II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 550 

To require States to automatically register eligible voters at the time they 

turn 18 to vote in Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To require States to automatically register eligible voters 

at the time they turn 18 to vote in Federal elections, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Register America to 

5 Vote Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to require every State to develop and imple9 ment a system to ensure that every eligible person 


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1 is automatically registered to vote when they turn 18 

2 years old; and 

3 (2) to protect the right to vote by allowing vot4 ers who are automatically registered or had pre5 viously registered in a State to update their address 

6 through the day of the election. 

7 SEC. 3. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than November 3, 

10 2020, the chief State election official of each State 

11 shall establish and operate a system of automatic 

12 registration for the registration of any eligible indi13 vidual at the time the individual turns 18 to vote for 

14 elections for Federal office in the State. 

15 (2) EXCEPTION.—The requirements under 

16 paragraph (1) shall not apply to a State in which, 

17 under a State law in effect continuously on and after 

18 the date of the enactment of this section, there is no 

19 voter registration requirement for individuals in the 

20 State with respect to elections for Federal office. 

21 (3) LIMITS ON USE OF AUTOMATIC REGISTRA22 TION.—The registration of any individual under this 

23 subsection, and any action by an individual to opt24 out of such automatic registration, may not be used 


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1 as evidence against that individual in any State or 

2 Federal law enforcement proceeding. 

3 (b) SAME DAY REGISTRATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

5 8(a)(1)(D) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6), each noncomplying 

7 State shall permit any eligible individual on the day 

8 of a Federal election— 

9 (A) to register to vote in such election at 

10 the polling place using a form that meets the 

11 requirements under section 9(b) of the National 

12 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

13 20509(b)); and 

14 (B) to cast a vote in such election. 

15 (2) NONCOMPLYING STATE.—For purposes of 

16 paragraph (1), the term ‘‘noncomplying State’’ 

17 means, with respect to any Federal election occur18 ring on or after November 3, 2020, any State which 

19 is required to meet the requirements of subsection 

20 (a) and which does not have a system described in 

21 subsection (a) established and operated before the 

22 date of such Federal election. 

23 (c) AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 

2 a payment in an amount determined under para3 graph (3) to each State. 

4 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State receiving a pay5 ment under this subsection shall use the payment— 

6 (A) to implement automatic voter registra7 tion in accordance with subsection (a); and 

8 (B) to improve election security systems 

9 related to voter registration. 

10 (3) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (C), the amount of a payment made to 

13 a State under this subsection shall be equal to 

14 the product of— 

15 (i) the total amount appropriated for 

16 payments pursuant to the authorization 

17 under paragraph (4); and 

18 (ii) the State allocation percentage for 

19 the State (as determined under subpara20 graph (B)). 

21 (B) STATE ALLOCATION PERCENTAGE DE22 FINED.—The ‘‘State allocation percentage’’ for 

23 a State is the amount (expressed as a percent24 age) equal to the quotient of— 


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1 (i) the voting age population of the 

2 State (as reported in the most recent de3 cennial census); and 

4 (ii) the total voting age population of 

5 all States (as reported in the most recent 

6 decennial census). 

7 (C) MINIMUM AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The 

8 amount of a payment made to a State under 

9 this subsection may not be less than one-half of 

10 1 percent of the total amount appropriated for 

11 payments under this subsection under para12 graph (4). 

13 (D) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—The Com14 mission shall make such pro rata reductions to 

15 the allocations determined under subparagraph 

16 (A) as are necessary to comply with the require17 ments of subparagraph (C). 

18 (E) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

19 AFTER APPROPRIATION.—A payment to a State 

20 under this subsection shall be available to the 

21 State without fiscal year limitation. 

22 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to 

24 be appropriated $325,000,000 for payments 

25 under this subsection. 


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1 (B) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro2 priated pursuant to the authority of subpara3 graph (A) shall remain available without fiscal 

4 year limitation until expended. 

5 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 11 of the National 

6 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20510), relat7 ing to civil enforcement and the availability of private 

8 rights of action, shall apply with respect to subsections 

9 (a) and (b) in the same manner as such section applies 

10 to such Act. 

11 (e) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Except as pro12 vided, nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize 

13 or require conduct prohibited under, or to supersede, re14 strict, or limit the application of any of the following: 

15 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

16 10301 et seq.). 

17 (2) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab18 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

19 (3) The National Voter Registration Act of 

20 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

21 (4) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

22 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

23 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini24 tions apply: 


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1 (1) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The 

2 term ‘‘chief State election official’’ means, with re3 spect to a State, the individual designated by the 

4 State under section 10 of the National Voter Reg5 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20509) to be re6 sponsible for coordination of the State’s responsibil7 ities under such Act. 

8 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Election Assistance Commission. 

10 (3) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ has the 

11 meaning given such term under section 301(1) of 

12 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. 

13 (4) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of14 fice’’ has the meaning given such term under section 

15 301(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

16 1971. 

17 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

18 the several States and the District of Columbia. 

19 SEC. 4. STATE REGISTRATION PORTABILITY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(e) of the National Voter 

21 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(e)) is amend22 ed to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURE FOR VOTING FOLLOWING FAILURE

24 TO RETURN CARD.—Notwithstanding failure to notify the 

25 registrar of the change of address prior to the date of an 


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1 election, a registrant who has moved from an address in 

2 the State to an address in the same State shall, upon oral 

3 or written affirmation by the registrant of the change of 

4 address before an election official, be permitted to vote 

5 (at the option of the voter)— 

6 ‘‘(1) at the polling place of the registrant’s cur7 rent address; or 

8 ‘‘(2) at a central location within the same reg9 istrar’s jurisdiction.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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