H.R. 9437 — Right to Vote Act

This section establishes a fundamental right to vote for every citizen of legal voting age in elections for Federal office. It prohibits governments from diminishing the ability to vote unless the action is the least restrictive means of significantly furthering an important, particularized government interest, and from substantially impairing that ability unless the action significantly furthers such an interest.

This section authorizes civil actions in federal district court to enforce rights under the Right to Vote Act, with venue in the District of Columbia or the district where the violation occurred or a defendant resides or does business. It establishes prima facie standards under which a plaintiff may show retrogression or substantial impairment of voting rights by a preponderance of the evidence, after which the government must rebut by clear and convincing evidence, and requires courts to expedite such cases. It also amends 42 U.S.C. 1988(b) to permit prevailing parties to recover reasonable attorney's fees in actions under the Act.

This section establishes definitions for the Act, specifying covered entities as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories and possessions; adopting the meanings of election and Federal office from the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971; including all branches, departments, agencies, and officials under the term government; and defining vote to encompass registration, ballot casting, and counting.

This section prohibits construing the Act to authorize any government to burden the right to vote in Federal elections. It preserves all existing rights under State constitutions and the U.S. Constitution and does not limit remedies for violations of other Federal, State, or local laws.

This section provides that if any provision of the Act or its application to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its application to other persons or circumstances remain in effect.

This section applies subsection (b) of section 2 to any law, rule, standard, practice, procedure, or other governmental action not in effect during the November 2024 general election but effective for federal elections on or after September 1, 2026, even if already enacted. It applies subsection (c) of section 2 to any such action effective for federal elections on or after September 1, 2026.