II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1659 

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 

JUNE 24, 2015 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. COONS, Mr. REID, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

FRANKEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. 

BROWN, Mr. CASEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, and Mr. WYDEN) 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 to revise the 

criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, 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 ‘‘Voting Rights Ad5 vancement Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOTING ON INDIAN LANDS. 

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

3 U.S.C. 1973) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(c) VOTING ON INDIAN LANDS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) TRIBAL REQUESTS FOR POLLING PLACES; 

7 POLLING PLACE PROVIDED.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A representative offi9 cial of an Indian tribe, with authorization from 

10 the governing body of the tribe, may request 

11 one or more polling places to be located on the 

12 Indian lands of the Indian tribe. Such request 

13 shall be delivered in writing to the State or po14 litical subdivision with responsibility for assign15 ing polling places at least 6 months prior to the 

16 next election for which the request is made, and 

17 shall specify the location of each requested poll18 ing place. 

19 ‘‘(B) POLLING PLACES PROVIDED.—Each 

20 requested polling place shall be provided by the 

21 State or political subdivision in response to a 

22 request made under paragraph (1), at no ex23 pense to the Indian tribe, if the voting-age pop24 ulation within the geographic area of the Indian 

25 lands relevant to the requested polling place is 

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1 lation served by any other polling place in the 

2 State. Each polling place that is provided under 

3 this subparagraph shall continue to be provided 

4 after the election for which the request was 

5 made, until such time as the Indian tribe that 

6 requested that polling place delivers a written 

7 request to the State or political subdivision ask8 ing that such polling place be withdrawn. 

9 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

10 in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent 

11 a State or political subdivision from providing 

12 additional polling places on Indian lands if no 

13 request was made under subparagraph (A), or 

14 if such request was made less than 6 months 

15 prior to the next election for which the request 

16 was made. 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE EQUITABLE

18 POLLING LOCATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or political 

20 subdivision shall provide the same ratio of poll 

21 workers and voting devices, the same rate of 

22 pay to poll workers, and the same days and 

23 hours of operation, for polling places that are 

24 located on Indian lands as are provided in other 


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1 locations of polling places in the State or polit2 ical subdivision. 

3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE AT A POLLING

4 LOCATION.—A polling place located on Indian 

5 lands shall be open to voting by all persons who 

6 are otherwise eligible to vote residing within the 

7 precinct, voting unit, or electoral district. 

8 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL FACILITIES.—Polling 

9 places located on Indian lands may be des10 ignated at— 

11 ‘‘(i) a Federal facility, such as Indian 

12 Health Service or Bureau of Indian Affairs 

13 service buildings; 

14 ‘‘(ii) any tribal government facility 

15 that meets the requirements of Federal 

16 and State law applied to other polling loca17 tions within the State; 

18 ‘‘(iii) a tribally owned building; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) another facility that meets the 

20 requirements for polling places in the 

21 State. 

22 ‘‘(3) ABSENTEE BALLOTS AND EARLY VOT23 ING.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A representative offi25 cial of an Indian tribe, with authorization from 


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1 the governing body of the Indian tribe, may de2 liver a request to the appropriate State or polit3 ical subdivision that a location on Indian lands 

4 be designated as an absentee ballot location or 

5 an early voting location, and such State or po6 litical subdivision shall grant the request, at no 

7 expense to the Indian tribe, if— 

8 ‘‘(i) the requested location on Indian 

9 lands is in a State that permits voting by 

10 an absentee or mail-in ballot or early vot11 ing (also called absentee in-person voting), 

12 as the case may be; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the voting-age population within 

14 the geographic area of Indian lands rel15 evant to the requested absentee ballot loca16 tion or early voting location is at least 

17 equal to the smallest voting-age population 

18 served by any other absentee ballot loca19 tion or early voting location in the State. 

20 ‘‘(B) INDIAN LANDS AS ABSENTEE BALLOT

21 LOCATION.—If a location on Indian lands is 

22 designated as an absentee ballot location or an 

23 early voting location, absentee ballots, or early 

24 ballots, as the case may be, shall be provided, 

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1 istered voter living in such designated location 

2 without the requirement of an excuse for an ab3 sentee ballot or early voting. Bilingual election 

4 materials and oral language assistance shall be 

5 provided if required by section 203. 

