Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 89.djvu/461

 PUBLIC LAW 94-73—AUG. 6, 1975

89 STAT. 401

(3) striking out "the action" in the third paragraph thereof, and by inserting in lieu thereof "an action under the first sentence of this subsection"; and (4) inserting immediately after the third paragraph thereof the following new paragraph: "If the Attorney General determines that he has no reason to believe that any such test or device has been used during the ten years preceding the filing of an action under the second sentence of this subsection for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), he shall consent to the entry of such judgment.". SEC. 202. Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is amended 42 USC 1973b. by adding at the end of the first paragraph thereof the following: "On and after August 6, 1975, in addition to any State or political subdivision of a State determined to be subject to subsection (a) pursuant to the previous two sentences, the provisions of subsection (a) shall apply in any State or any political subdivision of a State which (i) the Attorney General determines maintained on November 1, 1972, any test or device, and with respect to which (ii) the Director of the Census determines that less than 50 per centum of the citizens of voting age were registered on November 1, 1972, or that less than 50 per centum of such persons voted in the Presidential election of November 1972.". SEC. 203. Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is amended by Language minorities. adding the following new subsection: "(f)(1) The Congress finds that voting discrimination against 42 USC 1973b. citizens of language minorities is pervasive and national in scope. Such minority citizens are from environments in which the dominant language is other than English. In addition they have been denied equal educational opportunities by State and local governments, resulting in severe disabilities and continuing illiteracy in the English language. The Congress further finds that, where State and local officials conduct elections only in English, language minority citizens are excluded from participating in the electoral process. In many areas of the country, this exclusion is aggravated by acts of physical, economic, and political intimidation. The Congress declares that, in order to enforce the guarantees of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, it is necessary to eliminate such USC prec. title 1. discrimination by prohibiting English-only elections, and by prescribing other remedial devices. "(2) No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote because he is a member of a language minority group. "(3) In addition to the meaning given the term under section 4(c), "Test or device." the term 'test or device' shall also mean any practice or requirement by which any State or political subdivision provided any registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots, only in the English language, where the Director of the Census determines that more than five per centum of the citizens of voting age residing

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