Sec. 6. Accessible Tribal designated polling sites
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Each of the several States whose territory contains all or part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands shall designate for each Indian Tribe an officer within that State who will be responsible for compliance with the provisions of this section. The State shall provide written notice to each such Indian Tribe of the officer so designated. For each Indian Tribe that satisfies the obligations of subsection (c), and for each election for a Federal official that is held 180 days or later after the date on which the Indian Tribe initially satisfies such obligations, any State or political subdivision whose territory contains all or part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands— shall provide a minimum of one polling place for each precinct in which there are eligible voters who reside on Indian lands, in a location selected by the Indian Tribe and at no cost to the Indian Tribe; shall provide, at no cost to the Indian Tribe, additional polling places in locations selected by an Indian Tribe if, based on the totality of circumstances described in subsection (b), it is shown that not providing those additional polling places would result in members of the Indian Tribe and individuals residing on the Indian Tribe’s Indian lands having less opportunity to vote than eligible voters in that State or political subdivision who are not members of an Indian Tribe and do not reside on Indian lands; shall, at each polling place located on Indian lands and at no cost to the Indian Tribe, make voting machines, tabulation machines, ballots, provisional ballots, and other voting materials available to the same extent that such equipment and materials are made available at other polling places in the State or political subdivision that are not located on Indian lands; shall, at each polling place located on Indian lands, conduct the election using the same voting procedures that are used at other polling places in the State or political subdivision that are not located on Indian lands; shall, at each polling place located on Indian lands, provide training, compensation, and other benefits to election officials and poll workers at no cost to the Indian Tribe and to the same extent that such training, compensation, and benefits are provided to election officials and poll workers at other polling places in the State or political subdivision that are not located on Indian lands; shall cooperate in good faith with the efforts of the Indian Tribe to satisfy the requirements of subsection (c); and may fulfill the State’s obligations under subparagraphs
(A)and
(B)by relocating existing polling places, by creating new polling places, or both. When assessing the opportunities to vote provided to members of an Indian Tribe and to other eligible voters in the State residing on Indian lands in order to determine the number of additional polling places (if any) that a State or political subdivision must provide in accordance with subsection (a)(2)(B), the State, political subdivision, and any court applying this section, shall consider the totality of circumstances of— the number of voting-age citizens assigned to each polling place; the distances that voters must travel to reach the polling places; the time that voters must spend traveling to reach the polling places, including under inclement weather conditions; the modes of transportation, if any, that are available to voters to use to reach the polling places; the existence of and access to public transportation to the polling places; and any other factor relevant to effectuating the purposes of this Act. The State and political subdivision obligations under subsection (a)(2) shall apply with respect to an Indian Tribe only if that Indian Tribe files a standing request with the officer designated under subsection (a)(1) for a polling place or polling places for future elections, pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A), or subsection (a)(2)(B) (if applicable), which— specifies the number and locations of such polling places that the Indian Tribe is requesting; certifies that the Indian Tribe has arranged access to the facilities in which such polling places will be located, and that such access is in accordance with Federal and State law; certifies that the Indian Tribe will ensure that each such polling place will be open and available to all eligible voters who reside in the precinct or other geographic area assigned to such polling place, regardless of whether such eligible voters are members of the Indian Tribe or of any other Indian Tribe; and requests that the State shall designate election officials and poll workers to staff such polling places, or certifies that the Indian Tribe will designate election officials and poll workers to staff such polling places on every day that the polling places will be open. At any time that is 60 days or more before the date of an election, an Indian Tribe that previously has satisfied the obligations of paragraph
(1)may notify the State that the Indian Tribe intends to opt out of the standing request for one or more polling places that were requested in accordance with subsection (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(B) for a particular election or for all future elections. At an Indian Tribe’s request, each State shall designate as voter polling facilities any of the facilities identified in accordance with section 7(a)(2)(C) or
(D)of the of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ( 52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2) ), at no cost to the Indian Tribe, provided that the facility meets the requirements of Federal and State law as applied to other polling places within the State or political subdivision. The applicable agency of the Federal Government shall ensure that such designated facilities are made available as polling places. In States or political subdivisions that permit absentee or mail-in balloting, the following shall apply with respect to an election for Federal office: All postage shall be prepaid by the Federal Government and each ballot postmarked the day the ballot is received at a postal facility located on Indian lands. An Indian Tribe may designate a Tribal Government building as a ballot pickup and collection location at no cost to the Indian Tribe. The applicable State or political subdivision shall collect ballots from that location. The State or political subdivision shall provide mail-in and absentee ballots to each registered voter residing on Indian lands in the State or political subdivision without requiring a residential address, a mail-in or absentee ballot request, or an excuse for a mail-in or absentee ballot. The address of a designated Tribal Government building that is a ballot pickup and collection location under paragraph
(2)may serve as the address and mailing address for voters living on Indian lands if the designated Tribal Government building is in the same precinct as that voter. If such designated Tribal Government building is not in the same precinct as the voter, the voter may use the designated Tribal Government building as a mailing address and may separately designate the voter's appropriate precinct through a description of the voter's address, as specified in section 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Federal Regulations. In the case of a State or political subdivision that is a covered State or political subdivision under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( 52 U.S.C. 10503 ), that State or political subdivision shall provide absentee or mail-in voting materials in the language of the applicable minority group as well as in the English language, bilingual election voting assistance, and written translations of all voting materials in the language of the applicable minority group, as required by section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( 52 U.S.C. 10503 ), as amended by this Act. In a State or political subdivision that provides for early voting, that State or political subdivision shall provide not less than one early voting location on Indian lands, upon the request of the applicable Indian Tribe and at a site selected by the applicable Indian Tribe. The Attorney General may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to carry out this section. A person or Tribal Government who is aggrieved by a violation of this section may provide written notice of the violation to the chief election official of the State involved. An aggrieved person or Tribal Government may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court for declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to a violation of this section, if— that person or Tribal Government provides the notice described in subparagraph (A); and in the case of a violation that occurs more than 120 days before the date of an election for Federal office, the violation remains and 90 days or more have passed since the date on which the chief election official of the State receives the notice under subparagraph (A); or in the case of a violation that occurs 120 days or less before the date of an election for Federal office, the violation remains and 20 days or more have passed since the date on which the chief election official of the State receives the notice under subparagraph (A). In the case of a violation of this section that occurs 30 days or less before the date of an election for Federal office, an aggrieved person or Tribal Government may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court for declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the violation without providing notice to the chief election official of the State under subparagraph (A). Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a State or political subdivision from providing additional polling places on Indian lands if no request was made by an Indian Tribe under this section.
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