6 ‘‘(4) TRIBAL REQUESTS FOR VOTER REGISTRA7 TION AGENCIES.—A representative official of an In8 dian tribe, with authorization from the governing 

9 body of the tribe, may request that tribal govern10 ment service offices be designated as voter registra11 tion agencies under section 7 of the National Voter 

12 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506). Such 

13 a request shall be delivered in writing to the State 

14 or political subdivision with responsibility for assign15 ing polling locations at least 6 months prior to the 

16 next election for which the request is made. Such a 

17 request shall be granted if the tribal government 

18 service office meets the requirements of Federal and 

19 State law applied to other designated voter registra20 tion agencies within the State.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. VIOLATIONS TRIGGERING AUTHORITY OF COURT 

22 TO RETAIN JURISDICTION. 

23 (a) TYPES OF VIOLATIONS.—Section 3(c) of the Vot24 ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10302(c)) is amended 

25 by striking ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth 


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

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

3 Federal law that prohibits discrimination in voting on the 

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

5 group,’’. 

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

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

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

9 inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th Amendment, vio10 lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 

11 prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, 

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

13 SEC. 4. CRITERIA FOR COVERAGE OF STATES AND POLIT14 ICAL SUBDIVISIONS. 

15 (a) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL

16 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO SECTION 4(a).— 

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

18 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(b)) is amend19 ed to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL

21 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) EXISTENCE OF VOTING RIGHTS VIOLA23 TIONS DURING PREVIOUS 25 YEARS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) STATEWIDE APPLICATION.—Sub25 section (a) applies with respect to a State and 


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1 all political subdivisions within the State during 

2 a calendar year if— 

3 ‘‘(i) 15 or more voting rights viola4 tions occurred in the State during the pre5 vious 25 calendar years; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) 10 or more voting rights viola7 tions occurred in the State during the pre8 vious 25 calendar years, at least one of 

9 which was committed by the State itself 

10 (as opposed to a political subdivision with11 in the State). 

12 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC POLITICAL

13 SUBDIVISIONS.—Subsection (a) applies with re14 spect to a political subdivision as a separate 

15 unit during a calendar year if 3 or more voting 

16 rights violations occurred in the subdivision 

17 during the previous 25 calendar years. 

18 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.— 

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

20 subparagraph (B), if, pursuant to paragraph 

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

22 State or political subdivision during a calendar 

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

24 such State or political subdivision for the pe25 riod— 


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

2 year in which subsection (a) applies; and 

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

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

5 ‘‘(B) NO FURTHER APPLICATION AFTER

6 DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(i) STATES.—If a State obtains a de8 claratory judgment under subsection (a), 

9 and the judgment remains in effect, sub10 section (a) shall no longer apply to such 

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

12 after the issuance of the declaratory judg13 ment, paragraph (1)(A) applies to the 

14 State solely on the basis of voting rights 

15 violations occurring after the issuance of 

16 the declaratory judgment. 

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

18 political subdivision obtains a declaratory 

19 judgment under subsection (a), and the 

20 judgment remains in effect, subsection (a) 

21 shall no longer apply to such political sub22 division pursuant to paragraph (1), includ23 ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) (relating 

24 to the statewide application of subsection 

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1 claratory judgment, paragraph (1)(B) ap2 plies to the political subdivision solely on 

3 the basis of voting rights violations occur4 ring after the issuance of the declaratory 

5 judgment. 

6 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIO7 LATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a voting 

8 rights violation occurred in a State or political sub9 division if any of the following applies: 

10 ‘‘(A) FINAL JUDGMENT; VIOLATION OF

11 THE 14TH OR 15TH AMENDMENT.—In a final 

12 judgment (which has not been reversed on ap13 peal), any court of the United States has deter14 mined that a denial or abridgement of the right 

15 of any citizen of the United States to vote on 

16 account of race, color, or membership in a lan17 guage minority group, in violation of the 14th 

18 or 15th Amendment, occurred anywhere within 

19 the State or subdivision. 

