[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8770 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 474
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8770
[Report No. 117-654, Part I]
To modify certain notice requirements, to study certain election
requirements, to clarify certain election requirements, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 2, 2022
Ms. Williams of Georgia (for herself, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs.
Beatty, Ms. Chu, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Veasey, Ms.
Sewell, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr.
Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Bush, Ms.
Norton, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mrs. Cherfilus-
McCormick, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Bass, Mr. Tonko, Ms.
McCollum, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms.
Porter, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Payne, Mr. Gomez, Mr. David Scott of Georgia,
Ms. Dean, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Speier, Mr. Kahele,
Mr. Carbajal, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr.
Espaillat, Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Ms. Newman, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Jayapal,
Mr. Horsford, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Lieu, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Lois
Frankel of Florida, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Cicilline,
Mr. Cohen, Ms. Meng, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Soto, Mr.
Moulton, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Manning, Mrs. Axne, Ms. Brown of Ohio,
Ms. Ross, Ms. Bourdeaux, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr.
Larsen of Washington, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Kilmer, Mrs. Napolitano, Mrs.
Lawrence, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Takano, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Levin of
Michigan, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Ruppersberger, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Evans, Mr.
Mfume, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Casten, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Titus, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Trone, Ms.
Stansbury, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Neguse, Mr.
Carson, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Levin of California, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Panetta, Mr.
McNerney, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Crow, Ms. Pingree, Mrs. Demings, Mr.
McEachin, Ms. Adams, Mr. Peters, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. San Nicolas, and Ms.
DeGette) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on House
Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
December 21, 2022
Additional sponsors: Mr. Rush, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Smith of
Washington, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Gottheimer,
Ms. Underwood, Mr. Yarmuth, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr.
Pocan, Mr. Costa, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. DelBene, Mrs.
Fletcher, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Jones, Ms. Wild, Mr. Jeffries,
Mr. McGovern, Mr. Correa, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Cartwright, Ms.
Plaskett, Mr. Foster, Mr. Aguilar, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Kildee, Mr.
Torres of New York, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Strickland,
Mrs. Torres of California, and Mrs. Trahan
December 21, 2022
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
December 21, 2022
Committee on House Administration discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
September 2, 2022]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To modify certain notice requirements, to study certain election
requirements, to clarify certain election requirements, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Expanding the Voluntary
Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act'' or the ``Expanding
the VOTE Act''.
SEC. 2. LANGUAGE MINORITY NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new
subsections:
``(e) Responsibility of States Providing Voting Materials in
Covered Political Subdivisions.--The prohibition under subsection (b)
shall apply to any State that provides voting materials to a political
subdivision subject to such prohibition.
``(f) Notice.--The Attorney General shall submit a notice of the
prohibition of subsection (b), and the threshold at which such
prohibition applies, to each State or political subdivision that is--
``(1) below the threshold requirement under subclause (II)
of subsection (b)(2)(A)(i) by not more than 1,000; or
``(2) below the threshold requirement under subclause (I)
or (III) of subsection (b)(2)(A)(i) by not more than 0.5
percent.''.
SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATED TO AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE
LANGUAGES.
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), as
amended by section 2, is further amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(3)(C), by striking ``1990'' and
inserting ``most recent''; and
(2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
``(c) Provision of Voting Materials in the Language of a Minority
Group.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), whenever any
State or political subdivision subject to the prohibition of
subsection (b) provides any registration or voting notices,
forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or
information relating to the electoral process, including
ballots, it shall provide them in the language of the
applicable minority group as well as in the English language.
``(2) Exceptions.--
``(A) When written american indian and alaska
native translations for voters are not required.--In
the case of a minority group that is American Indian or
Alaska Native, if the Tribal government of that
minority group has notified the Attorney General that
the language is unwritten or the Tribal government does
not want a written translation, a State or political
subdivision subject to the prohibition of subsection
(b) shall only be required to furnish that minority
group, in the covered language, oral instructions,
assistance, translation of voting materials, and other
information relating to registration and voting.
``(B) Other minority groups with unwritten
language.--In the case of a minority group that is not
American Indian or Alaska Native, if the language of
that minority group is unwritten, a State or political
subdivision subject to the prohibition of subsection
(b) shall only be required to furnish that minority
group, in the covered language, oral instructions,
assistance, translation of voting materials, and other
information relating to registration and voting.
