II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1912 

To protect the rights of Indian and Native Alaskan voters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2015 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. HEITKAMP, and Mr. UDALL) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect the rights of Indian and Native Alaskan voters. 

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 ‘‘Native American Vot5 ing Rights Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) INDIAN RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Indian 

9 reservation’’ shall have the meaning given the term 

10 in section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

11 U.S.C. 10503). 


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

2 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

3 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

4 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

5 SEC. 3. TRIBAL ACCESS TO POLLING PLACES AND VOTER 

6 REGISTRATION. 

7 (a) ACTIONS REQUIRING PRECLEARANCE.—No State 

8 or political subdivision may, unless that State or political 

9 subdivision meets the requirements of subsection (b)— 

10 (1) eliminate the only polling place or voter reg11 istration site on an Indian reservation; 

12 (2) move or consolidate a polling place or voter 

13 registration site that is located on an Indian reserva14 tion to a location 1 mile or further from the existing 

15 location of the polling place or voter registration 

16 site; 

17 (3) move or consolidate a polling place on an 

18 Indian reservation to a location across a river, lake, 

19 mountain, or other natural boundary such that it 

20 makes travel difficult for a voter, regardless of dis21 tance; 

22 (4) eliminate in-person voting on an Indian res23 ervation by designating an Indian reservation as a 

24 permanent absentee voting location, unless— 


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1 (A) the entire State is or becomes a per2 manent absentee voting State; or 

3 (B) the Indian tribe requests such a des4 ignation in accordance with section 3(c); 

5 (5) remove an early voting location or otherwise 

6 diminish early voting opportunities on an Indian res7 ervation; or 

8 (6) decrease the number of days or hours that 

9 an in-person or early voting location is open on an 

10 Indian reservation or change the dates of in-person 

11 or early voting on an Indian reservation. 

12 (b) PRECLEARANCE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State or political subdivi14 sion meets the requirements of this subsection if the 

15 State or political subdivision— 

16 (A) institutes an action in the United 

17 States District Court for the District of Colum18 bia for a declaratory judgment that the speci19 fied activity described in subsection (a) that the 

20 State or political subdivision desires to carry 

21 out neither has the purpose nor will have the 

22 effect of denying or abridging the right to vote 

23 on account of race or color, or membership in 

24 a language minority group, and unless and until 

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1 litical subdivision shall not carry out such activ2 ity; or 

3 (B) the chief legal officer or other appro4 priate official of such State or subdivision sub5 mits a request to carry out the specified activity 

6 described in subsection (a) to the Attorney Gen7 eral and the Attorney General has not inter8 posed an objection within 60 days after such 

9 submission, or upon good cause shown, to facili10 tate an expedited approval within 60 days after 

11 such submission, the Attorney General has af12 firmatively indicated that such objection will 

13 not be made. 

14 (2) NO LIMITATION ON FUTURE ACTIONS.— 

15 Neither an affirmative indication by the Attorney 

16 General that no objection will be made, nor the At17 torney General’s failure to object, nor a declaratory 

18 judgment entered under this section shall bar a sub19 sequent action to enjoin enforcement of an activity 

20 described in subsection (a). In the event the Attor21 ney General affirmatively indicates that no objection 

22 will be made within the 60-day period following re23 ceipt of a submission, the Attorney General may re24 serve the right to reexamine the submission if addi25 tional information comes to the Attorney General’s 


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1 attention during the remainder of the 60-day period 

2 which would otherwise require objection in accord3 ance with this section. Any action under this section 

4 shall be heard and determined by a court of 3 judges 

5 in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of 

6 title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal 

7 shall lie to the Supreme Court. 

8 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF TRIBAL POLLING PLACES. 

9 (a) OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE.— 

10 (1) DESIGNATION OF STATE OFFICER.—Each 

11 of the several States whose territory contains all or 

12 part of an Indian reservation shall designate, for 

13 each Indian tribe of each Indian reservation, an offi14 cer within that State responsible for compliance with 

15 the provisions of this Act. The State shall provide 

16 written notice to each such Indian tribe of the offi17 cer so designated. 

18 (2) PROVISION OF POLLING PLACES.—For each 

19 Indian tribe that satisfies the obligations of sub20 section (b), and for each election that is held at least 

21 180 days after the Indian tribe initially satisfies 

22 such obligations, any State whose territory contains 

23 all or part of an Indian reservation of the Indian 

24 tribe— 


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1 (A) shall provide a minimum of one polling 

2 place in a location selected by the Indian tribe; 

3 (B) shall provide additional polling places 

4 in locations selected by the Indian tribe if, 

5 based on the totality of circumstances, it is 

6 shown that not providing additional polling 

7 places would result in members of the Indian 

8 tribe having less opportunity to vote than other 

9 citizens have, as determined by the Attorney 

10 General; 

11 (C) shall, at each polling place provided in 

12 accordance with this section, make voting ma13 chines, tabulation machines, ballots, provisional 

14 ballots, and other voting materials available to 

15 the same extent that such equipment and mate16 rials are made available at most other polling 

17 places in the State; 

18 (D) shall, at each polling place provided 

19 under this section, conduct the election using 

20 the same voting procedures that are used at 

21 other polling places in the State; 

22 (E) shall, at each polling place provided in 

23 accordance with this section, provide training, 

24 compensation, and other benefits to election of25 ficials and poll workers to the same extent that 


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1 such training, compensation, and benefits are 

2 provided to election officials and poll workers at 

3 other polling places in the State; 

4 (F) shall cooperate in good faith with the 

5 efforts of the Indian tribe to satisfy the certifi6 cations the Indian tribe made pursuant to sub7 paragraphs (B) through (E) of subsection 

8 (b)(1); and 

9 (G) may fulfill the State’s obligations 

10 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) by relocating 

11 existing polling places, by creating new polling 

12 places, or both. 

13 (3) EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOTE.— 

14 When assessing the opportunities to vote provided to 

15 members of the Indian tribe and to other citizens in 

16 the State, to determine the number of additional 

17 polling places (if any) that a State must provide 

18 pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2), the 

19 State, and any court applying this Act, shall con20 sider— 

21 (A) the number of voting-age citizens as22 signed to each polling place; 

23 (B) the distances that voters must travel 

24 to reach the polling places; 


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1 (C) the time that voters must spend trav2 eling to reach the polling places; 

3 (D) the modes of transportation that vot4 ers use to reach the polling places; 

5 (E) the existence of and access to public 

6 transportation to the polling places; and 

7 (F) any other factor relevant to effec8 tuating the purposes of this Act. 

9 (b) OBLIGATIONS OF THE INDIAN TRIBE.— 

10 (1) The State obligations in subsection (a) shall 

11 apply only if the Indian tribe files a standing request 

12 with the officer designated under subsection (a)(1) 

13 for a polling place or polling places for future elec14 tions, pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

15 subsection (a)(2), which— 

16 (A) specifies the number and locations of 

17 such polling places; 

18 (B) certifies that the Indian tribe has ar19 ranged access to the facilities in which such 

20 polling places will be located, and that such ac21 cess is in accordance with Federal and State 

22 law; 

23 (C) certifies that the Indian tribe will en24 sure that each such polling place will be open 

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1 side in the precinct or other geographic area as2 signed to such polling place, regardless of 

3 whether such citizens are or are not members 

4 of the Indian tribe or of any other Indian tribe; 

5 (D) certifies that the Indian tribe will des6 ignate election officials and poll workers to staff 

7 such polling places on every day that the polling 

8 places will be open; and 

9 (E) certifies that the Indian tribe will en10 sure that the election officials and poll workers 

11 who the Indian tribe designate to staff such 

12 polling places attend and satisfactorily complete 

13 any training that is required of election officials 

14 and poll workers who staff other polling places 

15 in nearby areas of the State, or requests that 

16 the State shall designate such election officials 

17 and poll workers. 