20 ‘‘(B) FINAL JUDGMENT; VIOLATIONS OF

21 THIS ACT.—In a final judgment (which has not 

22 been reversed on appeal), any court of the 

23 United States has determined that a voting 

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1 ing was imposed or applied or would have been 

2 imposed or applied anywhere within the State 

3 or subdivision in a manner that resulted or 

4 would have resulted in a denial or abridgement 

5 of the right of any citizen of the United States 

6 to vote on account of race, color, or membership 

7 in a language minority group, in violation of 

8 subsection (e) or (f), or section 2 or 203 of this 

9 Act. 

10 ‘‘(C) FINAL JUDGMENT; DENIAL OF DE11 CLARATORY JUDGMENT.—In a final judgment 

12 (which has not been reversed on appeal), any 

13 court of the United States has denied the re14 quest of the State or subdivision for a declara15 tory judgment under section 3(c) or section 5, 

16 and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 

17 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 

18 procedure with respect to voting from being en19 forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 

20 ‘‘(D) OBJECTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN21 ERAL.—The Attorney General has interposed 

22 an objection under section 3(c) or section 5 

23 (and the objection has not been overturned by 

24 a final judgment of a court or withdrawn by the 

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1 ing qualification or prerequisite to voting or 

2 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 

3 voting from being enforced anywhere within the 

4 State or subdivision. 

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

6 OTHER AGREEMENT.—A consent decree, settle7 ment, or other agreement was entered into, 

8 which resulted in the alteration or abandonment 

9 of a voting practice anywhere in the territory of 

10 such State that was challenged on the ground 

11 that the practice denied or abridged the right of 

12 any citizen of the United States to vote on ac13 count of race, color, or membership in a lan14 guage minority group in violation of subsection 

15 (e) or (f), or section 2 or 203 of this Act, or 

16 the 14th or 15th Amendment. 

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)) is amended by striking ‘‘race 

2 or color,’’ and inserting ‘‘race, color, or in contravention 

3 of the guarantees of subsection (f)(2),’’. 

4 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL SUB5 DIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE FOR 

6 COVERED PRACTICES. 

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

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

9 following: 

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

11 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE 

12 FOR COVERED PRACTICES. 

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

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State and each polit15 ical subdivision shall— 

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

17 law, regulation, or policy that includes a voting 

18 qualification or prerequisite to voting, or a 

19 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 

20 voting, that is a covered practice described in 

21 subsection (b); and 

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

23 is implemented unless or until the State or po24 litical subdivision, as the case may be, complies 

25 with subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS

2 OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As early as prac4 ticable during each calendar year, the Attorney 

5 General, in consultation with the Director of 

6 the Bureau of the Census and the heads of 

7 other relevant offices of the government, shall 

8 make the determinations required by this sec9 tion regarding voting-age populations and the 

10 characteristics of such populations, and shall 

11 publish a list of the States and political subdivi12 sions to which a voting-age population char13 acteristic described in subsection (b) applies. 

14 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG15 ISTER.—A determination or certification of the 

16 Attorney General under this paragraph shall be 

17 effective upon publication in the Federal Reg18 ister. 

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

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

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

22 language minority group as a result of the implementation 

23 of certain qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or 

24 standards, practices, or procedures with respect to voting 

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1 lowing shall be covered practices subject to the require2 ments described in subsection (a): 

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

4 Any change to the method of election— 

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

6 State or political subdivision where— 

7 ‘‘(i) 2 or more racial groups or lan8 guage minority groups each represent 20 

9 percent or more of the political subdivi10 sion’s voting-age population; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 

12 represents 20 percent or more of the vot13 ing-age population on Indian lands located 

14 in whole or in part in the political subdivi15 sion; or 

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

17 from a single-member district to one or more 

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

19 district in a State or political subdivision 

20 where— 

21 ‘‘(i) 2 or more racial groups or lan22 guage minority groups each represent 20 

23 percent or more of the political subdivi24 sion’s voting-age population; 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. 

