I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8053 

To enforce the Twenty-sixth Amendment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 14, 2020 

Mr. PAPPAS (for himself, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. MENG, and Mrs. 

MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enforce the Twenty-sixth Amendment, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Protect the Youth Vote 

5 Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The right to vote is a fundamental right of 

9 citizens of the United States. 


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1 (2) The Twenty-sixth Amendment of the United 

2 States Constitution guarantees that ‘‘The right of 

3 citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years 

4 of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or 

5 abridged by the United States or by any State on 

6 account of age.’’. 

7 (3) The Twenty-sixth Amendment of the United 

8 States Constitution grants Congress the power to 

9 enforce the Amendment by appropriate legislation. 

10 (4) The language of the Twenty-sixth Amend11 ment closely mirrors that of the Fifteenth Amend12 ment and the Nineteenth Amendment. Like those 

13 Amendments, the Twenty-sixth Amendment not only 

14 prohibits denial of the right to vote but also pro15 hibits any actions that abridge the right to vote. 

16 (5) Youth voter suppression undercuts partici17 pation in our democracy by introducing arduous ob18 stacles to new voters and discouraging a culture of 

19 democratic engagement. 

20 (6) Voting is habit forming, and allowing youth 

21 voters unobstructed access to voting ensures that 

22 more Americans will start a life-long habit of voting 

23 as soon as possible. 

24 (7) Youth voter suppression is a clear, per25 sistent, and growing problem. The actions of States 


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1 and political subdivisions resulting in at least four 

2 findings of Twenty-sixth Amendment violations as 

3 well as pending litigation demonstrate the need for 

4 Congress to take action to enforce the Twenty-sixth 

5 Amendment. 

6 (8) In League of Women Voters of Florida, Inc. 

7 v. Detzner (2018), the United States District Court 

8 in the Northern District of Florida found that the 

9 Secretary of State’s actions that prevented in-person 

10 early voting sites from being located on university 

11 property revealed a stark pattern of discrimination 

12 that was unexplainable on grounds other than age 

13 and thus violated university students’ Twenty-sixth 

14 Amendment rights. 

15 (9) In 2019, Michigan agreed to a settlement to 

16 enhance college-age voters’ access after a Twenty17 sixth Amendment challenge was filed in federal 

18 court. The challenge prompted the removal of a 

19 Michigan voting law which required first time voters 

20 who registered by mail or through a third-party 

21 voter registration drive to vote in person for the first 

22 time, as well as the removal of another law which re23 quired the address listed on a voter’s driver license 

24 to match the address listed on their voter registra25 tion card. 


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1 (10) Youth voter suppression tactics are often 

2 linked to other tactics aimed at minority voters. For 

3 example, students at Prairie View A&M University 

4 (PVAMU), a historically black university in Texas, 

5 have been the targets of voter suppression tactics for 

6 decades. Before the 2018 election, PVAMU students 

7 sued Waller County on the basis of both racial and 

8 age discrimination over the County’s failure to en9 sure equal early voting opportunities for students, 

10 spurring the County to reverse course and expand 

11 early voting access for students. 

12 (11) The more than 25 million United States 

13 citizens ages 18-24 deserve equal opportunity to par14 ticipate in the electoral process as guaranteed by the 

15 Twenty-sixth Amendment. 

16 SEC. 3. PREVENTING AGE DISCRIMINATION IN VOTING. 

17 (a) RIGHT TO VOTE.—No voting qualification or pre18 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall 

19 be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision 

20 in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of 

21 the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on 

22 account of age, as provided in subsection (b). 

23 (b) VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO VOTE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—A violation of subsection (a) 

25 is established if, based on the totality of cirVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8053.IH H8053

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1 cumstances, it is shown that the political processes 

2 leading to nomination or election in the State or po3 litical subdivision are not equally open to participa4 tion by members of a class of citizens protected by 

5 subsection (a) in that its members have less oppor6 tunity than other members of the electorate to par7 ticipate in the political process and to elect rep8 resentatives of their choice: Provided, That nothing 

9 in this section establishes a right to have members 

10 of a protected class under subsection (a) elected in 

11 numbers equal to their proportion in the population. 

