---
kind: "section"
citation: "28 C.F.R. § 51.12"
title: "28"
number: "51.12"
heading: "Scope of requirement."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/28/51.12"
---

# §51.12. Scope of requirement.


Except as provided in [§ 51.18](/cfr/28/51.18.md) (Federal court-ordered changes), the [section 5](/cfr/28/5.md) 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](/cfr/28/5.md) 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](/cfr/28/51.13.md)) 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](/cfr/28/5.md), which applies to changes enacted or administered through the executive, legislative, or judicial branches.


## Notes

### Amendments

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

### Authority

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, and 42 U.S.C. 1973b, 1973c.

### Source

Source: 52 FR 490, Jan. 6, 1987, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

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