6 ‘‘(2) CHANGES TO JURISDICTION BOUND7 ARIES.—Any change or series of changes within a 

8 year to the boundaries of a jurisdiction that reduces 

9 by 3 or more percentage points the proportion of the 

10 jurisdiction’s voting-age population that is comprised 

11 of members of a single racial group or language mi12 nority group in a State or political subdivision 

13 where— 

14 ‘‘(A) 2 or more racial groups or language 

15 minority groups each represent 20 percent or 

16 more of the political subdivision’s voting-age 

17 population; or 

18 ‘‘(B) a single language minority group rep19 resents 20 percent or more of the voting-age 

20 population on Indian lands located in whole or 

21 in part in the political subdivision. 

22 ‘‘(3) CHANGES THROUGH REDISTRICTING.— 

23 Any change to the boundaries of election districts in 

24 a State or political subdivision where any racial 

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1 ulation increase, over the preceding decade (as cal2 culated by the Bureau of the Census under the most 

3 recent decennial census), of at least— 

4 ‘‘(A) 10,000; or 

5 ‘‘(B) 20 percent of voting-age population 

6 of the State or political subdivision, as the case 

7 may be. 

8 ‘‘(4) CHANGES IN DOCUMENTATION OR QUALI9 FICATIONS TO VOTE.—Any change to requirements 

10 for documentation or proof of identity to vote such 

11 that the requirements will exceed or be more strin12 gent than the requirements for voting that are de13 scribed in section 303(b) of the Help America Vote 

14 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)) or any change to 

15 the requirements for documentation or proof of iden16 tity to register to vote that will exceed or be more 

17 stringent than such requirements under State law on 

18 the day before the date of enactment of the Voting 

19 Rights Advancement Act of 2015. 

20 ‘‘(5) CHANGES TO MULTILINGUAL VOTING MA21 TERIALS.—Any change that reduces multilingual 

22 voting materials or alters the manner in which such 

23 materials are provided or distributed, where no simi24 lar reduction or alteration occurs in materials pro25 vided in English for such election. 


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

2 OR RELOCATE VOTING LOCATIONS.—Any change 

3 that reduces, consolidates, or relocates voting loca4 tions, including early, absentee, and election-day vot5 ing locations— 

6 ‘‘(A) in 1 or more census tracts wherein 2 

7 or more language minority groups or racial 

8 groups each represent 20 percent or more of 

9 the voting-age population of the political sub10 division; or 

11 ‘‘(B) on Indian lands wherein at least 20 

12 percent of the voting-age population belongs to 

13 a single language minority group. 

14 ‘‘(c) PRECLEARANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a State or polit16 ical subdivision with respect to which the require17 ments set forth in subsection (a) are in effect shall 

18 enact, adopt, or seek to implement any covered prac19 tice described under subsection (b), such State or 

20 subdivision may institute an action in the United 

21 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

22 for a declaratory judgment that such covered prac23 tice neither has the purpose nor will have the effect 

24 of denying or abridging the right to vote on account 

25 of race, color, or membership in a language minority 


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1 group, and unless and until the court enters such 

2 judgment such covered practice shall not be imple3 mented. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, such 

4 covered practice may be implemented without such 

5 proceeding if the covered practice has been sub6 mitted by the chief legal officer or other appropriate 

7 official of such State or subdivision to the Attorney 

8 General and the Attorney General has not inter9 posed an objection within 60 days after such submis10 sion, or upon good cause shown, to facilitate an ex11 pedited approval within 60 days after such submis12 sion, the Attorney General has affirmatively indi13 cated that such objection will not be made. Neither 

14 an affirmative indication by the Attorney General 

15 that no objection will be made, nor the Attorney 

16 General’s failure to object, nor a declaratory judg17 ment entered under this section shall bar a subse18 quent action to enjoin implementation of such cov19 ered practice. In the event the Attorney General af20 firmatively indicates that no objection will be made 

21 within the 60-day period following receipt of a sub22 mission, the Attorney General may reserve the right 

23 to reexamine the submission if additional informa24 tion comes to the Attorney General’s attention dur25 ing the remainder of the 60-day period which would 


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1 otherwise require objection in accordance with this 

2 section. Any action under this section shall be heard 

3 and determined by a court of three judges in accord4 ance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28, 

5 United States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the 

6 Supreme Court. 

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

8 VOTE.—Any covered practice described in subsection 

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

10 of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the 

11 United States on account of race, color, or member12 ship in a language minority group, to elect their pre13 ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the 

14 right to vote within the meaning of paragraph (1) of 

15 this subsection. 

