Pub. L. 94-73, tit. II, sec. 201

Sec. 201. Section 4(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is amended by— (1) inserting immediately after “determinations have been made under” the following: “the first two sentences of”; (2) adding at the end of the first paragraph thereof the following new sentence: “No citizen shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his failure to comply with any test or device in any State with respect to which the determinations have I wen made under the third sentence of subsection (b) of this section or in any political subdivision with respect to which such determinations have been made as a separate unit, unless the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in an action for a declaratory judgment brought by such State or subdivision against the United States has determined that no such test, or device has been used during the ten years preceding the filing of the action for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right, to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2): Provided, That no such declaratory judgment shall issue with respect to any plaintiff for a period of ten years after the entry of a final judgment of any court of the United States, other than the denial of a declaratory judgment under this section, whether entered prior to or after the enactment of this paragraph, determining that denials or abridgments of the right to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f) (2) through the use of tests or devices have occurred anywhere in the territory of such plaintiff.”; 89 STAT. 401 (3) striking out “the action” in the third paragraph thereof, and by inserting in lieu thereof “an action under the first sentence of this subsection”; and (4) inserting immediately after the third paragraph thereof the following new paragraph: “If the Attorney General determines that he has no reason to believe that any such test or device has been used during the ten years preceding the filing of an action under the second sentence of this subsection for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2), he shall consent to the entry of such judgment,”.