[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.9
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and six
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,

7b438518a4f8f015395e0e92827a1ec0d10b46d86bfa26dbce3d884773776948

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''.

cb83a442a134fba946a21d199fe1e97797fa2ef26090a46da0d81d464eb2b191

(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
legislatures, 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 constructed 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, warranting 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more information submitted followed by voting changes withdrawn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;
(C) the continued filing of section 2 cases that originated
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 Federal
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 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 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 covered
jurisdictions; the section 2 litigation filed to prevent dilutive
techniques from adversely affecting minority voters; the
enforcement actions filed to protect language minorities; 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 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.

cdb9cbfc3b1de80df3997b6a0941d2e879a7862cfdb47f4bd2db7e5951612f3d

(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 meritorious
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 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 attributable
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 Management, 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 department
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 persons 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 Reauthorization and Amendments
Act of 2006, whenever the Attorney 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 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
``(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 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 section 9''.

a228fc4cc1e6ca63ddfaeea16a80b4e3c2cb1d6724d0823a40cb04d873b8be82

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''.

e593a9cb13ff72015ff8d43a9b5ae035b41bbaab5e08df6c46a6f23d6763c891

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 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.''.

699ed54a8862eea529d6b2ee18e4ad842209f4f1d87834f7cb26e9f97174a857

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''.

70374307b9021678345296a9b24c8aac7371df582b646189be6da4a508b12a4a

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''.

0d374859715b877912e25dc19469537f26878e68c0efb6c9a1a78fb0e5162402

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''.

f16df198dc9bafe96b9c44f67c1953643d3c05ad6d097ca6f029de8d10e1bfaf

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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

95b3f1a4d579d7d20916fe39d5bd167f410d70ebd7ff029452f7c3fac5b0fedc

Voting Rights Reauthorization bill — HR. 9

Other Sections

Want the full experience?