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(B) any land in Alaska that is owned, 

2 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle3 ment Act, by an Indian tribe that is a Native 

4 village (as such term is defined in section 3 of 

5 such Act), or by a Village Corporation that is 

6 associated with the Indian tribe (as such term 

7 is defined in section 3 of such Act); 

8 ‘‘(C) any land on which the seat of govern9 ment of the Indian tribe is located; and 

10 ‘‘(D) any land that is part or all of a tribal 

11 designated statistical area associated with the 

12 Indian tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na13 tive village statistical area associated with the 

14 tribe, as defined by the Bureau of the Census 

15 for the purposes of the most recent decennial 

16 census. 

17 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ or 

18 ‘tribe’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ 

19 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

20 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

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

22 Government’ means the recognized governing body 

23 of an Indian Tribe. 

24 ‘‘(5) VOTING-AGE POPULATION.—The term 

25 ‘voting-age population’ means the numerical size of 


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1 the population within a State, within a political sub2 division, or within a political subdivision that con3 tains Indian lands, as the case may be, that consists 

4 of persons age 18 or older, as calculated by the Bu5 reau of the Census under the most recent decennial 

6 census.’’. 

7 SEC. 115. ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

8 Section 14(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

9 U.S.C. 10310(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(4) The term ‘prevailing party’ means a party to an 

12 action that receives at least some of the benefit sought 

13 by such action, states a colorable claim, and can establish 

14 that the action was a significant cause of a change to the 

15 status quo.’’. 

16 SEC. 116. OTHER TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND17 MENTS. 

18 (a) ACTIONS COVERED UNDER SECTION 3.—Section 

19 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

20 10302(c)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘any proceeding instituted by 

22 the Attorney General or an aggrieved person under 

23 any statute to enforce’’ and inserting ‘‘any action 

24 under any statute in which a party (including the 

25 Attorney General) seeks to enforce’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘at the time the proceeding was 

2 commenced’’ and inserting ‘‘at the time the action 

3 was commenced’’. 

4 (b) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF

5 LANGUAGE MINORITY GROUPS.—Section 4(f) of such Act 

6 (52 U.S.C. 10303(f)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking the second 

8 sentence; and 

9 (2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 

10 (c) PERIOD DURING WHICH CHANGES IN VOTING

11 PRACTICES ARE SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE UNDER

12 SECTION 5.—Section 5 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10304) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘based upon 

15 determinations made under the first sentence of sec16 tion 4(b) are in effect’’ and inserting ‘‘are in effect 

17 during a calendar year’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘November 1, 

19 1964’’ and all that follows through ‘‘November 1, 

20 1972’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable date of cov21 erage’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub23 section: 

24 ‘‘(e) The term ‘applicable date of coverage’ means, 

25 with respect to a State or political subdivision— 


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1 ‘‘(1) June 25, 2013, if the most recent deter2 mination for such State or subdivision under section 

3 4(b) was made on or before December 31, 2021; or 

4 ‘‘(2) the date on which the most recent deter5 mination for such State or subdivision under section 

6 4(b) was made, if such determination was made 

7 after December 31, 2021.’’. 

8 (d) REVIEW OF PRECLEARANCE SUBMISSION UNDER

9 SECTION 5 DUE TO EXIGENCY.—Section 5 of such Act 

10 (52 U.S.C. 10304) is amended, in subsection (a), by in11 serting ‘‘An exigency, including a natural disaster, inclem12 ent weather, or other unforeseeable event, requiring such 

13 different qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or 

14 procedure within 30 days of a Federal, State, or local elec15 tion shall constitute good cause requiring the Attorney 

16 General to expedite consideration of the submission.’’ after 

17 ‘‘will not be made.’’. 

18 SEC. 117. SEVERABILITY. 

19 If any provision of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights 

20 Advancement Act of 2021 or any amendment made by this 

21 title, or the application of such a provision or amendment 

22 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu23 tional or is otherwise enjoined or unenforceable, the re24 mainder of this title and amendments made by this title, 

25 and the application of the provisions and amendments to 


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1 any other person or circumstance, and any remaining pro2 vision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 

3 et seq.), shall not be affected by the holding. In addition, 

4 if any provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

5 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), or any amendment to the Voting 

6 Rights Act of 1965, or the application of such a provision 

7 or amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to 

8 be unconstitutional or is otherwise enjoined or unenforce9 able, the application of the provision and amendment to 

10 any other person or circumstance, and any remaining pro11 visions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, shall not be af12 fected by the holding. 

13 SEC. 118. GRANTS TO ASSIST WITH NOTICE REQUIREMENTS 

14 UNDER THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall make 

16 grants each fiscal year to small jurisdictions who submit 

17 applications under subsection (b) for purposes of assisting 

18 such small jurisdictions with compliance with the require19 ments of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to submit or pub20 lish notice of any change to a qualification, prerequisite, 

21 standard, practice or procedure affecting voting. 

22 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 

23 this section, a small jurisdiction shall submit an applica24 tion to the Attorney General in such form and containing 

25 such information as the Attorney General may require reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 garding the compliance of such small jurisdiction with the 

2 provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

3 (c) SMALL JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes 

4 of this section, the term ‘‘small jurisdiction’’ means any 

5 political subdivision of a State with a population of 10,000 

6 or less. 

7 TITLE II—ELECTION WORKER 

8 AND POLLING PLACE PRO9 TECTION 

10 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Election Worker and 

12 Polling Place Protection Act’’. 

13 SEC. 202. FEDERALLY PROTECTED ACTIVITIES. 

14 Section 245 of title 18, United States Code, is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

18 by striking ‘‘willfully’’ and inserting ‘‘, or vio19 lence, or threat of harm to any person or prop20 erty, intentionally’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘, or 

22 any agent, contractor, or vendor of a legally au23 thorized election official assisting in the admin24 istration of any primary, special, or general 

25 election’’ before the semicolon at the end; and 


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1 (C) in the undesignated matter following 

2 paragraph (5)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘3 years’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘of this section’’ each 

6 place it appears and inserting ‘‘of this sub7 section’’; 

8 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

9 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

10 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(c)(1) Whoever, whether or not acting under color 

13 of law, intentionally physically damages or threatens to 

14 physically damage any physical property being used as a 

15 polling place or tabulation center or other election infra16 structure shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not 

17 more than 1 year, or both; and if bodily injury results 

18 from the acts committed in violation of this subsection or 

19 if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened 

20 use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire shall be 

21 fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than 10 

22 years, or both; and if death results from the acts com23 mitted in violation of this subsection or if such acts include 

24 kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual 

25 abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, 


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1 or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title or 

2 imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both. 

