I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1694 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

Mr. LUJA ́N (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. 

GALLEGO, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. COLE, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

O’HALLERAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. TORRES

of California, Mr. SOTO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

KHANNA, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. BASS, Mr. POCAN, 

Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. KILMER, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 

KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, 

Ms. OMAR, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. CASE, Mr. PETERS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

PALLONE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. TITUS, Ms. MENG, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 

Mr. ALLRED, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. HECK, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. 

ROUDA, Ms. WILD, Mr. STANTON, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. 

LARSEN of Washington, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. LAWRENCE, 

Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CRIST, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. 

SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. HIMES, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

JEFFRIES, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Ms. HILL of California, and Mr. NEAL) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To protect the voting rights of Native American and Alaska 

Native voters. 


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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 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

8 (1) The Constitution explicitly and implicitly 

9 grants Congress broad general powers to legislate on 

10 issues relating to Indian Tribes, powers consistently 

11 described as plenary and exclusive. These powers 

12 arise from the grant of authority in the Indian Com13 merce Clause and through legislative matters arising 

14 under the Treaty Clause. 

15 (2) The Federal Government is responsible for 

16 upholding the obligations that the Federal Govern17 ment has agreed to through treaties, legislation, and 

18 executive orders, referred to as the Federal trust re19 sponsibility toward Indian Tribes and their mem20 bers. 

21 (3) The Supreme Court has repeatedly relied on 

22 the nature of this ‘‘government to government’’ rela23 tionship between the United States and sovereign 

24 Indian Tribes for congressional authority to enact 

25 ‘‘legislation that singles out Indians for particular 


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

2 U.S. 535, 554–555 (1974). 

3 (4) Legislation removing barriers to Native 

4 American voting is vital for the fulfillment of Con5 gress’ ‘‘unique obligation’’ toward Indians, particu6 larly ensuring that Native American voters are fully 

7 included as ‘‘qualified members of the modern body 

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

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

10 (5) Under the Elections Clause of article I, sec11 tion 4 of the Constitution, Congress has additional 

12 power to regulate any election conducted at least in 

13 part to select Members of Congress. Taken together, 

14 the Indian Commerce Clause and the Election 

15 Clause give Congress broad authority to enact legis16 lation to safeguard the voting rights of Native Amer17 ican voters. 

18 (6) Despite Congress’ decision to grant Native 

19 Americans Federal citizenship, and with it the pro20 tections of the Fifteenth Amendment, with passage 

21 of the Act of June 2, 1924 (Public Law 68–233; 43 

22 Stat. 253) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Citizen23 ship Act of 1924’’), States continued to deploy dis24 tinct methods for disenfranchising Indians by enact25 ing statutes to exclude from voter rolls Indians livVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1694.IH H1694

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1 ing on reservations, requiring that Indians first ter2 minate their relationship with their Indian Tribe, re3 stricting the right to vote on account of a Tribal 

4 member’s ‘‘guardianship’’ status, and imposing lit5 eracy tests. 

6 (7) Barriers to voter access for Native Ameri7 cans persist today, and such barriers range from ob8 structing voter access, to vote dilution and inten9 tional malapportionment of electoral districts. 

10 (8) The Native American Voting Rights Coali11 tion’s recent 9 field hearings in Indian Country and 

12 4-State survey of voter discrimination revealed a 

13 number of additional obstacles that Native Ameri14 cans must overcome in some States, including— 

15 (A) a lack of accessible registration and 

16 polling sites, either due to conditions such as 

17 geography, lack of paved roads, the absence of 

18 reliable and affordable broadband connectivity, 

19 and restrictions on the time and place that peo20 ple can register and vote, and the manner in 

21 which people can register and vote, including 

22 unequal opportunities for absentee, early, mail23 in, and in-person voting; 

24 (B) nontraditional addresses for residents 

25 on Indian reservations, which make voter regVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1694.IH H1694

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1 istration, acquisition of mail-in ballots, and se2 curing required identification difficult, if not 

3 impossible; 

4 (C) inadequate language assistance for 

5 Tribal members, including lack of outreach and 

6 publicity, the failure to provide complete, accu7 rate, and uniform translations of all voting ma8 terials in the relevant Native language, and an 

9 insufficient number of trained bilingual poll 

10 workers; and 

11 (D) voter identification laws that discrimi12 nate against Native Americans. 

13 (9) The Department of Justice and courts have 

14 also recognized that some jurisdictions have been 

15 unresponsive to reasonable requests from federally 

16 recognized Indian Tribes for more accessible voter 

17 registration sites and in-person voting locations. 

18 (10) According to the National Congress of 

19 American Indians, there is a wide gap between the 

20 voter registration and turnout rates of eligible Amer21 ican Indians and Alaska Natives, and the voter reg22 istration and turnout rates of non-Hispanic White 

23 and other racial and ethnic groups. 


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1 (11) Despite these obstacles, the Native Amer2 ican vote continues to play a significant role in na3 tional, State, and local elections. 

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

5 South Dakota, Native Americans comprise approxi6 mately 10 percent or more of the voting population. 

7 (13) The Native American vote also holds great 

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

9 to vote, but are not registered to vote. 

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

11 (1) to fulfill the Federal Government’s trust re12 sponsibility to protect and promote Native Ameri13 cans’ exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed 

14 right to vote, including the right to register to vote 

15 and the ability to access all mechanisms for voting; 

16 (2) to establish preclearance procedures for a 

17 specific subset of State actions that have been used 

18 to restrict access to the polls on Indian lands; 

19 (3) to expand voter registration under the Na20 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

21 20506 et seq.) to cover all Federal facilities, at the 

22 request of the Indian Tribe; 

23 (4) to afford equal treatment to forms of identi24 fication unique to Indian Tribes and their members; 


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1 (5) 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 (6) 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; and 

10 (7) to direct the Department of Justice to con11 sult on an annual basis with Indian Tribes on issues 

12 related to voting. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean16 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self17 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

18 U.S.C. 5304). 

19 (2) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

20 includes— 

21 (A) any Indian country of an Indian Tribe, 

22 as defined under section 1151 of title 18, 

23 United States Code; 

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

25 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 


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

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

3 that Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) or by a Village Cor4 poration that is associated with an Indian Tribe 

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

6 1602)); 

7 (C) any land on which the seat of the Trib8 al Government is located; and 

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

10 designated statistical area associated with an 

11 Indian Tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na12 tive village statistical area associated with an 

13 Indian Tribe, as defined by the Census Bureau 

14 for the purposes of the most recent decennial 

15 census. 

16 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

17 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

18 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu19 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

20 (4) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

21 Government’’ means the recognized governing body 

22 of an Indian Tribe. 


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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING 

2 TASK FORCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

4 Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice 

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

6 and administer, in coordination with the Department of 

7 the Interior, a Native American voting task force grant 

8 program, through which the Office shall provide financial 

9 assistance to eligible applicants to enable those eligible ap10 plicants to establish and operate a Native American Vot11 ing Task Force in each State with a federally recognized 

12 Indian Tribe. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Native American 

14 voting task force grant program is to— 

15 (1) increase voter outreach, education, registra16 tion, and turnout in Native American communities; 

17 (2) increase access to the ballot for Native 

18 American communities, including additional satellite, 

19 early voting, and absentee voting locations; 

20 (3) streamline and reduce inconsistencies in the 

21 voting process for Native Americans; 

22 (4) provide, in the community’s dominant lan23 guage, educational materials and classes on Indian 

24 lands about candidacy filing; 

25 (5) train and educate State and local employ26 ees, including poll workers, about— 


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1 (A) the language assistance and voter as2 sistance requirements under sections 203 and 

3 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

4 U.S.C. 10503; 10508); and 

5 (B) voter identification laws under section 

6 8 of this Act; 

7 (6) identify model programs and best practices 

8 for providing language assistance to Native Amer9 ican communities; 

