[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,

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 
    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        more information submitted followed by voting changes withdrawn 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.

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 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''.

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 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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.