12 (2) VIOLATIONS.—A violation under subsection 

13 (a) shall include: 

14 (A) Laws or requirements implemented in 

15 a State or political subdivision that reduce or 

16 abridge the ability for students who attend an 

17 institution of higher education and reside in the 

18 jurisdiction of the institution while attending 

19 the institution to register to vote in elections in 

20 that jurisdiction. 

21 (B) Addition of seats elected at-large in a 

22 State or political subdivision or conversion of 

23 one or more seats elected from a single member 

24 district to one or more at-large seats or seats 

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1 litical subdivision with a significant proportion 

2 of youth age voters. 

3 (C) Boundaries of a political subdivision 

4 designed to reduce the proportion of the polit5 ical subdivision’s voting-age population that is 

6 comprised of youth age voters in a State or po7 litical subdivision with a significant proportion 

8 of youth age voters. 

9 (D) Requirements for documentation or 

10 proof of identity to vote that exceed or are more 

11 stringent than the requirements for voting that 

12 are described in section 303(b) of the Help 

13 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

14 21083(b)) or any other requirements for docu15 mentation or proof of identity to vote that have 

16 the purpose or effect of denying or abridging 

17 the right to vote on account of age. 

18 (E) Reduction of voting materials or alter19 nation of the manner in which such materials 

20 are provided or distributed at institutions of 

21 higher education, where no similar reduction or 

22 alteration occurs in materials provided at other 

23 sites for such election. 

24 (F) Any reduction, consolidation, or reloca25 tion of voting locations, including early, absenVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8053.IH H8053

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1 tee, and election day voting locations in a single 

2 political subdivision with a significant propor3 tion of youth age voters. 

4 SEC. 4. FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO PREVENT AGE DISCRIMI5 NATION. 

6 (a) FEDERAL OBSERVERS.—Whenever the Attorney 

7 General or an aggrieved person institutes a proceeding 

8 under any statute to enforce the voting guarantees of the 

9 Twenty-sixth Amendment in any State or political subdivi10 sion the court shall authorize the appointment of Federal 

11 observers by the United States Office of Personnel Man12 agement to serve for such period of time and for such po13 litical subdivisions as the court shall determine is appro14 priate to enforce the voting guarantees of the Twenty15 sixth Amendment (1) as part of any interlocutory order 

16 if the court determines that the appointment of such ob17 servers is necessary to enforce such voting guarantees or 

18 (2) as part of any final judgment if the court finds that 

19 violations of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, violations of 

20 this Act, or violations of any Federal law that prohibits 

21 discrimination in voting on the basis of age, justifying eq22 uitable relief have occurred in such State or subdivision: 

23 Provided, That the court need not authorize the appoint24 ment of observers if any incidents of denial or abridgement 

25 of the right to vote on account of age, (1) have been few 


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1 in number and have been promptly and effectively cor2 rected by State or local action, (2) the continuing effect 

3 of such incidents has been eliminated, and (3) there is no 

4 reasonable probability of their recurrence in the future. 

5 (b) JURISDICTION.—If any action under any statute 

6 in which a party (including the Attorney General) seeks 

7 to enforce the voting guarantees of the Twenty-sixth 

8 Amendment in any State or political subdivision the court 

9 finds that violations of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, vio10 lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 

11 prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of age, jus12 tifying equitable relief have occurred within the territory 

13 of such State or political subdivision, the court, in addition 

14 to such relief as it may grant, shall retain jurisdiction for 

15 such period as it may deem appropriate and during such 

16 period no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or 

17 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting dif18 ferent from that in force or effect at the time the action 

19 was commenced shall be enforced unless and until the 

20 court finds that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, 

21 practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will 

22 not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to 

23 vote on account of age: Provided, That such qualification, 

24 prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure may be en25 forced if the qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, 


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1 or procedure has been submitted by the chief legal officer 

2 or other appropriate official of such State or subdivision 

3 to the Attorney General and the Attorney General has not 

4 interposed an objection within sixty days after such sub5 mission, except that neither the court’s finding nor the 

6 Attorney General’s failure to object shall bar a subsequent 

7 action to enjoin enforcement of such qualification, pre8 requisite, standard, practice, or procedure. 

9 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 

10 Attorney General is authorized to monitor and enforce the 

11 voting guarantees of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, viola12 tions of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 

13 prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of age, 

14 whenever Federal observers are appointed under any pro15 vision of Federal law. 

16 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIOLATION. 

17 For purposes of this Act, a voting rights violation oc18 curred in a State or political subdivision if any of the fol19 lowing applies: 

20 (1) FINAL JUDGEMENT; VIOLATION OF TWEN21 TY-SIXTH AMENDMENT.—In a final judgment (which 

22 has not been reversed on appeal), any court of the 

23 United States has determined that a denial or 

24 abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United 

25 States to vote on account of age, in violation of the 


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1 Twenty-sixth Amendment, occurred anywhere within 

2 the State or subdivision. 

3 (2) FINAL JUDGEMENT; VIOLATIONS OF THIS

4 ACT.—In a final judgment (which has not been re5 versed on appeal), any court of the United States 

6 has determined that a voting qualification or pre7 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or proce8 dure with respect to voting was imposed or applied 

9 or would have been imposed or applied anywhere 

10 within the State or subdivision in a manner that re11 sulted or would have resulted in a denial or 

12 abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United 

13 States to vote on account of age, in violation of sec14 tion 3. 

15 (3) FINAL JUDGEMENT; DENIAL OF DECLARA16 TORY JUDGEMENT.—In a final judgment (which has 

17 not been reversed on appeal), any court of the 

18 United States has denied the request of the State or 

19 subdivision for a declaratory judgment under section 

20 3(b), and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 

21 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or pro22 cedure with respect to voting from being enforced 

23 anywhere within the State or subdivision. 

24 (4) OBJECTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 

25 Attorney General has interposed an objection under 


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1 section 3(b) (and the objection has not been over2 turned by a final judgment of a court or withdrawn 

3 by the Attorney General), and thereby prevented a 

4 voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or 

5 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to vot6 ing from being enforced anywhere within the State 

7 or subdivision. 

8 (5) TIMING OF DETERMINATIONS.— 

9 (A) DETERMINATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS

10 VIOLATIONS.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—As early as prac12 ticable during each calendar year, the At13 torney General shall make the determina14 tions required by this subsection, including 

15 updating the list of voting rights violations 

16 occurring in each State and political sub17 division for the previous calendar year. 

18 (ii) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney 

19 General shall make the list required under 

20 clause (i) public on the internet website of 

21 the Department of Justice. 

22 (B) FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATION.—A 

23 determination or certification of the Attorney 

24 General under this section shall be effective 

25 upon publication in the Federal Register. 


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1 SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING CHANGES TO PRO2 TECT VOTING RIGHTS. 

3 (a) NOTICE OF ENACTED CHANGES.— 

4 (1) NOTICE OF CHANGES.—If a State or polit5 ical subdivision makes any change in any pre6 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or proce7 dure with respect to voting in any election for Fed8 eral office that will result in the prerequisite, stand9 ard, practice, or procedure being different from that 

10 which was in effect as of 180 days before the date 

11 of the election for Federal office, the State or polit12 ical subdivision shall provide reasonable public notice 

13 in such State or political subdivision and on the 

14 Internet, of a concise description of the change, in15 cluding the difference between the changed pre16 requisite, standard, practice, or procedure and the 

17 prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure which 

18 was previously in effect. The public notice described 

19 in this paragraph, in such State or political subdivi20 sion and on the Internet, shall be in a format that 

21 is reasonably convenient and accessible to voters 

22 with disabilities, including voters who have low vi23 sion or are blind. 

24 (2) DEADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit25 ical subdivision shall provide the public notice reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8053.IH H8053

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1 quired under paragraph (1) not later than 48 hours 

2 after making the change involved. 

