28 CFR § 51.12 - Scope of requirement.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t28/s51.12"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "28 CFR § 51.12 - Scope of requirement."
title_number: 28
title_name: "Judicial Administration"
section_number: "51.12"
section_name: "Scope of requirement."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE"
part_number: "51"
part_name: "PROCEDURES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF SECTION 5 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, and 42 U.S.C. 1973b, 1973c."
regulatory_source: "52 FR 490, Jan. 6, 1987, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "51"
---


# 51.12 Scope of requirement.

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.

[Order No. 3262-2011, 76 FR 21244, Apr. 15, 2011]