Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1799 To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COOPER, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. COLE, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CRIST, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. PETERS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voting Rights Amend- 4 ment Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1799 IH SEC. 2. VIOLATIONS TRIGGERING AUTHORITY OF COURT 1 TO RETAIN JURISDICTION. 2 (a) TYPES OF VIOLATIONS.—Section 3(c) of the Vot- 3 ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10302(c)) is amended 4 by striking ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth 5 amendment’’ and inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th 6 Amendment; violations of this Act (other than a violation 7 of section 2(a) which is based on the imposition of a re- 8 quirement that an individual provide a photo identification 9 as a condition of receiving a ballot for voting in an election 10 for Federal, State, or local office); or violations of any 11 Federal voting rights law that prohibits discrimination on 12 the basis of race, color, or membership in a language mi- 13 nority group,’’. 14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) of 15 such Act (52 U.S.C. 10302(a)) is amended by striking 16 ‘‘violations of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendment’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘violations of the 14th or 15th Amendment, vio- 18 lations of this Act, or violations of any Federal voting 19 rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of 20 race, color, or membership in a language minority group,’’. 21 SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR COVERAGE OF STATES AND POLIT- 22 ICAL SUBDIVISIONS. 23 (a) DETERMINATION OF STATES AND POLITICAL 24 SUBDIVISIONS SUBJECT TO SECTION 4(a).— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1799 IH (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 15 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 5 or more voting rights viola- 11 tions occurred in the State during the previous 12 15 calendar years, at least one of which was 13 committed by the State itself (as opposed to a 14 political subdivision within the State). 15 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC POLITICAL 16 SUBDIVISIONS.—Subsection (a) applies with re- 17 spect to a political subdivision during a cal- 18 endar year if— 19 ‘‘(i) 3 or more voting rights violations 20 occurred in the subdivision during the pre- 21 vious 15 calendar years; or 22 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more voting rights violations 23 occurred in the subdivision during the pre- 24 vious 15 calendar years and the subdivi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1799 IH sion had persistent, extremely low minority 1 turnout during the previous 15 calendar 2 years. 3 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 5 subparagraph (B), if, pursuant to paragraph 6 (1), subsection (a) applies with respect to a 7 State or political subdivision during a calendar 8 year, subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 9 such State or political subdivision for the pe- 10 riod— 11 ‘‘(i) that begins on January 1 of the 12 year in which subsection (a) applies pursu- 13 ant to the applicable provisions of para- 14 graph (1); and 15 ‘‘(ii) that ends on the date which is 10 16 years after January 1 of the year in which 17 the most recent voting rights violation oc- 18 curred in the State or political subdivision. 19 ‘‘(B) NO FURTHER APPLICATION AFTER 20 DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.— 21 ‘‘(i) STATES.—If a State obtains a de- 22 claratory judgment under subsection (a), 23 and the judgment remains in effect, sub- 24 section (a) shall no longer apply to such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1799 IH State pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) unless, 1 after the issuance of the declaratory judg- 2 ment, paragraph (1)(A) applies to the 3 State solely on the basis of voting rights 4 violations occurring after the issuance of 5 the declaratory judgment. 6 ‘‘(ii) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—If a 7 political subdivision obtains a declaratory 8 judgment under subsection (a), and the 9 judgment remains in effect, subsection (a) 10 shall no longer apply to such political sub- 11 division pursuant to paragraph (1), includ- 12 ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) (relating 13 to the statewide application of subsection 14 (a)), unless, after the issuance of the de- 15 claratory judgment, paragraph (1)(B) ap- 16 plies to the political subdivision solely on 17 the basis of voting rights violations (and, 18 in the case of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), ex- 19 tremely low minority turnout) occurring 20 after the issuance of the declaratory judg- 21 ment. 22 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF VOTING RIGHTS VIO- 23 LATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a voting 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1799 IH rights violation occurred in a State or political sub- 1 division if any of the following applies: 2 ‘‘(A) In a final judgment (which has not 3 been reversed on appeal), any court of the 4 United States has determined that a denial or 5 abridgement of the right of any citizen of the 6 United States to vote on account of race, color, 7 or membership in a language minority group, in 8 violation of the 14th or 15th Amendment, oc- 9 curred anywhere within the State or subdivi- 10 sion. 11 ‘‘(B) In a final judgment (which has not 12 been reversed on appeal), any court of the 13 United States has determined that a voting 14 qualification or prerequisite to voting or stand- 15 ard, practice, or procedure with respect to vot- 16 ing was imposed or applied or would have been 17 imposed or applied anywhere within the State 18 or subdivision in a manner that resulted or 19 would have resulted in a denial or abridgement 20 of the right of any citizen of the United States 21 to vote on account of race or color, or in con- 22 travention of the guarantees set forth in sub- 23 section (f)(2), in violation of section 2. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1799 IH ‘‘(C) In a final judgment (which has not 1 been reversed on appeal), any court of the 2 United States has denied the request of the 3 State or subdivision for a declaratory judgment 4 under section 3(c) or section 5, and thereby 5 prevented a voting qualification or prerequisite 6 to voting or standard, practice, or procedure 7 with respect to voting from being enforced any- 8 where within the State or subdivision. 9 ‘‘(D) The Attorney General has interposed 10 an objection under section 3(c) or section 5 11 (and the objection has not been overturned by 12 a final judgment of a court or withdrawn by the 13 Attorney General), and thereby prevented a vot- 14 ing qualification or prerequisite to voting or 15 standard, practice, or procedure with respect to 16 voting from being enforced anywhere within the 17 State or subdivision, other than an objection 18 which is based on a voting qualification or pro- 19 cedure which consists of the imposition of a re- 20 quirement that an individual provide a photo 21 identification as a condition of receiving a ballot 22 for voting in an election for Federal, State, or 23 local office. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1799 IH ‘‘(4) DETERMINATION OF PERSISTENT, EX- 1 TREMELY LOW MINORITY TURNOUT.—For purposes 2 of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), a political subdivision has 3 persistent, extremely low minority turnout with re- 4 spect to a calendar year if any of the following ap- 5 plies: 6 ‘‘(A) With respect to the general elections 7 for the office of President which were held in 8 the political subdivision during the previous 15 9 calendar years— 10 ‘‘(i) in the majority of such elections, 11 the minority turnout rate in the political 12 subdivision was below— 13 ‘‘(I) the minority turnout rate for 14 the entire Nation; 15 ‘‘(II) the nonminority turnout 16 rate for the entire Nation; 17 ‘‘(III) the minority turnout rate 18 for the State in which the political 19 subdivision is located; 20 ‘‘(IV) the nonminority turnout 21 rate for the State in which the polit- 22 ical subdivision is located; and 23 ‘‘(V) the nonminority turnout 24 rate for the political subdivision; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1799 IH ‘‘(ii) the average minority turnout 1 rate across all such elections in the polit- 2 ical subdivision was more than 10 percent- 3 age points below the average nonminority 4 turnout rate for the entire Nation. 5 ‘‘(B) With respect to the general elections 6 for Federal office which were held in the polit- 7 ical subdivision during the previous 15 calendar 8 years— 9 ‘‘(i) in the majority of such elections, 10 the minority turnout rate in the political 11 subdivision was below— 12 ‘‘(I) the minority turnout rate for 13 the State in which the political sub- 14 division is located; 15 ‘‘(II) the nonminority turnout 16 rate for the State in which the polit- 17 ical subdivision is located; and 18 ‘‘(III) the nonminority turnout 19 rate for the political subdivision; and 20 ‘‘(ii) the average minority turnout 21 rate across all such elections in the polit- 22 ical subdivision was more than 10 percent- 23 age points below the average nonminority 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1799 IH turnout rate for the State in which the po- 1 litical subdivision is located. 2 ‘‘(5) 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 (other than the determinations de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (B)), including updat- 9 ing the list of voting rights violations attrib- 10 utable to each State and political subdivision 11 for the previous calendar year. 12 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS OF TURNOUT 13 RATES.—As early as practicable during each 14 odd-numbered calendar year, the Attorney Gen- 15 eral, in consultation with the heads of the rel- 16 evant offices of the government, shall make the 17 determinations of turnout rates required by this 18 subsection, including the minority and non- 19 minority turnout rates for the general elections 20 for Federal office held in the previous year in 21 each State and political subdivision (expressed 22 as percentages of the citizen voting-age popu- 23 lation of the State and subdivision and deter- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1799 IH mined using scientifically accepted statistical 1 methodologies). 2 ‘‘(C) EFFECTIVE UPON PUBLICATION IN 3 FEDERAL REGISTER.—A determination or cer- 4 tification of the Attorney General under this 5 section or under section 8 or 13 shall be effec- 6 tive upon publication in the Federal Register. 7 ‘‘(6) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, 8 the following definitions apply: 9 ‘‘(A) The term ‘general election for Fed- 10 eral office’ means a general election held solely 11 or in part for the purpose of electing any can- 12 didate for the office of President, Vice Presi- 13 dent, Presidential elector, Senator, Member of 14 the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 15 Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 16 ‘‘(B) The term ‘minority’ means persons 17 who identify themselves as being— 18 ‘‘(i) of Hispanic or Latino origin; 19 ‘‘(ii) of a race other than White; or 20 ‘‘(iii) of 2 or more races. 21 ‘‘(C) The term ‘nonminority’ means per- 22 sons who identify themselves as being— 23 ‘‘(i) not of Hispanic or Latino origin; 24 ‘‘(ii) White; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1799.IH H1799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1799 IH ‘‘(iii) not of any other race. 1 ‘‘(D) The term ‘turnout rate’ means, with 2 respect to a demographic group and an election, 3 the amount (expressed as a percentage) equal 4 to the quotient of— 5 ‘‘(i) the number of individuals in that 6 group who are citizens of the United 7 States, who are 18 years of age or older on 8 the date of the election, and who cast bal- 9 lots in the election; divided by 10 ‘‘(ii) the total number of individuals in 11 that group who are citizens of the United 12 States and who are 18 years of age or 13 older on the date of the election.’’. 14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 4(a) 15 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10303(a)) is amended— 16 (A) in paragraph (1) in the first sentence 17 of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 18 striking ‘‘any State with respect to which’’ and 19 all that follows through ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘any State to which this subsection applies dur- 21 ing a calendar year pursuant to determinations 22 made under subsection (b), or in any political 23 subdivision of such State (as such subdivision 24 existed on the date such determinations were 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 [Text truncated for display. 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