Virginia HB 761: Elections; preclearance of certain covered practices required, definitions.

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2020 SESSION

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20108878D 

HOUSE BILL NO. 761 

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE 

(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections 

on February 25, 2020) 

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate VanValkenburg) 

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section 
numbered 24.2-304.1:1, relating to elections; preclearance of certain covered 
practices required. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section 
numbered 24.2-304.1:1 as follows:

� 24.2-304.1:1. Preclearance of certain covered practices.

A. For purposes of this section:

"Certification of no objection" means a 
certification issued by the Attorney General that there is no objection to the 
enactment or administration of a covered practice by a covered jurisdiction 
because the covered practice neither has the purpose or effect of denying or 
abridging the right to vote on account of race or color or membership in a 
language minority group nor will result in the retrogression in the position of 
members of a racial or ethnic group with respect to their effective exercise of 
the electoral franchise.

"Covered jurisdiction" means any county or city 
that is determined pursuant to subsection E to have a voting age population 
that contains two or more racial or ethnic groups, each constituting at least 
20 percent of its voting age population.

"Covered practice" means:

1. Any change to the method of election of members of a 
governing body or an elected school board by adding seats elected at large or 
by converting one or more seats elected from a single-member district to one or 
more at-large seats or seats from a multi-member district;

2. Any change, or series of changes within a 12-month 
period, to the boundaries of the covered jurisdiction that reduces by more than 
five percentage points the proportion of the jurisdiction's voting age 
population that is composed of members of a single racial or language minority 
group, as determined by the most recent American Community Survey data;

3. Any change to the boundaries of election districts or 
wards in the covered jurisdiction;

4. Any change that restricts the ability of any person to 
provide interpreter services to voters in any language other than English or 
which limits or impairs the creation or distribution of voting materials in any 
language other than English; or

5. Any change that reduces the number of or consolidates or 
relocates polling places in the covered jurisdiction, except where permitted by 
law in the event of an emergency.

"Language minority group" means persons who speak 
one or more languages other than English at home, as determined by the most 
recent American Community Survey data.

"Racial minority group" means persons who are 
Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native 
Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or of Spanish