,,ii #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #behi ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,july #ca1 #bjbe,mr4 ,padilla 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,klobuchar1 ,ms4 ,warren1 ,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,schiff1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,lujn1 ,mrs4 ,gillibrand1 ,ms4 ,smith1 ,mr4 ,kim1 ,ms4 ,baldwin1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 ,mr4 ,wyden1 ,mr4 ,booker1 and ,ms4 ,hirono7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,rules and ,administration ,a ,,bill ,to modify certain notice requirements1 to study certain election requirements1 to clarify certain election requirements1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,expanding the ,voluntary ,opportunities for ,translations in ,elections ,act or the ,expanding the ,,vote ,act4 #b4 ,language minority notice requirements ,section #bjc of the ,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc7 is amended-- 7#a7 by amending subsection 7b77#c77;,a7 to read as follows3 7,a7 the term voting materials-- 7i7 means registration or voting notices1 forms1 instructions1 assistance1 or other materials or information relating to the electoral process1 including ballots2 and 7ii7 includes digital and printed material or information produced relating to the electoral process2 2 7#b7 by redesignating subsection 7e7 as subsection 7g72 and 7#c7 by inserting after subsection 7d7 the following new subsections3 7e7 ,responsibility of ,states providing voting materials in covered political subdivisions ,the prohibition under subsection 7b7 shall apply to any ,state that provides voting materials to a political subdivision subject to such prohibition4 7f7 ,notice ,the ,attorney ,general shall submit a notice of the prohibition of subsection 7b71 and the threshold at which such prohibition applies1 to each ,state or political subdivision that is-- 7#a7 below the threshold requirement under subclause 7,,ii7 of subsection 7b77#b77;,a77i7 by not more than #a1jjj2 or 7#b7 below the threshold requirement under subclause 7,i7 or 7,,iii7 of subsection 7b77#b77;,a77i7 by not more than #j4e percent4 4 #c4 ,provisions related to ,american ,indian and ,alaska ,native languages ,section #bjc of the ,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc71 as amended by section #b1 is further amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7b77#c77;,c71 by striking #aiij and inserting most recent2 and 7#b7 by striking subsection 7c7 and inserting the following3 7c7 ,provision of voting materials in the language of a minority group 7#a7 ,in general ,subject to paragraph 7#b71 whenever any ,state or political subdivision subject to the prohibition of subsection 7b7 provides any registration or voting notices1 forms1 instructions1 assistance1 or other materials or information relating to the electoral process1 including ballots1 it shall provide them in the language of the applicable minority group as well as in the ,english language4 7#b7 ,exceptions 7,a7 ,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 ,native1 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 translation1 a ,state or political subdivision subject to the prohibition of subsection 7b7 shall only be required to furnish that minority group1 in the covered language1 oral instructions1 assistance1 translation of voting materials1 and other information relating to registration and voting4 7,b7 ,other minority groups with unwritten language ,in the case of a minority group that is not ,american ,indian or ,alaska ,native1 if the language of that minority group is unwritten1 a ,state or political subdivision subject to the prohibition of subsection 7b7 shall only be required to furnish that minority group1 in the covered language1 oral instructions1 assistance1 translation of voting materials1 and other information relating to registration and voting4 7#c7 ,written translations for election workers ,notwithstanding paragraph 7#b71 a ,state or political division subject to the prohibition of subsection 7b7 shall provide written translations of all voting materials1 with the consent of any applicable ,tribal government1 to election workers to ensure that the translations from ,english to the language of a minority group are complete1 accurate1 and uniform4 7#d7 ,tribal government defined ,in this subsection1 the term ,tribal government means the recognized governing body of any ,indian or ,alaska ,native ,tribe1 band1 nation1 pueblo1 village1 community1 component band1 or component reservation1 individually identified 7including parenthetically7 in the list published most recently as of the date of enactment of the ,expanding the ,,vote ,act pursuant to section #ajd of the ,federally ,recognized ,indian ,tribe ,list ,act of #aiid 7#be ,u4,s4,c4 #eaca74 4 #d4 ,grants to jurisdictions to incentivize the provision of voting materials in languages not triggering ,section #bjc coverage in applying jurisdiction 7a7 ,availability of grants 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,election ,assistance ,commission 7in this section1 referred to as the ,commission7 shall make incentive grants under subsection 7b7 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 group4 7#b7 ,application required ,in order to receive a grant under this section1 a ,state or political subdivision shall submit to the ,commission1 at such time and in such form as the ,commission may require1 an application containing such information and assurances as the ,commission may require1 such as a plan for the ,state or political subdivision to engage stakeholders with a demonstrated experience of serving the relevant covered language minority group4 7b7 ,incentive grants 7#a7 ,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 cycle4 7#b7 ,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 cycle1 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 #j4e 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 group4 7#c7 ,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 group1 the ,state or subdivision may not receive another incentive grant with respect to that same covered language minority group4 7c7 ,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term covered language minority group-- 7,a7 means1 with respect to a ,state or political subdivision1 the members of a single language minority who do not meet the requirements of clause 7i7 or 7ii7 of section #bjc7;b77#b77;,a7 of the ,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc7;b77#b77;,a772 and 7,b7 includes the language minorities described in section #bjc7;g7 of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc7;g77 and any other language minority2 7#b7 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 office2 7#c7 the term ,state means each of the several ,states1 the ,district of ,columbia1 the ,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico1 the ,united ,states ,virgin ,islands1 ,american ,samoa1 ,guam1 and the ,commonwealth of the ,northern ,mariana ,islands2 and 7#d7 the term voting materials has the meaning given under section #bjc7;b77#c77;,a7 of the ,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc7;b77#c77;,a774 7d7 ,authorization of appropriations ,there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section #ae1jjj1jjj1 to remain available until expended4 #e4 ,study on certain language minority notice requirements 7a7 ,in general ,the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states1 in consultation with the ,director of the ,census1 the ,attorney ,general1 and the ,election ,assistance ,commission1 shall conduct a study on the impact of-- 7#a7 reducing the threshold requirement-- 7,a7 under subclause 7,,ii7 of section #bjc7;b77#b77;,a77i7 of the ,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc7;b77#b77;,a77i77 to #g1ejj and #e1jjj1 respectively2 and 7,b7 under subclause 7,i7 or 7,,iii7 of section #bjc7;b77#b77;,a77i7 of the ,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajejc7;b77#b77;,a77i77 to #d percent1 #c percent1 #b4e percent1 and #b percent1 respectively2 and 7#b7 expanding the definition of the term language minorities to include native speakers of ,arabic1 ,french and ,haitian ,creole1 and any other language that the ,comptroller ,general determines to be appropriate4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall submit to ,congress a report on the findings of the study conducted under subsection 7a74