``(3) Written translations for election workers.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (2), a State or political division
subject to the prohibition of subsection (b) shall provide
written translations of all voting materials, with the consent
of any applicable Tribal government, to election workers to
ensure that the translations from English to the language of a
minority group are complete, accurate, and uniform.
``(4) Tribal government defined.--In this subsection, the
term `Tribal government' means the recognized governing body of
any Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo,
village, community, component band, or component reservation,
individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list
published most recently as of the date of enactment of the
Expanding the VOTE Act pursuant to section 104 of the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).''.
SEC. 4. GRANTS TO JURISDICTIONS TO INCENTIVIZE THE PROVISION OF VOTING
MATERIALS IN LANGUAGES NOT TRIGGERING SECTION 203
COVERAGE IN APPLYING JURISDICTION.
(a) Availability of Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Election Assistance Commission (in
this section, referred to as the ``Commission'') shall make
incentive grants under subsection (b) to States and political
subdivisions to assist the States and political subdivisions in
providing voting materials during an election cycle in the
language of a covered language minority group.
(2) Application required.--In order to receive a grant
under this section, a State or political subdivision shall
submit to the Commission, at such time and in such form as the
Commission may require, an application containing such
information and assurances as the Commission may require, such
as a plan for the State or political subdivision to engage
stakeholders with a demonstrated experience of serving the
relevant covered language minority group.
(b) Incentive Grants.--
(1) Use of funds.--The Commission shall make an incentive
grant under this subsection to a State or political subdivision
to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the State or
political subdivision in providing voting materials in the
language of a covered language minority group for an election
cycle.
(2) Continuation of provision of materials for groups in
succeeding election cycles.--If a State or political
subdivision receives an incentive grant with respect to a
covered language minority group for an election cycle, the
State or political subdivision will certify to the Commission
that the State or political subdivision will continue to
provide voting materials in the language of that covered
language minority group for each succeeding election cycle
unless the population of the group during the succeeding cycle
has dropped by 0.5 percent or more from the population of the
group during the first election cycle for which the State or
political subdivision received an incentive grant with respect
to the group.
(3) Prohibiting multiple grants for same language minority
group.--If a State or political subdivision receives an
incentive grant with respect to a covered language minority
group, the State or subdivision may not receive another
incentive grant with respect to that same covered language
minority group.
(c) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``covered language minority group''--
(A) means, with respect to a State or political
subdivision, the members of a single language minority
who do not meet the requirements of clause (i) or (ii)
of section 203(b)(2)(A) of the Voting Rights Act of
1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503(b)(2)(A)); and
(B) includes the language minorities described in
section 203(g) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10503(g)) and any
other language minority;
(2) the term ``election cycle'' means the period which
begins on the day after the date of a regularly scheduled
general election for Federal office and which ends on the date
of the next regularly scheduled general election for Federal
office;
(3) the term ``State'' means each of the several States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and
(4) the term ``voting materials'' has the meaning given
under section 203(b)(3)(A) of the Voting Rights Act of 1065 (52
U.S.C. 10503(b)(3)(A)).
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000, to remain available
until expended.
SEC. 5. STUDY ON CERTAIN LANGUAGE MINORITY NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States, in
consultation with the Director of the Census, the Attorney General, and
the Election Assistance Commission, shall conduct a study on the impact
of--
(1) reducing the threshold requirement--
(A) under subclause (II) of section 203(b)(2)(A)(i)
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C.
10503(b)(2)(A)(i)) to 7,500 and 5,000, respectively;
and
(B) under subclause (I) or (III) of section
203(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52
U.S.C. 10503(b)(2)(A)(i)) to 4 percent, 3 percent, 2.5
percent, and 2 percent, respectively; and
(2) expanding the definition of the term ``language
minorities'' to include native speakers of Arabic, French and
Haitian Creole, and any other language that the Comptroller
General determines to be appropriate.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
Congress a report on the findings of the study conducted under
subsection (a).
Union Calendar No. 474
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8770
[Report No. 117-654, Part I]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To modify certain notice requirements, to study certain election
requirements, to clarify certain election requirements, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 21, 2022
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
December 21, 2022
Committee on House Administration discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed