II 

Calendar No. 523 

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, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Ms. 

STABENOW, Mrs. CLINTON, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. KOHL, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. 

DODD, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. 

BAYH, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

DORGAN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. 

REED, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CARPER, 

Mr. BYRD, Mr. TALENT, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Ms. 

COLLINS, and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

JULY 19, 2006 

Reported by Mr. SPECTER, with an amendment 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fannie Lou Hamer, 

3 Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King, 

4 and Ce ́sar E. Cha ́vez Voting Rights Act Reauthorization 

5 and Amendments Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 

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

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

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

10 and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution. 

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

12 (1) Significant progress has been made in elimi13 nating first generation barriers experienced by mi14 nority voters, including increased numbers of reg15 istered minority voters, minority voter turnout, and 

16 minority representation in Congress, State legisla17 tures, and local elected offices. This progress is the 

18 direct result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

19 (2) However, vestiges of discrimination in vot20 ing continue to exist as demonstrated by second gen21 eration barriers constructed to prevent minority vot22 ers from fully participating in the electoral process. 

23 (3) The continued evidence of racially polarized 

24 voting in each of the jurisdictions covered by the ex25 piring provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

26 demonstrates that racial and language minorities reVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:31 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.RS S2703

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1 main politically vulnerable, warranting the continued 

2 protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

3 (4) Evidence of continued discrimination in4 cludes— 

5 (A) the hundreds of objections interposed, 

6 requests for more information submitted fol7 lowed by voting changes withdrawn from con8 sideration by jurisdictions covered by the Voting 

9 Rights Act of 1965, and section 5 enforcement 

10 actions undertaken by the Department of Jus11 tice in covered jurisdictions since 1982 that 

12 prevented election practices, such as annex13 ation, at-large voting, and the use of multi14 member districts, from being enacted to dilute 

15 minority voting strength; 

16 (B) the number of requests for declaratory 

17 judgments denied by the United States District 

18 Court for the District of Columbia; 

19 (C) the continued filing of section 2 cases 

20 that originated in covered jurisdictions; and 

21 (D) the litigation pursued by the Depart22 ment of Justice since 1982 to enforce sections 

23 4(e), 4(f)(4), and 203 of such Act to ensure 

24 that all language minority citizens have full ac25 cess to the political process. 


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1 (5) The evidence clearly shows the continued 

2 need for Federal oversight in jurisdictions covered 

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

4 demonstrated in the counties certified by the Attor5 ney General for Federal examiner and observer cov6 erage and the tens of thousands of Federal observers 

7 that have been dispatched to observe elections in 

8 covered jurisdictions. 

9 (6) The effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act 

10 of 1965 has been significantly weakened by the 

11 United States Supreme Court decisions in Reno v. 

12 Bossier Parish II and Georgia v. Ashcroft, which 

13 have misconstrued Congress’ original intent in en14 acting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and narrowed 

15 the protections afforded by section 5 of such Act. 

16 (7) Despite the progress made by minorities 

17 under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the evidence 

18 before Congress reveals that 40 years has not been 

19 a sufficient amount of time to eliminate the vestiges 

20 of discrimination following nearly 100 years of dis21 regard for the dictates of the 15th amendment and 

22 to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote is pro23 tected as guaranteed by the Constitution. 

24 (8) Present day discrimination experienced by 

25 racial and language minority voters is contained in 


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1 evidence, including the objections interposed by the 

2 Department of Justice in covered jurisdictions; the 

3 section 2 litigation filed to prevent dilutive tech4 niques from adversely affecting minority voters; the 

5 enforcement actions filed to protect language minori6 ties; and the tens of thousands of Federal observers 

7 dispatched to monitor polls in jurisdictions covered 

8 by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

9 (9) The record compiled by Congress dem10 onstrates that, without the continuation of the Vot11 ing Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and lan12 guage minority citizens will be deprived of the oppor13 tunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have 

14 their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains 

15 made by minorities in the last 40 years. 

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

17 OBSERVERS. 

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

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

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 8. (a) Whenever— 

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

23 observers under section 3(a) for a political subdivi24 sion; or 


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

2 to any political subdivision named in, or included 

3 within the scope of, determinations made under sec4 tion 4(b), unless a declaratory judgment has been 

5 rendered under section 4(a), that— 

6 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 

7 written meritorious complaints from residents, 

8 elected officials, or civic participation organiza9 tions that efforts to deny or abridge the right 

10 to vote under the color of law on account of 

11 race or color, or in contravention of the guaran12 tees set forth in section 4(f)(2) are likely to 

13 occur; or 

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

15 (considering, among other factors, whether the 

16 ratio of nonwhite persons to white persons reg17 istered to vote within such subdivision appears 

18 to the Attorney General to be reasonably attrib19 utable to violations of the 14th or 15th amend20 ment or whether substantial evidence exists that 

21 bona fide efforts are being made within such 

22 subdivision to comply with the 14th or 15th 

23 amendment), the assignment of observers is 

24 otherwise necessary to enforce the guarantees 

25 of the 14th or 15th amendment; 


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1 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management 

2 shall assign as many observers for such subdivision 

3 as the Director may deem appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), such ob5 servers shall be assigned, compensated, and separated 

6 without regard to the provisions of any statute adminis7 tered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage8 ment, and their service under this Act shall not be consid9 ered employment for the purposes of any statute adminis10 tered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage11 ment, except the provisions of section 7324 of title 5, 

12 United States Code, prohibiting partisan political activity. 

13 ‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage14 ment is authorized to, after consulting the head of the ap15 propriate department or agency, designate suitable per16 sons in the official service of the United States, with their 

17 consent, to serve in these positions. 

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

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

20 an election in such subdivision for the purpose of ob21 serving whether persons who are entitled to vote are 

22 being permitted to vote; and 

23 ‘‘(2) enter and attend at any place for tab24 ulating the votes cast at any election held in such 

25 subdivision for the purpose of observing whether 


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1 votes cast by persons entitled to vote are being prop2 erly tabulated. 

3 ‘‘(e) Observers shall investigate and report to the At4 torney General, and if the appointment of observers has 

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

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

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

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 13. (a) The assignment of observers shall ter10 minate in any political subdivision of any State— 

11 ‘‘(1) with respect to observers appointed pursu12 ant to section 8 or with respect to examiners cer13 tified under this Act before the date of the enact14 ment of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and 

15 Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthoriza16 tion and Amendments Act of 2006, whenever the At17 torney General notifies the Director of the Office of 

18 Personnel Management, or whenever the District 

19 Court for the District of Columbia determines in an 

20 action for declaratory judgment brought by any po21 litical subdivision described in subsection (b), that 

22 there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that 

23 persons will be deprived of or denied the right to 

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


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

2 subdivision; and 

3 ‘‘(2) with respect to observers appointed pursu4 ant to section 3(a), upon order of the authorizing 

5 court. 

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

7 (a)(1) is one with respect to which the Director of the Cen8 sus has determined that more than 50 per centum of the 

9 nonwhite persons of voting age residing therein are reg10 istered to vote. 

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

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

13 (c) REPEAL OF SECTIONS RELATING TO EXAM14 INERS.—Sections 6, 7, and 9 of the Voting Rights Act 

15 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973d, 1973e and 1973g) are re16 pealed. 

17 (d) SUBSTITUTION OF REFERENCES TO ‘‘OBSERV18 ERS’’ FOR REFERENCES TO ‘‘EXAMINERS’’.— 

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

20 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973a(a)) is amended by striking 

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

22 ‘‘observers’’. 

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

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

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


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

2 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(b)) is amended by striking 

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

4 observer has been assigned’’. 

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

6 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(e)) is amended— 

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

8 ‘‘observers’’; and 

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

10 appears and inserting ‘‘observer’’. 

11 (e) CONFORMING CHANGES RELATING TO SECTION

12 REFERENCES.— 

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

14 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(b)) is amended by striking 

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

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

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

18 1973j(c)) are each amended by striking ‘‘7,’’. 

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

20 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973l(b)) is amended by striking 

21 ‘‘or a court of appeals in any proceeding under sec22 tion 9’’. 

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

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

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1 ed by striking ‘‘Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982’’ 

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

3 Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization 

4 and Amendments Act of 2006’’. 

5 SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT. 

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

7 U.S.C. 1973c) is amended— 

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

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

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

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

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

13 ‘‘(b) Any voting qualification or prerequisite to vot14 ing, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 

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

16 diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United States 

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

18 guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), to elect their pre19 ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the right 

20 to vote within the meaning of subsection (a) of this sec21 tion. 

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

23 of this section shall include any discriminatory purpose. 


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

2 to protect the ability of such citizens to elect their pre3 ferred candidates of choice.’’. 

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

5 LITIGATION. 

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

7 U.S.C. 1973l(e)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, reasonable ex8 pert fees, and other reasonable litigation expenses’’ after 

9 ‘‘reasonable attorney’s fee’’. 

10 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIRE11 MENTS. 

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

13 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a(b)(1)) is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2032’’. 

15 SEC. 8. USE OF AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY CENSUS 

16 DATA. 

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

18 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by 

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

20 Community Survey census data and subsequent American 

21 Community Survey data in 5-year increments, or com22 parable census data’’. 


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Calendar No. 523 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2703 

A BILL 

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

JULY 19, 2006 

Reported with an amendment 


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