28 C.F.R. § 51.52 Basic standard.
Title 28 - Judicial Administration
(a) Surrogate for the court. Section 5 provides for submission of a voting change to the Attorney General as an alternative to the seeking of a declaratory judgment from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Therefore, the Attorney General shall make the same determination that would be made by the court in an action for a declaratory judgment under section 5: Whether the submitted change has the purpose or will have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group. The burden of proof is on a submitting authority when it submits a change to the Attorney General for preclearance, as it would be if the proposed change were the subject of a declaratory judgment action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. See South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 328, 335 (1966). (b) No objection. If the Attorney General determines that the submitted change does not have the prohibited purpose or effect, no objection shall be interposed to the change. (c) Objection. An objection shall be interposed to a submitted change if the Attorney General is unable to determine that the change is free of discriminatory purpose and effect. This includes those situations where the evidence as to the purpose or effect of the change is conflicting and the Attorney General is unable to determine that the change is free of discriminatory purpose and effect.
Title 28: Judicial Administration
PART 51—PROCEDURES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF SECTION 5 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED
Subpart F—Determinations by the Attorney General
§ 51.52 Basic standard.