10 (7) provide non-partisan poll watchers on elec11 tion day in Native American communities; 

12 (8) participate in and evaluate future redis13 tricting efforts; 

14 (9) address issues of internet connectivity as it 

15 relates to voter registration and ballot access in Na16 tive American communities; and 

17 (10) facilitate collaboration between local elec18 tion officials, Native American communities, and 

19 Tribal elections offices. 

20 (c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘eligible appli21 cant’’ means— 

22 (1) an Indian Tribe; 

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

24 official of a State entity responsible for overseeing 

25 elections; 


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1 (3) a nonprofit organization that works, in 

2 whole or in part, on voting issues; or 

3 (4) a consortium of one or more of the entities 

4 described in paragraphs (1) through (3). 

5 (d) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 

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

7 with the Department of the Interior and following 

8 consultation with Indian Tribes about the implemen9 tation of the Native American voting task force 

10 grant program, shall establish guidelines for the 

11 process by which eligible applicants will submit ap12 plications. 

13 (2) APPLICATIONS.—Each eligible applicant de14 siring a grant under this section shall submit an ap15 plication, according to the process established under 

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

17 and containing such information as the Attorney 

18 General may require. Such application shall in19 clude— 

20 (A) a certification that the applicant is an 

21 eligible applicant; 

22 (B) a proposed work plan addressing how 

23 the eligible applicant will establish and admin24 ister a Native American Voting Task Force 


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1 that achieves the purposes described in sub2 section (b); 

3 (C) if the eligible applicant is a consortium 

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

5 of the proposed division of responsibilities be6 tween the participating entities; and 

7 (D) an explanation of the time period that 

8 the proposed Native American Voting Task 

9 Force will cover, which shall be a time period 

10 that is not more than 3 years. 

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

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

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

14 through the grantee’s Native American Voting Task 

15 Force. 

16 (f) RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

17 this section reduces State or local obligations provided for 

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

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

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

21 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), or any other Federal law or 

22 regulation related to voting or the electoral process. 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

25 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2035. 


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1 SEC. 5. TRIBAL DESIGNATED VOTER REGISTRATION SITES. 

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

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

4 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

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

6 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

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

8 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

9 and 

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

11 ‘‘(C) at the request of an Indian Tribe, 

12 any Federal facility or federally funded facility 

13 that is primarily engaged in providing services 

14 to Indian Tribes and that provides such services 

15 to the requesting Indian Tribe; and 

16 ‘‘(D) at the request of an Indian Tribe, not 

17 less than one Federal facility or federally fund18 ed facility that is located on the Indian lands of 

19 the requesting Indian Tribe (which may be the 

20 Federal facility or federally funded facility de21 scribed in subparagraph (C)).’’; and 

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

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

24 that operates a Federal facility or a federally funded 

25 facility that is subject to the provisions of paragraph 

26 (2)(C) or (D), shall designate one or more special 


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1 days at a centralized location within the boundaries 

2 of the Indian lands of each applicable Indian Tribe 

3 for the purpose of informing members of the Indian 

4 Tribe of the timing, registration requirements, and 

5 voting procedures in elections for Federal office, at 

6 no cost to the Indian Tribe.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. ACCESSIBLE TRIBAL DESIGNATED POLLING SITES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (1) DESIGNATION OF STATE OFFICER.—Each 

10 of the several States whose territory contains all or 

11 part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands shall des12 ignate for each Indian Tribe an officer within that 

13 State who will be responsible for compliance with the 

14 provisions of this section. The State shall provide 

15 written notice to each such Indian Tribe of the offi16 cer so designated. 

