II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2702 

To protect the voting rights of Native American and Alaska Native voters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 10, 2021 

Mr. LUJA ́N (for himself, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

TESTER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect the voting rights of Native American and Alaska 

Native 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 ‘‘Frank Harrison, Eliza5 beth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American 

6 Voting Rights Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Constitution explicitly and implicitly 

2 grants Congress broad general powers to legislate on 

3 issues relating to Indian Tribes, powers consistently 

4 described as plenary and exclusive. These powers 

5 arise from the grant of authority in the Indian Com6 merce Clause and through legislative matters arising 

7 under the Treaty Clause. 

8 (2) The Federal Government is responsible for 

9 upholding the obligations to which the Federal Gov10 ernment has agreed through treaties, legislation, and 

11 executive orders, referred to as the Federal trust re12 sponsibility toward Indian Tribes and their mem13 bers. 

14 (3) The Supreme Court has repeatedly relied on 

15 the nature of this ‘‘government to government’’ rela16 tionship between the United States and sovereign 

17 Indian Tribes for congressional authority to enact 

18 ‘‘legislation that singles out Indians for particular 

19 and special treatment’’. Morton v. Mancari, 417 

20 U.S. 535, 554–555 (1974). 

21 (4) Legislation removing barriers to Native 

22 American voting is vital for the fulfillment of Con23 gress’ ‘‘unique obligation’’ toward Indians, particu24 larly ensuring that Native American voters are fully 

25 included as ‘‘qualified members of the modern body 


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1 politic’’. Board of County Comm’rs v. Seber, 318 

2 U.S. 705, 715 (1943). 

3 (5) Under the Elections Clause of article I, sec4 tion 4 of the Constitution, Congress has additional 

5 power to regulate any election conducted to select 

6 Members of Congress. Taken together, the Indian 

7 Commerce Clause and the Election Clause give Con8 gress broad authority to enact legislation to safe9 guard the voting rights of Native American voters. 

10 (6) Despite Congress’ decision to grant Native 

11 Americans Federal citizenship, and with it the pro12 tections of the Fifteenth Amendment, with passage 

13 of the Act of June 2, 1924 (Chapter 233; 43 Stat. 

14 253) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Citizenship 

15 Act of 1924’’), States continued to deploy distinct 

16 methods for disenfranchising Indians by enacting 

17 statutes to exclude from voter rolls Indians living on 

18 Indian lands, requiring that Indians first terminate 

19 their relationship with their Indian Tribe, restricting 

20 the right to vote on account of a Tribal member’s 

21 ‘‘guardianship’’ status, and imposing literacy tests. 

22 (7) Barriers to voter access for Native Ameri23 cans persist today, and such barriers range from ob24 structing voter access to vote dilution and inten25 tional malapportionment of electoral districts. 


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1 (8) The Native American Voting Rights Coali2 tion’s nine field hearings in Indian Country and 

3 four-State survey of voter discrimination revealed a 

4 number of additional obstacles that Native Ameri5 cans must overcome in some States, including— 

6 (A) a lack of accessible registration and 

7 polling sites, either due to conditions such as 

8 geography, lack of paved roads, the absence of 

9 reliable and affordable broadband connectivity, 

10 and restrictions on the time, place, and manner 

11 that eligible people can register and vote, in12 cluding unequal opportunities for absentee, 

13 early, mail-in, and in-person voting; 

14 (B) nontraditional or nonexistent addresses 

15 for residents on Indian reservations, lack of res16 idential mail delivery and pick up, reliance on 

17 distant post offices with abbreviated operating 

18 hours for mail services, insufficient housing 

19 units, overcrowded homes, and high incidence of 

20 housing insecurity and homelessness, lack of ac21 cess to vehicles, and disproportionate poverty 

22 which make voter registration, acquisition and 

23 dropping off of mail-in ballots, receipt of voting 

24 information and materials, and securing re25 quired identification difficult, if not impossible; 


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1 (C) inadequate language assistance for 

2 Tribal members, including lack of outreach and 

3 publicity, the failure to provide complete, accu4 rate, and uniform translations of all voting ma5 terials in the relevant Native language, and an 

6 insufficient number of trained bilingual poll 

7 workers; and 

8 (D) voter identification laws that discrimi9 nate against Native Americans. 

10 (9) The Department of Justice and courts also 

11 recognized that some jurisdictions have been unre12 sponsive to reasonable requests from federally recog13 nized Indian Tribes for more accessible voter reg14 istration sites and in-person voting locations. 

15 (10) According to the National Congress of 

16 American Indians, there is a wide gap between the 

17 voter registration and turnout rates of eligible Amer18 ican Indians and Alaska Natives and the voter reg19 istration and turnout rates of non-Hispanic White 

20 and other racial and ethnic groups. 

21 (11) Despite these obstacles, the Native Amer22 ican vote continues to play a significant role in Fed23 eral, State, and local elections. 

24 (12) In Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and 

25 South Dakota, Native Americans, American Indians, 


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1 and Alaska Natives comprise approximately 10 per2 cent or more of the voting population. 

3 (13) The Native American vote also holds great 

4 potential, with over 1,000,000 voters who are eligible 

5 to vote, but are not registered to vote. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

7 (1) to fulfill the Federal Government’s trust re8 sponsibility to protect and promote Native Ameri9 cans’ exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed 

10 right to vote, including the right to register to vote 

11 and the ability to access all mechanisms for voting; 

12 (2) to establish Tribal administrative review 

13 procedures for a specific subset of State actions that 

14 have been used to restrict access to the polls on In15 dian lands; 

16 (3) to expand voter registration under the Na17 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

18 20501 et seq.) to cover Federal facilities; 

19 (4) to afford equal treatment to forms of identi20 fication unique to Indian Tribes and their members; 

21 (5) to ensure American Indians and Alaska Na22 tives experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, 

23 or lacking residential mail pickup and delivery can 

24 pool resources to pick up and return ballots; 


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1 (6) to clarify the obligations of States and polit2 ical subdivisions regarding the provision of trans3 lated voting materials for American Indians and 

4 Alaska Natives under section 203 of the Voting 

5 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503); 

6 (7) to provide Tribal leaders with a direct path7 way to request Federal election observers and to 

8 allow public access to the reports of those election 

9 observers; 

10 (8) to study the prevalence of nontraditional or 

11 nonexistent mailing addresses in Native communities 

12 and identify solutions to voter access that arise from 

13 the lack of an address; and 

14 (9) to direct the Department of Justice to con15 sult on an annual basis with Indian Tribes on issues 

16 related to voting. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 

20 General’’ means the United States Attorney General. 

21 (2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean22 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self23 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

24 U.S.C. 5304). 


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1 (3) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

2 includes— 

3 (A) Indian country as defined under sec4 tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code; 

5 (B) any land in Alaska owned, pursuant to 

6 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

7 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by an Indian Tribe that 

8 is a Native village (as defined in section 3 of 

9 that Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) or by a Village Cor10 poration that is associated with an Indian Tribe 

11 (as defined in section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

12 1602)); 

13 (C) any land on which the seat of the Trib14 al government is located; and 

15 (D) any land that is part or all of a Tribal 

16 designated statistical area associated with an 

17 Indian Tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na18 tive village statistical area associated with an 

19 Indian Tribe, as defined by the Census Bureau 

20 for the purposes of the most recent decennial 

21 census. 

22 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

23 means the recognized governing body of any Indian 

24 or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, 

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1 tion, individually identified (including parentheti2 cally) in the list published most recently as of the 

3 date of enactment of this Act pursuant to section 

4 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List 

5 Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

6 (5) POLLING PLACE.—The term ‘‘polling place’’ 

7 means any location where a ballot is cast in elections 

8 for Federal office, and includes a voter center, poll, 

9 polling location, or polling place, depending on the 

10 State nomenclature. 

11 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING 

12 TASK FORCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office for Civil Rights at the 

14 Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice 

15 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’) shall establish 

16 and administer, in coordination with the Department of 

17 the Interior, a Native American voting task force grant 

18 program, through which the Office shall provide financial 

19 assistance to eligible applicants to enable those eligible ap20 plicants to establish and operate a Native American Vot21 ing Task Force in each State with a federally recognized 

22 Indian Tribe. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Native Amer24 ican voting task force grant program are to— 


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1 (1) increase voter outreach, education, registra2 tion, and turnout in Native American communities; 

3 (2) increase access to the ballot for Native 

4 American communities, including additional satellite, 

5 early voting, and absentee voting locations; 

6 (3) streamline and reduce inconsistencies in the 

7 voting process for Native Americans; 

8 (4) provide, in the community’s dominant lan9 guage, educational materials and classes on Indian 

10 lands about candidacy filing; 

11 (5) train and educate State and local employ12 ees, including poll workers, about— 

13 (A) the language assistance and voter as14 sistance requirements under sections 203 and 

15 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

16 U.S.C. 10503; 10508); 

17 (B) voter identification laws as affected by 

18 section 8 of this Act; and 

19 (C) the requirements of Tribes, States, and 

20 precincts established under this Act; 

21 (6) identify model programs and best practices 

22 for providing language assistance to Native Amer23 ican communities; 

24 (7) provide nonpartisan poll watchers on elec25 tion day in Native American communities; 


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1 (8) participate in and evaluate future redis2 tricting efforts; 

3 (9) address issues of internet connectivity as it 

4 relates to voter registration and ballot access in Na5 tive American communities; 

6 (10) work with Indian Tribes, States, and the 

7 Federal Government to establish mailing addresses 

8 that comply with applicable State and Federal re9 quirements for receipt of voting information and ma10 terials; and 

11 (11) facilitate collaboration between local elec12 tion officials, Native American communities, and 

13 Tribal elections offices. 

14 (c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘eligible appli15 cant’’ means— 

16 (1) an Indian Tribe; 

17 (2) a Secretary of State of a State, or another 

18 official of a State entity responsible for overseeing 

19 elections; 

20 (3) a nonprofit organization that works, in 

21 whole or in part, on voting issues; or 

22 (4) a consortium of entities described in para23 graphs (1) through (3). 

24 (d) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office, in coordination 

2 with the Department of the Interior and following 

3 consultation with Indian Tribes about the implemen4 tation of the Native American voting task force 

5 grant program, shall establish guidelines for the 

6 process by which eligible applicants will submit ap7 plications. 

8 (2) APPLICATIONS.—Each eligible applicant de9 siring a grant under this section shall submit an ap10 plication, according to the process established under 

11 paragraph (1), and at such time, in such manner, 

12 and containing such information as the Office may 

13 require. Such application shall include— 

14 (A) a certification that the applicant is an 

15 eligible applicant; 

16 (B) a proposed work plan addressing how 

17 the eligible applicant will establish and admin18 ister a Native American Voting Task Force 

19 that achieves the purposes described in sub20 section (b); 

21 (C) if the eligible applicant is a consortium 

22 as described in subsection (c)(4), a description 

23 of the proposed division of responsibilities be24 tween the participating entities; 


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1 (D) an explanation of the time period that 

2 the proposed Native American Voting Task 

3 Force will cover, which shall be a time period 

4 that is not more than 3 years; and 

5 (E) the goals that the eligible applicant de6 sires to achieve with the grant funds. 