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

17 in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection shall in18 clude any discriminatory purpose. 

19 ‘‘(4) PURPOSE OF PARAGRAPH (2).—The pur20 pose of paragraph (2) of this subsection is to protect 

21 the ability of such citizens to elect their preferred 

22 candidates of choice. 

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

24 aggrieved citizen may file an action in a Federal district 

25 court to compel any State or political subdivision to satisfy 


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1 the obligations set forth in this section. Such actions shall 

2 be heard and determined by a court of 3 judges under 

3 section 2284 of title 28, United States Code. In any such 

4 action, the court shall provide as a remedy that any voting 

5 qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, prac6 tice, or procedure with respect to voting, that is the sub7 ject of the action under this subsection be enjoined unless 

8 the court determines that— 

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

10 voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with re11 spect to voting, is not a covered practice described 

12 in subsection (b); or 

13 ‘‘(2) the State or political subdivision has com14 plied with subsection (c) with respect to the covered 

15 practice at issue. 

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

17 MINORITY GROUPS.—For purposes of this section, the cal18 culation of the population of a racial group or a language 

19 minority group shall be carried out using the methodology 

20 in the guidance promulgated in the Federal Register on 

21 February 9, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 7470). 

22 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of determina23 tions under this section, any data provided by the Bureau 

24 of the Census, whether based on estimation from sample 


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1 or actual enumeration, shall not be subject to challenge 

2 or review in any court. 

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

4 section, the term ‘multilingual voting materials’ means 

5 registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assist6 ance, or other materials or information relating to the 

7 electoral process, including ballots, provided in the lan8 guage or languages of one or more language minority 

9 groups.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY TO ENFORCE THE 

11 VOTING RIGHTS ACT. 

12 (a) TRANSPARENCY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Voting Rights Act of 

14 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) is amended by in15 serting after section 5 the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING CHANGES TO PRO17 TECT VOTING RIGHTS. 

18 ‘‘(a) NOTICE OF ENACTED CHANGES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) NOTICE OF CHANGES.—If a State or polit20 ical subdivision makes any change in any pre21 requisite to voting or standard, practice, or proce22 dure with respect to voting in any election for Fed23 eral office that will result in the prerequisite, stand24 ard, practice, or procedure being different from that 

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


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1 of the election for Federal office, the State or polit2 ical subdivision shall provide reasonable public notice 

3 in such State or political subdivision and on the 

4 Internet, of a concise description of the change, in5 cluding the difference between the changed pre6 requisite, standard, practice, or procedure and the 

7 prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure which 

8 was previously in effect. The public notice described 

9 in this paragraph, in such State or political subdivi10 sion and on the Internet, shall be in a format that 

11 is reasonably convenient and accessible to voters 

12 with disabilities, including voters who have low vi13 sion or are blind. 

14 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit15 ical subdivision shall provide the public notice re16 quired under paragraph (1) not later than 48 hours 

17 after making the change involved. 

18 ‘‘(b) TRANSPARENCY REGARDING POLLING PLACE

19 RESOURCES.— 

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

21 changes that may impact the right to vote of any 

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

23 election for Federal office, each State or political 

24 subdivision with responsibility for allocating reg25 istered voters, voting machines, and official poll 


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1 workers to particular precincts and polling places 

2 shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 

3 or political subdivision and on the Internet, of the 

4 information described in paragraph (2) for precincts 

5 and polling places within such State or political sub6 division. The public notice described in this para7 graph, in such State or political subdivision and on 

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

9 convenient and accessible to voters with disabilities 

10 including voters who have low vision or are blind. 