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 that is held 180 days or later after the date on 

21 which the Indian Tribe initially satisfies such obliga22 tions, any State or political subdivision whose terri23 tory contains all or part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian 

24 lands— 


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1 (A) shall provide a minimum of one polling 

2 place for each precinct in which there are eligi3 ble voters who reside on Indian lands, in a loca4 tion selected by the Indian Tribe and at no cost 

5 to the Indian Tribe; 

6 (B) shall provide, at no cost to the Indian 

7 Tribe, additional polling places in locations se8 lected by an Indian Tribe if, based on the total9 ity of circumstances described in subsection (b), 

10 it is shown that not providing those additional 

11 polling places would result in members of the 

12 Indian Tribe and individuals residing on the In13 dian Tribe’s Indian lands having less oppor14 tunity to vote than eligible voters in that State 

15 or political subdivision who are not members of 

16 an Indian Tribe and do not reside on Indian 

17 lands; 

18 (C) shall, at each polling place located on 

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

20 make voting machines, tabulation machines, 

21 ballots, provisional ballots, and other voting ma22 terials available to the same extent that such 

23 equipment and materials are made available at 

24 other polling places in the State or political 


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1 subdivision that are not located on Indian 

2 lands; 

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

4 Indian lands, conduct the election using the 

5 same voting procedures that are used at other 

6 polling places in the State or political subdivi7 sion that are not located on Indian lands; 

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

9 Indian lands, provide training, compensation, 

10 and other benefits to election officials and poll 

11 workers at no cost to the Indian Tribe and to 

12 the same extent that such training, compensa13 tion, and benefits are provided to election offi14 cials and poll workers at other polling places in 

15 the State or political subdivision that are not lo16 cated on Indian lands; 

17 (F) shall cooperate in good faith with the 

18 efforts of the Indian Tribe to satisfy the re19 quirements of subsection (c); and 

20 (G) may fulfill the State’s obligations 

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

22 existing polling places, by creating new polling 

23 places, or both. 

24 (b) EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOTE.—When 

25 assessing the opportunities to vote provided to members 


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1 of an Indian Tribe and to other eligible voters in the State 

2 residing on Indian lands in order to determine the number 

3 of additional polling places (if any) that a State or political 

4 subdivision must provide in accordance with subsection 

5 (a)(2)(B), the State, political subdivision, and any court 

6 applying this section, shall consider the totality of cir7 cumstances of— 

8 (1) the number of voting-age citizens assigned 

9 to each polling place; 

10 (2) the distances that voters must travel to 

11 reach the polling places; 

12 (3) the time that voters must spend traveling to 

13 reach the polling places, including under inclement 

14 weather conditions; 

15 (4) the modes of transportation, if any, that are 

16 available to voters to use to reach the polling places; 

17 (5) the existence of and access to public trans18 portation to the polling places; and 

19 (6) any other factor relevant to effectuating the 

20 purposes of this Act. 

21 (c) OBLIGATIONS OF THE INDIAN TRIBE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State and political sub23 division obligations under subsection (a)(2) shall 

24 apply with respect to an Indian Tribe only if that 

25 Indian Tribe files a standing request with the officer 


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1 designated under subsection (a)(1) for a polling 

2 place or polling places for future elections, pursuant 

3 to subsection (a)(2)(A), or subsection (a)(2)(B) (if 

4 applicable), which— 

5 (A) specifies the number and locations of 

6 such polling places that the Indian Tribe is re7 questing; 

8 (B) certifies that the Indian Tribe has ar9 ranged access to the facilities in which such 

10 polling places will be located, and that such ac11 cess is in accordance with Federal and State 

12 law; 

13 (C) certifies that the Indian Tribe will en14 sure that each such polling place will be open 

15 and available to all eligible voters who reside in 

16 the precinct or other geographic area assigned 

17 to such polling place, regardless of whether 

18 such eligible voters are members of the Indian 

19 Tribe or of any other Indian Tribe; and 

20 (D) requests that the State shall designate 

21 election officials and poll workers to staff such 

22 polling places, or certifies that the Indian Tribe 

23 will designate election officials and poll workers 

24 to staff such polling places on every day that 

25 the polling places will be open. 


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1 (2) OPT OUT.—At any time that is 60 days or 

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

3 that previously has satisfied the obligations of para4 graph (1) may notify the State that the Indian Tribe 

5 intends to opt out of the standing request for one 

6 or more polling places that were requested in accord7 ance with subsection (a)(2)(A) or subsection 

8 (a)(2)(B) for a particular election or for all future 

9 elections. 

