Voting Rights Policy and Guidance

The Department published several guides to assist with understanding voting rights, laws, and procedures. 

• An Office of Legal Counsel Opinion authorizes the Civil Rights Division to seek statewide voter registration lists and share them with the Department of Homeland Security as part of its effort to identify individuals who are ineligible to vote.
• The Voting Rights Fact Sheet provides information on certain civil provisions of federal law that protect the right to vote, including prohibitions on intimidation and discrimination, and rules allowing voters to have someone of their choice help them in the voting process.
• The Know Your Voting Rights Guide provides information about several federal laws affecting voting rights and explains how members of the public can report possible violations of those laws to the Justice Department.
  This resource is available in several languages.
  简体字 (Simplified Chinese)     繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)     한국어 (Korean)     Español (Spanish)     Tagalog     Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)     বাঙ্গালি (Bengali)      ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)     हिन्दी (Hindi)    Hmoob (Hmong)      ខ្មែរ (Khmer)      ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)      Diné Bizaad (Navajo)     Yup’ik
• The Voter Intimidation Guide discusses the laws prohibiting voter intimidation, threats and coercion, as well as voter interference, in the electoral process and advises how to report such violations.
• The Voting Protections for Language Minority Citizens under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act Guide describes the language assistance required by Section 203 to enable certain people with limited English proficiency to participate effectively in all phases of the electoral process. 
  This resource is available in several languages.
  简体字 (Simplified Chinese)     繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)     한국어 (Korean)     Español (Spanish)     Tagalog     Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)      বাঙ্গালি (Bengali)     ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)      हिन्दी (Hindi)      Hmoob (Hmong)      ខ្មែរ (Khmer)     ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)     Yup’ik     日本語 (Japanese)
• The Voting Protections for Citizens Who Do Not Read or Speak English Very Well fact sheet provides information on federal law protections for voters who are limited in their ability to speak English.
  This resource is available in several languages.
  Español (Spanish)     Tagalog      한국어 (Korean)       简体字 (Simplified Chinese)       Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)       हिन्दी (Hindi)
• The Election Monitoring Guide describes the Civil Rights Division’s monitoring of election-day activities around the country, using Justice Department personnel or federal observers, and how to request such monitoring.
• The Guide to State Voting Rules That Apply After a Criminal Conviction provides information enabling citizens with a criminal conviction to understand their eligibility to vote.
• The Federal Law Constraints on Post-Election Audits Guide sets forth the legal limitations on post-election audits under the federal election record and preservation requirements of the Civil Rights Act and the anti-intimidation provisions of the federal voting rights laws.
• The Methods of Voting and the Federal Voting Rights Laws Guide discusses federal laws that govern how citizens cast their ballots, federal laws on voting by mail and absentee ballots, and federal laws relating to voting in person, including early voting.
• The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) Guide discusses the requirements of UOCAVA protecting the rights of members of the uniformed service and their families, and U.S. citizens residing overseas, to register and vote absentee in elections for Federal office.
• The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) Guide discusses the minimum standards created by HAVA for states to follow in several key areas of election administration.
• The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) Guide provides information to election officials and the public concerning the NVRA and its interaction with the other statutes enforced by the Department.  Voter Registration List Maintenance: Guidance Under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20507 provides information to election officials and the public concerning NVRA voter registration list maintenance requirements, including constraints on removing voters from state registration lists.
• To assist jurisdictions, the Attorney General has issued a set of Procedures for the Administration of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is also published at 28 C.F.R., Part 51.
• Some jurisdictions are covered by the language minority provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Sections 4(e) or 203. For those jurisdictions, the information concerning Implementation of the Provisions of the Voting Rights Act Regarding Language Minority Groups may be useful. This is also available at 28 C.F.R., Part 55.