I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 764 
To require that ballots used in Federal elections be generally printed only 
in English and to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to modify 
the requirement that certain jurisdictions provide ballots and other voting 
materials in languages other than English, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2009 
Mr. HELLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require that ballots used in Federal elections be generally 
printed only in English and to amend the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965 to modify the requirement that certain juris-
dictions provide ballots and other voting materials in 
languages other than English, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘American Elections 
Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIRING BALLOTS USED IN FEDERAL ELEC-
TIONS TO BE PROVIDED ONLY IN ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 303 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. REQUIRING BALLOTS USED IN FEDERAL ELEC-
TIONS TO BE PROVIDED ONLY IN ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except to the extent required 
under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, all 
ballots and balloting material used with respect to an elec-
tion for Federal office, including all voting information de-
scribed in section 302(b), may be provided only in the 
English language. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office held in November 2010 and each succeeding 
election for Federal office.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) CONTENTS OF PERIODIC ELECTION ADMIN-
ISTRATION STUDIES.—Section 241 of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 15381) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)(1)— 
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(i) by striking ‘‘voters, individuals’’ 
and inserting ‘‘voters and individuals’’, and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘, and voters with lim-
ited proficiency in the English language’’; 
(B) in subsection (b)(5)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘impaired), Native 
American’’ and inserting ‘‘impaired) and 
Native American’’, and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘, and voters with lim-
ited proficiency in the English language’’; 
and 
(C) by striking subsection (b)(14). 
(2) ENFORCEMENT OF REQUIREMENT.—Section 
401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by 
striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘, 303, and 
303A’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 303 the following: 
‘‘303A. Requiring ballots used in Federal elections to be provided only in 
English language.’’. 
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SEC. 3. BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR CER-
TAIN POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS WITH POPU-
LATIONS OF AMERICAN INDIANS OR ALASKA 
NATIVES. 
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 1973aa–1a) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN PO-
LITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS
WITH
POPULATIONS
OF 
AMERICAN INDIANS OR ALASKA NATIVES 
‘‘SEC. 203. (a) BASIS
FOR REQUIREMENT.—The 
Congress finds that Native American dialect translations 
should be provided in voting materials because the lan-
guages of Native Americans and Native Alaskans predate 
the establishment of the United States. 
‘‘(b) BILINGUAL
VOTING
MATERIALS
REQUIRE-
MENT.— 
‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—Before August 6, 2032, no 
covered political subdivision of a State shall provide 
voting materials only in the English language. 
‘‘(2) COVERED
POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS.—A 
political subdivision is a covered political subdivision 
for the purposes of this subsection if the Director of 
the Census determines, based on the 2010 American 
Community Survey census data and subsequent 
American Community Survey data in 5-year incre-
ments, or comparable census data, that— 
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‘‘(A) the political subdivision contains all 
or any part of an Indian reservation and more 
than 5 percent of the American Indian or Alas-
ka Native citizens of voting age within the In-
dian reservation are members of a single lan-
guage minority and are limited-English pro-
ficient; and 
‘‘(B) the illiteracy rate of the citizens in 
the language minority as a group is higher than 
the national illiteracy rate. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘language minorities’ means 
persons who are American Indian or Alaskan 
Natives; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘voting materials’ means 
registration or voting notices, forms, instruc-
tions, assistance, or other materials or informa-
tion relating to the electoral process, including 
ballots; 
‘‘(C) the term ‘limited-English proficient’ 
means unable to speak or understand English 
adequately enough to participate in the electoral 
process; 
‘‘(D) the term ‘Indian reservation’ means 
any area that is an American Indian or Alaska 
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Native area, as defined by the Census Bureau 
for the purposes of the 1990 decennial census; 
‘‘(E) the term ‘citizens’ means citizens of 
the United States; and 
‘‘(F) the term ‘illiteracy’ means the failure 
to complete the 5th primary grade. 
‘‘(4) SPECIAL
RULE.—The determinations of 
the Director of the Census under this subsection 
shall be effective upon publication in the Federal 
Register and shall not be subject to review in any 
court. 
‘‘(c) ENGLISH
AND
NON-ENGLISH
VERSIONS.— 
Whenever any political subdivision subject to the prohibi-
tion of subsection (b) of this section provides any registra-
tion or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or 
other materials or information relating to the electoral 
process, including ballots, it shall provide them in the lan-
guage of the applicable minority group as well as in the 
English language. However, where the language is histori-
cally unwritten, the political subdivision is only required 
to furnish oral instructions, assistance, or other informa-
tion relating to registration and voting. 
‘‘(d) DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.—Any political sub-
division subject to the prohibition of subsection (b) of this 
section, which seeks to provide English-only registration 
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or voting materials or information, including ballots, may 
file an action against the United States in the United 
States District Court for a declaratory judgment permit-
ting such provision. The court shall grant the requested 
relief if it determines that the illiteracy rate of the applica-
ble language minority group within the political subdivi-
sion is equal to or less than the national illiteracy rate.’’. 
Æ 
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