11 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa12 tion described in this paragraph with respect to a 

13 precinct or polling place is each of the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The name or number. 

15 ‘‘(B) In the case of a polling place, the lo16 cation, including the street address, and wheth17 er such polling place is accessible to persons 

18 with disabilities. 

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

20 served by the precinct or polling place, broken 

21 down by demographic group if such breakdown 

22 is reasonably available to such State or political 

23 subdivision. 

24 ‘‘(D) The number of registered voters as25 signed to the precinct or polling place, broken 


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1 down by demographic group if such breakdown 

2 is reasonably available to such State or political 

3 subdivision. 

4 ‘‘(E) The number of voting machines as5 signed, including the number of voting ma6 chines accessible to voters with disabilities, in7 cluding voters who have low vision or are blind. 

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

9 workers assigned. 

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

11 workers assigned. 

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

13 dates and hours of operation. 

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

15 If a State or political subdivision makes any change 

16 in any of the information described in paragraph 

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

18 reasonable public notice in such State or political 

19 subdivision and on the Internet, of the change in the 

20 information not later than 48 hours after the change 

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

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

23 soon as practicable after the change occurs. The 

24 public notice described in this paragraph in such 

25 State or political subdivision and on the Internet 


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1 shall be in a format that is reasonably convenient 

2 and accessible to voters with disabilities including 

3 voters who have low vision or are blind. 

4 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OF CHANGES RELATING TO DE5 MOGRAPHICS AND ELECTORAL DISTRICTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) REQUIRING PUBLIC NOTICE OF

7 CHANGES.—Not later than 10 days after making 

8 any change in the constituency that will participate 

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

10 the boundaries of a voting unit or electoral district 

11 in an election for Federal, State, or local office (in12 cluding through redistricting, reapportionment, 

13 changing from at-large elections to district-based 

14 elections, or changing from district-based elections 

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

16 shall provide reasonable public notice in such State 

17 or political subdivision and on the Internet, of the 

18 demographic and electoral data described in para19 graph (3) for each of the geographic areas described 

20 in paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC AREAS DESCRIBED.—The ge22 ographic areas described in this paragraph are as 

23 follows: 

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

25 applies statewide, or the political subdivision as 


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1 a whole, if the change applies across the entire 

2 political subdivision. 

3 ‘‘(B) If the change includes a plan to re4 place or eliminate voting units or electoral dis5 tricts, each voting unit or electoral district that 

6 will be replaced or eliminated. 

7 ‘‘(C) If the change includes a plan to es8 tablish new voting units or electoral districts, 

9 each such new voting unit or electoral district. 

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

11 The demographic and electoral data described in this 

12 paragraph with respect to a geographic area de13 scribed in paragraph (2) are each of the following: 

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

15 down by demographic group. 

16 ‘‘(B) If it is reasonably available to the 

17 State or political subdivision involved, an esti18 mate of the population of the area which con19 sists of citizens of the United States who are 18 

20 years of age or older, broken down by demo21 graphic group. 

22 ‘‘(C) The number of registered voters, bro23 ken down by demographic group if such break24 down is reasonably available to the State or po25 litical subdivision involved. 


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1 ‘‘(D)(i) If the change applies to a State, 

2 the actual number of votes, or (if it is not rea3 sonably practicable for the State to ascertain 

4 the actual number of votes) the estimated num5 ber of votes received by each candidate in each 

6 statewide election held during the 5-year period 

7 which ends on the date the change involved is 

8 made; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) if the change applies to only one polit10 ical subdivision, the actual number of votes, or 

11 (if it is not reasonably practicable for the polit12 ical subdivision to ascertain the actual number 

13 of votes) in each subdivision-wide election held 

14 during the 5-year period which ends on the date 

15 the change involved is made. 

16 ‘‘(4) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE BY SMALLER JU17 RISDICTIONS.—Compliance with this subsection shall 

18 be voluntary for a political subdivision of a State un19 less the subdivision is one of the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) A county or parish. 

21 ‘‘(B) A municipality with a population 

22 greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu23 reau of the Census under the most recent de24 cennial census. 