3 (b) TRANSPARENCY REGARDING POLLING PLACE

4 RESOURCES.— 

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

6 changes that may impact the right to vote of any 

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

8 election for Federal office, each State or political 

9 subdivision with responsibility for allocating reg10 istered voters, voting machines, and official poll 

11 workers to particular precincts and polling places 

12 shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 

13 or political subdivision and on the Internet, of the 

14 information described in paragraph (2) for precincts 

15 and polling places within such State or political sub16 division. The public notice described in this para17 graph, in such State or political subdivision and on 

18 the Internet, shall be in a format that is reasonably 

19 convenient and accessible to voters with disabilities 

20 including voters who have low vision or are blind. 

21 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa22 tion described in this paragraph with respect to a 

23 precinct or polling place is each of the following: 

24 (A) The name or number. 


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1 (B) In the case of a polling place, the loca2 tion, including the street address, and whether 

3 such polling place is accessible to persons with 

4 disabilities. 

5 (C) The voting-age population of the area 

6 served by the precinct or polling place, broken 

7 down by demographic group if such breakdown 

8 is reasonably available to such State or political 

9 subdivision. 

10 (D) The number of registered voters as11 signed to the precinct or polling place, broken 

12 down by demographic group if such breakdown 

13 is reasonably available to such State or political 

14 subdivision. 

15 (E) The number of voting machines as16 signed, including the number of voting ma17 chines accessible to voters with disabilities, in18 cluding voters who have low vision or are blind. 

19 (F) The number of official paid poll work20 ers assigned. 

21 (G) The number of official volunteer poll 

22 workers assigned. 

23 (H) In the case of a polling place, the 

24 dates and hours of operation of such polling 

25 place. 


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1 (3) UPDATES IN INFORMATION REPORTED.—If 

2 a State or political subdivision makes any change in 

3 any of the information described in paragraph (2), 

4 the State or political subdivision shall provide rea5 sonable public notice in such State or political sub6 division and on the Internet, of the change in the in7 formation not later than 48 hours after the change 

8 occurs or, if the change occurs fewer than 48 hours 

9 before the date of the election for Federal office, as 

10 soon as practicable after the change occurs. The 

11 public notice described in this paragraph in such 

12 State or political subdivision and on the Internet 

13 shall be in a format that is reasonably convenient 

14 and accessible to voters with disabilities including 

15 voters who have low vision or are blind. 

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

18 (1) REQUIRING PUBLIC NOTICE OF CHANGES.— 

19 Not later than 10 days after making any change in 

20 the constituency that will participate in an election 

21 for Federal, State, or local office or the boundaries 

22 of a voting unit or electoral district in an election for 

23 Federal, State, or local office (including through re24 districting, reapportionment, changing from at-large 

25 elections to district-based elections, or changing 


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1 from district-based elections to at-large elections), a 

2 State or political subdivision shall provide reasonable 

3 public notice in such State or political subdivision 

4 and on the Internet, of the demographic and elec5 toral data described in paragraph (3) for each of the 

6 geographic areas described in paragraph (2). 

7 (2) GEOGRAPHIC AREAS DESCRIBED.—The geo8 graphic areas described in this paragraph are as fol9 lows: 

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

11 applies statewide, or the political subdivision as 

12 a whole, if the change applies across the entire 

13 political subdivision. 

14 (B) If the change includes a plan to re15 place or eliminate voting units or electoral dis16 tricts, each voting unit or electoral district that 

17 will be replaced or eliminated. 

18 (C) If the change includes a plan to estab19 lish new voting units or electoral districts, each 

20 such new voting unit or electoral district. 

21 (3) DEMOGRAPHIC AND ELECTORAL DATA.— 

22 The demographic and electoral data described in this 

23 paragraph with respect to a geographic area de24 scribed in paragraph (2) are each of the following: 


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1 (A) The voting-age population, 

2 disaggregated by age group. 

3 (B) The number of voting-age students. 

4 (C) If it is reasonably available to the 

5 State or political subdivision involved, an esti6 mate of the population of the area which con7 sists of citizens of the United States who are 18 

8 years of age or older, disaggregated by age 

9 group and status as a student. 

10 (D) The number of registered voters, 

11 disaggregated by age group and status as a stu12 dent if such breakdown is reasonably available 

13 to the State or political subdivision involved. 

14 (E) If the change applies— 

15 (i) to a State, the actual number of 

16 votes, or (if it is not reasonably practicable 

17 for the State to ascertain the actual num18 ber of votes) the estimated number of votes 

19 received by each candidate in each state20 wide election held during the 5-year period 

21 which ends on the date the change involved 

22 is made; and 

23 (ii) to only one political subdivision, 

24 the actual number of votes, or (if it is not 

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1 division to ascertain the actual number of 

2 votes) in each subdivision-wide election 

3 held during the 5-year period which ends 

4 on the date the change involved is made. 

5 (4) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE BY SMALLER JU6 RISDICTION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Compliance with this 

8 subsection shall be voluntary for a political sub9 division of a State unless the subdivision is one 

10 of the following: 

11 (i) A county or parish. 

12 (ii) A municipality with a population 

13 greater than 10,000, as determined by the 

14 Bureau of the Census under the most re15 cent decennial census. 

16 (iii) A school district with a popu17 lation greater than 10,000, as determined 

18 by the Bureau of the Census under the 

19 most recent decennial census. 

20 (B) SCHOOL DISTRICT DEFINED.—For 

21 purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘‘school 

22 district’’ means the geographic area under the 

23 jurisdiction of a local educational agency (as de24 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

25 Secondary Education Act of 1965). 


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1 (d) RULES REGARDING FORMAT OF INFORMA2 TION.—The Attorney General may issue rules specifying 

3 a reasonably convenient and accessible format that States 

4 and political subdivisions shall use to provide public notice 

5 of information under this section. 

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

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

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

9 State or political subdivision to a voting qualification, 

10 standard, practice, or procedure if the State or political 

11 subdivision involved did not meet the applicable require12 ments of this section with respect to the change. 

13 SEC. 7. VOTING OFFENSES. 

14 (a) PERMISSION TO VOTE.—No person acting under 

15 color of law shall fail or refuse to permit any person to 

16 vote who is entitled to vote under any provision of this 

17 Act or is otherwise qualified to vote, or willfully fail or 

18 refuse to tabulate, count and report such person’s vote. 

19 (b) INTIMIDATION.—No person, whether acting 

20 under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, 

21 or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any 

22 person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, 

23 threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or 

24 coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote 


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1 or attempt to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce any 

2 person for exercising the right to vote. 

3 (c) FALSE INFORMATION.—Whoever knowingly or 

4 willfully give false information as to their name, address, 

5 or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose 

6 of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, or con7 spires with another individual for the purpose of encour8 aging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays 

9 or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration 

10 to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $5,000 

11 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both: Provided, 

12 however, That this provision shall be applicable only to a 

13 general, special, or primary elections held solely or in part 

14 for the purpose of selecting or electing any candidate for 

15 the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, 

16 Member of the United States Senate, Member of the 

17 United States House of Representatives, Delegate from 

18 the District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Is19 lands, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands, or Resident 

20 Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

21 (d) DUPLICATIVE VOTING.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever votes more than 

23 once in an election referred to in paragraph (2) shall 

24 be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not 

25 more than five years, or both. 


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1 (2) APPLICABLE ELECTIONS.—The prohibition 

2 of this subsection applies with respect to any gen3 eral, special, or primary election held solely or in 

4 part for the purpose of selecting or electing any can5 didate for the office of President, Vice President, 

6 presidential elector, Member of the United States 

7 Senate, Member of the United States House of Rep8 resentatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, 

9 Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 

10 or the Virgin Islands, or Resident Commissioner of 

11 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

12 (3) VOTES MORE THAN ONCE DEFINED.—As 

13 used in this subsection, the term ‘‘votes more than 

14 once’’ does not include the casting of an additional 

15 ballot if all prior ballots of that voter were in vali16 dated, nor does it include the voting in two jurisdic17 tions under section 202 of the Voting Rights Act of 

18 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10502), to the extent two ballots 

19 are not cast for an election to the same candidacy 

20 or office. 

