PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006 120 STAT. 577

Public Law 109–246

109th Congress

An Act

To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and

Amendments Act of 2006’’.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL PURPOSE AND FINDINGS.

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

right of all citizens to vote, including the right to register to vote

and cast meaningful votes, is preserved and protected as guaranteed

by the Constitution.

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

(1) Significant progress has been made in eliminating first

generation barriers experienced by minority voters, including

increased numbers of registered minority voters, minority voter

turnout, and minority representation in Congress, State legislatures, and local elected offices. This progress is the direct

result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

(2) However, vestiges of discrimination in voting continue

to exist as demonstrated by second generation barriers constructed to prevent minority voters from fully participating

in the electoral process.

(3) The continued evidence of racially polarized voting in

each of the jurisdictions covered by the expiring provisions

of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 demonstrates that racial

and language minorities remain politically vulnerable, warranting the continued protection of the Voting Rights Act of

1965.

(4) Evidence of continued discrimination includes—

(A) the hundreds of objections interposed, requests for

more information submitted followed by voting changes

withdrawn from consideration by jurisdictions covered by

the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and section 5 enforcement

actions undertaken by the Department of Justice in covered

jurisdictions since 1982 that prevented election practices,

such as annexation, at-large voting, and the use of multimember districts, from being enacted to dilute minority

voting strength;

(B) the number of requests for declaratory judgments

denied by the United States District Court for the District

of Columbia;

Fannie Lou

Hamer, Rosa

Parks, and

Coretta Scott

King Voting

Rights Act

Reauthorization

and Amendments

Act of 2006.

42 USC 1971

note.

42 USC 1973

note.

July 27, 2006

[H.R. 9]

120 STAT. 578 PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006

(C) the continued filing of section 2 cases that originated in covered jurisdictions; and

(D) the litigation pursued by the Department of Justice

since 1982 to enforce sections 4(e), 4(f)(4), and 203 of such

Act to ensure that all language minority citizens have

full access to the political process.

(5) The evidence clearly shows the continued need for Federal oversight in jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights

Act of 1965 since 1982, as demonstrated in the counties certified

by the Attorney General for Federal examiner and observer

coverage and the tens of thousands of Federal observers that

have been dispatched to observe elections in covered jurisdictions.

(6) The effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

has been significantly weakened by the United States Supreme

Court decisions in Reno v. Bossier Parish II and Georgia v.

Ashcroft, which have misconstrued Congress’ original intent

in enacting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and narrowed the

protections afforded by section 5 of such Act.

(7) Despite the progress made by minorities under the

Voting Rights Act of 1965, the evidence before Congress reveals

that 40 years has not been a sufficient amount of time to

eliminate the vestiges of discrimination following nearly 100

years of disregard for the dictates of the 15th amendment

and to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote is protected

as guaranteed by the Constitution.

(8) Present day discrimination experienced by racial and

language minority voters is contained in evidence, including

the objections interposed by the Department of Justice in covered jurisdictions; the section 2 litigation filed to prevent dilutive techniques from adversely affecting minority voters; the

enforcement actions filed to protect language minorities; and

the tens of thousands of Federal observers dispatched to monitor polls in jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights Act

of 1965.

(9) The record compiled by Congress demonstrates that,

without the continuation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

protections, racial and language minority citizens will be

deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote,

or will have their votes diluted, undermining the significant

gains made by minorities in the last 40 years.

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

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

of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973f) is amended to read as follows:

‘‘SEC. 8. (a) Whenever—

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

under section 3(a) for a political subdivision; or

‘‘(2) the Attorney General certifies with respect to any

political subdivision named in, or included within the scope

of, determinations made under section 4(b), unless a declaratory

judgment has been rendered under section 4(a), that—

‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received written meritorious complaints from residents, elected officials, or civic

participation organizations that efforts to deny or abridge

the right to vote under the color of law on account of

PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006 120 STAT. 579

race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set

forth in section 4(f)(2) are likely to occur; or

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

among other factors, whether the ratio of nonwhite persons

to white persons registered to vote within such subdivision

appears to the Attorney General to be reasonably attributable to violations of the 14th or 15th amendment or

whether substantial evidence exists that bona fide efforts

are being made within such subdivision to comply with

the 14th or 15th amendment), the assignment of observers

is otherwise necessary to enforce the guarantees of the

14th or 15th amendment;

the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall assign

as many observers for such subdivision as the Director may

deem appropriate.

‘‘(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), such observers shall

be assigned, compensated, and separated without regard to the

provisions of any statute administered by the Director of the Office

of Personnel Management, and their service under this Act shall

not be considered employment for the purposes of any statute

administered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, except the provisions of section 7324 of title 5, United States

Code, prohibiting partisan political activity.

‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management is

authorized to, after consulting the head of the appropriate department or agency, designate suitable persons in the official service

of the United States, with their consent, to serve in these positions.