3 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, de minimus 

4 damage or threats of de minimus damage to physical prop5 erty, such as graffiti, shall not be considered a violation 

6 of paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘election infrastruc8 ture’ means any office of an election official, staff, worker, 

9 or volunteer or any physical, mechanical, or electrical de10 vice, structure, or tangible item used in the process of cre11 ating, distributing, voting, returning, counting, tabulating, 

12 auditing, storing, or other handling of voter registration 

13 or ballot information.’’. 

14 TITLE III—NATIVE AMERICAN 

15 VOTING RIGHTS ACT 

16 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Frank Harrison, Eliz18 abeth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American 

19 Voting Rights Act of 2021’’. 

20 SEC. 302. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

22 (1) The Constitution explicitly and implicitly 

23 grants Congress broad general powers to legislate on 

24 issues relating to Indian Tribes, powers consistently 

25 described as plenary and exclusive. These powers 


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1 arise from the grant of authority in the Indian Com2 merce Clause and through legislative matters arising 

3 under the Treaty Clause. 

4 (2) The Federal Government is responsible for 

5 upholding the obligations to which the Federal Gov6 ernment has agreed through treaties, legislation, and 

7 executive orders, referred to as the Federal trust re8 sponsibility toward Indian Tribes and their mem9 bers. 

10 (3) The Supreme Court has repeatedly relied on 

11 the nature of this ‘‘government to government’’ rela12 tionship between the United States and sovereign 

13 Indian Tribes for congressional authority to enact 

14 ‘‘legislation that singles out Indians for particular 

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

16 U.S. 535, 554–555 (1974). 

17 (4) Legislation removing barriers to Native 

18 American voting is vital for the fulfillment of Con19 gress’ ‘‘unique obligation’’ toward Indians, particu20 larly ensuring that Native American voters are fully 

21 included as ‘‘qualified members of the modern body 

22 politic’’. Board of County Comm’rs v. Seber, 318 

23 U.S. 705, 715 (1943). 

24 (5) Under the Elections Clause of article I, sec25 tion 4 of the Constitution, Congress has additional 


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1 power to regulate any election conducted to select 

2 Members of Congress. Taken together, the Indian 

3 Commerce Clause and the Election Clause give Con4 gress broad authority to enact legislation to safe5 guard the voting rights of Native American voters. 

6 (6) Despite Congress’ decision to grant Native 

7 Americans Federal citizenship, and with it the pro8 tections of the Fifteenth Amendment, with passage 

9 of the Act of June 2, 1924 (Chapter 233; 43 Stat. 

10 253) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Citizenship 

11 Act of 1924’’), States continued to deploy distinct 

12 methods for disenfranchising Indians by enacting 

13 statutes to exclude from voter rolls Indians living on 

14 Indian lands, requiring that Indians first terminate 

15 their relationship with their Indian Tribe, restricting 

16 the right to vote on account of a Tribal member’s 

17 ‘‘guardianship’’ status, and imposing literacy tests. 

18 (7) Barriers to voter access for Native Ameri19 cans persist today, and such barriers range from ob20 structing voter access to vote dilution and inten21 tional malapportionment of electoral districts. 

22 (8) The Native American Voting Rights Coali23 tion’s nine field hearings in Indian Country and 

24 four-State survey of voter discrimination revealed a 


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1 number of additional obstacles that Native Ameri2 cans must overcome in some States, including— 

3 (A) a lack of accessible registration and 

4 polling sites, either due to conditions such as 

5 geography, lack of paved roads, the absence of 

6 reliable and affordable broadband connectivity, 

7 and restrictions on the time, place, and manner 

8 that eligible people can register and vote, in9 cluding unequal opportunities for absentee, 

10 early, mail-in, and in-person voting; 

11 (B) nontraditional or nonexistent addresses 

12 for residents on Indian reservations, lack of res13 idential mail delivery and pick up, reliance on 

14 distant post offices with abbreviated operating 

15 hours for mail services, insufficient housing 

16 units, overcrowded homes, and high incidence of 

17 housing insecurity and homelessness, lack of ac18 cess to vehicles, and disproportionate poverty 

19 which make voter registration, acquisition and 

20 dropping off of mail-in ballots, receipt of voting 

21 information and materials, and securing re22 quired identification difficult, if not impossible; 

23 (C) inadequate language assistance for 

24 Tribal members, including lack of outreach and 

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1 rate, and uniform translations of all voting ma2 terials in the relevant Native language, and an 

3 insufficient number of trained bilingual poll 

4 workers; and 

5 (D) voter identification laws that discrimi6 nate against Native Americans. 

7 (9) The Department of Justice and courts also 

8 recognized that some jurisdictions have been unre9 sponsive to reasonable requests from federally recog10 nized Indian Tribes for more accessible voter reg11 istration sites and in-person voting locations. 

12 (10) According to the National Congress of 

13 American Indians, there is a wide gap between the 

14 voter registration and turnout rates of eligible Amer15 ican Indians and Alaska Natives and the voter reg16 istration and turnout rates of non-Hispanic White 

17 and other racial and ethnic groups. 

18 (11) Despite these obstacles, the Native Amer19 ican vote continues to play a significant role in Fed20 eral, State, and local elections. 

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

22 South Dakota, Native Americans, American Indians, 

23 and Alaska Natives comprise approximately 10 per24 cent or more of the voting population. 


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1 (13) The Native American vote also holds great 

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

3 to vote, but are not registered to vote. 