10 (d) FEDERAL POLLING SITES.—At an Indian Tribe’s 

11 request, each State shall designate as voter polling facili12 ties any of the facilities identified in accordance with sec13 tion 7(a)(2)(C) or (D) of the National Voter Registration 

14 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)), at no cost to the 

15 Indian Tribe, provided that the facility meets the require16 ments of Federal and State law as applied to other polling 

17 places within the State or political subdivision. The appli18 cable agency of the Federal Government shall ensure that 

19 such designated facilities are made available as polling 

20 places. 

21 (e) MAIL-IN BALLOTING.—In States or political sub22 divisions that permit absentee or mail-in balloting, the fol23 lowing shall apply with respect to an election for Federal 

24 office: 


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1 (1) All postage shall be prepaid by the Federal 

2 Government and each ballot postmarked the day the 

3 ballot is received at a postal facility located on In4 dian lands. 

5 (2) An Indian Tribe may designate a Tribal 

6 Government building as a ballot pickup and collec7 tion location at no cost to the Indian Tribe. The ap8 plicable State or political subdivision shall collect 

9 ballots from that location. 

10 (3) The State or political subdivision shall pro11 vide mail-in and absentee ballots to each registered 

12 voter residing on Indian lands in the State or polit13 ical subdivision without requiring a residential ad14 dress, a mail-in or absentee ballot request, or an ex15 cuse for a mail-in or absentee ballot. 

16 (4) The address of a designated Tribal Govern17 ment building that is a ballot pickup and collection 

18 location under paragraph (2) may serve as the ad19 dress and mailing address for voters living on Indian 

20 lands if the designated Tribal Government building 

21 is in the same precinct as that voter. If such des22 ignated Tribal Government building is not in the 

23 same precinct as the voter, the voter may use the 

24 designated Tribal Government building as a mailing 

25 address and may separately designate the voter’s apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1694.IH H1694

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1 propriate precinct through a description of the vot2 er’s address, as specified in section 9428.4(a)(2) of 

3 title 11, Code of Federal Regulations. 

4 (5) In the case of a State or political subdivi5 sion that is a covered State or political subdivision 

6 under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

7 (52 U.S.C. 10503), that State or political subdivi8 sion shall provide absentee or mail-in voting mate9 rials in the language of the applicable minority 

10 group as well as in the English language, bilingual 

11 election voting assistance, and written translations 

12 of all voting materials in the language of the appli13 cable minority group, as required by section 203 of 

14 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), 

15 as amended by this Act. 

16 (f) EARLY VOTING.—In a State or political subdivi17 sion that provides for early voting, that State or political 

18 subdivision shall provide not less than one early voting lo19 cation on Indian lands, upon the request of the applicable 

20 Indian Tribe and at a site selected by the applicable In21 dian Tribe. 

22 (g) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen24 eral may bring a civil action in an appropriate disVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1694.IH H1694

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1 trict court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as 

2 is necessary to carry out this section. 

3 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

4 (A) A person or Tribal Government who is 

5 aggrieved by a violation of this section may pro6 vide written notice of the violation to the chief 

7 election official of the State involved. 

8 (B) An aggrieved person or Tribal Govern9 ment may bring a civil action in an appropriate 

10 district court for declaratory or injunctive relief 

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

12 (i) that person or Tribal Government 

13 provides the notice described in subpara14 graph (A); and 

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

16 occurs more than 120 days before the date 

17 of an election for Federal office, the viola18 tion remains and 90 days or more have 

19 passed since the date on which the chief 

20 election official of the State receives the 

21 notice under subparagraph (A); or 

22 (II) in the case of a violation that oc23 curs 120 days or less before the date of an 

24 election for Federal office, the violation re25 mains and 20 days or more have passed 


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1 since the date on which the chief election 

2 official of the State receives the notice 

3 under subparagraph (A). 

4 (C) In the case of a violation of this sec5 tion that occurs 30 days or less before the date 

6 of an election for Federal office, an aggrieved 

7 person or Tribal Government may bring a civil 

8 action in an appropriate district court for de9 claratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

10 violation without providing notice to the chief 

11 election official of the State under subpara12 graph (A). 

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

14 section shall be construed to prevent a State or po15 litical subdivision from providing additional polling 

16 places on Indian lands if no request was made by an 

17 Indian Tribe under this section. 

18 SEC. 7. TRIBAL PRECLEARANCE. 

19 (a) ACTIONS REQUIRING PRECLEARANCE.—No State 

20 or political subdivision may carry out any of the following 

21 activities unless the requirements of subsection (b) have 

22 been met: 

23 (1) Eliminating the only polling place or voter 

24 registration site on the Indian lands of an Indian 

25 Tribe. 


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1 (2) Moving or consolidating a polling place or 

2 voter registration site on the Indian lands of an In3 dian Tribe to a location 1 mile or further from the 

4 existing location of the polling place or voter reg5 istration site. 

6 (3) Moving or consolidating a polling place on 

7 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe to a location 

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

9 boundary such that it makes travel difficult for a 

10 voter, regardless of distance. 

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

12 lands of an Indian Tribe by designating an Indian 

13 reservation as a permanent absentee voting location, 

14 unless— 

15 (A) the entire State is or becomes a per16 manent absentee voting State; or 

17 (B) the Indian Tribe requests such a des18 ignation. 

19 (5) Removing an early voting location or other20 wise diminishing early voting opportunities on In21 dian lands. 

22 (6) Decreasing the number of days or hours 

23 that an in-person or early voting location is open on 

24 the Indian lands of an Indian Tribe or changing the 


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1 dates of in-person or early voting on the Indian 

2 lands of an Indian Tribe. 

3 (b) PRECLEARANCE.— 

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

5 subsection have been met if— 

6 (A) the impacted Tribal Government sub7 mits to the Attorney General the Tribal Govern8 ment’s written consent to the proposed activity 

9 described in subsection (a); 

10 (B) the State or political subdivision insti11 tutes an action in the United States District 

12 Court for the District of Columbia for a declar13 atory judgment, and a declaratory judgment is 

14 issued, establishing that the specified activity 

15 described in subsection (a) that the State or po16 litical subdivision desires to carry out neither 

17 has the purpose nor will have the effect of deny18 ing or abridging the right to vote on account of 

19 race or color, or membership in a language mi20 nority group; or 

21 (C) the chief legal officer or other appro22 priate official of such State or political subdivi23 sion submits a request to carry out the specified 

24 activity described in subsection (a) to the Attor25 ney General and the Attorney General has not 


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1 interposed an objection within 60 days after 

2 such submission, or upon good cause shown, to 

3 facilitate an expedited approval within 60 days 

4 after such submission, the Attorney General has 

5 affirmatively indicated that such objection will 

6 not be made. 

7 (2) NO LIMITATION ON FUTURE ACTIONS.— 

8 Neither an affirmative indication by the Attorney 

9 General that no objection will be made, nor the At10 torney General’s failure to object, nor a declaratory 

11 judgment entered under this section, nor a written 

12 consent issued under paragraph (1)(A) shall bar a 

13 subsequent action to enjoin enforcement of an activ14 ity described in subsection (a). In the event the At15 torney General affirmatively indicates that no objec16 tion will be made within the 60-day period following 

17 receipt of a submission, the Attorney General may 

18 reserve the right to reexamine the submission if ad19 ditional information comes to the Attorney General’s 

20 attention during the remainder of the 60-day period 

21 which would otherwise require objection in accord22 ance with this section. Any action under this section 

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

24 in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of 


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1 title 28 of the United States Code and any appeal 

2 shall lie to the Supreme Court. 

3 SEC. 8. TRIBAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION. 

4 (a) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT IDENTIFICATION.—If a 

5 State or political subdivision requires an individual to 

6 present identification for the purposes of voting or reg7 istering to vote in an election for Federal office, an identi8 fication card issued by a federally recognized Tribal Gov9 ernment, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health 

10 Service, or any other Tribal or Federal agency issuing 

11 identification cards to Indian voters shall be treated as 

12 a valid form of identification for such purposes. 

13 (b) VALIDITY OF TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.— 

14 An individual shall not be required to show that a Tribal 

15 identification card includes a residential address or an ex16 piration date in order for such Tribal identification card 

17 to be considered valid for purposes of voting or registering 

18 to vote. The voter may instead separately designate the 

19 voter’s appropriate voting precinct through a description 

20 of the voter’s address that conforms with the regulations 

21 for national mail voter registration forms, as established 

22 under section 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Federal 

23 Regulations. 

24 (c) ONLINE REGISTRATION.—If a State or political 

25 subdivision requires an identification card for an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1694.IH H1694

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1 vidual to register to vote online or to vote online, that 

2 State or political subdivision shall consider an identifica3 tion card as described in subsection (a) to be a valid form 

4 of identification for the purpose of registering to vote on5 line or voting online. 

6 SEC. 9. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS. 

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

8 U.S.C. 10503) is amended— 

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

10 and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

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

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF VOTING MATERIALS IN THE LAN14 GUAGE OF A MINORITY GROUP.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any State or po16 litical subdivision subject to the prohibition of sub17 section (b) of this section provides any registration 

18 or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or 

19 other materials or information relating to the elec20 toral process, including ballots, it shall provide them 

21 in the language of the applicable minority group as 

22 well as in the English language. 

23 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) In the case of a minority group 

2 that is not American Indian or Alaska Na3 tive and the language of that minority 

4 group is oral or unwritten, the State or po5 litical subdivision shall only be required to 

6 furnish, in the covered language, oral in7 structions, assistance, translation of voting 

8 materials, or other information relating to 

9 registration and voting. 

10 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a minority group 

11 that is American Indian or Alaska Native, 

12 the State or political subdivision shall only 

13 be required to furnish in the covered lan14 guage oral instructions, assistance, or 

15 other information relating to registration 

16 and voting, including all voting materials, 

17 if the Tribal Government of that minority 

18 group has certified that the language of 

19 the applicable American Indian or Alaska 

20 Native language is presently unwritten or 

21 the Tribal Government does not want writ22 ten translations in the minority language. 

23 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION

24 WORKERS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the 

25 State or political division may be required to provide 


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1 written translations of voting materials, with the 

2 consent of any applicable Indian Tribe, to election 

3 workers to ensure that the translations from English 

4 to the language of a minority group are complete, 

5 accurate, and uniform.’’. 

6 SEC. 10. FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO PROTECT TRIBAL VOT7 ING RIGHTS. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF

9 1965.—Section 8(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

10 U.S.C. 10305(a)) is amended— 

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

12 semicolon; 

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

14 the semicolon; and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General has received a writ18 ten complaint from an Indian Tribe that efforts to 

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

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

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

22 likely to occur;’’. 

23 (b) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORTS.—The Attorney 

24 General shall make publicly available the reports of a Fed25 eral election observer appointed pursuant to section 


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

2 10305(a)(3)), as added by subsection (a), not later than 

3 6 months after the date that such reports are submitted 

4 to the Attorney General, except that any personally identi5 fiable information relating to a voter or the substance of 

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

7 SEC. 11. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

8 The Attorney General shall consult annually with In9 dian Tribes regarding issues related to voting in elections 

10 for Federal office. 

11 SEC. 12. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, EXPERT FEES, AND LITIGATION 

12 EXPENSES. 

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

14 the prevailing party, other than the United States, reason15 able attorney fees, including litigation expenses, reason16 able expert fees, and costs. 

17 SEC. 13. SEVERABILITY; RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

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

20 or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remaining provi21 sions of this Act and the application of all provisions of 

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

23 not be affected by the invalidity. 

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

6 Federal law or regulation related to voting or the electoral 

7 process. 

8 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

10 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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