II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 459 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America 

Vote Act of 2002 to promote integrity in voter registration, the casting 

of ballots, and the tabulation of ballots in elections for Federal office, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. BARRASSO, and 

Ms. LUMMIS) 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 and 

the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote integrity 

in voter registration, the casting of ballots, and the tabulation of ballots in elections for Federal office, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Save Democracy Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Congress recognizes that the legitimacy of 

2 the United States representative democracy rests on 

3 the integrity of our Federal elections and confidence 

4 our citizens have in them. 

5 (2) Consistent with article I, section 4, clause 

6 1 of the Constitution of the United States and the 

7 principles of federalism, primary authority to regu8 late Federal elections is reserved to the States, while 

9 Congress’ role is secondary. 

10 (3) While exercising its primary role in deter11 mining the manner in which Federal elections shall 

12 be carried out, States must seek to protect the fair13 ness, accessibility, and integrity of the elections. 

14 (4) Congress should limit its secondary role in 

15 regulating Federal elections to instances in which 

16 State regulation of Federal elections has contributed 

17 to or proven unsuccessful in preventing impropriety. 

18 SEC. 2. INTEGRITY IN VOTER REGISTRATION. 

19 (a) PROHIBITING AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRA20 TION.—Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act 

21 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub23 section (k); and 

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol25 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION PURSUANT TO

2 AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A State may not register 

4 an individual to vote in elections for Federal office 

5 pursuant to an automatic voter registration system. 

6 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, an 

7 ‘automatic voter registration system’ means, with re8 spect to a State, a system that registers an indi9 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in the 

10 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 

11 information necessary for registration from govern12 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 

13 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 

14 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 

15 in such elections.’’. 

16 (b) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION TO VOTE OF INDI17 VIDUALS WHO FAIL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF UNITED

18 STATES CITIZENSHIP.—Section 8 of the National Voter 

19 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507), as amended 

20 by subsection (a), is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub22 section (l); and 

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol24 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(k) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF INDIVIDUALS

2 NOT PROVIDING PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZEN3 SHIP.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of this Act, a State may not register an in6 dividual to vote in elections for Federal office held 

7 in the State unless, at the time the individual ap8 plies to register to vote, the individual provides docu9 mentary proof that the individual is a citizen of the 

10 United States, which shall consist of any of the fol11 lowing (or a photocopy thereof): 

12 ‘‘(A) A certified birth certificate issued by 

13 a State or unit of local government in a State. 

14 ‘‘(B) A valid United States passport. 

15 ‘‘(C) A Consular Report of Birth Abroad 

16 issued by the Secretary of State. 

17 ‘‘(D) A Naturalization Certificate or Cer18 tificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) applies 

21 with respect to an individual who applies to register 

22 to vote under section 5, 6, or 7 (including an indi23 vidual who submits the mail voter registration appli24 cation form prescribed by the Election Assistance 

25 Commission pursuant to section 9), or who applies 


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1 under any other method of voter registration avail2 able in the State.’’. 

3 (c) REQUIRING APPLICANTS FOR VOTER REGISTRA4 TION TO PROVIDE FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.— 

5 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 303(a)(5)(A) of 

6 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

7 21083(a)(5)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING APPLICANTS TO PROVIDE

9 FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.—Notwith10 standing any other provision of law, an applica11 tion for voter registration for an election for 

12 Federal office may not be accepted or processed 

13 by a State unless the application includes the 

14 applicant’s full Social Security number.’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

16 CERTAIN VOTERS REGISTERING BY MAIL.—Section 

17 303(b)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

18 21083(b)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘either— 

19 ’’ and all that follows through ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘the individual’s full Social Security number; and’’. 

21 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

22 WAIVER OF PRIVACY ACT.—Section 303(c) of such 

23 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(c)) is amended to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PERMITTED USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUM2 BERS.—Section 7 of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 

3 552a note) does not apply to the use of a Social Security 

4 number under subsection (a)(5)(A) or subsection 

5 (b)(3)(B)(i).’’. 

6 (d) ENSURING PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO

7 STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS ON INDIVIDUALS RECUSED

8 FROM JURY SERVICE ON GROUNDS OF NONCITIZEN9 SHIP.— 

10 (1) REQUIRING STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS TO

11 COORDINATE INFORMATION ON RECUSAL AS PART

12 OF MAINTENANCE OF STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRA13 TION LIST.—Subparagraph (A) of section 303(a)(2) 

14 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

15 21083(a)(2)) is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 

17 (iv); and 

18 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol19 lowing new clause: 

20 ‘‘(iii) For purposes of removing names 

21 of ineligible voters from the official list of 

22 eligible voters by reason of citizenship sta23 tus, the State shall coordinate the comput24 erized list with records of courts which 

25 have recused individuals from serving on a 


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1 jury on the grounds that the individuals 

2 are not citizens of the United States.’’. 

3 (2) REQUIRING NOTIFICATION BY COURTS.— 

4 (A) REQUIREMENT DESCRIBED.—If a 

5 United States district court or a court of any 

6 State or local jurisdiction recuses an individual 

7 from serving on a jury on the grounds that the 

8 individual is not a citizen of the United States, 

9 the court shall transmit a notice of the individ10 ual’s recusal— 

11 (i) to the chief State election official 

12 of the State in which the individual re13 sides; and 

14 (ii) to the Attorney General. 

15 (B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

16 subsection— 

17 (i) the ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

18 of a State is the individual designated by 

19 the State under section 10 of the National 

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

21 20509) to be responsible for coordination 

22 of the State’s responsibilities under such 

23 Act; and 

24 (ii) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

25 the several States, the District of ColumVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459

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1 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

2 American Samoa, Guam, the United States 

3 Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

4 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

5 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend6 ments made by this section shall take effect on the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect 

8 to applications for voter registration which are submitted 

9 on or after such date. 

10 SEC. 3. INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BALLOTS. 

11 (a) PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BAL12 LOTS.—Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

13 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

15 sections 305 and 306; and 

16 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

17 new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 304. PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BAL19 LOTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION AS

21 CONDITION OF VOTING.— 

22 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.—Not23 withstanding any other provision of law, the appro24 priate State or local election official may not provide 

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1 vidual who desires to vote in person unless the indi2 vidual presents to the official a current and valid 

3 identification. 

4 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN

5 PERSON.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

6 law, the appropriate State or local election official 

7 may not accept any ballot for an election for Federal 

8 office provided by an individual who votes other than 

9 in person unless the individual submits with the bal10 lot a copy of a current and valid identification. 

11 ‘‘(3) CURRENT AND VALID IDENTIFICATION DE12 FINED.—In this subsection, a ‘current and valid 

13 identification’ means a current and valid version of 

14 any of the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) An identification issued by a State or 

16 a unit of local government in a State. 

17 ‘‘(B) A United States passport. 

18 ‘‘(C) A military identification card. 

19 ‘‘(D) An identification issued by a tribal 

20 government. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING DELIVERY OF BALLOTS BY MAIL

22 UNLESS REQUESTED.—A State may not deliver a ballot 

23 in an election for Federal office to an individual by mail 

24 unless the individual requests that the State deliver the 

25 ballot to the individual by mail. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING USE OF DROP BOXES FOR COL2 LECTION OF BALLOTS.—A State may not use a drop box 

3 for the collection of voted absentee ballots in an election 

4 for Federal office unless the drop box is located inside a 

5 building which serves as an office for a State or local elec6 tion official. 

7 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON DELIVERY OF VOTED BAL8 LOTS BY THIRD PARTIES.—A State may not accept a 

9 voted absentee ballot in an election for Federal office 

10 which is delivered in person to an election official by any 

11 individual other than the voter to whom the ballot was 

12 transmitted, other than an individual described as follows: 

13 ‘‘(1) An election official while engaged in offi14 cial duties as authorized by law. 

15 ‘‘(2) An employee of the United States Postal 

16 Service while engaged in official duties as authorized 

17 by law. 

18 ‘‘(3) Any other individual who is allowed by law 

19 to collect and transmit United States mail, while en20 gaged in official duties as authorized by law. 

