Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006
PL 109-246 (H.R.9), enacted 07/27/2006

120 STAT. 577
PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006
Public Law 109–246
109th Congress
An Act
To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 eliminating first
generation barriers experienced by minority voters, including
increased numbers of registered 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 voting continue
to exist as demonstrated by second generation barriers con-
structed to prevent minority voters from fully participating
in the electoral process.
(3) The continued evidence of racially polarized voting in
each of the jurisdictions covered by the expiring provisions
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 demonstrates that racial
and language minorities remain politically vulnerable, war-
ranting the continued protection of the Voting Rights Act of
1965.
(4) Evidence of continued discrimination includes—
(A) the hundreds of objections interposed, requests for
more information submitted followed by voting changes
withdrawn from consideration by jurisdictions covered by
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and section 5 enforcement
actions undertaken by the Department of Justice in covered
jurisdictions since 1982 that prevented election practices,
such as annexation, 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;
Fannie Lou
Hamer, Rosa
Parks, and
Coretta Scott
King Voting
Rights Act
Reauthorization
and Amendments
Act of 2006.
42 USC 1971
note.
42 USC 1973
note.
July 27, 2006
[H.R. 9]
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120 STAT. 578
PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006
(C) the continued filing of section 2 cases that origi-
nated in covered jurisdictions; and
(D) the litigation pursued by the Department 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 access to the political process.
(5) The evidence clearly shows the continued need for Fed-
eral oversight in jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 since 1982, as demonstrated in the counties certified
by the Attorney General for Federal examiner and observer
coverage and the tens of thousands of Federal observers that
have been dispatched to observe elections in covered jurisdic-
tions.
(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 enacting 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 disregard for the dictates of the 15th amendment
and to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote is protected
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 cov-
ered jurisdictions; the section 2 litigation filed to prevent dilu-
tive techniques from adversely affecting minority voters; the
enforcement actions filed to protect language minorities; and
the tens of thousands of Federal observers dispatched to mon-
itor polls in jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.
(9) The record compiled by Congress demonstrates that,
without the continuation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
protections, racial and language minority citizens will be
deprived of the opportunity 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 subdivision; or
‘‘(2) the Attorney General certifies with respect to any
political subdivision named in, or included within the scope
of, determinations made under section 4(b), unless a declaratory
judgment has been rendered under section 4(a), that—
‘‘(A) the Attorney General has received written meri-
torious complaints from residents, elected officials, or civic
participation organizations that efforts to deny or abridge
the right to vote under the color of law on account of
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120 STAT. 579
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race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees 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 registered to vote within such subdivision
appears to the Attorney General to be reasonably attrib-
utable to violations of the 14th or 15th amendment 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 observers shall
be assigned, compensated, and separated without regard to the
provisions of any statute administered by the Director of the Office
of Personnel Management, and their service under this Act shall
not be considered employment for the purposes of any statute
administered 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 Management is
authorized to, after consulting the head of the appropriate depart-
ment or agency, designate suitable persons 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 observing whether per-
sons who are entitled to vote are being permitted to vote;
and
‘‘(2) enter and attend at any place for tabulating 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 properly tabulated.
‘‘(e) Observers shall investigate and report to the Attorney
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 terminate in
any political subdivision of any State—
‘‘(1) with respect to observers appointed pursuant to section
8 or with respect to examiners certified under this Act before
the date of the enactment of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa
Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthoriza-
tion and Amendments Act of 2006, whenever the Attorney
General notifies the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment, or whenever the District Court for the District of
Columbia determines in an action for declaratory judgment
brought by any political 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
Investigation.
Reports.
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120 STAT. 580
PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006
‘‘(2) with respect to observers appointed pursuant 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 Census has determined
that more than 50 per centum of the nonwhite persons of voting
age residing therein are registered to vote.
‘‘(c) A political subdivision may petition the Attorney General
for a termination under subsection (a)(1).’’.
(c) REPEAL OF SECTIONS RELATING TO EXAMINERS.—Sections
6, 7, and 9 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973d,
1973e and 1973g) are repealed.
(d) SUBSTITUTION OF REFERENCES TO ‘‘OBSERVERS’’ FOR REF-
ERENCES 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
REF-
ERENCES.—
(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 section 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 amended 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 voting, or
standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting that has
the purpose of or will have the effect of diminishing the ability
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120 STAT. 581
PUBLIC LAW 109–246—JULY 27, 2006
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 9 (S. 2703):
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 109–478 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
SENATE REPORTS: No. 109–295 accompanying S. 2703 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 152 (2006):
July 13, considered and passed House.
July 20, considered and passed Senate.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 42 (2006):
July 27, Presidential remarks.
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 preferred candidates of choice denies or abridges
the right to vote within the meaning of subsection (a) of this
section.
‘‘(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 preferred 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 expert fees, and
other reasonable litigation expenses’’ after ‘‘reasonable attorney’s
fee’’.
SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.
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 comparable census data’’.
SEC. 9. STUDY AND REPORT.
The Comptroller General shall study the implementation,
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.
Approved July 27, 2006.
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