Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 9, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary AN ACT To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining which States and political sub- divisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 4 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voting Rights Ad- 2 vancement Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. VIOLATIONS TRIGGERING AUTHORITY OF COURT 4 TO RETAIN JURISDICTION. 5 (a) TYPES OF VIOLATIONS.—Section 3(c) of the Vot- 6 ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10302(c)) is amended 7 by striking ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth 8 amendment’’ and inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th 9 Amendment, violations of this Act, or violations of any 10 Federal law that prohibits discrimination in voting on the 11 basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority 12 group,’’. 13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) of 14 such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by striking 15 ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendment’’ and 16 inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th Amendment, vio- 17 lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal law that 18 prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, 19 color, or membership in a language minority group,’’. 20 SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR COVERAGE OF STATES AND POLIT- 21 ICAL SUBDIVISIONS. 22 (a) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 23 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO SECTION 4(a).— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 4 RFS (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b) of the Voting 1 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(b)) is amend- 2 ed to read as follows: 3 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 4 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS.— 5 ‘‘(1) EXISTENCE OF VOTING RIGHTS VIOLA- 6 TIONS DURING PREVIOUS 25 YEARS.— 7 ‘‘(A) STATEWIDE APPLICATION.—Sub- 8 section (a) applies with respect to a State and 9 all political subdivisions within the State during 10 a calendar year if— 11 ‘‘(i) fifteen or more voting rights vio- 12 lations occurred in the State during the 13 previous 25 calendar years; or 14 ‘‘(ii) ten or more voting rights viola- 15 tions occurred in the State during the pre- 16 vious 25 calendar years, at least one of 17 which was committed by the State itself 18 (as opposed to a political subdivision with- 19 in the State). 20 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC POLITICAL 21 SUBDIVISIONS.—Subsection (a) applies with re- 22 spect to a political subdivision as a separate 23 unit during a calendar year if three or more 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 4 RFS voting rights violations occurred in the subdivi- 1 sion during the previous 25 calendar years. 2 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 subparagraph (B), if, pursuant to paragraph 5 (1), subsection (a) applies with respect to a 6 State or political subdivision during a calendar 7 year, subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 8 such State or political subdivision for the pe- 9 riod— 10 ‘‘(i) that begins on January 1 of the 11 year in which subsection (a) applies; and 12 ‘‘(ii) that ends on the date which is 10 13 years after the date described in clause (i). 14 ‘‘(B) NO FURTHER APPLICATION AFTER 15 DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.— 16 ‘‘(i) STATES.—If a State obtains a de- 17 claratory judgment under subsection (a), 18 and the judgment remains in effect, sub- 19 section (a) shall no longer apply to such 20 State pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) unless, 21 after the issuance of the declaratory judg- 22 ment, paragraph (1)(A) applies to the 23 State solely on the basis of voting rights 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 4 RFS violations occurring after the issuance of 1 the declaratory judgment. 2 ‘‘(ii) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—If a 3 political subdivision obtains a declaratory 4 judgment under subsection (a), and the 5 judgment remains in effect, subsection (a) 6 shall no longer apply to such political sub- 7 division pursuant to paragraph (1), includ- 8 ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) (relating 9 to the statewide application of subsection 10 (a)), unless, after the issuance of the de- 11 claratory judgment, paragraph (1)(B) ap- 12 plies to the political subdivision solely on 13 the basis of voting rights violations occur- 14 ring after the issuance of the declaratory 15 judgment. 16 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIO- 17 LATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a voting 18 rights violation occurred in a State or political sub- 19 division if any of the following applies: 20 ‘‘(A) FINAL JUDGMENT; VIOLATION OF 21 THE 14TH OR 15TH AMENDMENT.—In a final 22 judgment (which has not been reversed on ap- 23 peal), any court of the United States has deter- 24 mined that a denial or abridgement of the right 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 4 RFS of any citizen of the United States to vote on 1 account of race, color, or membership in a lan- 2 guage minority group, in violation of the 14th 3 or 15th Amendment, occurred anywhere within 4 the State or subdivision. 5 ‘‘(B) FINAL JUDGMENT; VIOLATIONS OF 6 THIS ACT.—In a final judgment (which has not 7 been reversed on appeal), any court of the 8 United States has determined that a voting 9 qualification or prerequisite to voting or stand- 10 ard, practice, or procedure with respect to vot- 11 ing was imposed or applied or would have been 12 imposed or applied anywhere within the State 13 or subdivision in a manner that resulted or 14 would have resulted in a denial or abridgement 15 of the right of any citizen of the United States 16 to vote on account of race, color, or membership 17 in a language minority group, in violation of 18 subsection (e) or (f), or section 2 or 203 of this 19 Act. 20 ‘‘(C) FINAL JUDGMENT; DENIAL OF DE- 21 CLARATORY JUDGMENT.—In a final judgment 22 (which has not been reversed on appeal), any 23 court of the United States has denied the re- 24 quest of the State or subdivision for a declara- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 4 RFS tory judgment under section 3(c) or section 5, 1 and thereby prevented a voting qualification or 2 prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or 3 procedure with respect to voting from being en- 4 forced anywhere within the State or subdivision. 5 ‘‘(D) OBJECTION BY THE ATTORNEY GEN- 6 ERAL.—The Attorney General has interposed 7 an objection under section 3(c) or section 5 8 (and the objection has not been overturned by 9 a final judgment of a court or withdrawn by the 10 Attorney General), and thereby prevented a vot- 11 ing qualification or prerequisite to voting or 12 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 13 voting from being enforced anywhere within the 14 State or subdivision. 15 ‘‘(E) CONSENT DECREE, SETTLEMENT, OR 16 OTHER AGREEMENT.