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are— 

5 (1) to fulfill the Federal Government’s trust re6 sponsibility to protect and promote Native Ameri7 cans’ exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed 

8 right to vote, including the right to register to vote 

9 and the ability to access all mechanisms for voting; 

10 (2) to establish Tribal administrative review 

11 procedures for a specific subset of State actions that 

12 have been used to restrict access to the polls on In13 dian lands; 

14 (3) to expand voter registration under the Na15 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

16 20501 et seq.) to cover Federal facilities; 

17 (4) to afford equal treatment to forms of identi18 fication unique to Indian Tribes and their members; 

19 (5) to ensure American Indians and Alaska Na20 tives experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, 

21 or lacking residential mail pickup and delivery can 

22 pool resources to pick up and return ballots; 

23 (6) to clarify the obligations of States and polit24 ical subdivisions regarding the provision of trans25 lated voting materials for American Indians and 


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1 Alaska Natives under section 203 of the Voting 

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

3 (7) to provide Tribal leaders with a direct path4 way to request Federal election observers and to 

5 allow public access to the reports of those election 

6 observers; 

7 (8) to study the prevalence of nontraditional or 

8 nonexistent mailing addresses in Native communities 

9 and identify solutions to voter access that arise from 

10 the lack of an address; and 

11 (9) to direct the Department of Justice to con12 sult on an annual basis with Indian Tribes on issues 

13 related to voting. 

14 SEC. 303. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this title: 

16 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 

17 General’’ means the United States Attorney General. 

18 (2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self20 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

21 U.S.C. 5304). 

22 (3) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

23 includes— 

24 (A) Indian country as defined under sec25 tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code; 


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

2 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

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

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

5 that Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) or by a Village Cor6 poration that is associated with an Indian Tribe 

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

8 1602)); 

9 (C) any land on which the seat of the Trib10 al government is located; and 

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

12 designated statistical area associated with an 

13 Indian Tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na14 tive village statistical area associated with an 

15 Indian Tribe, as defined by the Census Bureau 

16 for the purposes of the most recent decennial 

17 census. 

18 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

19 means the recognized governing body of any Indian 

20 or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, 

21 community, component band, or component reserva22 tion, individually identified (including parentheti23 cally) in the list published most recently as of the 

24 date of enactment of this title pursuant to section 


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1 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List 

2 Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

3 (5) POLLING PLACE.—The term ‘‘polling place’’ 

4 means any location where a ballot is cast in elections 

5 for Federal office, and includes a voter center, poll, 

6 polling location, or polling place, depending on the 

7 State nomenclature. 

8 SEC. 304. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIVE AMERICAN VOT9 ING TASK FORCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

11 Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice 

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

13 and administer, in coordination with the Department of 

14 the Interior, a Native American voting task force grant 

15 program, through which the Office shall provide financial 

16 assistance to eligible applicants to enable those eligible ap17 plicants to establish and operate a Native American Vot18 ing Task Force in each State with a federally recognized 

19 Indian Tribe. 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Native Amer21 ican voting task force grant program are to— 

22 (1) increase voter outreach, education, registra23 tion, and turnout in Native American communities; 


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1 (2) increase access to the ballot for Native 

2 American communities, including additional satellite, 

3 early voting, and absentee voting locations; 

4 (3) streamline and reduce inconsistencies in the 

5 voting process for Native Americans; 

6 (4) provide, in the community’s dominant lan7 guage, educational materials and classes on Indian 

8 lands about candidacy filing; 

9 (5) train and educate State and local employ10 ees, including poll workers, about— 

11 (A) the language assistance and voter as12 sistance requirements under sections 203 and 

13 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

14 U.S.C. 10503; 10508); 

15 (B) voter identification laws as affected by 

16 section 108 of this title; and 

17 (C) the requirements of Tribes, States, and 

18 precincts established under this title; 

19 (6) identify model programs and best practices 

20 for providing language assistance to Native Amer21 ican communities; 

22 (7) provide nonpartisan poll watchers on elec23 tion day in Native American communities; 

24 (8) participate in and evaluate future redis25 tricting efforts; 


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1 (9) address issues of internet connectivity as it 

2 relates to voter registration and ballot access in Na3 tive American communities; 

4 (10) work with Indian Tribes, States, and the 

5 Federal Government to establish mailing addresses 

6 that comply with applicable State and Federal re7 quirements for receipt of voting information and ma8 terials; and 

9 (11) facilitate collaboration between local elec10 tion officials, Native American communities, and 

11 Tribal elections offices. 

12 (c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘eligible appli13 cant’’ means— 

14 (1) an Indian Tribe; 

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

16 official of a State entity responsible for overseeing 

17 elections; 

18 (3) a nonprofit organization that works, in 

19 whole or in part, on voting issues; or 

20 (4) a consortium of entities described in para21 graphs (1) through (3). 

22 (d) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 

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

24 with the Department of the Interior and following 

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1 tation of the Native American voting task force 

2 grant program, shall establish guidelines for the 

3 process by which eligible applicants will submit ap4 plications. 

5 (2) APPLICATIONS.—Each eligible applicant de6 siring a grant under this section shall submit an ap7 plication, according to the process established under 

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

9 and containing such information as the Office may 

10 require. Such application shall include— 

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; 

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; and 


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1 (E) the goals that the eligible applicant de2 sires to achieve with the grant funds. 

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

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

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

6 through the grantee’s Native American Voting Task 

7 Force. 

8 (f) REPORTS.— 

9 (1) REPORT TO THE OFFICE.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date on which an eligible applicant re12 ceives grant funds under this section, and annu13 ally thereafter for the duration of the grant, 

14 each eligible applicant shall prepare and submit 

15 a written report to the Office describing the eli16 gible applicant’s progress in achieving the goals 

17 outlined in the application under subsection 

18 (d)(2). 

19 (B) RESPONSE.—Not later than 30 days 

20 after the date on which the Office receives the 

21 report described in paragraph (1), the Office 

22 will provide feedback, comments, and input to 

23 the eligible applicant in response to such report. 

24 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 

25 year after the date of enactment of this title, and 


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1 annually thereafter, the Office shall prepare and 

2 submit a report to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

3 of the Senate and Committee on Natural Resources 

4 of the House of Representatives containing the re5 sults of the reports described under paragraph (1). 

6 (g) 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 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

15 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2037. 