21 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF ABSENTEE BAL22 LOTS RECEIVED AFTER DATE OF ELECTION.—A State 

23 may not accept a voted absentee ballot in an election for 

24 Federal office which is not received by the appropriate 


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1 State or local election official prior to the time at which 

2 the polls in the election close on the date of the election. 

3 ‘‘(f) USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS TO CROSS4 CHECK IDENTIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS CASTING BAL5 LOTS IN AN ELECTION WITH INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED

6 TO VOTE IN THE ELECTION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Immediately upon the 

8 closing of the polls in an election for Federal office, 

9 each State shall verify the identification of each indi10 vidual who cast a ballot in the election by carrying 

11 out a cross-check of the individual’s identification 

12 with the individual’s identification in the official list 

13 of individuals who are registered to vote in the elec14 tion, using the individual’s full Social Security num15 ber as the method for determining the individual’s 

16 identification. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 7 

18 days after the closing of the polls in an election for 

19 Federal office, the State shall submit to the Com20 mittee on House Administration of the House of 

21 Representatives and the Committee on Rules and 

22 Administration of the Senate a report on the State’s 

23 compliance with subsection (a), and shall include in 

24 the report— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the percentage of individuals who cast 

2 votes in the election whose identifications were 

3 verified by the State under such subsection; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the number of individuals who cast 

5 votes in the election, or who attempted to cast 

6 votes in the election, whose identifications could 

7 not be verified by the State under such sub8 section. 

9 ‘‘(g) EXCEPTION FOR ABSENT MILITARY AND OVER10 SEAS VOTERS.—This section does not apply with respect 

11 to any individual who is entitled to vote by absentee ballot 

12 under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Vot13 ing Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

14 ‘‘(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

15 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

16 Federal office held in 2022 and any succeeding election 

17 for Federal office.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EXIST19 ING IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 303 of 

20 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking subsection (b); and 

22 (2) in subsection (c), as amended by section 

23 2(c)(3), by striking ‘‘or subsection (b)(3)(B)(i)’’. 

24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN25 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 


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1 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 

2 304’’. 

3 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 of such Act is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec6 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

7 306; and 

8 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec9 tion 303 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Promoting integrity in casting of ballots.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. INTEGRITY IN TABULATION OF BALLOTS. 

11 (a) PROMOTING INTEGRITY.—Title III of the Help 

12 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), as 

13 amended by section 3(a), is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 

15 sections 306 and 307; and 

16 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 

17 new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 305. PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN TABULATION OF BAL19 LOTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM PRESENCE OF ELECTION OBSERV21 ERS.—The appropriate State or local election official shall 

22 permit at least 2 representatives of each candidate appear23 ing on the ballot in a general election for Federal office 

24 to observe the tabulation of the ballots in the election. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONTINUOUS TABULATION OF BALLOTS UNTIL

2 COMPLETION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the closing of the 

4 polls on the date of an election for Federal office, 

5 the appropriate State or local election official shall 

6 continue the tabulation of the ballots cast in the 

7 election without interruption (other than an inter8 ruption caused by an emergency affecting the health 

9 or safety of the election officials carrying out the 

10 tabulation) until each lawfully cast ballot has been 

11 tabulated. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.— 

13 Paragraph (1) does not apply with respect to the 

14 tabulation of any provisional ballot cast in the elec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(c) POST-ELECTION AUDIT.—Not later than 30 

17 days after each election for Federal office held in the 

18 State, each State shall conduct and publish an audit of 

19 the effectiveness and accuracy of the voting systems used 

20 to carry out the election and the performance of the State 

21 and local election officials who carried out the election. 

22 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

23 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

24 Federal office held in 2022 and any succeeding election 

25 for Federal office.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN2 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

3 21111), as amended by section 3(c), is amended by strik4 ing ‘‘and 304’’ and inserting ‘‘304, and 305’’. 

5 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

6 of such Act, as amended by section 3(d), is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec8 tions 305 and 306 as relating to section 306 and 

9 307; and 

10 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec11 tion 304 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 305. Promoting integrity in tabulation of ballots.’’. 

Æ 


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