7 (e) USES OF FUNDS.—A grantee receiving funds 

8 under this section shall use such funds to carry out one 

9 or more of the activities described in subsection (b), 

10 through the grantee’s Native American Voting Task 

11 Force. 

12 (f) REPORTS.— 

13 (1) REPORT TO THE OFFICE.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date on which an eligible applicant re16 ceives grant funds under this section, and annu17 ally thereafter for the duration of the grant, 

18 each eligible applicant shall prepare and submit 

19 a written report to the Office describing the eli20 gible applicant’s progress in achieving the goals 

21 outlined in the application under subsection 

22 (d)(2). 

23 (B) RESPONSE.—Not later than 30 days 

24 after the date on which the Office receives the 

25 report described in paragraph (1), the Office 


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1 will provide feedback, comments, and input to 

2 the eligible applicant in response to such report. 

3 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 

4 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and an5 nually thereafter, the Office shall prepare and sub6 mit a report to the Committee on Indian Affairs of 

7 the Senate and Committee on Natural Resources of 

8 the House of Representatives containing the results 

9 of the reports described under paragraph (1). 

10 (g) RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

11 this section reduces State or local obligations provided for 

12 by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 

13 seq.), the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

14 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.), the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

15 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), or any other Federal law or 

16 regulation related to voting or the electoral process. 

17 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2037. 

20 SEC. 5. VOTER REGISTRATION SITES AT INDIAN SERVICE 

21 PROVIDERS AND ON INDIAN LANDS. 

22 Section 7(a) of the National Voter Registration Act 

23 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

4 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

5 and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) any Federal facility or federally fund8 ed facility that is primarily engaged in pro9 viding services to an Indian Tribe; and 

10 ‘‘(D) not less than one Federal facility or 

11 federally funded facility that is located within 

12 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe, as applica13 ble, (which may be the Federal facility or feder14 ally funded facility described in subparagraph 

15 (C)).’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) Where practicable, each Federal agency 

18 that operates a Federal facility or a federally funded 

19 facility that is a designated voter registration agency 

20 in accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) of para21 graph (2) shall designate one or more special days 

22 per year at a centralized location within the bound23 aries of the Indian lands of each applicable Indian 

24 Tribe for the purpose of informing members of the 

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1 ments, and voting procedures in elections for Fed2 eral office, at no cost to the Indian Tribe.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. ACCESSIBLE TRIBAL DESIGNATED POLLING SITES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) DESIGNATION OF STATE OFFICER.—Each 

6 of the several States whose territory contains all or 

7 part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands shall des8 ignate an officer within that State who will be re9 sponsible for compliance with the provisions of this 

10 section and who shall periodically consult with the 

11 Indian Tribes located wholly or partially within that 

12 State regarding compliance with the provisions of 

13 this section and coordination between the State and 

14 the Indian Tribe. The State shall provide written no15 tice to each such Indian Tribe of the officer so des16 ignated. 

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

18 Indian Tribe that satisfies the obligations of sub19 section (c), and for each election for a Federal offi20 cial or State official that is held 180 days or later 

21 after the date on which the Indian Tribe initially 

22 satisfies such obligations, any State or political sub23 division whose territory contains all or part of an In24 dian Tribe’s Indian lands— 


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1 (A) shall provide a minimum of one polling 

2 place in each precinct in which there are eligible 

3 voters who reside on Indian lands, in a location 

4 selected by the Indian Tribe and at no cost to 

5 the Indian Tribe, regardless of the population 

6 or number of registered voters residing on In7 dian lands; 

8 (B) shall not reduce the number of polling 

9 locations on Indian lands based on population 

10 numbers; 

11 (C) shall provide, at no cost to the Indian 

12 Tribe, additional polling places in locations on 

13 Indian lands selected by an Indian Tribe and 

14 requested under subsection (c) if, based on the 

15 totality of circumstances described in subsection 

16 (b), it is shown that not providing those addi17 tional polling places would result in members of 

18 the Indian Tribe and living on Indian lands or 

19 other individuals residing on the Indian Tribe’s 

20 Indian lands having less opportunity to vote 

21 than eligible voters in that State or political 

22 subdivision who are not members of an Indian 

23 Tribe or do not reside on Indian lands; 

24 (D) shall, at each polling place located on 

25 Indian lands and at no cost to the Indian Tribe, 


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1 make voting machines, tabulation machines, of2 ficial receptacles designated for the return of 

3 completed absentee ballots, ballots, provisional 

4 ballots, and other voting materials available to 

5 the same or greater extent that such equipment 

6 and materials are made available at other poll7 ing places in the State or political subdivision 

8 that are not located on Indian lands; 

9 (E) shall, at each polling place located on 

10 Indian lands, conduct the election using the 

11 same voting procedures that are used at other 

12 polling places in the State or political subdivi13 sion that are not located on Indian lands, or 

14 other voting procedures that provide greater ac15 cess for voters; 

16 (F) shall, at each polling place located on 

17 Indian lands and at no cost to the Indian Tribe, 

18 make voter registration available during the pe19 riod the polling place is open to the maximum 

20 extent allowable under State law; 

21 (G) shall, at each polling place located on 

22 Indian lands, provide training, compensation, 

23 and other benefits to election officials and poll 

24 workers at no cost to the Indian Tribe and, at 

25 a minimum, to the same or greater 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 or political 

4 subdivision that are not located on Indian 

5 lands; 

6 (H) shall, in all cases, provide the Indian 

7 Tribe an opportunity to designate election offi8 cials and poll workers to staff polling places 

9 within the Indian lands of the applicable Indian 

10 Tribe on every day that the polling places will 

11 be open; 

12 (I) shall allow for any eligible voting mem13 ber of the Indian Tribe or any eligible voting 

14 individual residing on Indian lands to vote early 

15 or in person at any polling place on Indian 

16 lands, regardless of that member or individual’s 

17 residence or residential address, and shall not 

18 reject the ballot of any such member or indi19 vidual on the grounds that the ballot was cast 

20 at the wrong polling place; and 

21 (J) may fulfill the State’s obligations 

22 under subparagraphs (A) and (C) by relocating 

23 existing polling places, by creating new polling 

24 places, or both. 

25 (b) EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOTE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—When assessing the opportu2 nities to vote provided to members of an Indian 

3 Tribe and to other eligible voters in the State resid4 ing on Indian lands in order to determine the num5 ber of additional polling places (if any) that a State 

6 or political subdivision must provide in accordance 

7 with subsection (a)(2)(C), the State, political sub8 division, or any court applying this section, shall 

9 consider the totality of circumstances of— 

10 (A) the number of voting-age citizens as11 signed to each polling place; 

12 (B) the distances that voters must travel 

13 to reach the polling places; 

14 (C) the time that voters must spend trav15 eling to reach the polling places, including 

16 under inclement weather conditions; 

17 (D) the modes of transportation, if any, 

18 that are regularly and broadly available to vot19 ers to use to reach the polling places; 

20 (E) the existence of and access to frequent 

21 and reliable public transportation to the polling 

22 places; 

23 (F) the length of lines and time voters 

24 waited to cast a ballot in previous elections; and 


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1 (G) any other factor relevant to effec2 tuating the aim of achieving equal voting oppor3 tunity for individuals living on Indian lands. 

4 (2) ABSENCE OF FACTORS.—When assessing 

5 the opportunities to vote in accordance with para6 graph (1), the State, political subdivision, or court 

7 shall ensure that each factor described in paragraph 

8 (1) is considered regardless of whether any one fac9 tor would lead to a determination not to provide ad10 ditional polling places under subsection (a)(2)(C). 

11 (c) FORM; PROVISION OF FORM; OBLIGATIONS OF

12 THE INDIAN TRIBE.— 

13 (1) FORM.—The Attorney General shall estab14 lish the form described in this subsection through 

15 which an Indian Tribe can fulfill its obligations 

16 under this subsection. 

17 (2) PROVISION OF FORM.—Each State or polit18 ical subdivision whose territory contains all or part 

19 of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands— 

20 (A) shall provide the form established 

21 under paragraph (1) to each applicable Indian 

22 Tribe not less than 30 days prior to the dead23 line set by the State or political subdivision for 

24 completion of the obligations under this sub25 section (which deadline shall be not less than 


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1 30 days prior to a Federal election) whereby an 

2 Indian Tribe can fulfill its obligations under 

3 this subsection by providing the information de4 scribed in paragraph (3) on that form and sub5 mitting the form back to the applicable State or 

6 political subdivision by such deadline; 

7 (B) shall not edit the form established 

8 under paragraph (1) or apply any additional ob9 ligations on the Indian Tribe with respect to 

10 this section; and 

11 (C) shall cooperate in good faith with the 

12 efforts of the Indian Tribe to satisfy the re13 quirements of this subsection. 

14 (3) OBLIGATIONS OF THE INDIAN TRIBE.—The 

15 requirements for a State and political subdivision 

16 under subsection (a)(2) shall apply with respect to 

17 an Indian Tribe once an Indian Tribe meets the fol18 lowing obligations by completing the form specified 

19 in paragraph (1): 

20 (A) The Indian Tribe specifies the number 

21 and locations of requested polling places, early 

22 voting locations, and ballot drop boxes to be 

23 provided on the Indian lands of that Indian 

24 Tribe. 


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1 (B) The Indian Tribe certifies that 

2 curbside voting will be available for any facili3 ties that lack accessible entrances and exits in 

4 accordance with Federal and State law. 

5 (C) The Indian Tribe certifies that the In6 dian Tribe will ensure that each such requested 

7 polling place will be open and available to all el8 igible voters who reside in the precinct or other 

9 geographic area assigned to such polling place, 

10 regardless of whether such eligible voters are 

11 members of the Indian Tribe or of any other 

12 Indian Tribe. 

13 (D) The Indian Tribe requests that the 

14 State or political subdivision shall designate 

15 election officials and poll workers to staff such 

16 requested polling places, or certifies that the In17 dian Tribe will designate election officials and 

18 poll workers to staff such polling places on 

19 every day that the polling places will be open. 

20 (E) The Indian Tribe may request that the 

21 State or political subdivision provide absentee 

22 ballots without requiring an excuse, an absentee 

23 ballot request, or residential address to all eligi24 ble voters who reside in the precinct or other 

25 geographic area assigned to such polling place, 


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1 regardless of whether such eligible voters are 

2 members of the Indian Tribe or of any other 

3 Indian Tribe. 

4 (4) ESTABLISHED POLLING PLACES.—Once a 

5 polling place is established under subsection 

6 (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(C) the Tribe need not 

7 fill out the form designated under paragraph (1) 

8 again unless or until that Indian Tribe requests 

9 modifications to the requests specified in the most 

10 recent form under paragraph (1). 

