(a) It is the practice of the Attorney General to notify the submitting authority of the decision to continue or withdraw an objection within a 60-day period following receipt of a reconsideration request or following notice given under §51.46(b), except that this 60-day period shall be recommenced upon receipt of any documents or written information from the submitting authority that materially supplements the reconsideration review, irrespective of whether the submitting authority provides the documents or information at its own instance or pursuant to a request (written or oral) by the Attorney General. The 60-day reconsideration period may be extended to allow a 15-day decision period following a conference held pursuant to §51.47. The 60-day reconsideration period shall be computed in the manner specified in §51.9. Where the reconsideration is at the instance of the Attorney General, the first day of the period shall be the day after the notice required by §51.46(b) is transmitted to the submitting authority. The reasons for the reconsideration decision shall be stated.

(b) The objection shall be withdrawn if the Attorney General is satisfied that the change neither has the purpose nor will have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.

(c) If the objection is not withdrawn, the submitting authority shall be advised that notwithstanding the objection it may institute an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment that the change objected to by the Attorney General neither has the purpose nor will have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.

(d) An objection remains in effect until either it is specifically withdrawn by the Attorney General or a declaratory judgment with respect to the change in question is entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

(e) A copy of the notification shall be sent to any party who has commented on the submission or reconsideration or has requested notice of the Attorney General's action thereon.

(f) Notice of the decision after reconsideration will be given to interested parties registered under §51.32.

[52 FR 490, Jan. 6, 1987, as amended by Order No. 3262-2011, 76 FR 21248, Apr. 15, 2011]