16 SEC. 305. VOTER REGISTRATION SITES AT INDIAN SERVICE 

17 PROVIDERS AND ON INDIAN LANDS. 

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

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

20 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

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

22 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

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

24 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

25 and 


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

2 ‘‘(C) any Federal facility or federally fund3 ed facility that is primarily engaged in pro4 viding services to an Indian Tribe; and 

5 ‘‘(D) not less than one Federal facility or 

6 federally funded facility that is located within 

7 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe, as applica8 ble, (which may be the Federal facility or feder9 ally funded facility described in subparagraph 

10 (C)).’’; and 

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

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

13 that operates a Federal facility or a federally funded 

14 facility that is a designated voter registration agency 

15 in accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) of para16 graph (2) shall designate one or more special days 

17 per year at a centralized location within the bound18 aries of the Indian lands of each applicable Indian 

19 Tribe for the purpose of informing members of the 

20 Indian Tribe of the timing, registration require21 ments, and voting procedures in elections for Fed22 eral office, at no cost to the Indian Tribe.’’. 

23 SEC. 306. ACCESSIBLE TRIBAL DESIGNATED POLLING 

24 SITES. 

25 (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 an officer within that State who will be re5 sponsible for compliance with the provisions of this 

6 section and who shall periodically consult with the 

7 Indian Tribes located wholly or partially within that 

8 State regarding compliance with the provisions of 

9 this section and coordination between the State and 

10 the Indian Tribe. The State shall provide written no11 tice to each such Indian Tribe of the officer so des12 ignated. 

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

14 Indian Tribe that satisfies the obligations of sub15 section (c), and for each election for a Federal offi16 cial or State official that is held 180 days or later 

17 after the date on which the Indian Tribe initially 

18 satisfies such obligations, any State or political sub19 division whose territory contains all or part of an In20 dian Tribe’s Indian lands— 

21 (A) shall provide a minimum of one polling 

22 place in each precinct in which there are eligible 

23 voters who reside on Indian lands, in a location 

24 selected by the Indian Tribe and at no cost to 

25 the Indian Tribe, regardless of the population 


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1 or number of registered voters residing on In2 dian lands; 

3 (B) shall not reduce the number of polling 

4 locations on Indian lands based on population 

5 numbers; 

6 (C) shall provide, at no cost to the Indian 

7 Tribe, additional polling places in locations on 

8 Indian lands selected by an Indian Tribe and 

9 requested under subsection (c) if, based on the 

10 totality of circumstances described in subsection 

11 (b), it is shown that not providing those addi12 tional polling places would result in members of 

13 the Indian Tribe and living on Indian lands or 

14 other individuals residing on the Indian Tribe’s 

15 Indian lands having less opportunity to vote 

16 than eligible voters in that State or political 

17 subdivision who are not members of an Indian 

18 Tribe or do not reside on Indian lands; 

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

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

21 make voting machines, tabulation machines, of22 ficial receptacles designated for the return of 

23 completed absentee ballots, ballots, provisional 

24 ballots, and other voting materials available to 

25 the same or greater extent that such equipment 


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1 and materials are made available at other poll2 ing places in the State or political subdivision 

3 that are not located on Indian lands; 

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

5 Indian lands, conduct the election using the 

6 same voting procedures that are used at other 

7 polling places in the State or political subdivi8 sion that are not located on Indian lands, or 

9 other voting procedures that provide greater ac10 cess for voters; 

11 (F) shall, at each polling place located on 

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

13 make voter registration available during the pe14 riod the polling place is open to the maximum 

15 extent allowable under State law; 

16 (G) shall, at each polling place located on 

17 Indian lands, provide training, compensation, 

18 and other benefits to election officials and poll 

19 workers at no cost to the Indian Tribe and, at 

20 a minimum, to the same or greater extent that 

21 such training, compensation, and benefits are 

22 provided to election officials and poll workers at 

23 other polling places in the State or political 

24 subdivision that are not located on Indian 

25 lands; 


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1 (H) shall, in all cases, provide the Indian 

2 Tribe an opportunity to designate election offi3 cials and poll workers to staff polling places 

4 within the Indian lands of the applicable Indian 

5 Tribe on every day that the polling places will 

6 be open; 

7 (I) shall allow for any eligible voting mem8 ber of the Indian Tribe or any eligible voting 

9 individual residing on Indian lands to vote early 

10 or in person at any polling place on Indian 

11 lands, regardless of that member or individual’s 

12 residence or residential address, and shall not 

13 reject the ballot of any such member or indi14 vidual on the grounds that the ballot was cast 

15 at the wrong polling place; and 

16 (J) may fulfill the State’s obligations 

17 under subparagraphs (A) and (C) by relocating 

18 existing polling places, by creating new polling 

19 places, or both. 

20 (b) EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOTE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—When assessing the opportu22 nities to vote provided to members of an Indian 

23 Tribe and to other eligible voters in the State resid24 ing on Indian lands in order to determine the num25 ber of additional polling places (if any) that a State 


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1 or political subdivision must provide in accordance 

2 with subsection (a)(2)(C), the State, political sub3 division, or any court applying this section, shall 

4 consider the totality of circumstances of— 

5 (A) the number of voting-age citizens as6 signed to each polling place; 

7 (B) the distances that voters must travel 

8 to reach the polling places; 

9 (C) the time that voters must spend trav10 eling to reach the polling places, including 

11 under inclement weather conditions; 

12 (D) the modes of transportation, if any, 

13 that are regularly and broadly available to vot14 ers to use to reach the polling places; 

15 (E) the existence of and access to frequent 

16 and reliable public transportation to the polling 

17 places; 

18 (F) the length of lines and time voters 

19 waited to cast a ballot in previous elections; and 

20 (G) any other factor relevant to effec21 tuating the aim of achieving equal voting oppor22 tunity for individuals living on Indian lands. 

23 (2) ABSENCE OF FACTORS.—When assessing 

24 the opportunities to vote in accordance with para25 graph (1), the State, political subdivision, or court 


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1 shall ensure that each factor described in paragraph 

2 (1) is considered regardless of whether any one fac3 tor would lead to a determination not to provide ad4 ditional polling places under subsection (a)(2)(C). 

5 (c) FORM; PROVISION OF FORM; OBLIGATIONS OF

6 THE INDIAN TRIBE.— 

7 (1) FORM.—The Attorney General shall estab8 lish the form described in this subsection through 

9 which an Indian Tribe can fulfill its obligations 

10 under this subsection. 

