Sec. 306. 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 an officer within that State who will be responsible for compliance with the provisions of this section and who shall periodically consult with the Indian Tribes located wholly or partially within that State regarding compliance with the provisions of this section and coordination between the State and the Indian Tribe. 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 or State 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 in 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, regardless of the population or number of registered voters residing on Indian lands; shall not reduce the number of polling locations on Indian lands based on population numbers; shall provide, at no cost to the Indian Tribe, additional polling places in locations on Indian lands selected by an Indian Tribe and requested under subsection
(c)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 living on Indian lands or other 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 or 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, official receptacles designated for the return of completed absentee ballots, ballots, provisional ballots, and other voting materials available to the same or greater 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, or other voting procedures that provide greater access for voters; shall, at each polling place located on Indian lands and at no cost to the Indian Tribe, make voter registration available during the period the polling place is open to the maximum extent allowable under State law; 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, at a minimum, to the same or greater 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, in all cases, provide the Indian Tribe an opportunity to designate election officials and poll workers to staff polling places within the Indian lands of the applicable Indian Tribe on every day that the polling places will be open; shall allow for any eligible voting member of the Indian Tribe or any eligible voting individual residing on Indian lands to vote early or in person at any polling place on Indian lands, regardless of that member or individual’s residence or residential address, and shall not reject the ballot of any such member or individual on the grounds that the ballot was cast at the wrong polling place; and may fulfill the State’s obligations under subparagraphs
(A)and
(C)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)(C), the State, political subdivision, or 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 regularly and broadly available to voters to use to reach the polling places; the existence of and access to frequent and reliable public transportation to the polling places; the length of lines and time voters waited to cast a ballot in previous elections; and any other factor relevant to effectuating the aim of achieving equal voting opportunity for individuals living on Indian lands. When assessing the opportunities to vote in accordance with paragraph (1), the State, political subdivision, or court shall ensure that each factor described in paragraph
(1)is considered regardless of whether any one factor would lead to a determination not to provide additional polling places under subsection (a)(2)(C). The Attorney General shall establish the form described in this subsection through which an Indian Tribe can fulfill its obligations under this subsection. Each State or political subdivision whose territory contains all or part of an Indian Tribe’s Indian lands— shall provide the form established under paragraph
(1)to each applicable Indian Tribe not less than 30 days prior to the deadline set by the State or political subdivision for completion of the obligations under this subsection (which deadline shall be not less than 30 days prior to a Federal election) whereby an Indian Tribe can fulfill its obligations under this subsection by providing the information described in paragraph
(3)on that form and submitting the form back to the applicable State or political subdivision by such deadline; shall not edit the form established under paragraph
(1)or apply any additional obligations on the Indian Tribe with respect to this section; and shall cooperate in good faith with the efforts of the Indian Tribe to satisfy the requirements of this subsection. The requirements for a State and political subdivision under subsection (a)(2) shall apply with respect to an Indian Tribe once an Indian Tribe meets the following obligations by completing the form specified in paragraph (1): The Indian Tribe specifies the number and locations of requested polling places, early voting locations, and ballot drop boxes to be provided on the Indian lands of that Indian Tribe. The Indian Tribe certifies that curbside voting will be available for any facilities that lack accessible entrances and exits in accordance with Federal and State law. The Indian Tribe certifies that the Indian Tribe will ensure that each such requested 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. The Indian Tribe requests that the State or political subdivision shall designate election officials and poll workers to staff such requested 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. The Indian Tribe may request that the State or political subdivision provide absentee ballots without requiring an excuse, an absentee ballot request, or residential address 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. Once a polling place is established under subsection (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(C) the Tribe need not fill out the form designated under paragraph
(1)again unless or until that Indian Tribe requests modifications to the requests specified in the most recent form under paragraph (1). 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
(3)may notify the State or political subdivision that the Indian Tribe intends to opt out of the standing obligation for one or more polling places that were established in accordance with subsection (a)(2)(A) or subsection (a)(2)(C) for a particular election or for all future elections. A Tribe may opt back in at any time. Each State shall designate as voter polling facilities any of the facilities identified in accordance with subparagraph
(C)or