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

2 greater than 10,000, as determined by the Bu3 reau of the Census under the most recent de4 cennial census. For purposes of this subpara5 graph, the term ‘school district’ means the geo6 graphic area under the jurisdiction of a local 

7 educational agency (as defined in section 9101 

8 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)). 

10 ‘‘(d) RULES REGARDING FORMAT OF INFORMA11 TION.—The Attorney General may issue rules specifying 

12 a reasonably convenient and accessible format that States 

13 and political subdivisions shall use to provide public notice 

14 of information under this section. 

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

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

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

18 State or political subdivision if the State or political sub19 division involved did not meet the applicable requirements 

20 of this section with respect to the change. 

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

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

23 group which section 2 protects from the denial or 

24 abridgement of the right to vote on account of race 


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1 or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set 

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

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

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

5 solely or in part for the purpose of electing any can6 didate for the office of President, Vice President, 

7 Presidential elector, Senator, Member of the House 

8 of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commis9 sioner to the Congress; and 

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

11 individuals with a disability, as defined in section 3 

12 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

13 U.S.C. 12102).’’. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) 

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

16 striking ‘‘in accordance with section 6’’. 

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

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

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

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

21 SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO ASSIGN OBSERVERS. 

22 (a) CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY IN POLITICAL

23 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE.—Section 

24 8(a)(2)(B) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

25 10305(a)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 


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

2 the assignment of observers is otherwise nec3 essary to enforce the guarantees of the 14th or 

4 15th Amendment or any provision of this Act 

5 or any other Federal law protecting the right of 

6 citizens of the United States to vote;’’. 

7 (b) ASSIGNMENT OF OBSERVERS TO ENFORCE BI8 LINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 8(a) of 

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

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

11 (1); and 

12 (2) by adding after paragraph (2) the following: 

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

14 to a political subdivision that— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 

16 written meritorious complaints from residents, 

17 elected officials, or civic participation organiza18 tions that efforts to violate section 203 are like19 ly to occur; or 

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

21 the assignment of observers is necessary to en22 force the guarantees of section 203; or 

23 ‘‘(4) the Attorney General certifies that the At24 torney General has received from the appropriate ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Jun 26, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1659.IS S1659

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1 ficial of the governing body of a federally recognized 

2 Indian tribe— 

3 ‘‘(A) a written complaint that efforts to 

4 deny or abridge the right to vote under the 

5 color of law on account of race or color, or in 

6 contravention of the guarantees set forth in sec7 tion 4(f)(2) are likely to occur; and 

8 ‘‘(B) a written request for the authoriza9 tion of Federal observers for elections that 

10 occur on Indian lands;’’. 

11 SEC. 8. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. 

12 (a) CLARIFICATION OF SCOPE AND PERSONS AU13 THORIZED TO SEEK RELIEF.—Section 12(d) of the Vot14 ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10308(d)) is amend15 ed— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘section 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 

17 or subsection (b) of this section’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

18 14th or 15th Amendment, this Act, or any Federal 

19 voting rights law that prohibits discrimination on 

20 the basis of race, color, or membership in a language 

21 minority group’’; and 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘the Attorney General may in23 stitute for the United States, or in the name of the 

24 United States,’’ and inserting ‘‘the aggrieved person 


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1 or (in the name of the United States) the Attorney 

2 General may institute’’. 

3 (b) GROUNDS FOR GRANTING RELIEF.—Section 

4 12(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10308(d)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘(d) Whenever any person’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘(d)(1) Whenever any person’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) to permit’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘(A) to permit’’; 

9 (3) by striking ‘‘(2) to count’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘(B) to count’’; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(2)(A) In any action for preliminary relief described 

14 in this subsection, the court shall grant the relief if the 

15 court determines that the complainant has raised a serious 

16 question whether the challenged voting qualification or 

17 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure 

18 violates this Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the 

19 hardship imposed upon the defendant by the grant of the 

20 relief will be less than the hardship which would be im21 posed upon the plaintiff if the relief were not granted. In 

22 balancing the harms, the court shall give due weight to 

23 the fundamental right to cast an effective ballot. 

