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••
IN
THE
UNITEDSTATES
DISTRICTCOURT
FORTHE
DISTRICT
OF
COLUMBIA
SHELBYCOUNTY,ALABAMA
201
WestCollegeStreetColumbiana,
AL
35051Plaintiff,
v,
ERICH.HOLDER,JR.,inhisofficialcapacity
as
ATTORNEYGENERALOFTHEUNITEDSTATES,U.S.Department
of
Justice950PennsylvaniaAvenue,NWWashington,DC20530Defendant.
Civ
Case:1:10-cv-00651Assigned
To:
Bates,John
0,
Assign
Date:
412712010
DescriptionGeneral
COMPLAINTFORDECLARATORY
AND
INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF
LThisis
an
actionforadeclaratoryjudgmentthatSection4(b),42
U.S.c.
§1973b(b),andSection
5,
id.
§1973c,
of
theVotingRightsAct("VRA"),whichrenderPlaintiffShelbyCountya"covered"jurisdictionandrequireShelbyCounty
to
obtain"preclearance"forallvotingchanges,arefaciallyunconstitutional,andforapermanentinjunctionagainstDefendantAttorneyGeneralEric
H.
Holder,Jr.enjoiningtheenforcement
of
theseprovisions
of
theVRA.
THE
PARTIES
2.
PlaintiffisacountyintheState
of
Alabamaanda"politicalsubdivision"forpurposes
of
Section4andSection5
of
theVRA.
ld.
§§
1973b,1973c,
19731(c)(2).
3.
Defendant,actinginhisofficialcapacityasAttorneyGeneral
of
theUnitedStates,hashisofficeintheDistrict
of
Columbiaandischargedwiththeenforcement
of
theVRA.
••
JURISDICTION
ANDVENUE4.
This
Courthasjurisdictionpursuantto28U.S.C.
§
1331,42
U.S.c.
§
1973c,and42U.S.C.§
1973/.
5.
Plaintiff
seeksadeclaratoryjudgmentandinjunctivereliefpursuantto28
U.S.c.
§
2201and28
U.S.c.
§
2202.
6.
Venueisproperinthisdistrictunder42
U.S.c.
§
19731
and28
U.S.c.
§
1391(b).
BACKGROUND
A.
Tile
Voting
RightsAct
of
1965
7.
TheFifteenthAmendment
to
theUnitedStatesConstitutionprovides,inrelevantpart,that"[t]heright
of
citizens
of
theUnitedStatestovoteshallnotbedenied
or
abridged
by
theUnitedStates
orby
anyStateonaccount
of
race,color,
or
previouscondition
of
servitude,"U.S.
Const
amend.XV,§
1,
andgrantstoCongressthe
"power
toenforcethisarticle
by
appropriatelegislation,"
id.
§
2.
8.
CongressenactedtheVotingRights
of
1965,Pub.No.89-I10,79
Stat
437(1965),toenforcethesubstantiveguarantee
of
theFifteenthAmendment.
9.
Section2
of
theVRAenforcedthesubstantiveguarantee
of
theFifteenthAmendment
by
outlawingany"votingqualification
or
prerequisitetovoting,
or
standard,practice,
or
procedure
...
imposed
or
applied
...
todeny
or
abridgetheright
of
any
citizen
of
theUnitedStatestovoteonaccount
of
raceorcolor."
Jd.
§
2,79
Stat
at437.Thisprohibitionappliednationwide.
Jd.
10.Otherprovisions
of
thestatuteappliedonlytocertainjurisdictionspursuanttoageographic"coverage"formulaestablished
by
theVRA.
2
••
a.Section4(a)
of
theVRAforeclosedany"covered"jurisdictionfromusingaprohibited"testordevice"inconductingelections.
Id.
§
4(a),79Stat.at438.Section4(c)definedaprohibited"testordevice"
as
"anyrequirementthatapersonasaprerequisiteforvotingorregistrationforvoting
(l)
demonstratetheability
to
read,write,understand,orinterpretanymatter,(2)demonstrateanyeducationalachievementorhisknowledge
of
anyparticularsubject,(3)possessgoodmoralcharacter,or(4)provehisqualifications
by
thevoucher
of
registeredvoters
or
members
of
anyotherclass."
Id.
§4(c),79Stat.
at
438-39.
b.
Section4(b)setforththecoverageformula:"[A]nyState
or
anypoliticalsubdivision
of
astatewhich
...
theAttorneyGenera!determiner
d]
maintainedonNovember
1,
1964,any[prohibited]testordevice,andwithrespecttowhich
...
theDirector
of
theCensusdeterminer
d]
thatlessthan50percentum
of
thepersons
of
votingageresidingthereinwereregisteredonNovemberI,1964,orthatlessthan50percentum
of
suchpersonsvotedthepresidentialelection
of
November1964."
Id.
§4(b),
79
Stat.at438.
c.
UnderSection4(b)'scoverageformula,sevenStates(Alabama,Alaska,Georgia,Louisiana,Mississippi,SouthCarolina,andVirginia),fortycountiesinNorthCarolina,aswell
as
afewcountiesArizona,Hawaii,andIdaho,became"covered"jurisdictions.Determination
of
theAttorneyGeneralPursuanttoSection4(b)(1)
of
theVotingRightsAct
of
1965,30
Fed.Reg.9897(Aug.7,1965);Determination
of
theDirector
of
theCensusPursuanttoSection4(b)(2)
of
theVotingRightsAct
ofl965
(Public
Law
89-110),30Fed.Reg.9897(Aug.7,1965);Determination
ofthe
DirectorRegardingVotingRights,
31
Fed.Reg.
19
(Jan.4,1966);Determination
of
theDirectorRegardingVotingRights,
31
Fed.Reg.982(Jan.25,1966);Determination
of
theDirectorRegardingVotingRights,
31
Fed.Reg.3317(Mar.2,1966);Determination
of
theDirectorRegardingVotingRights,
31
Fed.Reg.5080-81(Mar.29,1966).
3
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