(D)of section 7(a)(2) 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: For each ballot cast by a member of an Indian Tribe living on Indian lands, 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 at least one building per precinct as a ballot pickup and collection location (referred to in this section as a tribally designated buildings ) at no cost to the Indian Tribe. The applicable State or political subdivision shall collect and timely deposit all ballots from each tribally designated building. At the applicable Tribe’s request, 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 tribally designated building may serve as the residential address and mailing address for voters living on Indian lands if the tribally designated building is in the same precinct as that voter. If there is no tribally designated building within the precinct of a voter residing on Indian lands (including if the tribally designated building is on Indian lands but not in the same precinct as the voter), the voter may— use another tribally designated building within the Indian lands where the voter is located; or use such tribally designated 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 with respect to an election for Federal office 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 title. A State or political division shall make reasonable efforts to contact a voter who resides within Indian lands located within its jurisdiction and offer such voter a reasonable opportunity to cure any defect in an absentee ballot issued to and completed and returned by the voter, or appearing on or pertaining to the materials provided for the purpose of returning the absentee ballot, if State law would otherwise require the absentee ballot to be rejected due to such defect and the defect does not compromise ballot secrecy or involve a lack of witness or assistant signature, where such signature is mandated by State law. In a State or political subdivision that does not permit absentee or mail-in balloting for all eligible voters in the State or political subdivision, that State or political subdivision shall nonetheless provide for absentee or mail-in balloting for voters who reside on Indian lands consistent with this section if the State, political subdivision, or any court applying this section determines that the totality of circumstances described in subsection
(b)warrants establishment of absentee or mail-in balloting for voters who reside on Indian lands located within the jurisdiction of the State or political subdivision. Each State shall— provide not less than one ballot drop box for each precinct on Indian lands, at no cost to the Indian Tribe, at either the tribally designated building under subsection (e)(2) or an alternative site selected by the applicable Indian Tribe; and provide additional drop boxes at either the tribally designated building under subsection (e)(2) or an alternative site selected by the applicable Indian Tribe if the State or political subdivision determines that additional ballot drop boxes should be provided based on the criteria considered under the totality of circumstances enumerated under subsection (b). In a State or political subdivision that permits early voting in an election for Federal office, that State or political subdivision shall provide not less than one early voting location for each precinct on Indian lands, at no cost to the Indian Tribe, at a site selected by the applicable Indian Tribe, to allow individuals living on Indian lands to vote during an early voting period in the same manner as early voting is allowed on such date in the rest of the State or precinct. Additional early voting sites shall be determined based on the criteria considered under the totality of circumstances described in subsection (b). In a State or political subdivision that permits early voting in an election for Federal office, that State or political subdivision shall provide an early voting period with respect to that election that shall consist of a period of consecutive days (including weekends) which begins on the 15th day before the date of the election (or, at the option of the State or political subdivision, on a day prior to the 15th day before the date of the election) and ends on the date of the election for all early voting locations on Indian lands. Each polling place that allows voting during an early voting period under this subsection shall— allow such voting for no less than 10 hours on each day; have uniform hours each day for which such voting occurs; and allow such voting to be held for some period of time prior to 9:00 a.m. (local time) and some period of time after 5:00 p.m. (local time). To the greatest extent practicable, ballots cast during the early voting period in an election for Federal office at voting locations and drop boxes on Indian lands shall be processed and scanned for tabulation in advance of the close of polls on the date of the election. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit a State or political subdivision to tabulate and count ballots in an election for Federal office before the closing of the polls on the date of the election. In addition to the requirements under section 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21082(a) ), for each State or political subdivision that provides voters provisional ballots, challenge ballots, or affidavit ballots under the State’s applicable law governing the voting processes for those voters whose eligibility to vote is determined to be uncertain by election officials, election officials shall— provide clear written instructions indicating the reason the voter was given a provisional ballot, the information or documents the voter needs to prove eligibility, the location at which the voter must appear to submit these materials or alternative methods, including email or facsimile, that the voter may use to submit these materials, and the deadline for submitting these materials; permit any voter who votes provisionally at any polling place on Indian lands to appear at any polling place or at the central location for the election board to submit the documentation or information to prove eligibility; permit any voter who votes provisionally at any polling place to submit the required information or documentation via email or facsimile, if the voter prefers to use such methods as an alternative to appearing in person to submit the required information or documentation to prove eligibility; notify the voter on whether the voter’s provisional ballot was counted or rejected by telephone, email, or postal mail, or any other available method, including notifying the voter of any online tracking website if State law provides for such a mechanism; and provide the reason for rejection if the voter’s provisional ballot was rejected after the voter provided the required information or documentation on eligibility. A State or political subdivision described in paragraph
(1)shall ensure in each case in which a provisional ballot is cast, that election officials— request and collect the voter’s email address, if the voter has one, and transmit any written instructions issued to the voter in person to the voter via email; and provide a verbal translation of any written instructions to the voter. 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 Indian Tribe 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 Indian Tribe 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 Indian Tribe 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 but more than 30 days 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 Indian Tribe 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 or early voting locations on Indian lands.
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