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TITLE I--VOTING
RIGHTS SEC. 101. Section 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42
U.S.C. 1971), as amended by section 131 of the Civil Rights Act of
1957 (71 Stat. 637), and as further amended by section 601 of the
Civil Rights Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 90), is further amended as follows:
OOO(a) Insert "1" after "(a)"
in subsection (a) and add at the end of subsection (a) the following
new paragraphs: "
OOOO(2) No person acting under color of
law shall--
OOOO"(A) in determining whether any
individual is qualified under State law or laws to vote in any Federal
election, apply any standard, practice, or procedure different from
the standards, practices, or procedures applied under such law or laws
to other individuals within the same county, parish, or similar
political subdivision who have been found by State officials to be
qualified to vote;
OOOO"(B) deny the right of any
individual to vote in any Federal
election because of an error or omission on any record or paper
relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to
voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining
whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote in such
election; or "
OOOO(C) employ any literacy test as a
qualification for voting in any Federal election unless (i) such test
is administered to each individual and is conducted wholly in writing,
and (ii) a certified copy of the test and of the answers given by the
individual is furnished to him within twenty-five days of the
submission of his request made within the period of time during which
records and papers are required to be retained and preserved pursuant
to title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (42 U.S.C. 1974--74e; 74
Stat. 88): Provided, however, That the Attorney General may enter into
agreements with appropriate State or local authorities that
preparation, conduct, and maintenance of such tests in accordance with
the provisions of applicable State or local law, including such
special provisions as are necessary in the preparation, conduct, and
maintenance of such tests for persons who are blind or otherwise
physically handicapped, meet the purposes of this subparagraph and
constitute compliance therewith. "
OOOO"(3) For purposes of this
subsection-- "
OOOO"(A) the term 'vote' shall have
the same meaning as in subsection (e) of this section;
OOOO"(B) the phrase 'literacy test'
includes any test of the ability to read, write, understand, or
interpret any matter."
OOO(b) Insert immediately following the
period at the end of the first sentence of subsection (c) the
following new sentence: "If in any such proceeding literacy is a
relevant fact there shall be a rebuttable presumption that any person
who has not been adjudged an incompetent and who has completed the
sixth grade in a public school in, or a private school accredited by,
any State or territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico where instruction is carried on predominantly in the
English language, possesses sufficient literacy, comprehension, and
intelligence to vote in any Federal election."
OOO(c)
Add the following subsection "(f)" and designate the present
subsection "(f)" as subsection "(g)": "(f)
When used in subsection (a) or (c) of this section, the words 'Federal
election' shall mean any general, special, or primary election held
solely or in part for the purpose of electing or selecting any
candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential
elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of
Representatives."
OOO(d) Add the following subsection "(h)":
"(h) In any proceeding instituted by the United States in any
district court of the United States under this section in which the
Attorney General requests a finding of a pattern or practice of
discrimination pursuant to subsection (e) of this section the Attorney
General, at the time he files the complaint, or any defendant in the
proceeding, within twenty days after service upon him of the
complaint, may file with the clerk of such court a request that a
court of three judges be convened to hear and determine the entire
case. A copy of the request for a three-judge court shall be
immediately furnished by such clerk to the chief judge of the circuit
(or in his absence, the presiding circuit judge of the circuit) in
which the case is pending. Upon receipt of the copy of such request it
shall be the duty of the chief justice of the circuit or the presiding
circuit judge, as the case may be, to designate immediately three
judges in such circuit, of whom at least one shall be a circuit judge
and another of whom shall be a district judge of the court in which
the proceeding was instituted, to hear and determine such case, and it
shall be the duty of the judges so designated to assign the case for
hearing at the earliest practicable date, to participate in the
hearing and determination thereof, and to cause the case to be in
every way expedited. An appeal from the final judgment of such court
will lie to the Supreme Court. "In any proceeding brought under
subsection (c) of this section to enforce subsection (b) of this
section, or in the event neither the Attorney General nor any
defendant files a request for a three-judge court in any proceeding
authorized by this subsection, it shall be the duty of the chief judge
of the district (or in his absence, the acting chief judge) in which
the case is pending immediately to designate a judge in such district
to hear and determine the case. In the event that no judge in the
district is available to hear and determine the case, the chief judge
of the district, or the acting chief judge, as the case may be, shall
certify this fact to the chief judge of the circuit (or, in his
absence, the acting chief judge) who shall then designate a district
or circuit judge of the circuit to hear and determine the case. "It
shall be the duty of the judge designated pursuant to this section to
assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date and to
cause the case to be in every way expedited."
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