(b) Whenever the Commission on Civil Rights finds that persons in any locality or area have been deprived of registration or the opportunity of registration, for elections because of their race, color, or national origin, the Commission shall notify the President of the United States of such finding. APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL REGISTRARS SEC. 4. (a) Upon any notification of a finding pursuant to section 3, the President shall establish a Federal Registration Office in each locality or area for which such a finding has been made and shall appoint one or more Federal Registrars for such Federal Registration Office. The Federal Registration Office shall be in effect and operation for a minimum of one year and until the President subsequently finds that there is no further need for such Federal Regis tration Office. To the maximum extent practicable, each individual appointed to serve as a Federal Registrar shall be a qualified voter within the affected locality or area. Federal Registrars shall receive compensation for services at the rate of $ per diem while actually engaged in the performance of such services, and shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. (b) The Federal Registrars shall be appointed for one year and shall serve at the pleasure of the President or until the President subsequently finds that there is no further need for a Federal Registration Office in the affected locality or area. (c) In any locality or area in which a Federal Registration Office is established, the Federal Registrar appointed pursuant to this Act shall replace and serve in lieu of any voting referee in such locality or area appointed under the provisions of section 2004 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1971). DUTIES OF FEDERAL REGISTRARS SEC. 5. (a) The Federal Registrar for any locality or area shall accept voting registration applications from individuals living in the locality or area in which a finding has been rendered pursuant to section 3. Each applicant whom he finds to meet the residence, age, and sanity requirements for voting of the State wherein the affected locality or area is located shall receive from him a certificate of registration. Any constitution, law, custom, usage, or regulation of any State, or by or under its authority, to the contrary notwithstanding, residence, age, and sanity shall be the sole qualifications for a certificate of registration. The Federal Registrar shall disregard any poll tax as a prerequisite for voting. (b) Applications to register to vote shall be received upon any working day of the week up to thirty days prior to any election by Federal Registrars who shall forthwith determine whether any applicant is qualified to vote pursuant to subsection (a). (c) The certificate of registration shall certify that the holder is qualified to vote. The certificate of registration shall be effective within the longest period for which such applicant could have been qualified to vote under the laws of the State in which the affected locality or area is located, but not less than one year, or until the President finds that the findings pursuant to section 3 are no longer valid for the affected locality or area, whichever period is longest. The Federal Registrar shall, from time to time, transmit to the proper State and local officials all information necessary to identify the persons who have received certificates of registration. (d) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to authorize a Federal Registrar to issue a certificate of registration to any person who is not of the same race, color, or national origin as the persons found pursuant to section 3 to have been deprived of registration, or the opportunity of registration. VOTING SEC. 6. Each applicant who is issued a certificate of registration pursuant to section 5 shall have the right to vote, and to have such vote counted, in any elec tion held in his locality or area. ENFORCEMENT SEC. 7. (a) Federal Registrars shall oversee all elections conducted by State and local officials within the affected locality or area, make tallies, and report any persons holding certificates of registration who have been denied the right to vote or to have such vote counted to the court or the Commission on Civil Rights, whichever made the finding pursuant to section 3, and to the Attorney General or his designated representative. (b) Federal Registrars may appoint Deputy Federal Registrars, subject to the approval of the Attorney General of the United States, to assist in overseeing such elections. Deputy Federal Registrars shall receive compensation for their services at the rate of $ per diem while actually engaged in the performance of such services, and shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of duties as a Deputy Federal Registrar. (c) When necessary to assure persons issued certificates of registration pursuant to section 5 of the right to vote and to have their vote counted, the district court shall issue permanent or temporary injunctions or other orders directed to appropriate State or local voting officials, requiring them to permit persons issued certificates of registration under the provisions of this Act to cast their votes and have them counted; and may void any election, except an election for the office of President, Vice President, or presidential elector, where it finds that persons holding certificates of registration have been denied the right to vote or to have their votes counted in such election: Provided, That the court shall void any election, except an election for the office of President, Vice President, or presidential elector, where it finds that fifty or more persons holding certificates of registration have been denied the right to vote or to have their votes counted in such election. (d) The refusal by any State or local officials conducting an election to permit any person who holds a certificate of registration to vote or to have his vote counted shall constitute contempt of court where the court has made a finding pursuant to section 3; and shall constitute a violation of this Act pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. (e) Any person who interferes with a person attempting to apply for a certificate of registration from a Federal Registrar or who interferes with a person who has received a certificate of registration from a Federal Registrar and who is attempting to vote shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (f) In all cases of contempt arising under the provisions of this Act, the accused, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment or both: Provided, however, That in case the accused is a natural person the fine to be paid shall not exceed $5,000, nor shall imprisonment exceed the term of one year. (g) Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to deny to appropriate State officials or other interested persons the right at the time of elections to challenge the eligibility to vote of persons issued certificates of registration hereunder. Whenever such a challenge is made, however, the person issued the certificate of registration shall be permitted to cast his vote and have it counted, but it shall be preserved subject to a determination of the validity of the challenge in any appropriate action brought in the United States district court having jurisdiction over the affected locality or area in which the challenge is made. SEPARABILITY SEC. 8. If any provision of his Act is held invalid, the remainder of this Act shall not be affected thereby. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS SEC. 9. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act. [H.R. 6027, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for the implementation of voting rights, the appointment of Federal registrars, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title 42, sections 1971 (a) (2) and (c), United States Code, are amended by striking out the word "Federal" wherever it appears therein. SEC. 2. Title 42, section 1971(f), United States Code, is deleted and the following subsections shall be renumbered accordingly. SEC. 3. Title 42, section 1971 (e), United States Code, is amended to read as follows: for bus "(e) In any proceeding instituted pursuant to subsection (c) of this section in the event the court finds that any person has been deprived on account of race or color of any right or privilege secured by subsection (a) of this section, the court shall, upon request of the Attorney General and after each party has been given notice and the opportunity to be heard, make a finding forthwith whether such deprivation was or is pursuant to a pattern or practice. If the court finds that fifty or more persons of such race or color resident within the affected area are qualified to vote under State law and have been, within one year from the date the proceeding was commenced pursuant to subsection (c), (1) deprived of or denied under color of law the opportunity to register to vote within two days of making application thereof or otherwise qualified to vote, or (2) found not qualified to vote by any person acting under color of law, it shall immediately make a finding that a pattern or practice of discrimination exists. "Upon such a finding of a pattern or practice, the court shall appoint one or more Federal registrars from a panel of no less than ten persons so designated by the President of the United States. A Federal registrar shall be appointed by the court for one year and thereafter until the court subsequently finds that such pattern or practice has ceased. "If the court, within forty days after the request of the Attorney General for a finding of a pattern or practice, fails to determine whether such pattern or practice exists, the President shall appoint Federal registrars in the same manner as the court is empowered to do, if the President receives statements under oath from at least fifty persons within the affected area that they have been, because of their race or color, (1) deprived of or denied under color of law the opportunity to register to vote within two days of making application thereof or otherwise qualified to vote, or (2) found not qualified to vote by any person acting under color of law. "The panel of persons from which Federal registrars are to be chosen shall be existing Federal officers or employees who are qualified voters in the judicial district in which the proceeding has been instituted. Federal registrars, so appointed, shall subscribe to the oath of office required by section 16 of title 5, United States Code. Such registrars shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for such other service, but while engaged in the work as registrars shall be paid actual travel expenses, and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses when away from their usual place of residence, in accordance with the provisions of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, as amended. "Federal registrars shall, notwithstanding a registration deadline or other such time limitations as may be established under State or local law, receive applications to register to vote of any person who is resident within the affected area and is of the same race or color as those persons who were found to be deprived of the right to vote. Federal registrars shall, in determining whether an applicant is qualified to vote, apply State law, except that, any applicant who has completed the six grades of education in a public school in, or a private school accelerated by, any State or territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall have fulfilled all literary, education, knowledge, or intelligence requirements. The Federal registrar shall disregard any poll tax as a prerequisite to vote. "Applications to vote shall be received by a Federal registrar upon any working day of the week up to thirty days prior to any election and he shall forthwith determine whether an applicant is qualified to vote. If a Federal registrar determines that an applicant is qualified to vote, he shall issue to the applicant a certificate identifying the holder thereof as a person so qualified. The certificate of qualification to vote shall be effective within the longest period for which such applicant could have been registered or otherwise qualified to vote under State law, but no less than one year or until the court finds that a pattern or practice of discrimination has ceased, whichever is greater. Copies of the certificate shall also be submitted to the court, to the Attorney General or his designated representative, and to the appropriate election officers. "Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of State law or the artig State officer or court, an applicant so declared qual to vote in any appropriate election. finds that a pattern or practice of discrimi the right to vote. The refusal by any such officer with notice of such certificate of qualification to permit any person to vote shall constitute contempt of court where the court has made a finding of a pattern or practice of discrimination. In addition, thereto, the court where it has made such finding, shall void any election, except an election for the office of President, Vice President, or presidential elector, where it finds that fifty or more persons, possessing certificates of qualification to vote, have been refused the right to vote in such election. If the court fails to void an election, as so required, the Attorney General shall seek the issuance of a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court of the United States to require the court to take such action. "Where the President, instead of the court, has found a pattern or practice of discrimination, and has appointed Federal registrars, the President shall declare such election void under the same conditions that the court is empowered to do, and shall request the Attorney General to institute the necessary legal action to have such declaration of voidance enforced. "When used in the subsection, the word 'vote' includes all action necessary to make a vote effective including, but not limited to, registration or other action required by State law prerequisite to voting, casting a ballot, and having such ballot counted and included in the appropriate totals of votes cast with respect to candidates for public office and propositions for which votes are received in an election; the wors 'affected area' shall mean any subdivision of the State in which the laws of the State relating to voting are or have been to any extent administered by a person found in the proceeding to have violated subsection (a) of this section; and the words 'qualified under State law' shall mean qualified according to the laws, customs, or usages of the State, and shall not, in any event, imply qualifications more stringent than those used by the persons found in the proceeding to have violated subsection (a) of this section in qualifying persons other than those of the race or color against which the pattern or practice of discrimination was found to exist. "Unless stayed by an order of the Supreme Court, the action of the court or the Federal registrars pursuant to subsection (e) shall remain in full force and effect pending appeal." SEC. 4. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 5. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of the provisions to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby. [H.R. 6029, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL Providing for the enforcement of section 2 of article XIV of the Constitution of the United States of America Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 22(a) of the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for the apportionment of Representatives in Congress", approved June 18, 1929, as amended (2 U.S.C. 2a (a)), is amended (1) by inserting "(1)" immediately following "(a)"; and "(2) On or within one week thereafter of the second regular session of the Eighty-ninth Congress, and thereafter at the times required by paragraph (1), the President shall transmit to the Congress a statement showing the total population of each State as ascertained under the census of population conducted under section 141 of title 13, United States Code, and as modified by the application of section 2 of article XIV of the Constitution of the United States. Such statement shall give the number of Representatives to which each State would be entitled under an apportionment of the then existing number of Representatives by the method known as the method of equal proportions, no State to receive less than one Member. onstitution to determine the the President shallone years of age, citizens rebellion or other major e immediately preceding several elections held for the choice of electors for the President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of the State, and the members of the legislature thereof, or who are presently fully qualified to vote at all such elections; "(B) not construe clause (A) to prohibit State or local authorities from requiring as a voting qualification the information necessary to complete a simple form, which shall be received at any time up to thirty days preceding any election, requesting only the name, age, address, residence, and record of major crimes, if any, of an applicant to vote in any election; "(C) in addition to clause (A), count those persons whom the State or local authorities can demonstrate, based upon substantial evidence, either— "(i) did not make application to vote as may be required pursuant to clause (B) or "(ii) having made application to vote pursuant to clause (B), refused to make known in any way the information which may be required pursuant to clause (B); "(D) notwithstanding clause (C), not count those persons whose right to vote in any election specified in clause (A) depended upon or at the present time depends upon their meeting any qualification or requirement other than those permitted under section 2 of Article XIV of the Constitution of the United States and clause (B) of this paragraph, including any test of literacy, knowledge, understanding, or achievement, or any other test, and any poll tax or other tax regardless of whether or not such person might have been able or willing to fulfill such qualification or requirements; and "(E) utilize the compilations made pursuant to title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 266; 42 U.S.C. 2000f) to the extent that they are useful and appropriate." SEC. 2. The first sentence of section 22(b) of the Act of June 18, 1929, as amended (2 U.S.C. 2a (b)), is amended by adding “(2)” immediately after “(a)”. SEC. 3. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary for the implementation of this Act. SEC. 4. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application of the provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby. [H.R. 6074, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for the implementation of voting rights, the appointment of Federal registrars, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title 42, sections 1971 (a) (2) and (c), United States Code, are amended by striking out the word "Federal" wherever it appears therein. SEC. 2. Title 42, section 1971(f), United States Code, is deleted and the following subsections shall be renumbered accordingly. SEC. 3. Title 42, section 1971(e), United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "(e) In any proceeding instituted pursuant to subsection (c) of this section in the event the court finds that any person has been deprived on account of race or color of any right or privilege secured by subsection (a) of this section, the court shall, upon request of the Attorney General and after each party has been given notice and the opportunity to be heard, make a finding forthwith whether such deprivation was or is pursuant to a pattern or practice. If the court finds that fifty or more persons of such race or color resident within the affected area are qualified to vote under State law and have been, within one year from the date the proceeding was commenced pursuant to subsection (c), (1) deprived of or denied under color of law the opportunity to register to vote within two days of making application thereof or otherwise qualified to vote, or (2) found not qualified to vote by any person acting under color of law, it shall immediately make a finding that a pattern or practice of discrimination exists. "Upon such a finding of a pattern or practice, the court shall appoint one or more Federal registrars from a panel of no less than ten persons so designated by the President of the United States. A Federal registrar shall be appointed by the court for one year and thereafter until the court subsequently finds that such pattern or practice has ceased. |