II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 957 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish minimum 

requirements for early voting. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish 

minimum requirements for early voting. 

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 ‘‘Early Voting Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR 

6 EARLY VOTING. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

9 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 

10 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (A) by redesignating section 304 as section 

2 307; and 

3 (B) by inserting after section 303 the fol4 lowing new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 304. EARLY VOTING. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction 

7 which is responsible for administering elections for Fed8 eral office shall allow individuals to vote in an election for 

9 Federal office on each day occurring during the 15-day 

10 period which ends on the Friday immediately preceding 

11 the date of the election, in the same manner as voting 

12 is allowed on such date. 

13 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) MINIMUM NUMBER OF EARLY VOTING LO15 CATIONS BASED ON VOTING POPULATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each jurisdiction shall 

17 have at least the applicable number of polling 

18 places specified under subparagraph (B) open 

19 for early voting pursuant to subsection (a) and 

20 in accordance with the requirements under 

21 paragraphs (2) and (3). 

22 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM APPLICABLE NUMBER OF

23 VOTING SYSTEMS SPECIFIED.—For purposes of 

24 subparagraph (A), the applicable number of 


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1 polling places specified in this subparagraph 

2 is— 

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of a jurisdiction that 

4 has (as of the 60th day prior to an election 

5 for Federal office, if available, or if not 

6 available, as reported in the most recent 

7 decennial census) a voting age population 

8 greater than 100,000, 2; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a jurisdiction that 

10 has (as of such date, if available, or if not 

11 available, as reported in the most recent 

12 decennial census) a voting age population 

13 equal to or less than 100,000, 1. 

14 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM NUMBER OF EARLY VOTING LO15 CATIONS PER COUNTY.—Each jurisdiction shall en16 sure that each county within the jurisdiction has 

17 more than 1 polling location. 

18 ‘‘(3) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Each polling 

19 place which allows voting prior to the date of a Fed20 eral election pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) allow such voting for not less than 10 

22 hours on each day; and 

23 ‘‘(B) have uniform hours each day for 

24 which such voting occurs. 


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1 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES NEAR PUBLIC

2 TRANSPORTATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a 

3 State or jurisdiction shall ensure that each polling place 

4 which allows voting prior to the date of a Federal election 

5 pursuant to subsection (a) is located within reasonable 

walking distance of no more than 1 6 ⁄2 mile of a stop on 

7 a public transportation route. 

8 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

10 209, the Commission shall issue standards for the 

11 administration of voting prior to the date scheduled 

12 for a Federal election. Such standards shall include 

13 the nondiscriminatory geographic placement of poll14 ing places at which such voting occurs. 

15 ‘‘(2) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 

16 paragraph (1) shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), permit 

18 States and jurisdictions, upon providing ade19 quate public notice, to deviate from any require20 ment in the case of unforeseen circumstances 

21 such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or 

22 a change in voter turnout; and 

23 ‘‘(B) include minimum standards for 

24 States and jurisdictions with respect to polling 


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1 locations in case of such unforseen cir2 cumstances. 

3 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

4 with respect to elections held on or after the date that 

5 is 180 days after the date of enactment of this section.’’. 

6 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, 

9 and 304’’. 

10 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

11 RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—Section 209 of such Act 

12 (52 U.S.C. 20929) is amended by striking ‘‘The 

13 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

14 section 304(d), the Commission’’. 

15 (4) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of 

16 contents of such Act is amended— 

17 (A) by redesignating the items relating to 

18 section 304 as relating to section 307; and 

19 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

20 section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Early voting.’’. 

21 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING.—Section 

22 257(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

23 U.S.C. 21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2019 and subsequent fiscal 

2 years, such sums as are necessary for purposes of 

3 making requirements payments to States to carry 

4 out the activities described in section 304.’’. 

5 (b) REPORT BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS6 SION.—Not later than June 30 of each odd-numbered 

7 year, the Election Assistance Commission shall submit to 

8 Congress a report assessing the impact of section 304 of 

9 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by sub10 section (a)) on the administration of elections for Federal 

11 office during the preceding 2-year period, and shall include 

12 in the report such recommendations as the Commission 

13 considers appropriate. 

14 (c) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF STATE TO PRO15 VIDE FOR LONGER PERIODS OF EARLY VOTING.—Noth16 ing in this section or in any amendment made by this sec17 tion may be construed to prohibit a State, with respect 

18 to any election for Federal office from providing in an eq19 uitable and nondiscriminatory manner a longer period for 

20 early voting than the minimum period required under sec21 tion 304 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added 

22 by subsection (a)). 

Æ 


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