Expanding the VOTE Act

Summary

Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act or the Expanding the VOTE Act This bill expands access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language. Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide voting materials and other language assistance to persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage and whose ability to speak or understand English limits electoral participation. A state or political subdivision that is subject to Section 203 is prohibited from providing English-only voting materials in an election. Among other requirements, this bill (1) requires the Department of Justice to issue a notice of prohibition, including the trigger threshold at which the prohibition applies, to certain states and political subdivisions; and (2) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide written translations of all voting materials, with the consent of any applicable tribal government, to election workers. Additionally, the bill requires the Election Assistance Commission to make incentive grants for states and political subdivisions to provide translated voting materials. The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the impact of (1) reducing the threshold requirement under Section 203 of the VRA, and (2) expanding the definition of  language minorities to include native speakers of additional languages.

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Timeline

1. 27 September 2023

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 27 September 2023

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

• Introduced in Senate · 27 September 2023 · Download file

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 27 September 2023

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 27 September 2023

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 27 September 2023

  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. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] · I · Sponsor
• Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Butler, Laphonza R. [D-CA] · D · Cosponsor
• · ssra00 · Standing

Related records

• related to → Expanding the VOTE Act
• related to ← Expanding the VOTE Act