28 CFR § 51.57 - Relevant factors.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t28/s51.57"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "28 CFR § 51.57 - Relevant factors."
title_number: 28
title_name: "Judicial Administration"
section_number: "51.57"
section_name: "Relevant factors."
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"
---


# 51.57 Relevant factors.

Among the factors the Attorney General will consider in making determinations with respect to the submitted changes affecting voting are the following:

(a) The extent to which a reasonable and legitimate justification for the change exists;

(b) The extent to which the jurisdiction followed objective guidelines and fair and conventional procedures in adopting the change;

(c) The extent to which the jurisdiction afforded members of racial and language minority groups an opportunity to participate in the decision to make the change;

(d) The extent to which the jurisdiction took the concerns of members of racial and language minority groups into account in making the change; and

(e) The factors set forth in *Village of Arlington Heights* v. *Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.,* 429 U.S. 252 (1977):

(1) Whether the impact of the official action bears more heavily on one race than another;

(2) The historical background of the decision;

(3) The specific sequence of events leading up to the decision;

(4) Whether there are departures from the normal procedural sequence;

(5) Whether there are substantive departures from the normal factors considered; and

(6) The legislative or administrative history, including contemporaneous statements made by the decision makers.

[Order No. 3262-2011, 76 FR 21249, Apr. 15, 2011]