11 (5) OPT OUT.—At any time that is 60 days or 

12 more before the date of an election, an Indian Tribe 

13 that previously has satisfied the obligations of para14 graph (3) may notify the State or political subdivi15 sion that the Indian Tribe intends to opt out of the 

16 standing obligation for one or more polling places 

17 that were established in accordance with subsection 

18 (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(C) for a particular 

19 election or for all future elections. A Tribe may opt 

20 back in at any time. 

21 (d) FEDERAL POLLING SITES.—Each State shall 

22 designate as voter polling facilities any of the facilities 

23 identified in accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) of 

24 section 7(a)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

25 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)), at no cost to the Indian 


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1 Tribe, provided that the facility meets the requirements 

2 of Federal and State law as applied to other polling places 

3 within the State or political subdivision. The applicable 

4 agency of the Federal Government shall ensure that such 

5 designated facilities are made available as polling places. 

6 (e) MAIL-IN BALLOTING.—In States or political sub7 divisions that permit absentee or mail-in balloting, the fol8 lowing shall apply with respect to an election for Federal 

9 office: 

10 (1) For each ballot cast by a member of an In11 dian Tribe living on Indian lands, all postage shall 

12 be prepaid by the Federal Government and each bal13 lot postmarked the day the ballot is received at a 

14 postal facility located on Indian lands. 

15 (2) An Indian Tribe may designate at least one 

16 building per precinct as a ballot pickup and collec17 tion location (referred to in this section as a ‘‘trib18 ally designated buildings’’) at no cost to the Indian 

19 Tribe. The applicable State or political subdivision 

20 shall collect and timely deposit all ballots from each 

21 tribally designated building. 

22 (3) At the applicable Tribe’s request, the State 

23 or political subdivision shall provide mail-in and ab24 sentee ballots to each registered voter residing on 

25 Indian lands in the State or political subdivision 


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1 without requiring a residential address, a mail-in or 

2 absentee ballot request, or an excuse for a mail-in or 

3 absentee ballot. 

4 (4) The address of a tribally designated build5 ing may serve as the residential address and mailing 

6 address for voters living on Indian lands if the trib7 ally designated building is in the same precinct as 

8 that voter. 

9 (5) If there is no tribally designated building 

10 within the precinct of a voter residing on Indian 

11 lands (including if the tribally designated building is 

12 on Indian lands but not in the same precinct as the 

13 voter), the voter may— 

14 (A) use another tribally designated build15 ing within the Indian lands where the voter is 

16 located; or 

17 (B) use such tribally designated building 

18 as a mailing address and may separately des19 ignate the voter’s appropriate precinct through 

20 a description of the voter’s address, as specified 

21 in section 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Fed22 eral Regulations. 

23 (6) In the case of a State or political subdivi24 sion that is a covered State or political subdivision 

25 under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 


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1 (52 U.S.C. 10503), that State or political subdivi2 sion shall provide absentee or mail-in voting mate3 rials with respect to an election for Federal office in 

4 the language of the applicable minority group as well 

5 as in the English language, bilingual election voting 

6 assistance, and written translations of all voting ma7 terials in the language of the applicable minority 

8 group, as required by section 203 of the Voting 

9 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), as amended 

10 by this Act. 

11 (7) A State or political division shall make rea12 sonable efforts to contact a voter who resides within 

13 Indian lands located within its jurisdiction and offer 

14 such voter a reasonable opportunity to cure any de15 fect in an absentee ballot issued to and completed 

16 and returned by the voter, or appearing on or per17 taining to the materials provided for the purpose of 

18 returning the absentee ballot, if State law would oth19 erwise require the absentee ballot to be rejected due 

20 to such defect and the defect does not compromise 

21 ballot secrecy or involve a lack of witness or assist22 ant signature, where such signature is mandated by 

23 State law. 

24 (8) In a State or political subdivision that does 

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1 ble voters in the State or political subdivision, that 

2 State or political subdivision shall nonetheless pro3 vide for absentee or mail-in balloting for voters who 

4 reside on Indian lands consistent with this section if 

5 the State, political subdivision, or any court applying 

6 this section determines that the totality of cir7 cumstances described in subsection (b) warrants es8 tablishment of absentee or mail-in balloting for vot9 ers who reside on Indian lands located within the ju10 risdiction of the State or political subdivision. 

11 (f) BALLOT DROP BOXES.—Each State shall— 

12 (1) provide not less than one ballot drop box for 

13 each precinct on Indian lands, at no cost to the In14 dian Tribe, at either the tribally designated building 

15 under subsection (e)(2) or an alternative site se16 lected by the applicable Indian Tribe; and 

17 (2) provide additional drop boxes at either the 

18 tribally designated building under subsection (e)(2) 

19 or an alternative site selected by the applicable In20 dian Tribe if the State or political subdivision deter21 mines that additional ballot drop boxes should be 

22 provided based on the criteria considered under the 

23 totality of circumstances enumerated under sub24 section (b). 

25 (g) EARLY VOTING.— 


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1 (1) EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS.—In a State or 

2 political subdivision that permits early voting in an 

3 election for Federal office, that State or political 

4 subdivision shall provide not less than one early vot5 ing location for each precinct on Indian lands, at no 

6 cost to the Indian Tribe, at a site selected by the ap7 plicable Indian Tribe, to allow individuals living on 

8 Indian lands to vote during an early voting period in 

9 the same manner as early voting is allowed on such 

10 date in the rest of the State or precinct. Additional 

11 early voting sites shall be determined based on the 

12 criteria considered under the totality of cir13 cumstances described in subsection (b). 

14 (2) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—In a State or polit15 ical subdivision that permits early voting in an elec16 tion for Federal office, that State or political sub17 division shall provide an early voting period with re18 spect to that election that shall consist of a period 

19 of consecutive days (including weekends) which be20 gins on the 15th day before the date of the election 

21 (or, at the option of the State or political subdivi22 sion, on a day prior to the 15th day before the date 

23 of the election) and ends on the date of the election 

24 for all early voting locations on Indian lands. 


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1 (3) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIRE2 MENTS.—Each polling place that allows voting dur3 ing an early voting period under this subsection 

4 shall— 

5 (A) allow such voting for no less than 10 

6 hours on each day; 

7 (B) have uniform hours each day for which 

8 such voting occurs; and 

9 (C) allow such voting to be held for some 

10 period of time prior to 9:00 a.m. (local time) 

11 and some period of time after 5:00 p.m. (local 

12 time). 

13 (4) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING RE14 QUIREMENTS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the greatest extent 

16 practicable, ballots cast during the early voting 

17 period in an election for Federal office at voting 

18 locations and drop boxes on Indian lands shall 

19 be processed and scanned for tabulation in ad20 vance of the close of polls on the date of the 

21 election. 

22 (B) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this sub23 section shall be construed to permit a State or 

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1 lots in an election for Federal office before the 

2 closing of the polls on the date of the election. 

3 (h) PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require5 ments under section 302(a) of the Help America 

6 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(a)), for each 

7 State or political subdivision that provides voters 

8 provisional ballots, challenge ballots, or affidavit bal9 lots under the State’s applicable law governing the 

10 voting processes for those voters whose eligibility to 

11 vote is determined to be uncertain by election offi12 cials, election officials shall— 

13 (A) provide clear written instructions indi14 cating the reason the voter was given a provi15 sional ballot, the information or documents the 

16 voter needs to prove eligibility, the location at 

17 which the voter must appear to submit these 

18 materials or alternative methods, including 

19 email or facsimile, that the voter may use to 

20 submit these materials, and the deadline for 

21 submitting these materials; 

22 (B) permit any voter who votes provision23 ally at any polling place on Indian lands to ap24 pear at any polling place or at the central locaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Aug 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2702.IS S2702

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1 tion for the election board to submit the docu2 mentation or information to prove eligibility; 

3 (C) permit any voter who votes provision4 ally at any polling place to submit the required 

5 information or documentation via email or fac6 simile, if the voter prefers to use such methods 

7 as an alternative to appearing in person to sub8 mit the required information or documentation 

9 to prove eligibility; 

10 (D) notify the voter on whether the voter’s 

11 provisional ballot was counted or rejected by 

12 telephone, email, or postal mail, or any other 

13 available method, including notifying the voter 

14 of any online tracking website if State law pro15 vides for such a mechanism; and 

16 (E) provide the reason for rejection if the 

17 voter’s provisional ballot was rejected after the 

18 voter provided the required information or doc19 umentation on eligibility. 

20 (2) DUTIES OF ELECTION OFFICIALS.—A State 

21 or political subdivision described in paragraph (1) 

22 shall ensure in each case in which a provisional bal23 lot is cast, that election officials— 

24 (A) request and collect the voter’s email 

25 address, if the voter has one, and transmit any 


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1 written instructions issued to the voter in per2 son to the voter via email; and 

3 (B) provide a verbal translation of any 

4 written instructions to the voter. 

5 (i) ENFORCEMENT.— 

6 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen7 eral may bring a civil action in an appropriate dis8 trict court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as 

9 is necessary to carry out this section. 

10 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

11 (A) A person or Indian Tribe who is ag12 grieved by a violation of this section may pro13 vide written notice of the violation to the chief 

14 election official of the State involved. 

15 (B) An aggrieved person or Indian Tribe 

16 may bring a civil action in an appropriate dis17 trict court for declaratory or injunctive relief 

18 with respect to a violation of this section, if— 

19 (i) that person or Indian Tribe pro20 vides the notice described in subparagraph 

21 (A); and 

22 (ii)(I) in the case of a violation that 

23 occurs more than 120 days before the date 

24 of an election for Federal office, the viola25 tion remains and 90 days or more have 


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1 passed since the date on which the chief 

2 election official of the State receives the 

3 notice under subparagraph (A); or 

4 (II) in the case of a violation that oc5 curs 120 days or less but more than 30 

6 days before the date of an election for Fed7 eral office, the violation remains and 20 

8 days or more have passed since the date on 

9 which the chief election official of the State 

10 receives the notice under subparagraph 

11 (A). 

12 (C) In the case of a violation of this sec13 tion that occurs 30 days or less before the date 

14 of an election for Federal office, an aggrieved 

15 person or Indian Tribe may bring a civil action 

16 in an appropriate district court for declaratory 

17 or injunctive relief with respect to the violation 

18 without providing notice to the chief election of19 ficial of the State under subparagraph (A). 

20 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

21 section shall be construed to prevent a State or po22 litical subdivision from providing additional polling 

23 places or early voting locations on Indian lands. 


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1 SEC. 7. PROCEDURES FOR REMOVAL OF POLLING PLACES 

2 AND VOTER REGISTRATION SITES ON INDIAN 

3 LANDS. 

4 (a) ACTIONS REQUIRING TRIBAL ADMINISTRATIVE

5 REVIEW.—No State or political subdivision may carry out 

6 any of the following activities in an election for Federal 

7 office unless the requirements of subsection (b) have been 

8 met: 

9 (1) Eliminating polling places or voter registra10 tion sites on the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe. 

11 (2) Moving or consolidating a polling place or 

12 voter registration site on the Indian lands of an In13 dian Tribe to a location 1 mile or further from the 

14 existing location of the polling place or voter reg15 istration site. 

16 (3) Moving or consolidating a polling place on 

17 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe to a location 

18 across a river, lake, mountain, or other natural 

19 boundary such that it increases travel time for a 

20 voter, regardless of distance. 

21 (4) Eliminating in-person voting on the Indian 

22 lands of an Indian Tribe by designating an Indian 

23 reservation as a permanent absentee voting location, 

24 unless the Indian Tribe requests such a designation 

25 and has not later requested that the designation as 

26 a permanent absentee voting location be reversed. 


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1 (5) Removing an early voting location or other2 wise diminishing early voting opportunities on In3 dian lands. 

4 (6) Removing a ballot drop box or otherwise di5 minishing ballot drop boxes on Indian lands. 

6 (7) Decreasing the number of days or hours 

7 that an in-person or early voting polling place is 

8 open on Indian lands only or changing the dates of 

9 in-person or early voting only on the Indian lands of 

10 an Indian Tribe. 

11 (b) TRIBAL ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this 

13 subsection have been met if— 

14 (A) the impacted Indian Tribe submits to 

15 the Attorney General the Indian Tribe’s written 

16 consent to the proposed activity described in 

17 subsection (a); 

18 (B) the State or political subdivision, after 

19 consultation with the impacted Indian Tribe 

20 and after attempting to have the impacted In21 dian Tribe give consent as described in sub22 paragraph (A), institutes an action in the 

23 United States District Court for the District of 

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1 ative evidence provided by the State or political 

2 subdivision, that conclusively establishes that 

3 the specified activity described in subsection (a) 

4 proposed by the State or political subdivision 

5 neither has the purpose nor will have the effect 

6 of denying or abridging the right to vote on ac7 count of race or color, membership in an Indian 

8 Tribe, or membership in a language minority 

9 group; or 

10 (C) the chief legal officer or other appro11 priate official of such State or political subdivi12 sion, after consultation with the impacted In13 dian Tribe and after attempting to have the im14 pacted Indian Tribe give consent as described 

15 in subparagraph (A), submits a request to carry 

16 out the specified activity described in subsection 

17 (a) to the Attorney General and the Attorney 

18 General affirmatively approves the specified ac19 tivity. 

20 (2) NO LIMITATION ON FUTURE ACTIONS.— 

21 (A) NO BAR TO SUBSEQUENT ACTION.— 

22 Neither an affirmative indication by the Attor23 ney General that no objection will be made, nor 

24 the Attorney General’s failure to object, nor a 

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1 tion, nor a written consent issued under para2 graph (1)(A) shall bar a subsequent action to 

3 enjoin enforcement of an activity described in 

4 subsection (a). 

5 (B) REEXAMINATION.—The Attorney Gen6 eral reserves the right to reexamine any submis7 sion under paragraph (1)(C) if additional rel8 evant information comes to the Attorney Gen9 eral’s attention. 

10 (C) DISTRICT COURT.—Any action under 

11 this section shall be heard and determined by a 

12 district court of 3 judges in accordance with the 

13 provisions of section 2284 of title 28, United 

14 States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Su15 preme Court. 

16 SEC. 8. TRIBAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION. 

17 (a) TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION.—If a State or political 

18 subdivision requires an individual to present identification 

19 for the purposes of voting or registering to vote in an elec20 tion for Federal office, an identification card issued by a 

21 federally recognized Indian Tribe, the Bureau of Indian 

22 Affairs, the Indian Health Service, or any other Tribal or 

23 Federal agency issuing identification cards to eligible In24 dian voters shall be treated as a valid form of identifica25 tion for such purposes. 


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1 (b) ONLINE REGISTRATION.—If a State or political 

2 subdivision requires an identification card for an indi3 vidual to register to vote online or to vote online, that 

4 State or political subdivision shall annually consult with 

5 an Indian Tribe to determine whether a tribal identifica6 tion can feasibly be used to register to vote online or vote 

7 online. 

8 (c) LIMITATION ON REQUIRING MULTIPLE FORMS

9 OF IDENTIFICATION.—If a State or political subdivision 

10 requires an individual to present more than one form of 

11 identification for the purposes of voting or registering to 

12 vote in an election for Federal office, or for registering 

13 to vote online or to vote online, that State or political sub14 division shall not require any member of an Indian Tribe 

15 to provide more than one form of identification if the 

16 member provides orally or in writing that the member does 

17 not possess more than one form of identification. 

18 SEC. 9. PERMITTING VOTERS TO DESIGNATE OTHER PER19 SON TO RETURN BALLOT. 

20 Each State or political subdivision— 

21 (1) shall permit any person to return a sealed 

22 ballot of a voter that resides on Indian lands to a 

23 post office on Indian lands, a ballot drop box loca24 tion in a State or political subdivision that provides 

25 ballot drop boxes, a tribally designated building 


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1 under section 6(e)(2), or an election office, so long 

2 as the person designated to return the ballot or bal3 lots on behalf of another voter does not receive any 

4 form of compensation based on the number of bal5 lots that the person has returned and no individual, 

6 group, or organization provides compensation on this 

7 basis; 

8 (2) may not put any limit on how many voted 

9 and sealed absentee ballots any designated person 

10 can return to the post office, ballot drop box loca11 tion, tribally designated building, or election office 

12 under paragraph (1); and 

13 (3) shall permit any person to return voter reg14 istration applications, absentee ballot applications, 

15 or absentee ballots to ballot drop box locations in a 

16 State or political subdivision that provides ballot 

17 drop boxes for these purposes. 

18 SEC. 10. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

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

20 U.S.C. 10503) is amended— 

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

22 and inserting ‘‘most recent’’; and 

23 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF VOTING MATERIALS IN THE LAN2 GUAGE OF A MINORITY GROUP.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any State or po4 litical subdivision subject to the prohibition of sub5 section (b), provides any registration or voting no6 tices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other mate7 rials or information relating to the electoral process, 

8 including ballots, it shall provide them in the lan9 guage of the applicable minority group as well as in 

10 the English language. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) In the case of a minority group that 

13 is not American Indian or Alaska Native and 

14 the language of that minority group is oral or 

15 unwritten, the State or political subdivision 

16 shall only be required to furnish, in the covered 

17 language, oral instructions, assistance, trans18 lation of voting materials, or other information 

19 relating to registration and voting. 

20 ‘‘(B) In the case of a minority group that 

21 is American Indian or Alaska Native, the State 

22 or political subdivision shall only be required to 

23 furnish in the covered language oral instruc24 tions, assistance, or other information relating 

25 to registration and voting, including all voting 


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1 materials, if the Indian Tribe of that minority 

2 group has certified that the language of the ap3 plicable American Indian or Alaska Native lan4 guage is presently unwritten or the Indian 

5 Tribe does not want written translations in the 

6 minority language. 

7 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION

8 WORKERS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the 

9 State or political division may be required to provide 

10 written translations of voting materials, with the 

11 consent of any applicable Indian Tribe, to election 

12 workers to ensure that the translations from English 

13 to the language of a minority group are complete, 

14 accurate, and uniform.’’. 

15 SEC. 11. FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO PROTECT TRIBAL VOT16 ING RIGHTS. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF

18 1965.—Section 8(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

19 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 

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

21 semicolon; 

22 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by adding ‘‘or’’ after 

23 the semicolon; and 

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General has received a writ2 ten complaint from an Indian Tribe that efforts to 

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

4 law on account of race or color, membership in an 

5 Indian Tribe, or in contravention of the guarantees 

6 set forth in section 4(f)(2), are likely to occur;’’. 

7 (b) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORTS.—The Attorney 

8 General shall make publicly available the reports of a Fed9 eral election observer appointed pursuant to section 

10 (8)(a)(3) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

11 10305(a)(3)), as added by subsection (a), not later than 

12 6 months after the date that such reports are submitted 

13 to the Attorney General, except that any personally identi14 fiable information relating to a voter or the substance of 

15 the voter’s ballot shall not be made public. 

16 SEC. 12. TRIBAL JURISDICTION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Tribal law enforcement have the 

18 right to exercise their inherent authority to detain and or 

19 remove any non-Indian, not affiliated with the State, its 

20 political subdivision, or the Federal Government, from In21 dian lands for intimidating, harassing, or otherwise imped22 ing the ability of people to vote or of the State and its 

23 political subdivisions to conduct an election. 

24 (b) CIVIL ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR RE25 LIEF.—Whenever any person has engaged or there are 


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1 reasonable grounds to believe that any person is about to 

2 engage in any act or practice prohibited by this section, 

3 the Attorney General may institute for the United States, 

4 or in the name of the United States, an action for preven5 tive relief, including an application for a temporary or per6 manent injunction, restraining order, or other order, and 

7 including an order directed to the State and State or local 

8 election officials to require them to permit persons to vote 

9 and to count such votes. 

10 SEC. 13. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

11 The Attorney General shall consult annually with In12 dian Tribes regarding issues related to voting in elections 

13 for Federal office. 

14 SEC. 14. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, EXPERT FEES, AND LITIGATION 

15 EXPENSES. 

16 In a civil action under this Act, the court shall award 

17 the prevailing party, other than the United States, reason18 able attorney fees, including litigation expenses, reason19 able expert fees, and costs. 

20 SEC. 15. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

21 The Comptroller General shall study the prevalence 

22 of nontraditional or nonexistent mailing addresses among 

23 Indians, those who are members of Indian Tribes, and 

24 those residing on Indian lands and identify alternatives 

25 to remove barriers to voter registration, receipt of voter 


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1 information and materials, and receipt of ballots. The 

2 Comptroller General shall report the results of that study 

3 to Congress not later than 1 year after the date of enact4 ment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 16. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE CONSULTATION. 

6 The Postmaster General shall consult with Indian 

7 Tribes, on an annual basis, regarding issues relating to 

8 the United States Postal Service that present barriers to 

9 voting for eligible voters living on Indian lands. 

10 SEC. 17. SEVERABILITY; RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS; 

11 TRIBAL SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 

12 (a) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

13 the application of such a provision to any person, entity, 

14 or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remaining provi15 sions of this Act and the application of all provisions of 

16 this Act to any other person, entity, or circumstance shall 

17 not be affected by the invalidity. 

18 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 Federal law or regulation related to voting or the electoral 


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1 process. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

2 provisions of this Act, and the amendments made by this 

3 Act, shall be applicable within the State of Maine. 

4 (c) TRIBAL SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—Nothing in this 

5 Act shall be construed as— 

6 (1) affecting, modifying, diminishing, or other7 wise impairing the sovereign immunity from suit en8 joyed by an Indian Tribe; or 

9 (2) authorizing or requiring the termination of 

10 any existing trust responsibility of the United States 

11 with respect to Indian people. 

12 SEC. 18. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

14 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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