John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025
Official title: To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for other purposes.
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Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025
This bill establishes new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changes to voting practices may take effect. Preclearance is the process of receiving preapproval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights.
A state and all of its political subdivisions shall be subject to preclearance of voting practice changes for a 10-year period if, during the previous 25 years:
- 15 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state;
- 10 or more violations occurred, at least 1 of which was committed by the state itself; or
- 3 or more violations occurred and the state administers the elections.
A political subdivision as a separate unit shall also be subject to preclearance for a 10-year period if three or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years.
States and political subdivisions that meet certain thresholds regarding minority groups must preclear covered practices before implementation, such as redistricting.
States and political subdivisions must notify the public of changes to voting practices.
The bill authorizes DOJ to require states or political subdivisions to provide certain documents or answers to questions for enforcing voting rights.
The bill outlines factors courts must consider when hearing challenges to voting practices, such as the extent of any history of official voting discrimination in the state or political subdivision.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
- SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, INC.
- INDEPENDENT SECTOR
- HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
- COMMON CAUSE
- NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN
- LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS
Bodies those filers lobbied
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- SENATE
- White House Office
- Justice, Dept of (DOJ)
- Education, Dept of
- Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)
- Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)
- Treasury, Dept of
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 14: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-14/
"H.R. 14: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-14/.
H.R. 14, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-14/.
[H.R. 14: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-14/)