21 SEC. 8. VOTING OFFENSES AND RELIEF. 

22 (a) OFFENSE FOR DEPRIVING VOTING RIGHTS.— 

23 Whoever shall deprive or attempt to deprive any person 

24 of any right secured by the Twenty-sixth Amendment, this 

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1 crimination on the basis of age, shall be fined not more 

2 than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or 

3 both. 

4 (b) OFFENSE FOR MANIPULATION OF BALLOTS.— 

5 Whoever, within a year following an election in a political 

6 subdivision in which an observer has been assigned (1) de7 stroys, defaces, mutilates, or otherwise alters the marking 

8 of a paper ballot which has been cast in such election, or 

9 (2) alters any official record of voting in such election tab10 ulated from a voting machine or otherwise, shall be fined 

11 not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five 

12 years, or both. 

13 (c) CONSPIRACY.—Whoever conspires to violate the 

14 provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this section, or inter15 feres with any right secured by the Twenty-sixth Amend16 ment, this Act, or any Federal voting rights law that pro17 hibits discrimination on the basis of age shall be fined not 

18 more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, 

19 or both. 

20 (d) PREVENTATIVE RELIEF.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any person has 

22 engaged or there are reasonable grounds to believe 

23 that any person is about to engage in any act or 

24 practice prohibited by the Twenty-sixth Amendment, 

25 this Act, or any Federal voting rights law that proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8053.IH H8053

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1 hibits discrimination on the basis of age, the ag2 grieved person or (in the name of the United States) 

3 the Attorney General may institute an action for 

4 preventative relief, including an application for a 

5 temporary or permanent injunction, restraining 

6 order, or other order, and including an order di7 rected to the State and State or local election offi8 cials to require them— 

9 (A) to permit persons listed under this Act 

10 to vote; and 

11 (B) to count such votes. 

12 (2) PRELIMINARY RELIEF.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In any action for pre14 liminary relief described in this subsection, the 

15 court shall grant the relief if the court deter16 mines that the complainant has raised a serious 

17 question whether the challenged voting quali18 fication or prerequisite to voting or standard, 

19 practice, or procedure violates this Act or the 

20 Constitution and, on balance, the hardship im21 posed upon the defendant by the grant of the 

22 relief will be less than the hardship which would 

23 be imposed upon the plaintiff if the relief were 

24 not granted. In balancing the harms, the court 


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1 shall give due weight to the fundamental right 

2 to cast an effective ballot. 

3 (B) ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO BE CONSID4 ERED.—In making its determination under this 

5 paragraph, with respect to a change in any vot6 ing qualification, prerequisite to voting, or 

7 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 

8 voting, the court shall consider all relevant fac9 tors and give due weight to the following fac10 tors, if they are present: 

11 (i) Whether the qualification, pre12 requisite, standard, practice, or procedure 

13 in effect prior to the change was adopted 

14 as a remedy for a Federal court judgment, 

15 consent decree, or admission regarding— 

16 (I) discrimination on the basis of 

17 age in violation of the Twenty-sixth 

18 Amendment; 

19 (II) a violation of this Act; or 

20 (III) voting discrimination on the 

21 basis of age in violation of any other 

22 Federal or State law. 

23 (ii) Whether the qualification, pre24 requisite, standard, practice, or procedure 

25 in effect prior to the change served as a 


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1 ground for the dismissal or settlement of a 

2 claim alleging— 

3 (I) discrimination on the basis of 

4 age in violation of the Twenty-sixth 

5 Amendment; 

6 (II) a violation of this Act; or 

7 (III) voting discrimination on the 

8 basis of age in violation of any other 

9 Federal or State law. 

10 (iii) Whether the change was adopted 

11 fewer than 180 days before the date of the 

12 election with respect to which the change is 

13 to take effect. 