24 ‘‘(B) In making its determination under this para25 graph with respect to a change in any voting qualification, 


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

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

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

4 are present: 

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

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

7 change was adopted as a remedy for a Federal court 

8 judgment, consent decree, or admission regarding— 

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

10 color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend11 ment; 

12 ‘‘(II) a violation of this Act; or 

13 ‘‘(III) voting discrimination on the basis of 

14 race, color, or membership in a language minor15 ity group in violation of any other Federal or 

16 State law. 

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

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

19 change served as a ground for the dismissal or set20 tlement of a claim alleging— 

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

22 color in violation of the 14th or 15th Amend23 ment; 

24 ‘‘(II) a violation of this Act; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) voting discrimination on the basis of 

2 race, color, or membership in a language minor3 ity group in violation of any other Federal or 

4 State law. 

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

6 than 180 days before the date of the election with 

7 respect to which the change is to take effect. 

8 ‘‘(iv) Whether the defendant has failed to pro9 vide timely or complete notice of the adoption of the 

10 change as required by applicable Federal or State 

11 law.’’. 

12 SEC. 9. 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 LANDS.—The term ‘Indian lands’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(A) any Indian country of the Indian 

20 tribe, as defined in section 1151 of title 18, 

21 United States Code; 

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

23 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle24 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by an In25 dian tribe that is a Native village (as defined in 


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1 section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) or by 

2 a Village Corporation that is associated with 

3 the Indian tribe (as defined in section 3 of that 

4 Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)); 

5 ‘‘(C) any land on which the seat of govern6 ment of the Indian tribe is located; and 

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

8 designated statistical area associated with the 

9 Indian tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na10 tive village statistical area associated with the 

11 tribe, as defined by the Bureau of the Census 

12 for the purposes of the most recent decennial 

13 census. 

14 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ or 

15 ‘tribe’ means any American Indian or Alaska Native 

16 tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community 

17 that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to 

18 exist as a federally recognized Indian tribe under the 

19 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 

20 (25 U.S.C. 479a et seq.). 

21 ‘‘(3) VOTING-AGE POPULATION.—The term 

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

23 the population within a State, within a political sub24 division, or within a political subdivision that con25 tains Indian lands, as the case may be, that consists 


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1 of persons age 18 or older, as calculated by the Bu2 reau of the Census under the most recent decennial 

3 census.’’. 

4 SEC. 10. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

5 Section 203(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

6 U.S.C. 10503(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘or in the case 

7 of Alaskan natives and American Indians, if the predomi8 nant language is historically unwritten’’ and inserting ‘‘(as 

9 of the date on which the materials or information is pro10 vided)’’. 

11 SEC. 11. OTHER TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND12 MENTS. 

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

14 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

15 10302(c)) is amended— 

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

17 the Attorney General or an aggrieved person under 

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

19 under any statute in which a party (including the 

20 Attorney General) seeks to enforce’’; and 

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

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

23 was commenced’’. 


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1 (b) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF

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

3 (52 U.S.C. 10303(f)) is amended— 

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

5 sentence; and 

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

7 (c) PERIOD DURING WHICH CHANGES IN VOTING

8 PRACTICES ARE SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE UNDER

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

10 is amended— 

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

12 determinations made under the first sentence of sec13 tion 4(b) are in effect’’ and inserting ‘‘are in effect 

14 during a calendar year’’; 

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

16 1964’’ and all that follows through ‘‘November 1, 

17 1972’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable date of cov18 erage’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub20 section: 

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

22 with respect to a State or political subdivision— 

23 ‘‘(1) June 25, 2013, if the most recent deter24 mination for such State or subdivision under section 

25 4(b) was made on or before December 31, 2015; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the date on which the most recent deter2 mination for such State or subdivision under section 

3 4(b) was made, if such determination was made 

4 after December 31, 2015.’’. 

5 SEC. 12. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

6 The Attorney General shall consult annually with 

7 tribal organizations regarding issues related to voting for 

8 members of an Indian tribe (as defined under section 21 

9 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as added by section 

10 9 of this Act). 

Æ 


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