Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014

Summary

Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 - Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with respect to the requirement that a federal court retain jurisdiction for an appropriate period to prevent commencement of new devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Expands the types of violations triggering the authority of a court to retain such jurisdiction to include certain violations of the Act as well as violations of any federal voting rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group. Excludes from the list of violations triggering jurisdiction retention authority any voting qualification or prerequisite which results in a denial or abridgement of the right to vote that is based on the imposition of a requirement that an individual provide a photo identification as a condition of receiving a ballot for voting in a federal, state, or local election. Revises requirements for determining which states and political subdivisions are covered or not covered by criteria for declaratory judgments that they have not used devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Subjects to the requirements for making such a determination any state (and all of its political subdivisions) during a calendar if 5 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 15 years, at least one of which was committed by the state itself (as opposed to a political subdivision within it). Specifies application of such new coverage requirements to any specific political subdivision if: (1) 3 or more voting rights violations occurred in it during the previous 15 calendar years; or (2) 1 or more voting rights violations occurred in it during the previous 15 calendar years and the subdivision had persistent, extremely low minority turnout during that period. Provides that, if a state obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a device to deny or abridge the right to vote, the requirements for a new declaratory judgment generally will not apply, unless the new coverage requirements of this Act apply to the state solely on the basis of voting rights violations occurring after the declaratory judgment was issued. Prescribes transparency requirements, including reasonable public notice, regarding any changes to: (1) voting prerequisites, standards, or procedures; (2) polling place resources; or (3) demographics and electoral districts. Modifies authority to assign observers, including authorizing the assignment of observers to enforce bilingual election requirements. Revises requirements for injunctive relief, including its scope and the persons authorized to seek relief as well as the grounds for granting it.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

1. 16 January 2014

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 16 January 2014

   Introduced

   Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S443-444)

   Source: IntroReferral

3. 16 January 2014

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

4. 25 June 2014

   Committee

   Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-842.

   Source: Committee

5. 9 December 2014

   Committee

   Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Hearings held.

   Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

• Introduced in Senate · 16 January 2014 · Download file

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 16 January 2014

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 16 January 2014

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 16 January 2014

  Open at official source

  Leesvertaling

  Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

  Vertaal naarNL · DutchDE · GermanFR · FrenchES · SpanishIT · ItalianPL · PolishPT · PortugueseSV · SwedishDA · DanishFI · FinnishEL · GreekCS · CzechHU · HungarianRO · RomanianBG · BulgarianHR · CroatianSK · SlovakSL · SlovenianLT · LithuanianLV · LatvianET · EstonianGA · IrishMT · Maltese

  Vertaal document

  Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

Sponsors

• Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH] · D · Cosponsor
• Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA] · D · Cosponsor
• · ssju00 · Standing

Related records

• related to → Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014