Protection of Voting Rights
Published on AidPage by IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To provide protection of an individual's right to register and vote in all local, State and Federal elections without discrimination based on race, color, membership in a language minority group, or age. To assure the rights of persons who are disabled or are unable to read or write to receive assistance in voting from a person of their choice. To assure the right to vote in Federal elections to United States citizens residing overseas. To assure access to voter registration and to polling places for the elderly and handicapped, and to assure compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. To ensure that States and local government units responsible for administration of federal elections meet minimum election administration standards.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, prohibits state and local governments from imposing or applying any voting standard, qualification, prerequisite, or procedure in a manner that results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any U.S. citizen to vote on account of race or color or because an individual is a member of a language minority group. The VRA bans the use of literacy and similar tests as a prerequisite to voter registration or voting, authorizes voters in need of assistance in voting (because of illiteracy or disability) to receive help from the person of their choice (other than their employer or union leader), and lets registered voters vote for president even if they change their residence shortly before a presidential election. Certain specially covered States and political subdivisions are required to submit any voting changes either to the District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment that the changes do not have a discriminatory purpose or effect, or, in the alternative, to the U.S. Attorney General, who has 60 days in which to object to the proposed changes. Changes to which the Attorney General has objected are legally unenforceable unless a subsequent declaratory judgment is issued by the District Court for the District of Columbia. The VRA requires certain counties (under formulas in the act) to provide voting and election information bilingually and authorizes the Attorney General to send Federal voting observers to certain designated counties to monitor election day polling place activities to prevent discrimination. Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973ff, the Attorney General enforces the right of U.S. citizens living outside of the United States to vote in Federal elections. Under the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973ee, the States must provide accessible registration and voting facilities for Federal elections. Under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. 1973gg, the States must conduct voter registration for Federal elections by mail and through motor vehicle and other agencies. Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 42 U.S.C. 15301, the States must administer federal elections in accord with minimal voting systems standards, requirements for provisional voting and voting information and requirements for computerized, statewide voter registration lists and voters who register by mail.
Who is eligible to apply...
All U.S. citizens old enough to vote.
Credentials/Documentation
Not applicable.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
Contact the headquarters office listed below.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
Not applicable.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
Not applicable.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Not applicable.
Preapplication Coordination
None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
Not applicable.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Not applicable.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
All U.S. citizens old enough to vote.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Provision of Specialized Services
Programs which provide Federal personnel directly to perform certain tasks for the benefit of communities or individuals. These services may be performed in conjunction with nonfederal personnel, but they involve more than consultation, advice, or counseling.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
Not applicable.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(Salaries and Expenses) FY 03 $13,596,000; FY 04 est $14,131,000; and FY 05 est $13,525,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
15-0128-0-1-752.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Not applicable.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
The Civil Rights Division's Voting Section vigorously enforces the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and other laws that protect the right to vote. Primary enforcement efforts in fiscal year 2003 were (1) the administrative review of voting changes pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; (2) monitoring of elections to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws; (3) litigation to enforce federal voting rights laws; and (4) assumption of the enforcement responsibility for Title III of the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA"). During fiscal year 2003, the Civil Rights Division received 4,613 submissions of voting changes for administrative review under Section 5. This included 481 redistricting plans, making for a total of 2,428 redistricting plans received for Section 5 administrative review between April 1, 2001, when the 2000 Census data were released, and September 30, 2003. This represents an increase of over seven percent in the number of redistricting plans analyzed when compared with the same period following the release of the 1990 Census. On behalf of the Attorney General, the Division interposed seven objections during fiscal 2003; five to redistricting plans and two to methods of election. Recently, major Section 5 reviews have included the Texas Congressional redistricting plan, the reorganization of the New York city school system and the North Carolina legislative redistricting plans. North Carolina initially sought preclearance in the D.C. District Court, and that case was dismissed when the Division precleared it. The statewide redistricting reviews were the first conducted under a revised Section 5 standard set by the Supreme Court in Georgia v. Ashcroft, a major decision entered in 2003. The Division continued to implement the Voting Initiative announced by the Attorney General on March 7, 2001. Major emphasis was placed on monitoring of elections. In 2003, he Voting Section monitored a total 42 elections in 26 political subdivisions in 14 states with 380 Federal observers from OPM and 136 DOJ personnel. For the 2002 general election, 324 federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management and 108 Justice Department personnel were assigned to monitor in fourteen states, which was the highest number of monitors for a general election in many years. A major monitoring has continued in 2004. In addition, the Voting Section sponsored with the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division a symposium on federal voting issues for representatives of all United States Attorneys' offices. The Section maintained its vigorous litigation program, including affirmative enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA"). The Voting Section won a major decision in a Section 2 vote dilution case involving the use of at-large elections in Charleston County, South Carolina. In addition, it obtained an out of court settlement of another Section 2 vote dilution case against the Chelsea, MA School Committee. Enforcement of the language minority provisions of the Voting Right continued as a priority for the Section. The Voting Section brought a major case against Berks County, Pennsylvania, in which the court found that bilingual assistance was required under Sections 2 and 4(f)(2) of the Voting Rights Act. It entered an out of court settlement with Harris County, TX designed to ensure appropriate language assistance for Vietnamese-speaking citizens. It also entered into consent decrees in cases brought against the Brentwood Union Free School District in Suffolk County, New York, and with Orange County, Florida, to provide Spanish-language translation and assistance in school board elections as required by Section 203 of the Voting Right Act. In addition, it continued a major outreach effort to jurisdictions covered by Section 203 to ensure that appropriate language assistance isbeing provided to the affected language minority
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Not applicable.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Not applicable.
Formula and Matching Requirements
There is no statutory formula or matching requirements for this program.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
Not applicable.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
Not applicable.
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
Not applicable.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Voting Rights Act of 1965, Public Law 89-110, 42 U.S.C. 1973-1973bb-1; Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970, 1975, and 1982; Voting Rights Language Assistance Act of 1992; Public Laws 91-285, 94-73, 97-205, and 102-344; 42 U.S.C. 1971, 42 U.S.C. 1974; Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, Public Law 99-410, 42 U.S.C. 1973ff; Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, Public Law 98-435, 42 U.S.C. 1973ee; National Voter Registration Act of 1993, Public Law 103-31, 42 U.S.C. 1973gg, Help America Vote Act of 2002, 42 U.S.C. 15301.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
28 CFR 0.50; "Voting Rights Act of 1965, A Citizens Guide to Understanding the Voting Rights Act of 1965," (a copy of this pamphlet can be purchased from the Commission on Civil Rights-Clearinghouse Publication No. 84); 28 CFR 51; 45 CFR 801; 28 CFR 55.
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