[blindlaw] Voting rights: judgement and consent decree in Virginia

[Ross Doerr]

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, June 14, 2012Justice Department Reaches
Agreement with Grayson County, Virginia, on Bailout from the Voting Rights
Act
The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with
Grayson County, Va., that will allow for the county and its four political
subdivisions, the Grayson County School District and the towns of
Independence, Fries and Troutdale, Va., to bail out from their status as
"covered jurisdictions" under the special provisions of the Voting Rights
Act, and thereby exempt these jurisdictions from the preclearance
requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.   The agreement is in
the form of a consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia and must be approved by the court.

 

Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, certain covered jurisdictions,
determined according to Section 4 of the act, are required to seek
preclearance for any changes in voting qualifications, standards, practices
or procedures from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia or
from the U.S. Attorney General, prior to their implementation.   Section 4
of the act provides that a covered jurisdiction may seek to "bail out," or
remove itself from such coverage, and therefore be exempted from the
preclearance requirements, by seeking a declaratory judgment before a
three-judge panel in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.   A
bailout judgment can be issued only if the court determines that the
jurisdiction meets certain eligibility requirements for bailout contained in
the statute, including a 10-year record of nondiscrimination in
voting-related actions.   The act also provides that the attorney general
can consent to entry of a judgment of bailout only if, based upon
investigation, the attorney general is satisfied that the jurisdiction meets
the eligibility requirements.

 

Grayson County filed its bailout action in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia on May 3, 2012.   Counsel for the county contacted the
attorney general prior to filing the action, indicating that the county was
interested in seeking a bailout.   The county provided the Justice
Department with substantial information, and the department conducted an
investigation to determine the county's eligibility.   Based on that
investigation, the department is satisfied that the county meets the Voting
Rights Act's requirements for bailout.

 

"In the department's view, the county has met the requirements necessary for
bailout.   We reached this conclusion after thoroughly reviewing information
provided by the county and gathered during the department's independent
investigation," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the
Civil Rights Division.   "I commend the county on their cooperation to
ensure resolution of this matter."

 

The consent decree details the legal and factual basis for a bailout
determination and, if approved by the court, the county's request will be
granted.   The court will retain jurisdiction of the action for 10 years and
can reopen the action upon the motion of the attorney general or any
aggrieved person alleging conduct by the county that would have originally
precluded the county from bailing out if it had occurred during the 10-year
period preceding entry of the consent decree.

 

Information about bailout, the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting
laws is available on the Department of Justice website at
www.justice.gov/crt/voting/.   Complaints may be reported to the Voting
Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

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