11 (2) PROVISION OF FORM.—Each State or polit12 ical subdivision whose territory contains all or part 

13 of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands— 

14 (A) shall provide the form established 

15 under paragraph (1) to each applicable Indian 

16 Tribe not less than 30 days prior to the dead17 line set by the State or political subdivision for 

18 completion of the obligations under this sub19 section (which deadline shall be not less than 

20 30 days prior to a Federal election) whereby an 

21 Indian Tribe can fulfill its obligations under 

22 this subsection by providing the information de23 scribed in paragraph (3) on that form and sub24 mitting the form back to the applicable State or 

25 political subdivision by such deadline; 


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1 (B) shall not edit the form established 

2 under paragraph (1) or apply any additional ob3 ligations on the Indian Tribe with respect to 

4 this section; and 

5 (C) shall cooperate in good faith with the 

6 efforts of the Indian Tribe to satisfy the re7 quirements of this subsection. 

8 (3) OBLIGATIONS OF THE INDIAN TRIBE.—The 

9 requirements for a State and political subdivision 

10 under subsection (a)(2) shall apply with respect to 

11 an Indian Tribe once an Indian Tribe meets the fol12 lowing obligations by completing the form specified 

13 in paragraph (1): 

14 (A) The Indian Tribe specifies the number 

15 and locations of requested polling places, early 

16 voting locations, and ballot drop boxes to be 

17 provided on the Indian lands of that Indian 

18 Tribe. 

19 (B) The Indian Tribe certifies that 

20 curbside voting will be available for any facili21 ties that lack accessible entrances and exits in 

22 accordance with Federal and State law. 

23 (C) The Indian Tribe certifies that the In24 dian Tribe will ensure that each such requested 

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1 igible voters who reside in the precinct or other 

2 geographic area assigned to such polling place, 

3 regardless of whether such eligible voters are 

4 members of the Indian Tribe or of any other 

5 Indian Tribe. 

6 (D) The Indian Tribe requests that the 

7 State or political subdivision shall designate 

8 election officials and poll workers to staff such 

9 requested polling places, or certifies that the In10 dian Tribe will designate election officials and 

11 poll workers to staff such polling places on 

12 every day that the polling places will be open. 

13 (E) The Indian Tribe may request that the 

14 State or political subdivision provide absentee 

15 ballots without requiring an excuse, an absentee 

16 ballot request, or residential address to all eligi17 ble voters who reside in the precinct or other 

18 geographic area assigned to such polling place, 

19 regardless of whether such eligible voters are 

20 members of the Indian Tribe or of any other 

21 Indian Tribe. 

22 (4) ESTABLISHED POLLING PLACES.—Once a 

23 polling place is established under subsection 

24 (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(C) the Tribe need not 

25 fill out the form designated under paragraph (1) 


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1 again unless or until that Indian Tribe requests 

2 modifications to the requests specified in the most 

3 recent form under paragraph (1). 

4 (5) OPT OUT.—At any time that is 60 days or 

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

6 that previously has satisfied the obligations of para7 graph (3) may notify the State or political subdivi8 sion that the Indian Tribe intends to opt out of the 

9 standing obligation for one or more polling places 

10 that were established in accordance with subsection 

11 (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(C) for a particular 

12 election or for all future elections. A Tribe may opt 

13 back in at any time. 

14 (d) FEDERAL POLLING SITES.—Each State shall 

15 designate as voter polling facilities any of the facilities 

16 identified in accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) of 

17 section 7(a)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

18 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)), at no cost to the Indian 

19 Tribe, provided that the facility meets the requirements 

20 of Federal and State law as applied to other polling places 

21 within the State or political subdivision. The applicable 

22 agency of the Federal Government shall ensure that such 

23 designated facilities are made available as polling places. 

24 (e) MAIL-IN BALLOTING.—In States or political sub25 divisions that permit absentee or mail-in balloting, the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 lowing shall apply with respect to an election for Federal 

2 office: 

3 (1) For each ballot cast by a member of an In4 dian Tribe living on Indian lands, all postage shall 

5 be prepaid by the Federal Government and each bal6 lot postmarked the day the ballot is received at a 

7 postal facility located on Indian lands. 

8 (2) An Indian Tribe may designate at least one 

9 building per precinct as a ballot pickup and collec10 tion location (referred to in this section as a ‘‘trib11 ally designated buildings’’) at no cost to the Indian 

12 Tribe. The applicable State or political subdivision 

13 shall collect and timely deposit all ballots from each 

14 tribally designated building. 

15 (3) At the applicable Tribe’s request, the State 

16 or political subdivision shall provide mail-in and ab17 sentee ballots to each registered voter residing on 

18 Indian lands in the State or political subdivision 

19 without requiring a residential address, a mail-in or 

20 absentee ballot request, or an excuse for a mail-in or 

21 absentee ballot. 

22 (4) The address of a tribally designated build23 ing may serve as the residential address and mailing 

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1 ally designated building is in the same precinct as 

2 that voter. 

3 (5) If there is no tribally designated building 

4 within the precinct of a voter residing on Indian 

5 lands (including if the tribally designated building is 

6 on Indian lands but not in the same precinct as the 

7 voter), the voter may— 

8 (A) use another tribally designated build9 ing within the Indian lands where the voter is 

10 located; or 

11 (B) use such tribally designated building 

12 as a mailing address and may separately des13 ignate the voter’s appropriate precinct through 

14 a description of the voter’s address, as specified 

15 in section 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Fed16 eral Regulations. 

17 (6) In the case of a State or political subdivi18 sion that is a covered State or political subdivision 

19 under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

20 (52 U.S.C. 10503), that State or political subdivi21 sion shall provide absentee or mail-in voting mate22 rials with respect to an election for Federal office in 

23 the language of the applicable minority group as well 

24 as in the English language, bilingual election voting 

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1 terials in the language of the applicable minority 

2 group, as required by section 203 of the Voting 

3 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), as amended 

4 by this title. 

5 (7) A State or political division shall make rea6 sonable efforts to contact a voter who resides within 

7 Indian lands located within its jurisdiction and offer 

8 such voter a reasonable opportunity to cure any de9 fect in an absentee ballot issued to and completed 

10 and returned by the voter, or appearing on or per11 taining to the materials provided for the purpose of 

12 returning the absentee ballot, if State law would oth13 erwise require the absentee ballot to be rejected due 

14 to such defect and the defect does not compromise 

15 ballot secrecy or involve a lack of witness or assist16 ant signature, where such signature is mandated by 

17 State law. 

18 (8) In a State or political subdivision that does 

19 not permit absentee or mail-in balloting for all eligi20 ble voters in the State or political subdivision, that 

21 State or political subdivision shall nonetheless pro22 vide for absentee or mail-in balloting for voters who 

23 reside on Indian lands consistent with this section if 

24 the State, political subdivision, or any court applying 

25 this section determines that the totality of cirVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 cumstances described in subsection (b) warrants es2 tablishment of absentee or mail-in balloting for vot3 ers who reside on Indian lands located within the ju4 risdiction of the State or political subdivision. 

5 (f) BALLOT DROP BOXES.—Each State shall— 

6 (1) provide not less than one ballot drop box for 

7 each precinct on Indian lands, at no cost to the In8 dian Tribe, at either the tribally designated building 

9 under subsection (e)(2) or an alternative site se10 lected by the applicable Indian Tribe; and 

11 (2) provide additional drop boxes at either the 

12 tribally designated building under subsection (e)(2) 

13 or an alternative site selected by the applicable In14 dian Tribe if the State or political subdivision deter15 mines that additional ballot drop boxes should be 

16 provided based on the criteria considered under the 

17 totality of circumstances enumerated under sub18 section (b). 

19 (g) EARLY VOTING.— 

20 (1) EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS.—In a State or 

21 political subdivision that permits early voting in an 

22 election for Federal office, that State or political 

23 subdivision shall provide not less than one early vot24 ing location for each precinct on Indian lands, at no 

25 cost to the Indian Tribe, at a site selected by the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 plicable Indian Tribe, to allow individuals living on 

2 Indian lands to vote during an early voting period in 

3 the same manner as early voting is allowed on such 

4 date in the rest of the State or precinct. Additional 

5 early voting sites shall be determined based on the 

6 criteria considered under the totality of cir7 cumstances described in subsection (b). 

8 (2) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—In a State or polit9 ical subdivision that permits early voting in an elec10 tion for Federal office, that State or political sub11 division shall provide an early voting period with re12 spect to that election that shall consist of a period 

13 of consecutive days (including weekends) which be14 gins on the 15th day before the date of the election 

15 (or, at the option of the State or political subdivi16 sion, on a day prior to the 15th day before the date 

17 of the election) and ends on the date of the election 

18 for all early voting locations on Indian lands. 

19 (3) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIRE20 MENTS.—Each polling place that allows voting dur21 ing an early voting period under this subsection 

22 shall— 

23 (A) allow such voting for no less than 10 

24 hours on each day; 


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1 (B) have uniform hours each day for which 

2 such voting occurs; and 

3 (C) allow such voting to be held for some 

4 period of time prior to 9:00 a.m. (local time) 

5 and some period of time after 5:00 p.m. (local 

6 time). 

7 (4) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING RE8 QUIREMENTS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the greatest extent 

10 practicable, ballots cast during the early voting 

11 period in an election for Federal office at voting 

12 locations and drop boxes on Indian lands shall 

13 be processed and scanned for tabulation in ad14 vance of the close of polls on the date of the 

15 election. 

16 (B) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this sub17 section shall be construed to permit a State or 

18 political subdivision to tabulate and count bal19 lots in an election for Federal office before the 

20 closing of the polls on the date of the election. 

21 (h) PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require23 ments under section 302(a) of the Help America 

24 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(a)), for each 

25 State or political subdivision that provides voters 


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1 provisional ballots, challenge ballots, or affidavit bal2 lots under the State’s applicable law governing the 

3 voting processes for those voters whose eligibility to 

4 vote is determined to be uncertain by election offi5 cials, election officials shall— 

6 (A) provide clear written instructions indi7 cating the reason the voter was given a provi8 sional ballot, the information or documents the 

9 voter needs to prove eligibility, the location at 

10 which the voter must appear to submit these 

11 materials or alternative methods, including 

12 email or facsimile, that the voter may use to 

13 submit these materials, and the deadline for 

14 submitting these materials; 

15 (B) permit any voter who votes provision16 ally at any polling place on Indian lands to ap17 pear at any polling place or at the central loca18 tion for the election board to submit the docu19 mentation or information to prove eligibility; 

20 (C) permit any voter who votes provision21 ally at any polling place to submit the required 

22 information or documentation via email or fac23 simile, if the voter prefers to use such methods 

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1 mit the required information or documentation 

2 to prove eligibility; 

3 (D) notify the voter on whether the voter’s 

4 provisional ballot was counted or rejected by 

5 telephone, email, or postal mail, or any other 

6 available method, including notifying the voter 

7 of any online tracking website if State law pro8 vides for such a mechanism; and 

9 (E) provide the reason for rejection if the 

10 voter’s provisional ballot was rejected after the 

11 voter provided the required information or doc12 umentation on eligibility. 

13 (2) DUTIES OF ELECTION OFFICIALS.—A State 

14 or political subdivision described in paragraph (1) 

15 shall ensure in each case in which a provisional bal16 lot is cast, that election officials— 

17 (A) request and collect the voter’s email 

18 address, if the voter has one, and transmit any 

19 written instructions issued to the voter in per20 son to the voter via email; and 

21 (B) provide a verbal translation of any 

22 written instructions to the voter. 

23 (i) ENFORCEMENT.— 

24 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen25 eral may bring a civil action in an appropriate disVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 trict court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as 

2 is necessary to carry out this section. 

3 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

4 (A) A person or Indian Tribe who is ag5 grieved by a violation of this section may pro6 vide written notice of the violation to the chief 

7 election official of the State involved. 

8 (B) An aggrieved person or Indian Tribe 

9 may bring a civil action in an appropriate dis10 trict court for declaratory or injunctive relief 

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

12 (i) that person or Indian Tribe pro13 vides the notice described in subparagraph 

14 (A); and 

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

16 occurs more than 120 days before the date 

17 of an election for Federal office, the viola18 tion remains and 90 days or more have 

19 passed since the date on which the chief 

20 election official of the State receives the 

21 notice under subparagraph (A); or 

22 (II) in the case of a violation that oc23 curs 120 days or less but more than 30 

24 days before the date of an election for Fed25 eral office, the violation remains and 20 


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1 days or more have passed since the date on 

2 which the chief election official of the State 

3 receives the notice under subparagraph 

4 (A). 