‘‘(d) Observers shall be authorized to—

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

in such subdivision for the purpose of observing whether persons who are entitled to vote are being permitted to vote;

and

‘‘(2) enter and attend at any place for tabulating the votes

cast at any election held in such subdivision for the purpose

of observing whether votes cast by persons entitled to vote

are being properly tabulated.

‘‘(e) Observers shall investigate and report to the Attorney

General, and if the appointment of observers has been authorized

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

(b) MODIFICATION OF SECTION 13.—Section 13 of the Voting

Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973k) is amended to read as follows:

‘‘SEC. 13. (a) The assignment of observers shall terminate in

any political subdivision of any State—

‘‘(1) with respect to observers appointed pursuant to section

8 or with respect to examiners certified under this Act before

the date of the enactment of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa

Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, whenever the Attorney

General notifies the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, or whenever the District Court for the District of

Columbia determines in an action for declaratory judgment

brought by any political subdivision described in subsection

(b), that there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that

persons will be deprived of or denied the right to vote on

account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees

set forth in section 4(f)(2) in such subdivision; and

Investigation.

Reports.

120 STAT. 580 PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006

‘‘(2) with respect to observers appointed pursuant to section

3(a), upon order of the authorizing court.

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

one with respect to which the Director of the Census has determined

that more than 50 per centum of the nonwhite persons of voting

age residing therein are registered to vote.

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

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

(c) REPEAL OF SECTIONS RELATING TO EXAMINERS.—Sections

6, 7, and 9 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973d,

1973e and 1973g) are repealed.

(d) SUBSTITUTION OF REFERENCES TO ‘‘OBSERVERS’’ FOR REF- ERENCES TO ‘‘EXAMINERS’’.—

(1) Section 3(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.

1973a(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘examiners’’ each place it

appears and inserting ‘‘observers’’.

(2) Section 4(a)(1)(C) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

(42 U.S.C. 1973b(a)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or

observers’’ after ‘‘examiners’’.

(3) Section 12(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42

U.S.C. 1973j(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘an examiner has been

appointed’’ and inserting ‘‘an observer has been assigned’’.

(4) Section 12(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42

U.S.C. 1973j(e)) is amended—

(A) by striking ‘‘examiners’’ and inserting ‘‘observers’’;

and

(B) by striking ‘‘examiner’’ each place it appears and

inserting ‘‘observer’’.

(e) CONFORMING CHANGES RELATING TO SECTION REF- ERENCES.—

(1) Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.

1973b(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 6’’ and inserting

‘‘section 8’’.

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

Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(a) and 1973j(c)) are each

amended by striking ‘‘7,’’.

(3) Section 14(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42

U.S.C. 1973l(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘or a court of appeals

in any proceeding under section 9’’.

SEC. 4. RECONSIDERATION OF SECTION 4 BY CONGRESS.

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

Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(a)) are each amended by striking

‘‘Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982’’ and inserting ‘‘Fannie

Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights

Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006’’.

SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973c)

is amended—

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

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

have the effect’’ and inserting ‘‘neither has the purpose nor

will have the effect’’; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(b) Any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or

standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting that has

the purpose of or will have the effect of diminishing the ability

PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006 120 STAT. 581

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 9 (S. 2703):

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 109–478 (Comm. on the Judiciary).

SENATE REPORTS: No. 109–295 accompanying S. 2703 (Comm. on the Judiciary).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 152 (2006):

July 13, considered and passed House.

July 20, considered and passed Senate.

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 42 (2006):

July 27, Presidential remarks.

Æ

of any citizens of the United States on account of race or color,

or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2),

to elect their preferred candidates of choice denies or abridges

the right to vote within the meaning of subsection (a) of this

section.

‘‘(c) The term ‘purpose’ in subsections (a) and (b) of this section

shall include any discriminatory purpose.

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

the ability of such citizens to elect their preferred candidates of

choice.’’.

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

Section 14(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.

1973l(e)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, reasonable expert fees, and

other reasonable litigation expenses’’ after ‘‘reasonable attorney’s

fee’’.

SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.

Section 203(b)(1) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.

1973aa–1a(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘2007’’ and inserting

‘‘2032’’.

SEC. 8. USE OF AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY CENSUS DATA.

Section 203(b)(2)(A) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.

1973aa–1a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘census data’’ and

inserting ‘‘the 2010 American Community Survey census data and

subsequent American Community Survey data in 5-year increments,

or comparable census data’’.

SEC. 9. STUDY AND REPORT.

The Comptroller General shall study the implementation,

effectiveness, and efficiency of the current section 203 of the Voting

Rights Act of 1965 and alternatives to the current implementation

consistent with that section. The Comptroller General shall report

the results of that study to Congress not later than 1 year after

the date of the enactment of this Act.

Approved July 27, 2006.