109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9
AN ACT 
To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9
AN ACT 
To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fannie Lou Hamer, 
Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act 
Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure 
that the right of all citizens to vote, including the right 
to register to vote and cast meaningful votes, is preserved 
and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution. 
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Significant progress has been made in elimi-
nating first generation barriers experienced by mi-
nority voters, including increased numbers of reg-
istered minority voters, minority voter turnout, and 
minority representation in Congress, State legisla-
tures, and local elected offices. This progress is the 
direct result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
(2) However, vestiges of discrimination in vot-
ing continue to exist as demonstrated by second gen-
eration barriers constructed to prevent minority vot-
ers from fully participating in the electoral process. 
(3) The continued evidence of racially polarized 
voting in each of the jurisdictions covered by the ex-
piring provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
demonstrates that racial and language minorities re-
main politically vulnerable, warranting the continued 
protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
(4) Evidence of continued discrimination in-
cludes—
(A) the hundreds of objections interposed, 
requests for more information submitted fol-
lowed by voting changes withdrawn from con-
sideration by jurisdictions covered by the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965, and section 5 enforcement 
actions undertaken by the Department of Jus-
tice in covered jurisdictions since 1982 that 
prevented election practices, such as annex-
ation, at-large voting, and the use of multi-
member districts, from being enacted to dilute 
minority voting strength; 
(B) the number of requests for declaratory 
judgments denied by the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia; 
(C) the continued filing of section 2 cases 
that originated in covered jurisdictions; and 
(D) the litigation pursued by the Depart-
ment of Justice since 1982 to enforce sections 
4(e), 4(f)(4), and 203 of such Act to ensure 
that all language minority citizens have full ac-
cess to the political process.
(5) The evidence clearly shows the continued 
need for Federal oversight in jurisdictions covered 
by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 since 1982, as 
demonstrated in the counties certified by the Attor-
ney General for Federal examiner and observer cov-
erage and the tens of thousands of Federal observers 
that have been dispatched to observe elections in 
covered jurisdictions. 
(6) The effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965 has been significantly weakened by the 
United States Supreme Court decisions in Reno v. 
Bossier Parish II and Georgia v. Ashcroft, which 
have misconstrued Congress’ original intent in en-
acting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and narrowed 
the protections afforded by section 5 of such Act. 
(7) Despite the progress made by minorities 
under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the evidence 
before Congress reveals that 40 years has not been 
a sufficient amount of time to eliminate the vestiges 
of discrimination following nearly 100 years of dis-
regard for the dictates of the 15th amendment and 
to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote is pro-
tected as guaranteed by the Constitution. 
(8) Present day discrimination experienced by 
racial and language minority voters is contained in
evidence, including the objections interposed by the 
Department of Justice in covered jurisdictions; the 
section 2 litigation filed to prevent dilutive tech-
niques from adversely affecting minority voters; the 
enforcement actions filed to protect language minori-
ties; and the tens of thousands of Federal observers 
dispatched to monitor polls in jurisdictions covered 
by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
(9) The record compiled by Congress dem-
onstrates that, without the continuation of the Vot-
ing Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and lan-
guage minority citizens will be deprived of the oppor-
tunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have 
their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains 
made by minorities in the last 40 years. 
SEC. 3. CHANGES RELATING TO USE OF EXAMINERS AND 
OBSERVERS. 
(a) USE OF OBSERVERS.—Section 8 of the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973f) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 8. (a) Whenever—
‘‘(1) a court has authorized the appointment of 
observers under section 3(a) for a political subdivi-
sion; or
‘‘(2) the Attorney General certifies with respect 
to any political subdivision named in, or included 
within the scope of, determinations made under sec-
tion 4(b), unless a declaratory judgment has been 
rendered under section 4(a), that—
‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received 
written meritorious complaints from residents, 
elected officials, or civic participation organiza-
tions that efforts to deny or abridge the right 
to vote under the color of law on account of 
race or color, or in contravention of the guaran-
tees set forth in section 4(f)(2) are likely to 
occur; or 
‘‘(B) in the Attorney General’s judgment 
(considering, among other factors, whether the 
ratio of nonwhite persons to white persons reg-
istered to vote within such subdivision appears 
to the Attorney General to be reasonably attrib-
utable to violations of the 14th or 15th amend-
ment or whether substantial evidence exists that 
bona fide efforts are being made within such 
subdivision to comply with the 14th or 15th 
amendment), the assignment of observers is 
otherwise necessary to enforce the guarantees 
of the 14th or 15th amendment;
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
shall assign as many observers for such subdivision 
as the Director may deem appropriate. 
‘‘(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), such ob-
servers shall be assigned, compensated, and separated 
without regard to the provisions of any statute adminis-
tered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment, and their service under this Act shall not be consid-
ered employment for the purposes of any statute adminis-
tered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment, except the provisions of section 7324 of title 5, 
United States Code, prohibiting partisan political activity. 
‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment is authorized to, after consulting the head of the ap-
propriate department or agency, designate suitable per-
sons in the official service of the United States, with their 
consent, to serve in these positions. 
‘‘(d) Observers shall be authorized to—
‘‘(1) enter and attend at any place for holding 
an election in such subdivision for the purpose of ob-
serving whether persons who are entitled to vote are 
being permitted to vote; and 
‘‘(2) enter and attend at any place for tab-
ulating the votes cast at any election held in such 
subdivision for the purpose of observing whether
votes cast by persons entitled to vote are being prop-
erly tabulated. 
‘‘(e) Observers shall investigate and report to the At-
torney General, and if the appointment of observers has 
been authorized pursuant to section 3(a), to the court.’’. 
(b) MODIFICATION OF SECTION 13.—Section 13 of 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973k) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 13. (a) The assignment of observers shall ter-
minate in any political subdivision of any State—
‘‘(1) with respect to observers appointed pursu-
ant to section 8 or with respect to examiners cer-
tified under this Act before the date of the enact-
ment of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and 
Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthoriza-
tion and Amendments Act of 2006, whenever the At-
torney General notifies the Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management, or whenever the District 
Court for the District of Columbia determines in an 
action for declaratory judgment brought by any po-
litical subdivision described in subsection (b), that 
there is no longer reasonable cause to believe that 
persons will be deprived of or denied the right to 
vote on account of race or color, or in contravention
of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2) in such 
subdivision; and 
‘‘(2) with respect to observers appointed pursu-
ant to section 3(a), upon order of the authorizing 
court. 
‘‘(b) A political subdivision referred to in subsection 
(a)(1) is one with respect to which the Director of the Cen-
sus has determined that more than 50 per centum of the 
nonwhite persons of voting age residing therein are reg-
istered to vote. 
‘‘(c) A political subdivision may petition the Attorney 
General for a termination under subsection (a)(1).’’. 
(c) REPEAL
OF SECTIONS RELATING
TO EXAM-
INERS.—Sections 6, 7, and 9 of the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973d, 1973e and 1973g) are re-
pealed. 
(d) SUBSTITUTION OF REFERENCES TO ‘‘OBSERV-
ERS’’ FOR REFERENCES TO ‘‘EXAMINERS’’.—
(1) Section 3(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973a(a)) is amended by striking 
‘‘examiners’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘observers’’. 
(2) Section 4(a)(1)(C) of the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(a)(1)(C)) is amended by 
inserting ‘‘or observers’’ after ‘‘examiners’’.
(3) Section 12(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(b)) is amended by striking 
‘‘an examiner has been appointed’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
observer has been assigned’’. 
(4) Section 12(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(e)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘examiners’’ and inserting 
‘‘observers’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘examiner’’ each place it 
appears and inserting ‘‘observer’’. 
(e) CONFORMING CHANGES RELATING TO SECTION 
REFERENCES.—
(1) Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(b)) is amended by striking 
‘‘section 6’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8’’. 
(2) Subsections (a) and (c) of section 12 of the 
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973j(a) and 
1973j(c)) are each amended by striking ‘‘7,’’. 
(3) Section 14(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973l(b)) is amended by striking 
‘‘or a court of appeals in any proceeding under sec-
tion 9’’. 
SEC. 4. RECONSIDERATION OF SECTION 4 BY CONGRESS. 
Paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 4(a) of the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973b(a)) are each amend-
ed by striking ‘‘Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and 
Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization 
and Amendments Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT. 
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 1973c) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘does not have the purpose and 
will not have the effect’’ and inserting ‘‘neither has 
the purpose nor will have the effect’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) Any voting qualification or prerequisite to vot-
ing, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 
voting that has the purpose of or will have the effect of 
diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United States 
on account of race or color, or in contravention of the 
guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), to elect their pre-
ferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the right 
to vote within the meaning of subsection (a) of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(c) The term ‘purpose’ in subsections (a) and (b) 
of this section shall include any discriminatory purpose.
‘‘(d) The purpose of subsection (b) of this section is 
to protect the ability of such citizens to elect their pre-
ferred candidates of choice.’’. 
SEC. 6. EXPERT FEES AND OTHER REASONABLE COSTS OF 
LITIGATION. 
Section 14(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 1973l(e)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, reasonable ex-
pert fees, and other reasonable litigation expenses’’ after 
‘‘reasonable attorney’s fee’’. 
SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
Section 203(b)(1) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
(42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a(b)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2032’’. 
SEC. 8. USE OF AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY CENSUS 
DATA. 
Section 203(b)(2)(A) of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘census data’’ and inserting ‘‘the 2010 American 
Community Survey census data and subsequent American 
Community Survey data in 5-year increments, or com-
parable census data’’. 
SEC. 9. STUDY AND REPORT. 
The Comptroller General shall study the implementa-
tion, effectiveness, and efficiency of the current section
203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and alternatives 
to the current implementation consistent with that section. 
The Comptroller General shall report the results of that 
study to Congress not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives July 13, 2006. 
Attest:
Clerk.