18 (2) At any time at least 60 days before an elec19 tion, an Indian tribe that previously has satisfied the 

20 obligations of paragraph (1) may notify the State 

21 that the Indian tribe intends to opt out of the stand22 ing request for one or more polling places as de23 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection 

24 (a)(2) for a particular election or for all future elec25 tions. 


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1 (c) ABSENTEE BALLOTING.—In States that permit 

2 absentee or mail-in balloting, an Indian tribe may request 

3 to the State or political subdivision that an Indian reserva4 tion of the Indian tribe be designated as an absentee ballot 

5 location. In such instances, absentee ballots shall be pro6 vided to each registered voter living on the Indian reserva7 tion without the requirement of a request or an excuse 

8 for an absentee ballot. Bilingual election materials shall 

9 be provided if required by section 203 of the Voting Rights 

10 Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503). 

11 (d) EARLY VOTING.—In States that provide for early 

12 voting, a State or local election official shall provide at 

13 least one early voting location on an Indian reservation 

14 upon the request of the applicable Indian tribe. 

15 (e) FACILITIES.—An Indian tribe may request to the 

16 State or political subdivision that tribal government offices 

17 or Federal facilities, such as Indian Health Service or Bu18 reau of Indian Affairs facilities, be designated as polling 

19 places or voter registration agencies under section 7 of the 

20 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

21 20506) provided that the tribal government office or Fed22 eral facility meets the requirements of Federal and State 

23 law applied to other polling places or voter registration 

24 agencies within the State or political subdivision. 


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1 (f) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT IDENTIFICATION.—If a 

2 State or political subdivision requires an individual to 

3 present identification for the purposes of voting or reg4 istering to vote, a tribal identification card shall be treated 

5 as a valid form of identification for such purposes. 

6 (g) ENFORCEMENT.—The government of an Indian 

7 tribe or the Attorney General of the United States may 

8 bring a civil action against a State or political subdivision, 

9 as the case may be, or against an appropriate State or 

10 political subdivision officer acting in an official capacity 

11 in an appropriate United States district court for such de12 claratory or injunctive relief as may be necessary to effec13 tuate the provisions of this section. 

14 (h) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

15 this Act shall invalidate, or limit the rights, remedies, or 

16 procedures available under, or supersede, restrict, or limit 

17 the application of, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

18 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter Registration 

19 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.), the Help America 

20 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), or any other 

21 Federal law or regulation related to voting or the electoral 

22 process. 

23 SEC. 5. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

24 Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

25 U.S.C. 10503) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)(3)(C), by striking ‘‘1990’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘or in the case 

4 of Alaskan natives and American Indians, if the pre5 dominant language is historically unwritten’’ and in6 serting ‘‘(as of the date on which the materials or 

7 information is provided)’’. 

8 SEC. 6. FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO PROTECT TRIBAL VOTING 

9 RIGHTS. 

10 Section 8(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

11 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

13 semicolon; 

14 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding ‘‘or’’ after the 

15 semicolon; and 

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General has received a writ19 ten complaint from an Indian Tribe that efforts to 

20 deny or abridge the right to vote under the color of 

21 law on account of race or color, or in contravention 

22 of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), are 

23 likely to occur;’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. ELECTION OBSERVER TRANSPARENCY. 

2 The Attorney General shall make publicly available 

3 the reports of Federal election observers appointed pursu4 ant to section (8)(a)(3) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

5 (52 U.S.C. 10305(a)(3)), as added by section 6, not later 

6 than 6 months after the date that such reports are sub7 mitted to the Attorney General. 

8 SEC. 8. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

9 The Attorney General shall, to the extent practicable, 

10 consult annually with Indian tribes regarding issues re11 lated to voting for members of an Indian tribe. 

12 SEC. 9. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, EXPERT FEES, LITIGATION EX13 PENSES. 

14 In any civil action under this Act, the court, in its 

15 discretion, may award reasonable attorneys’ fees, reason16 able expert fees, and other reasonable litigation expenses 

17 as part of the costs to the prevailing party, other than 

18 the United States. 

Æ 


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