—A consent decree, settle- 17 ment, or other agreement was entered into, 18 which resulted in the alteration or abandonment 19 of a voting practice anywhere in the territory of 20 such State that was challenged on the ground 21 that the practice denied or abridged the right of 22 any citizen of the United States to vote on ac- 23 count of race, color, or membership in a lan- 24 guage minority group in violation of subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 4 RFS (e) or (f), or section 2 or 203 of this Act, or 1 the 14th or 15th Amendment. 2 ‘‘(4) TIMING OF DETERMINATIONS.— 3 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATIONS OF VOTING RIGHTS 4 VIOLATIONS.—As early as practicable during 5 each calendar year, the Attorney General shall 6 make the determinations required by this sub- 7 section, including updating the list of voting 8 rights violations occurring in each State and po- 9 litical subdivision for the previous calendar 10 year. 11 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE UPON PUBLICATION IN 12 FEDERAL REGISTER.—A determination or cer- 13 tification of the Attorney General under this 14 section or under section 8 or 13 shall be effec- 15 tive upon publication in the Federal Register.’’. 16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 4(a) 17 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)) is amended— 18 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence 19 of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 20 striking ‘‘any State with respect to which’’ and 21 all that follows through ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘any State to which this subsection applies dur- 23 ing a calendar year pursuant to determinations 24 made under subsection (b), or in any political 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 4 RFS subdivision of such State (as such subdivision 1 existed on the date such determinations were 2 made with respect to such State), though such 3 determinations were not made with respect to 4 such subdivision as a separate unit, or in any 5 political subdivision with respect to which this 6 subsection applies during a calendar year pur- 7 suant to determinations made with respect to 8 such subdivision as a separate unit under sub- 9 section (b), unless’’; 10 (B) in paragraph (1) in the matter pre- 11 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking the second 12 sentence; 13 (C) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘(in 14 the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de- 15 claratory judgment under the second sentence 16 of this subsection)’’; 17 (D) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘(in 18 the case of a State or subdivision seeking a de- 19 claratory judgment under the second sentence 20 of this subsection)’’; 21 (E) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(in the 22 case of a State or subdivision seeking a declara- 23 tory judgment under the second sentence of this 24 subsection)’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 4 RFS (F) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘(in the 1 case of a State or subdivision which sought a 2 declaratory judgment under the second sentence 3 of this subsection)’’; 4 (G) by striking paragraphs (7) and (8); 5 and 6 (H) by redesignating paragraph (9) as 7 paragraph (7). 8 (b) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF 9 LANGUAGE MINORITY GROUPS.—Section 4(a)(1) of such 10 Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘race 11 or color,’’ and inserting ‘‘race, color, or in contravention 12 of the guarantees of subsection (f)(2),’’. 13 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL SUB- 14 DIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE FOR 15 COVERED PRACTICES. 16 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 17 seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 4 the 18 following: 19 ‘‘SEC. 4A. DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 20 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO PRECLEARANCE 21 FOR COVERED PRACTICES. 22 ‘‘(a) PRACTICE-BASED PRECLEARANCE.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State and each polit- 24 ical subdivision shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 4 RFS ‘‘(A) identify any newly enacted or adopted 1 law, regulation, or policy that includes a voting 2 qualification or prerequisite to voting, or a 3 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 4 voting, that is a covered practice described in 5 subsection (b); and 6 ‘‘(B) ensure that no such covered practice 7 is implemented unless or until the State or po- 8 litical subdivision, as the case may be, complies 9 with subsection (c). 10 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS 11 OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As early as prac- 13 ticable during each calendar year, the Attorney 14 General, in consultation with the Director of 15 the Bureau of the Census and the heads of 16 other relevant offices of the government, shall 17 make the determinations required by this sec- 18 tion regarding voting-age populations and the 19 characteristics of such populations, and shall 20 publish a list of the States and political subdivi- 21 sions to which a voting-age population char- 22 acteristic described in subsection (b) applies. 23 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG- 24 ISTER.—A determination or certification of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 HR 4 RFS Attorney General under this paragraph shall be 1 effective upon publication in the Federal Reg- 2 ister. 3 ‘‘(b) COVERED PRACTICES.—To assure that the right 4 of citizens of the United States to vote is not denied or 5 abridged on account of race, color, or membership in a 6 language minority group as a result of the implementation 7 of certain qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or 8 standards, practices, or procedures with respect to voting 9 newly adopted in a State or political subdivision, the fol- 10 lowing shall be covered practices subject to the require- 11 ments described in subsection (a): 12 ‘‘(1) CHANGES TO METHOD OF ELECTION.— 13 Any change to the method of election— 14 ‘‘(A) to add seats elected at-large in a 15 State or political subdivision where— 16 ‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan- 17 guage minority groups each represent 20 18 percent or more of the political subdivi- 19 sion’s voting-age population; or 20 ‘‘(ii) a single language minority group 21 represents 20 percent or more of the vot- 22 ing-age population on Indian lands located 23 in whole or in part in the political subdivi- 24 sion; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Dec 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4.RFS H4 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 HR 4 RFS ‘‘(B) to convert one or more seats elected 1 from a single-member district to one or more 2 at-large seats or seats from a multi-member 3 district in a State or political subdivision 4 where— 5 ‘‘(i) two or more racial groups or lan- 6 guage minority groups each represent 20 7 percen [Text truncated for display. 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