{"data":{"id":"us/28-cfr-51.12","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"28 CFR 51.12","heading":"Scope of requirement.","body":"Except as provided in § 51.18 (Federal court-ordered changes), the section 5 requirement applies to any change affecting voting, even though it appears to be minor or indirect, returns to a prior practice or procedure, seemingly expands voting rights, or is designed to remove the elements that caused the Attorney General to object to a prior submitted change. The scope of section 5 coverage is based on whether the generic category of changes affecting voting to which the change belongs (for example, the generic categories of changes listed in § 51.13) has the potential for discrimination. NAACP v. Hampton County Election Commission, 470 U.S. 166 (1985). The method by which a jurisdiction enacts or administers a change does not affect the requirement to comply with section 5, which applies to changes enacted or administered through the executive, legislative, or judicial branches.","path":["Title 28—Judicial Administration","CHAPTER I—DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE","PART 51—PROCEDURES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF SECTION 5 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED","Subpart A—General Provisions"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-28.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:25:14Z","sha256":"5fbf826d22ee2c230552cb6c3c5958908dbeff889f9c55205618cd81affbc93e","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/28-cfr-51.11","next":"us/28-cfr-51.13"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}