Sponsors (47)
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Richard Joseph Durbin · Last progress July 29, 2025
The bill strengthens federal protections and enforcement to prevent discriminatory voting changes and protect polling places, but does so by expanding federal oversight, legal tools, and disclosure requirements that increase costs, administrative burdens, potential delays, privacy risks, and federal–state tensions.
Racial and language-minority voters (and other voters at risk of dilution) gain stronger federal protection against voting changes that deny or dilute their ability to elect preferred candidates.
Federal enforcement and legal tools (clearer standards, preclearance-like review, and expedited remedies) make it easier to prevent discriminatory changes and obtain faster court relief when violations occur.
Stronger federal deterrents and penalties for willful interference, intimidation, or violence at polling places help protect election officials, poll workers, and voters and reduce attacks or property damage.
State and local election officials face substantially increased litigation risk and administrative burden from expanded standards, expedited remedies, and broader enforcement, raising costs and diverting staff time.
Preclearance-style review and expanded federal review may block or delay routine election changes (IDs, polling-place moves, multilingual materials) while subject to DOJ or court approval, slowing local reforms and operations.
Broader federal investigatory powers, observer deployments, and DOJ oversight can create federal–state tensions and be perceived as federal intrusion into local election administration.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Strengthens the Voting Rights Act by adopting the Gingles test, adding vote-denial claims, increasing federal oversight and notice rules, and creating criminal penalties for interference.
Amends the Voting Rights Act to broaden protections against racial or language-based vote dilution and to add claims for vote denial or abridgement. It codifies the Thornburg v. Gingles legal test for vote-dilution cases, allows coalition claims, and sets a totality-of-the-circumstances framework listing factors courts may consider. Expands federal oversight and transparency requirements for changes to voting rules and polling-place information, adds accessibility and public-notice deadlines, increases reporting and rulemaking duties, and creates new federal criminal penalties for willful interference with voting or election officials—subject to Department of Justice certification for federal prosecution. The bill increases enforcement tools and civil remedies while adding compliance obligations for states and local jurisdictions.