5 (C) In the case of a violation of this sec6 tion that occurs 30 days or less before the date 

7 of an election for Federal office, an aggrieved 

8 person or Indian Tribe may bring a civil action 

9 in an appropriate district court for declaratory 

10 or injunctive relief with respect to the violation 

11 without providing notice to the chief election of12 ficial of the State under subparagraph (A). 

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

14 section shall be construed to prevent a State or po15 litical subdivision from providing additional polling 

16 places or early voting locations on Indian lands. 

17 SEC. 307. PROCEDURES FOR REMOVAL OF POLLING 

18 PLACES AND VOTER REGISTRATION SITES ON 

19 INDIAN LANDS. 

20 (a) ACTIONS REQUIRING TRIBAL ADMINISTRATIVE

21 REVIEW.—No State or political subdivision may carry out 

22 any of the following activities in an election for Federal 

23 office unless the requirements of subsection (b) have been 

24 met: 


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1 (1) Eliminating polling places or voter registra2 tion sites on the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe. 

3 (2) Moving or consolidating a polling place or 

4 voter registration site on the Indian lands of an In5 dian Tribe to a location 1 mile or further from the 

6 existing location of the polling place or voter reg7 istration site. 

8 (3) Moving or consolidating a polling place on 

9 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe to a location 

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

11 boundary such that it increases travel time for a 

12 voter, regardless of distance. 

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

14 lands of an Indian Tribe by designating an Indian 

15 reservation as a permanent absentee voting location, 

16 unless the Indian Tribe requests such a designation 

17 and has not later requested that the designation as 

18 a permanent absentee voting location be reversed. 

19 (5) Removing an early voting location or other20 wise diminishing early voting opportunities on In21 dian lands. 

22 (6) Removing a ballot drop box or otherwise di23 minishing ballot drop boxes on Indian lands. 

24 (7) Decreasing the number of days or hours 

25 that an in-person or early voting polling place is 


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1 open on Indian lands only or changing the dates of 

2 in-person or early voting only on the Indian lands of 

3 an Indian Tribe. 

4 (b) TRIBAL ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

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

6 subsection have been met if— 

7 (A) the impacted Indian Tribe submits to 

8 the Attorney General the Indian Tribe’s written 

9 consent to the proposed activity described in 

10 subsection (a); 

11 (B) the State or political subdivision, after 

12 consultation with the impacted Indian Tribe 

13 and after attempting to have the impacted In14 dian Tribe give consent as described in sub15 paragraph (A), institutes an action in the 

16 United States District Court for the District of 

17 Columbia for a declaratory judgment, and a de18 claratory judgment is issued based upon affirm19 ative evidence provided by the State or political 

20 subdivision, that conclusively establishes that 

21 the specified activity described in subsection (a) 

22 proposed by the State or political subdivision 

23 neither has the purpose nor will have the effect 

24 of denying or abridging the right to vote on ac25 count of race or color, membership in an Indian 


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1 Tribe, or membership in a language minority 

2 group; or 

3 (C) the chief legal officer or other appro4 priate official of such State or political subdivi5 sion, after consultation with the impacted In6 dian Tribe and after attempting to have the im7 pacted Indian Tribe give consent as described 

8 in subparagraph (A), submits a request to carry 

9 out the specified activity described in subsection 

10 (a) to the Attorney General and the Attorney 

11 General affirmatively approves the specified ac12 tivity. 

13 (2) NO LIMITATION ON FUTURE ACTIONS.— 

14 (A) NO BAR TO SUBSEQUENT ACTION.— 

15 Neither an affirmative indication by the Attor16 ney General that no objection will be made, nor 

17 the Attorney General’s failure to object, nor a 

18 declaratory judgment entered under this sec19 tion, nor a written consent issued under para20 graph (1)(A) shall bar a subsequent action to 

21 enjoin enforcement of an activity described in 

22 subsection (a). 

23 (B) REEXAMINATION.—The Attorney Gen24 eral reserves the right to reexamine any submis25 sion under paragraph (1)(C) if additional relVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 evant information comes to the Attorney Gen2 eral’s attention. 

3 (C) DISTRICT COURT.—Any action under 

4 this section shall be heard and determined by a 

5 district court of 3 judges in accordance with the 

6 provisions of section 2284 of title 28, United 

7 States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Su8 preme Court. 

9 SEC. 308. TRIBAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION. 

10 (a) TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION.—If a State or political 

11 subdivision requires an individual to present identification 

12 for the purposes of voting or registering to vote in an elec13 tion for Federal office, an identification card issued by a 

14 federally recognized Indian Tribe, the Bureau of Indian 

15 Affairs, the Indian Health Service, or any other Tribal or 

16 Federal agency issuing identification cards to eligible In17 dian voters shall be treated as a valid form of identifica18 tion for such purposes. 

19 (b) ONLINE REGISTRATION.—If a State or political 

20 subdivision requires an identification card for an indi21 vidual to register to vote online or to vote online, that 

22 State or political subdivision shall annually consult with 

23 an Indian Tribe to determine whether a tribal identifica24 tion can feasibly be used to register to vote online or vote 

25 online. 


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1 (c) LIMITATION ON REQUIRING MULTIPLE FORMS

2 OF IDENTIFICATION.—If a State or political subdivision 

3 requires an individual to present more than one form of 

4 identification for the purposes of voting or registering to 

5 vote in an election for Federal office, or for registering 

6 to vote online or to vote online, that State or political sub7 division shall not require any member of an Indian Tribe 

8 to provide more than one form of identification if the 

9 member provides orally or in writing that the member does 

10 not possess more than one form of identification. 

11 SEC. 309. PERMITTING VOTERS TO DESIGNATE OTHER PER12 SON TO RETURN BALLOT. 

13 Each State or political subdivision— 

14 (1) shall permit any person to return a sealed 

15 ballot of a voter that resides on Indian lands to a 

16 post office on Indian lands, a ballot drop box loca17 tion in a State or political subdivision that provides 

18 ballot drop boxes, a tribally designated building 

19 under section 306(e)(2), or an election office, so long 

20 as the person designated to return the ballot or bal21 lots on behalf of another voter does not receive any 

22 form of compensation based on the number of bal23 lots that the person has returned and no individual, 

24 group, or organization provides compensation on this 

25 basis; 


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1 (2) may not put any limit on how many voted 

2 and sealed absentee ballots any designated person 

3 can return to the post office, ballot drop box loca4 tion, tribally designated building, or election office 

5 under paragraph (1); and 

6 (3) shall permit any person to return voter reg7 istration applications, absentee ballot applications, 

8 or absentee ballots to ballot drop box locations in a 

9 State or political subdivision that provides ballot 

10 drop boxes for these purposes. 

11 SEC. 310. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

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

13 U.S.C. 10503) is amended— 

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

15 and inserting ‘‘most recent’’; and 

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

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF VOTING MATERIALS IN THE LAN19 GUAGE OF A MINORITY GROUP.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any State or po21 litical subdivision subject to the prohibition of sub22 section (b), provides any registration or voting no23 tices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other mate24 rials or information relating to the electoral process, 

25 including ballots, it shall provide them in the lanVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 guage of the applicable minority group as well as in 

2 the English language. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) In the case of a minority group that 

5 is not American Indian or Alaska Native and 

6 the language of that minority group is oral or 

7 unwritten, the State or political subdivision 

8 shall only be required to furnish, in the covered 

9 language, oral instructions, assistance, trans10 lation of voting materials, or other information 

11 relating to registration and voting. 

12 ‘‘(B) In the case of a minority group that 

13 is American Indian or Alaska Native, the State 

14 or political subdivision shall only be required to 

15 furnish in the covered language oral instruc16 tions, assistance, or other information relating 

17 to registration and voting, including all voting 

18 materials, if the Indian Tribe of that minority 

19 group has certified that the language of the ap20 plicable American Indian or Alaska Native lan21 guage is presently unwritten or the Indian 

22 Tribe does not want written translations in the 

23 minority language. 

24 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION

25 WORKERS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the 


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1 State or political division may be required to provide 

2 written translations of voting materials, with the 

3 consent of any applicable Indian Tribe, to election 

4 workers to ensure that the translations from English 

5 to the language of a minority group are complete, 

6 accurate, and uniform.’’. 

7 SEC. 311. FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO PROTECT TRIBAL VOT8 ING RIGHTS. 

9 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF

10 1965.—Section 8(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

11 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 

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

13 semicolon; 

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

15 the semicolon; and 

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General has received a writ19 ten complaint from an Indian Tribe that efforts to 

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

21 law on account of race or color, membership in an 

22 Indian Tribe, or in contravention of the guarantees 

23 set forth in section 4(f)(2), are likely to occur;’’. 

24 (b) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORTS.—The Attorney 

25 General shall make publicly available the reports of a FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Oct 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00113 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4.PCS S4

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1 eral election observer appointed pursuant to section 

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

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

4 6 months after the date that such reports are submitted 

5 to the Attorney General, except that any personally identi6 fiable information relating to a voter or the substance of 

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

8 SEC. 312. TRIBAL JURISDICTION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Tribal law enforcement have the 

10 right to exercise their inherent authority to detain and or 

11 remove any non-Indian, not affiliated with the State, its 

12 political subdivision, or the Federal Government, from In13 dian lands for intimidating, harassing, or otherwise imped14 ing the ability of people to vote or of the State and its 

15 political subdivisions to conduct an election. 

16 (b) CIVIL ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR RE17 LIEF.—Whenever any person has engaged or there are 

18 reasonable grounds to believe that any person is about to 

19 engage in any act or practice prohibited by this section, 

20 the Attorney General may institute for the United States, 

21 or in the name of the United States, an action for preven22 tive relief, including an application for a temporary or per23 manent injunction, restraining order, or other order, and 

24 including an order directed to the State and State or local 


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1 election officials to require them to permit persons to vote 

2 and to count such votes. 

3 SEC. 313. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

4 The Attorney General shall consult annually with In5 dian Tribes regarding issues related to voting in elections 

6 for Federal office. 

7 SEC. 314. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, EXPERT FEES, AND LITIGA8 TION EXPENSES. 

9 In a civil action under this title, the court shall award 

10 the prevailing party, other than the United States, reason11 able attorney fees, including litigation expenses, reason12 able expert fees, and costs. 

13 SEC. 315. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

14 The Comptroller General shall study the prevalence 

15 of nontraditional or nonexistent mailing addresses among 

16 Indians, those who are members of Indian Tribes, and 

17 those residing on Indian lands and identify alternatives 

18 to remove barriers to voter registration, receipt of voter 

19 information and materials, and receipt of ballots. The 

20 Comptroller General shall report the results of that study 

21 to Congress not later than 1 year after the date of enact22 ment of this title. 


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1 SEC. 316. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE CONSULTA2 TION. 

3 The Postmaster General shall consult with Indian 

4 Tribes, on an annual basis, regarding issues relating to 

5 the United States Postal Service that present barriers to 

6 voting for eligible voters living on Indian lands. 

7 SEC. 317. SEVERABILITY; RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS; 

8 TRIBAL SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 

9 (a) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this title, or 

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

11 or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remaining provi12 sions of this title and the application of all provisions of 

13 this title to any other person, entity, or circumstance shall 

14 not be affected by the invalidity. 

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

16 this title shall invalidate, or limit the rights, remedies, or 

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

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

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

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

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

22 Federal law or regulation related to voting or the electoral 

23 process. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

24 provisions of this title, and the amendments made by this 

25 title, shall be applicable within the State of Maine. 


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1 (c) TRIBAL SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—Nothing in this 

2 title shall be construed as— 

3 (1) affecting, modifying, diminishing, or other4 wise impairing the sovereign immunity from suit en5 joyed by an Indian Tribe; or 

6 (2) authorizing or requiring the termination of 

7 any existing trust responsibility of the United States 

8 with respect to Indian people. 

9 SEC. 318. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

11 as may be necessary to carry out this title. 


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Calendar No. 143 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 4 

A BILL 

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise 

Act, and for other purposes. litical subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the the criteria for determining which States and poOCTOBER 6, 2021 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS