II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 958 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to save eligible 

voters from voter purging, and for other purposes. 

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 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

save eligible voters from voter purging, 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 ‘‘Stop Automatically 

5 Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘SAVE VOTERS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INDIVIDUAL AND PUBLIC NOTICE OF REMOVALS 

2 FROM VOTING ROLLS; CONDITIONS FOR RE3 MOVAL OF VOTERS FROM LIST OF REG4 ISTERED VOTERS. 

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

6 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(k) INDIVIDUAL AND PUBLIC NOTICE OF REMOV9 ALS FROM THE VOTING ROLLS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUALIZED NOTICE.—After a 

12 State or political subdivision removes the name 

13 of a registrant from the official list of eligible 

14 voters for any reason, the State or registrar 

15 shall send the former registrant notice of the 

16 removal, the grounds for the removal, and in17 formation on how to contest the removal or be 

18 reinstated, including a contact phone number. 

19 Such individualized notice is not required in in20 stances where the State or political subdivision 

21 has received written confirmation from the reg22 istrant that the registrant is no longer eligible 

23 to vote in the jurisdiction in which the reg24 istrant is registered. 

25 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—After a State or 

26 political subdivision completes any systematic 


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1 program to remove the names of registrants 

2 from the official list of eligible voters for any 

3 reason, the State or registrar shall provide rea4 sonable public notice, for example, in a news5 paper of wide circulation or on the Internet 

6 website of the registrar and the chief State elec7 tion official, that list maintenance is taking 

8 place and that voters should check their reg9 istration status to ensure no errors or mistakes 

10 have been made. The public notice under this 

11 subparagraph, in such publication or on the 

12 Internet, shall be in a format that is reasonably 

13 convenient and accessible to voters with disabil14 ities, including voters who have low vision or 

15 are blind. 

16 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit17 ical subdivision shall provide the notice required 

18 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) not 

19 later than 48 hours after the removal described in 

20 such subparagraph (A) or (B) took place.’’. 

21 (b) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—The National Voter 

22 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is 

23 amended by inserting after section 8 the following new 

24 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 8A. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM 

2 OFFICIAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) VERIFICATION ON BASIS OF OBJECTIVE AND

4 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—Notwith5 standing any other provision of this Act, a State may not 

6 remove any registrant from the official list of voters eligi7 ble to vote in elections for Federal office in the State un8 less the State verifies, on the basis of objective and reliable 

9 evidence, that the registrant is ineligible to vote in such 

10 elections. 

11 ‘‘(b) SENDING OF NOTICES.—A State may not send 

12 a notice described in paragraph (2) of section 8(d) unless 

13 the State first obtains objective and reliable evidence that 

14 a voter has changed residence to a place outside the reg15 istrar’s jurisdiction in which the registrant is registered. 

16 ‘‘(c) FACTORS NOT CONSIDERED AS OBJECTIVE AND

17 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—For purposes 

18 of subsection (a), the following factors, or any combination 

19 thereof, shall not be treated as objective and reliable evi20 dence of a registrant’s ineligibility to vote: 

21 ‘‘(1) The failure of the registrant to vote in any 

22 election. 

23 ‘‘(2) The failure of the registrant to respond to 

24 any notice sent under section 8(d), unless such no25 tice has been returned as undeliverable. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The failure of the registrant to take any 

2 other action.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF

5 1993.—Section 8 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) in subsection (a)— 

8 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘pro9 vide’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, 

10 provide’’; and 

11 (ii) in paragraph (4), by striking 

12 ‘‘conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to sec13 tion 8A, conduct’’; and 

14 (B) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘A 

15 notice’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to section 8A(b), 

16 a notice’’. 

17 (2) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Section 

18 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

19 U.S.C. 21083(a)) is amended— 

20 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘of 

21 such Act’’ and inserting ‘‘of such Act, and sec22 tion 8A of such Act’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘, 

24 registrants’’ and inserting ‘‘, and subject to sec25 tion 8A of such Act, registrants’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act. 

Æ 


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