The Voting Rights Act also makes it illegal for any state or local government to use election processes that are not equally open to minority voters, or that give minority voters less opportunity than other voters to participate in the political process. It is illegal to have an election system that "dilutes" the vote of racial minority groups by drawing voting districting lines that divide minority communities and keep them from putting enough votes together to elect representatives of their choice to public office. To show "dilution" in these situations, there must be:
Anyone harmed by minority vote dilution can bring a federal lawsuit to stop it. If the court decides that the particular election system makes minority votes less effective than white votes, it can order a change in the election system, such as:
There are now expanded voting rights for non-English-speaking Americans, including special provisions for: