II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2703 

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2006 

Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. FRIST, Mr. REID, Mr. GRASSLEY, 

Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DEWINE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. WARNER, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. 

KERRY, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. ALLEN, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. 

OBAMA, Mr. SALAZAR, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

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 ‘‘Fannie Lou Hamer, 

5 Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act 

6 Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 

8 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure 

9 that the right of all citizens to vote, including the right 


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1 to register to vote and cast meaningful votes, is preserved 

2 and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution. 

3 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

4 (1) Significant progress has been made in elimi5 nating first generation barriers experienced by mi6 nority voters, including increased numbers of reg7 istered minority voters, minority voter turnout, and 

8 minority representation in Congress, State legisla9 tures, and local elected offices. This progress is the 

10 direct result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

11 (2) However, vestiges of discrimination in vot12 ing continue to exist as demonstrated by second gen13 eration barriers constructed to prevent minority vot14 ers from fully participating in the electoral process. 

15 (3) The continued evidence of racially polarized 

16 voting in each of the jurisdictions covered by the ex17 piring provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

18 demonstrates that racial and language minorities re19 main politically vulnerable, warranting the continued 

20 protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

21 (4) Evidence of continued discrimination in22 cludes— 

23 (A) the hundreds of objections interposed, 

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1 sideration by jurisdictions covered by the Voting 

2 Rights Act of 1965, and section 5 enforcement 

3 actions undertaken by the Department of Jus4 tice in covered jurisdictions since 1982 that 

5 prevented election practices, such as annex6 ation, at-large voting, and the use of multi7 member districts, from being enacted to dilute 

8 minority voting strength; 

9 (B) the number of requests for declaratory 

10 judgments denied by the United States District 

11 Court for the District of Columbia; 

12 (C) the continued filing of section 2 cases 

13 that originated in covered jurisdictions; and 

14 (D) the litigation pursued by the Depart15 ment of Justice since 1982 to enforce sections 

16 4(e), 4(f)(4), and 203 of such Act to ensure 

17 that all language minority citizens have full ac18 cess to the political process. 

19 (5) The evidence clearly shows the continued 

20 need for Federal oversight in jurisdictions covered 

21 by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 since 1982, as 

22 demonstrated in the counties certified by the Attor23 ney General for Federal examiner and observer cov24 erage and the tens of thousands of Federal observers 


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1 that have been dispatched to observe elections in 

2 covered jurisdictions. 

3 (6) The effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act 

4 of 1965 has been significantly weakened by the 

5 United States Supreme Court decisions in Reno v. 

6 Bossier Parish II and Georgia v. Ashcroft, which 

7 have misconstrued Congress’ original intent in en8 acting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and narrowed 

9 the protections afforded by section 5 of such Act. 

10 (7) Despite the progress made by minorities 

11 under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the evidence 

12 before Congress reveals that 40 years has not been 

13 a sufficient amount of time to eliminate the vestiges 

14 of discrimination following nearly 100 years of dis15 regard for the dictates of the 15th amendment and 

16 to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote is pro17 tected as guaranteed by the Constitution. 

18 (8) Present day discrimination experienced by 

19 racial and language minority voters is contained in 

20 evidence, including the objections interposed by the 

21 Department of Justice in covered jurisdictions; the 

22 section 2 litigation filed to prevent dilutive tech23 niques from adversely affecting minority voters; the 

24 enforcement actions filed to protect language minori25 ties; and the tens of thousands of Federal observers 


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1 dispatched to monitor polls in jurisdictions covered 

2 by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

3 (9) The record compiled by Congress dem4 onstrates that, without the continuation of the Vot5 ing Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and lan6 guage minority citizens will be deprived of the oppor7 tunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have 

8 their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains 

9 made by minorities in the last 40 years. 

10 SEC. 3. CHANGES RELATING TO USE OF EXAMINERS AND 

11 OBSERVERS. 

12 (a) USE OF OBSERVERS.—Section 8 of the Voting 

13 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973f) is amended to read 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 8. (a) Whenever— 

16 ‘‘(1) a court has authorized the appointment of 

17 observers under section 3(a) for a political subdivi18 sion; or 

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

20 to any political subdivision named in, or included 

21 within the scope of, determinations made under sec22 tion 4(b), unless a declaratory judgment has been 

23 rendered under section 4(a), that— 

24 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 

25 written meritorious complaints from residents, 


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1 elected officials, or civic participation organiza2 tions that efforts to deny or abridge the right 

3 to vote under the color of law on account of 

4 race or color, or in contravention of the guaran5 tees set forth in section 4(f)(2) are likely to 

6 occur; or 

7 ‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment 

8 (considering, among other factors, whether the 

9 ratio of nonwhite persons to white persons reg10 istered to vote within such subdivision appears 

11 to the Attorney General to be reasonably attrib12 utable to violations of the 14th or 15th amend13 ment or whether substantial evidence exists that 

14 bona fide efforts are being made within such 

15 subdivision to comply with the 14th or 15th 

16 amendment), the assignment of observers is 

17 otherwise necessary to enforce the guarantees 

18 of the 14th or 15th amendment; 

19 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management 

20 shall assign as many observers for such subdivision 

21 as the Director may deem appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), such ob23 servers shall be assigned, compensated, and separated 

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1 ment, and their service under this Act shall not be consid2 ered employment for the purposes of any statute adminis3 tered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage4 ment, except the provisions of section 7324 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, prohibiting partisan political activity. 

