II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2399 

To safeguard the voting rights of Native American and Alaska Native voters 

and to provide the resources and oversight necessary to ensure equal 

access to the electoral process. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2014 

Mr. BEGICH (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WALSH, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, and Ms. HEITKAMP) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To safeguard the voting rights of Native American and Alaska Native voters and to provide the resources and oversight necessary to ensure equal access to the electoral 

process. 

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 Voting Rights 

5 Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION; ACTIONS FOR A DIS2 PARITY IN AVAILABILITY OF POLLING 

3 PLACES. 

4 Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 1973) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) If a State or political subdivision requires an in7 dividual to present a valid form of identification for the 

8 purposes of voting, including registering to vote, an indi9 vidual’s unexpired tribal identification document issued by 

10 an Indian tribe (including a tribal identification document 

11 issued by a Native Corporation, as defined in section 3 

12 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

13 1602)) shall be treated as a valid form of identification 

14 for such purposes. 

15 ‘‘(d)(1)(A) The Attorney General may institute in the 

16 name of the United States actions, including actions 

17 against States or political subdivisions, for declaratory 

18 judgment or injunctive relief if the Attorney General finds, 

19 at the discretion of the Attorney General, a disparity be20 tween in-person voting opportunities for members of an 

21 Indian tribe as compared to in-person voting opportunities 

22 for individuals who are not members of an Indian tribe. 

23 ‘‘(B) Such injunctive relief shall include measures to 

24 reduce such disparity by increasing the availability of poll25 ing places. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The district courts of the United States shall 

2 have jurisdiction of such actions which shall be heard and 

3 determined by a court of three judges in accordance with 

4 the provisions of section 2284 of title 28 of the United 

5 States Code and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme 

6 Court. It shall be the duty of the judges designated to 

7 hear the case to assign the case for hearing at the earliest 

8 practicable date, to participate in the hearing and deter9 mination thereof, and to cause the case to be in every way 

10 expedited. There shall be a presumption that such dis11 parity results in a denial or abridgement of the right of 

12 any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race 

13 or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth 

14 in section 4(f)(2). 

15 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), an ag16 grieved person may bring an action described in paragraph 

17 (1)(A). The provisions of paragraph (2) shall apply to 

18 such action.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. PROTECTIONS RELATING TO POLLING PLACES ON 

20 INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 

21 (a) Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

22 U.S.C. 1973b) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(g) PROTECTIONS RELATING TO INDIAN RESERVA25 TIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State or political sub2 division shall carry out any of the following activities 

3 unless that State or political subdivision obtains the 

4 approval of the court or the nonobjection of the At5 torney General under section 5(a): 

6 ‘‘(A) Eliminating the only polling place or 

7 voter registration site on an Indian reservation. 

8 ‘‘(B) Moving or consolidating a polling 

9 place or voter registration site 1 mile or further 

10 from the existing location of the polling place or 

11 voter registration site on an Indian reservation. 

12 ‘‘(C) Moving or consolidating a polling 

13 place on an Indian reservation across a river, 

14 lake, mountain, or other natural boundary such 

15 that it makes travel difficult for a voter, regard16 less of distance. 

17 ‘‘(D) Eliminating in-person voting on an 

18 Indian reservation by designating an Indian 

19 reservation as a permanent absentee voting lo20 cation, unless the entire State is or becomes a 

21 permanent absentee voting State. 

22 ‘‘(E) Removing an early voting location or 

23 otherwise diminishing early voting opportunities 

24 on an Indian reservation. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Decreasing the number of days or 

2 hours that an in-person or early voting location 

3 is open on an Indian reservation or changing 

4 the dates of in-person or early voting on an In5 dian reservation. 

6 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub7 section, the term ‘Indian reservation’ shall have the 

8 meaning given such term under section 203(b)(3).’’. 

9 (b) Section 5(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

10 (42 U.S.C. 1973c(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘or when12 ever a State or political subdivision shall enact or 

13 seek to administer any of the activities described in 

14 subsection (g) of section 4’’ after ‘‘November 1, 

15 1972,’’; and 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘or procedure’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘procedure, or activity’’ each place the term ap18 pears. 

19 SEC. 4. FEDERAL ELECTION OVERSIGHT ON INDIAN RES20 ERVATIONS. 

21 Section 8 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

22 U.S.C. 1973f) is amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 

24 as subsections (c) through (f), respectively; 


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1 (2) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para2 graph (1) of this section, by striking ‘‘subsection (c), 

3 such observers’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d), the 

4 observers described in this section’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(b) The Attorney General may authorize Federal ob8 servers for elections that occur on an Indian reservation, 

9 as defined under section 203, if the Attorney General has 

10 received from a tribal organization— 

11 ‘‘(1) a written complaint that efforts to deny or 

12 abridge the right to vote under the color of law on 

13 account of race or color, or in contravention of the 

14 guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), may occur on 

15 an Indian reservation; and 

16 ‘‘(2) a request for the authorization of Federal 

17 observers for elections that occur on that Indian res18 ervation.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF ELECTION OBSERVERS. 

20 Section 13(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

21 U.S.C. 1973k(a)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘section 8’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘subsection (a) of section 8’’; and 

25 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) with respect to observers appointed pursu5 ant to subsection (b) of section 8, after the end of 

6 the next general election for the office of Presi7 dent.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

9 Section 14(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

10 U.S.C. 1973l(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(4) The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organiza13 tion’ have the meaning given such terms under section 4 

14 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist15 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

16 ‘‘(5) The term ‘member of an Indian tribe’ means an 

17 individual who is a member of an Indian tribe, as defined 

18 under section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

19 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b) and includes 

20 a member of a Native Corporation, as defined in section 

21 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

22 1602).’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS; DEFINITION 

2 OF INDIAN RESERVATION. 

3 Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

4 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a) is amended— 

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

6 and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

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

8 of Alaskan natives and American Indians, if the pre9 dominant language is historically unwritten’’ and in10 serting ‘‘(as of the date on which the materials or 

11 information is provided)’’. 

12 SEC. 8. ELECTION OBSERVER TRANSPARENCY. 

13 The Attorney General shall make publicly available 

14 the reports of Federal election observers appointed in ac15 cordance with section 8 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1973f), not later than 6 months after the date 

17 that such reports are submitted to the Attorney General. 

18 SEC. 9. TRIBAL VOTING CONSULTATION. 

19 The Attorney General shall, to the extent practicable, 

20 consult annually with tribal organizations regarding issues 

21 relating to voting for members of an Indian tribe. 

Æ 


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