# 119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025 119-s-2523, John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL); status introduced (as of 2026-08-11). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2523 - As of: 2026-08-11 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-s-2523 - Congress: 119 - Title: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025 - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2025-07-29 - Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL) - Cosponsors: 46 - Policy area: Government Operations and Politics - Touches household money: no - Last recorded action: 2026-08-11 ## Summary **This bill would **restore and strengthen federal voting-rights protections** by rewriting Section 2, creating a practice-based preclearance process for certain election changes, and boosting transparency and enforcement.** - Voters in racial, language-minority, and Tribal communities would gain broader legal standards to challenge discrimination. The bill would add distinct Section 2 tests for vote-dilution, vote-denial, and intentional discrimination and add a retrogression standard that applies to actions taken on or after 2021. - State and local election officials would face new preclearance and public-notice rules. Covered changes like election methods, redistricting shifts, ID rules, polling-place moves, and voter-list removals would need review before implementation and require pre-election notices 30 days before Federal elections with 48-hour updates. - The Department of Justice and private citizens would get stronger tools to enforce rights. The Attorney General would centralize observers, extend bilingual protections to 2037, seek preventive relief, issue pre-action information demands, and pursue expanded court remedies. ## Cosponsors (46) - Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA] (D-GA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] (D-RI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (D-DE), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Slotkin, Elissa [D-MI] (D-MI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Ossoff, Jon [D-GA] (D-GA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Blunt Rochester, Lisa [D-DE] (D-DE), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI] (D-MI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] (I-ME), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Criminal penalties to protect voting places: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would make it a federal crime to willfully stop someone from voting or to damage polling places to interfere with elections. Base penalties would be fines up to $2,500 and/or up to 6 months in jail. If someone is injured or a weapon or fire is used, penalties would rise to fine… - New tests for voting discrimination: benefit, high. If enacted, this bill would change the law that decides when voting rules discriminate. It would add four tests: vote-dilution, vote-denial or abridgment, intentional discrimination, and retrogression. The retrogression test would apply to actions taken on or after January 1, 2021. Courts would use… - Practice-based preclearance for election changes: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would create a new preclearance system for specific election changes. States and localities would have to identify listed "covered practices" and not implement them unless a court clears them or the Attorney General does not object within 60 days. Covered practices include some… - Attorney General control of observers: benefit, low. If enacted, the Attorney General would take operational control of assigning and paying federal election observers. Observers could be sent when the Attorney General believes they are needed to enforce voting protections, including meritorious bilingual-voting complaints. The Office of Personnel Ma… - New polling-place notice rules and grants: mixed, medium. If enacted, jurisdictions would have to post public notice within 48 hours after a voting-rule or polling-place change that differs from rules 180 days before the election. Before the 30th day before a federal election, they would publish details for each polling place: address, accessibility, numb… - Stronger DOJ tools and private relief options: mixed, medium. If enacted, the Attorney General could issue pre-action demands for documents and written answers before suing. Demands must include a sworn certificate and give at least 20 days to respond. The Attorney General or an aggrieved person could also seek preventive court relief to block likely vote-den… - Which places must get preclearance: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would set numeric triggers for which States or localities must use preclearance. A State would be covered if it had 15 or more voting-rights violations in the last 25 years, or 10 or more including at least one committed by the State. A political subdivision would be covered if… - Easier bailout and broader court reach: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would make it easier for governments to seek a bailout (a declaratory judgment) and let a plaintiff ask the Attorney General to consent to entry of bailout judgments. It would also broaden federal courts' language so they can keep jurisdiction over actions alleging violations o… ## Related bills - 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026 - 119-s-1503: Equality Act - 119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025 - 119-s-1115: Paycheck Fairness Act - 119-s-3214: Background Check Expansion Act - 119-s-3071: Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-s-2523 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2523) ## Related - [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108) - [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503) - [119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2150) - [119-s-1115: Paycheck Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1115) - [119-s-3214: Background Check Expansion Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3214) - [119-s-3071: Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3071) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2523 (as of 2026-08-11).