14 (iv) Whether the defendant failed to 

15 provide timely or complete notice of the 

16 adoption of the change as required by ap17 plicable Federal or State law. 

18 (3) PUBLIC INTEREST.—A jurisdiction’s inabil19 ity to enforce its voting or election laws, regulations, 

20 policies, or redistricting plans, standing alone, shall 

21 not be deemed to constitute irreparable harm to the 

22 public interest or to the interests of a defendant in 

23 an action arising under the U.S. Constitution or any 

24 Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the 

25 basis of age in the voting process, for the purposes 


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1 of determining whether a stay of a court’s order or 

2 an interlocutory appeal under section 1253 of title 

3 28, United States Code, is warranted. 

4 (e) NOTIFICATION TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—When5 ever in any political subdivision in which there are observ6 ers appointed pursuant to this Act, a person alleges to 

7 such observer within forty-eight hours after the closing of 

8 the polls, that notwithstanding (1) their listing under this 

9 Act or registration by an appropriate election official and 

10 (2) their eligibility to vote, they have not been permitted 

11 to vote in such election, the observer shall forthwith notify 

12 the Attorney General if such allegations in the opinion of 

13 such observer appear to be well founded. Upon receipt of 

14 such notification the Attorney General may forthwith file 

15 with the district court an application for an order pro16 viding for the marking, casting, and counting of the bal17 lots of such persons and requiring the inclusion of their 

18 votes in the total vote before the results of such election 

19 shall be deemed final and any force or effect given thereto. 

20 The district court shall hear and determine such matters 

21 immediately after the filing of such application. The rem22 edy provided in this subsection shall not preclude any 

23 other remedy available under State or Federal law. 

24 (f) JURISDICTION OF PROCEEDINGS.—The district 

25 courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction of proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8053.IH H8053

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1 ceedings instituted pursuant to this Act and shall exercise 

2 the same without regard to whether a person asserting 

3 rights under the provisions of this Act shall have ex4 hausted any administrative or other remedies that may be 

5 provided by law. 

6 (g) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action or proceeding 

7 to enforce the voting guarantees of the Twenty-sixth 

8 Amendment, the court, in its discretion, may allow the 

9 prevailing party, other than the United States, a reason10 able attorney’s fee, reasonable expert fees, and other rea11 sonable litigation expenses, as part of the costs. 

12 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

13 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

14 provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid, 

15 the remainder of this Act and the application of such pro16 vision to other persons or circumstances shall not be af17 fected thereby. 

18 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) AGE GROUP.—The term ‘‘age group’’ means 

21 the number of individuals who are 18 years or older, 

22 disaggregated by the number of individuals in each 

23 five year age period. 

24 (2) DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP.—The term ‘‘demo25 graphic group’’ means each group which section 3 


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1 protects from the denial or abridgement of the right 

2 to vote on account of age. 

3 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

7 (4) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—The 

8 term ‘‘election for Federal office’’ means any gen9 eral, special, primary, or runoff election held solely 

10 or in part for the purpose of electing any candidate 

11 for the office of President, Vice President, Presi12 dential elector, Senator, Member of the House of 

13 Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commis14 sioner to the Congress. 

15 (5) PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.—the term 

16 ‘‘persons with disabilities’’, means individuals with a 

17 disability, as defined in section 3 of the Americans 

18 with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

19 (6) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means an 

20 individual who is enrolled at the institution of higher 

21 education as an undergraduate or graduate student 

22 on a full-time or part-time basis, including an indi23 vidual who is solely enrolled in an online course. 

24 (7) VOTING-AGE POPULATION.—The term ‘‘vot25 ing-age population’’ means the numerical size of the 


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1 population within a State, within a political subdivi2 sion, or within a political subdivision that contains 

3 Indian lands, that consists of persons 18 years of 

4 age or older, as calculated by the Bureau of the 

5 Census under the most recent decennial census. 

6 (8) YOUTH AGE VOTER.—The term ‘‘youth age 

7 voter’’ means any eligible voter under the age of 25 

8 years old on the date of the election in which such 

9 eligible voter is voting. 

Æ 


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