6 ‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage7 ment is authorized to, after consulting the head of the ap8 propriate department or agency, designate suitable per9 sons in the official service of the United States, with their 

10 consent, to serve in these positions. 

11 ‘‘(d) Observers shall be authorized to— 

12 ‘‘(1) enter and attend at any place for holding 

13 an election in such subdivision for the purpose of ob14 serving whether persons who are entitled to vote are 

15 being permitted to vote; and 

16 ‘‘(2) enter and attend at any place for tab17 ulating the votes cast at any election held in such 

18 subdivision for the purpose of observing whether 

19 votes cast by persons entitled to vote are being prop20 erly tabulated. 

21 ‘‘(e) Observers shall investigate and report to the At22 torney General, and if the appointment of observers has 

23 been authorized pursuant to section 3(a), to the court.’’. 


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1 (b) MODIFICATION OF SECTION 13.—Section 13 of 

2 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973k) is 

3 amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 13. (a) The assignment of observers shall ter5 minate in any political subdivision of any State— 

6 ‘‘(1) with respect to observers appointed pursu7 ant to section 8 or with respect to examiners cer8 tified under this Act before the date of the enact9 ment of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and 

10 Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthoriza11 tion and Amendments Act of 2006, whenever the At12 torney General notifies the Director of the Office of 

13 Personnel Management, or whenever the District 

14 Court for the District of Columbia determines in an 

15 action for declaratory judgment brought by any po16 litical subdivision described in subsection (b), that 

17 there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that 

18 persons will be deprived of or denied the right to 

19 vote on account of race or color, or in contravention 

20 of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2) in such 

21 subdivision; and 

22 ‘‘(2) with respect to observers appointed pursu23 ant to section 3(a), upon order of the authorizing 

24 court. 


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1 ‘‘(b) A political subdivision referred to in subsection 

2 (a)(1) is one with respect to which the Director of the Cen3 sus has determined that more than 50 per centum of the 

4 nonwhite persons of voting age residing therein are reg5 istered to vote. 

6 ‘‘(c) A political subdivision may petition the Attorney 

7 General for a termination under subsection (a)(1).’’. 

8 (c) REPEAL OF SECTIONS RELATING TO EXAM9 INERS.—Sections 6, 7, and 9 of the Voting Rights Act 

10 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973d, 1973e and 1973g) are re11 pealed. 

12 (d) SUBSTITUTION OF REFERENCES TO ‘‘OBSERV13 ERS’’ FOR REFERENCES TO ‘‘EXAMINERS’’.— 

14 (1) Section 3(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 

15 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973a(a)) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘examiners’’ each place it appears and inserting 

17 ‘‘observers’’. 

18 (2) Section 4(a)(1)(C) of the Voting Rights Act 

19 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(a)(1)(C)) is amended by 

20 inserting ‘‘or observers’’ after ‘‘examiners’’. 

21 (3) Section 12(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 

22 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(b)) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘an examiner has been appointed’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

24 observer has been assigned’’. 


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1 (4) Section 12(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 

2 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(e)) is amended— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘examiners’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘observers’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘examiner’’ each place it 

6 appears and inserting ‘‘observer’’. 

7 (e) CONFORMING CHANGES RELATING TO SECTION

8 REFERENCES.— 

9 (1) Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 

10 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(b)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘section 6’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8’’. 

12 (2) Subsections (a) and (c) of section 12 of the 

13 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(a) and 

14 1973j(c)) are each amended by striking ‘‘7,’’. 

15 (3) Section 14(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 

16 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973l(b)) is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘or a court of appeals in any proceeding under sec18 tion 9’’. 

19 SEC. 4. RECONSIDERATION OF SECTION 4 BY CONGRESS. 

20 Paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 4(a) of the Voting 

21 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(a)) are each amend22 ed by striking ‘‘Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and 

24 Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization 

25 and Amendments Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT. 

2 Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

3 U.S.C. 1973c) is amended— 

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘does not have the purpose and 

6 will not have the effect’’ and inserting ‘‘neither has 

7 the purpose nor will have the effect’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(b) Any voting qualification or prerequisite to vot10 ing, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 

11 voting that has the purpose of or will have the effect of 

12 diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United States 

13 on account of race or color, or in contravention of the 

14 guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), to elect their pre15 ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the right 

16 to vote within the meaning of subsection (a) of this sec17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(c) The term ‘purpose’ in subsections (a) and (b) 

19 of this section shall include any discriminatory purpose. 

20 ‘‘(d) The purpose of subsection (b) of this section is 

21 to protect the ability of such citizens to elect their pre22 ferred candidates of choice.’’. 

23 SEC. 6. EXPERT FEES AND OTHER REASONABLE COSTS OF 

24 LITIGATION. 

25 Section 14(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

26 U.S.C. 1973l(e)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, reasonable exVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:26 May 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703

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1 pert fees, and other reasonable litigation expenses’’ after 

2 ‘‘reasonable attorney’s fee’’. 

3 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIRE4 MENTS. 

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

6 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a(b)(1)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2032’’. 

8 SEC. 8. USE OF AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY CENSUS 

9 DATA. 

10 Section 203(b)(2)(A) of the Voting Rights Act of 

11 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘census data’’ and inserting ‘‘the 2010 American 

13 Community Survey census data and subsequent American 

14 Community Survey data in 5-year increments, or com15 parable census data’’. 

Æ 


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