II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4886 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to clarify that a 

State may not use an individual’s failure to vote as the basis for initiating 

the procedures provided under such Act for the removal of the individual 

from the official list of registered voters in the State on the grounds 

that the individual has changed residence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. 

WARREN, Mr. CASEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Mr. BROWN) 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 

clarify that a State may not use an individual’s failure 

to vote as the basis for initiating the procedures provided 

under such Act for the removal of the individual from 

the official list of registered voters in the State on the 

grounds that the individual has changed residence, 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, 


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•S 4886 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Automatically 

3 Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States 

4 Act’’ or the ‘‘Save Voters Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

6 The purposes of this Act are— 

7 (1) to prohibit States from removing individuals 

8 from an official list of registered voters due to 

9 changes in residence; and 

10 (2) to protect the right to vote by allowing vot11 ers who are automatically registered or had pre12 viously registered to vote in a State to update their 

13 address through the day of the election. 

14 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM LIST 

15 OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 

16 (a) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—The National Voter 

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

18 amended by inserting after section 8 the following new 

19 section: 

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

21 OFFICIAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 

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

23 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REQUIRING VERIFICATION.—Notwith25 standing any other provision of this Act, a State 

26 may not remove the name of any registrant from the 


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1 official list of voters eligible to vote in elections for 

2 Federal office in the State unless the State verifies, 

3 on the basis of objective and reliable evidence, that 

4 the registrant is ineligible to vote in such elections. 

5 ‘‘(2) FACTORS NOT CONSIDERED AS OBJECTIVE

6 AND RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—For 

7 purposes of paragraph (1), except as permitted 

8 under section 8(d) after a notice described in para9 graph (2) of such section has been sent, the fol10 lowing factors, or any combination thereof, shall not 

11 be treated as objective and reliable evidence of a reg12 istrant’s ineligibility to vote: 

13 ‘‘(A) The failure of the registrant to vote 

14 in any election. 

15 ‘‘(B) The failure of the registrant to re16 spond to any election mail, unless the election 

17 mail has been returned as undeliverable. 

18 ‘‘(C) The failure of the registrant to take 

19 any other action with respect to voting in any 

20 election or with respect to the registrant’s sta21 tus as a registrant. 

22 ‘‘(3) REMOVAL BASED ON OFFICIAL

23 RECORDS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sec25 tion shall prohibit a State from removing a regVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886

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1 istrant from the official list of eligible voters in 

2 elections for Federal office if, on the basis of of3 ficial records maintained by the State, a State 

4 or local election official knows, on the basis of 

5 objective and reliable evidence, that the reg6 istrant has— 

7 ‘‘(i) died; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) permanently moved out of the 

9 State and is no longer eligible to vote in 

10 the State. 

11 ‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE

12 ELIGIBILITY.—The State shall provide a voter 

13 removed from the official list of eligible voters 

14 in elections for Federal office under this para15 graph an opportunity to demonstrate that the 

16 registrant is eligible to vote and be reinstated 

17 on the official list of eligible voters in elections 

18 for Federal office in the State. 

19 ‘‘(b) NOTICE AFTER REMOVAL.— 

20 ‘‘(1) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUAL REMOVED.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 48 

22 hours after a State removes the name of a reg23 istrant from the official list of eligible voters, 

24 the State shall send notice of the removal to the 

25 former registrant, and shall include in the noVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886

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1 tice the grounds for the removal and informa2 tion on how the former registrant may contest 

3 the removal or be reinstated, including a tele4 phone number for the appropriate election offi5 cial. 

6 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 

7 does not apply in the case of a registrant— 

8 ‘‘(i) who sends written confirmation to 

9 the State that the registrant is no longer 

10 eligible to vote in the registrar’s jurisdic11 tion in which the registrant was registered; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(ii) who is removed from the official 

14 list of eligible voters by reason of the death 

15 of the registrant. 

16 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 48 hours 

17 after conducting any general program to remove the 

18 names of ineligible voters from the official list of eli19 gible voters (as described in section 8(a)(4)), the 

20 State shall disseminate a public notice through such 

21 methods as may be reasonable to reach the general 

22 public (including by publishing the notice in a news23 paper of wide circulation and posting the notice on 

24 the websites of the appropriate election officials) 

25 that list maintenance is taking place and that regVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886

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1 istrants should check their registration status to en2 sure no errors or mistakes have been made. The 

3 State shall ensure that the public notice dissemi4 nated under this paragraph is in a format that is 

5 reasonably convenient and accessible to voters with 

6 disabilities, including voters who have low vision or 

7 are blind.’’. 

8 (b) CONDITIONS FOR TRANSMISSION OF NOTICES OF

9 REMOVAL.—Section 8(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

10 20507(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

11 new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(4) A State may not transmit a notice to a 

13 registrant under this subsection unless the State ob14 tains objective and reliable evidence (in accordance 

15 with the standards for such evidence which are de16 scribed in section 8A(a)(2)) that the registrant has 

17 changed residence to a place outside the registrar’s 

18 jurisdiction in which the registrant is registered.’’. 

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF

21 1993.—Section 8(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

22 20507(a)) is amended— 

23 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘pro24 vide’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, pro25 vide’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘con2 duct’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, con3 duct’’. 

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

5 303(a)(4)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

6 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(4)(A)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘registrants’’ the second place it appears and insert8 ing ‘‘and subject to section 8A of such Act, reg9 istrants’’. 

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

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

12 of this Act. 

13 SEC. 4. STATE REGISTRATION PORTABILITY. 

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

15 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(e)) is amend16 ed to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURE FOR VOTING FOLLOWING FAILURE

18 TO RETURN CARD.—Notwithstanding failure to notify the 

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

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

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

22 or written affirmation by the registrant of the change of 

23 address before an election official, be permitted to vote 

24 (at the option of the voter)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) at the polling place of the registrant’s cur2 rent address; or 

3 ‘‘(2) at a central location within the same reg4 istrar’s jurisdiction.’’. 

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

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

7 of this Act. 

Æ 


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