I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1510

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to permit 

individuals to register to vote at polling places on the date of an election, 

to cast ballots at designated polling places prior to the date of an 

election, and to obtain absentee ballots for an election for any reason, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2003

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. WYNN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 

Texas, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. OWENS, Ms. LEE, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CASE, 

Mr. STARK, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, 

and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Government Reform, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 

States to permit individuals to register to vote at polling 

places on the date of an election, to cast ballots at 

designated polling places prior to the date of an election, 

and to obtain absentee ballots for an election for any 

reason, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Voter Outreach and 

5 Turnout Expansion Act of 2003’’. 

6 TITLE I—EXPANSION OF ELEC7 TION ADMINISTRATION RE8 QUIREMENTS 

9 SEC. 101. SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Help America 

11 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483) is amended—

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub13 section (e); and 

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(d) PERMITTING VOTER REGISTRATION ON DATE

17 OF ELECTION.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At each polling place in a 

19 State at which ballots are cast in an election for 

20 Federal office, an individual may register to vote on 

21 the date of the election, and may cast a vote at the 

22 polling place in the election, if the individual—

23 ‘‘(A) completes an application for voter 

24 registration in accordance with the require25 ments of this Act and other applicable law; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) executes a written affirmation before 

2 an election official at the polling place stating 

3 that the individual is eligible to register to vote 

4 in the jurisdiction in which the individual de5 sires to vote and has not already voted in the 

6 election. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSMITTAL OF COMPLETED APPLICA8 TIONS TO STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL.—An appro9 priate official at a polling place shall transmit any 

10 voter registration application accepted under this 

11 subsection to the appropriate State election official 

12 at the time the official at the polling place transmits 

13 the ballots cast at the polling place to the official. 

14 ‘‘(3) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS FILING VOTER

15 REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS AFTER DEADLINE.—If 

16 an individual’s application for voter registration 

17 prior to the date of an election is received by the ap18 propriate election official after the deadline for re19 ceipt of applications with respect to the election 

20 under State law, the official shall transmit a notice 

21 to the individual stating that the application was re22 ceived after the deadline and that the individual may 

23 register to vote at the polling place on the date of 

24 the election in accordance with this subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS UNDER NATIONAL VOTER

2 REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993.—In carrying out this 

3 subsection, a polling place in a State shall meet the 

4 requirements applicable to a voter registration agen5 cy designated by the State under section 7(a)(2) of 

6 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1973gg–5(a)(2)), except that clauses (i), (ii), 

8 and (iii) of section 7(a)(6)(B) of such Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 1973gg–5(a)(6)(B)) shall not apply with re10 spect to any of the voter registration forms distrib11 uted by the polling place pursuant to this sub12 section.’’. 

13 (b) INCLUSION IN VOTING INFORMATION REQUIRE14 MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 14582(b)(2)) is amended—

16 (1) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ‘‘and the 

17 right to register to vote at the polling place on the 

18 date of an election and vote in that election’’ after 

19 ‘‘provisional ballot’’; 

20 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and 

21 (F) as subparagraphs (F) and (G); and 

22 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol23 lowing new subparagraph: 
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1 ‘‘(E) instructions for individuals reg2 istering to vote at the polling place under sec3 tion 303(d);’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(e) of such Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 15483(e)), as redesignated by subsection (a),

6 is amended by adding at the end the following new para7 graph: 

8 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT FOR VOTER REGISTRATION

9 ON DATE OF ELECTION.—Each State and jurisdic10 tion shall be required to comply with the require11 ments of subsection (d) on and after January 1, 

12 2004.’’. 

13 SEC. 102. PERMITTING VOTERS TO CAST BALLOTS PRIOR 

14 TO ELECTION; PERMITTING VOTERS TO OB15 TAIN ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR ANY REASON. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Help America Vote Act of 

17 2002 is amended—

18 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

19 sections 305 and 306; and 

20 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

21 new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 304. PROMOTING EARLY AND ABSENTEE VOTING. 

23 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING JURISDICTIONS TO ESTABLISH

24 EARLY VOTING SITES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each jurisdiction in a 

2 State which administers an election for Federal of3 fice shall designate early voting sites within the ju4 risdiction to serve as polling places for the election 

5 prior to the date of the election, and shall permit 

6 any individual who is registered to vote in the elec7 tion and eligible to cast a ballot at any polling place 

8 within the jurisdiction to cast the ballot at the site. 

9 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS CAST AT

10 SITES.—After a ballot is cast for an election at an 

11 early voting site under this subsection, the ballot 

12 shall be held and tabulated by the jurisdiction in the 

13 same manner as an absentee ballot cast for the elec14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF OPERATION.—The jurisdiction 

16 shall operate the early voting sites designated under 

17 this subsection for an election during such period as 

18 it considers appropriate, except that—

19 ‘‘(A) the period may not begin later than 

20 the 22nd day before the date of the election or 

21 the date on which the ballots for the election 

22 are available to be cast (whichever occurs later); 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) at least 2 of the days during the pe25 riod shall be weekend days. 
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1 ‘‘(4) CONDITIONS FOR DESIGNATION AND DIS2 TRIBUTION OF SITES.—The number of early voting 

3 sites of a jurisdiction and the location of such sites 

4 within the jurisdiction shall be determined by the ju5 risdiction, subject to the following conditions: 

6 ‘‘(A) To the greatest extent practicable, 

7 the jurisdiction shall designate sites which are 

8 also designated as voter registration agencies 

9 under section 7 the National Voter Registration 

10 Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–5). 

11 ‘‘(B) The aggregate number of voting sys12 tems used in all such sites in the jurisdiction 

13 may not be less than 25 percent of the total 

14 number of voting systems which will be used in 

15 all polling places in the jurisdiction on the date 

16 of the election. 

17 ‘‘(C) At least one of the sites selected, and 

18 the voting system used at such site, shall be ac19 cessible for individuals with disabilities (includ20 ing the blind and visually impaired). 

21 ‘‘(D) The geographic distribution of the 

22 sites shall reflect the geographic distribution of 

23 the voting age population of the jurisdiction. 

24 ‘‘(E) In establishing sites, the jurisdiction 

25 shall comply with the applicable requirements of 
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1 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 

2 et seq.). 

3 ‘‘(b) PERMITTING VOTERS TO OBTAIN ABSENTEE

4 BALLOTS FOR ANY REASON.—No State election official 

5 may require an individual who requests an absentee ballot

6 for an election to provide a reason for the request, or to 

7 otherwise provide any proof of the individual’s need for 

8 an absentee ballot, as a condition of obtaining the ballot.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF VOLUNTARY

11 GUIDANCE BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS12 SION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 15501(b)) is amended—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para15 graph (2); 

16 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

17 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(4) in the case of recommendations with re21 spect to section 304, January 1, 2004.’’. 

22 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act 

23 (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ‘‘and 

24 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 304’’. 
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1 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subtitle A of title III of such Act is amended—

3 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec4 tions 304 and 305 as items relating to sections 305 

5 and 306; and 

6 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 303 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 304. Promoting early and absentee voting.’’.

8 SEC. 103. CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT TO PERMIT IN9 DIVIDUALS TO COMPLETE INCOMPLETE 

10 MAIL-IN VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICA11 TIONS. 

12 Section 303(b)(4)(B) of the Help America Vote Act 

13 of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(b)(4)(B)) is amended to read 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘(B) INCOMPLETE FORMS.—If an appli16 cant for voter registration with respect to an 

17 election fails to answer any of the questions in18 cluded on the mail voter registration form pur19 suant to subparagraph (A), or otherwise fails to 

20 provide any information required to be provided 

21 on the form, the registrar shall—

22 ‘‘(i) notify the applicant of the failure 

23 and of the opportunity for the applicant to 

24 register to vote at the polling place on the 
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1 date of the election in accordance with sub2 section (d); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) if the form was received by the 

4 registrar within the deadline under State 

5 law for the receipt of voter registration ap6 plications with respect to the election, pro7 vide the applicant with an opportunity to 

8 complete the form in a timely manner to 

9 allow for the completion of the registration 

10 form prior to the election.’’. 

11 SEC. 104. ADDITIONAL FUNDING. 

12 Section 257(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

13 (42 U.S.C. 15407(a)) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking 

15 ‘‘$1,400,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,405,000,000’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking 

17 ‘‘$1,000,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,005,000,000’’; 

18 and 

19 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking 

20 ‘‘$600,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$605,000,000’’. 

21 SEC. 105. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 The amendments made by this title shall take effect 

23 as if included in the enactment of the Help America Vote 

24 Act of 2002. 
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1 TITLE II—REMOVING OTHER 

2 BARRIERS TO VOTING 

3 SEC. 201. TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MANNER 

4 AS VETERANS DAY FOR PURPOSES OF FED5 ERAL EMPLOYMENT. 

6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that—

8 (1) many Americans do not vote on Election 

9 Day because of conflicting work schedules; 

10 (2) Federal, State, and local governments 

11 should share the responsibility for increasing voter 

12 turnout on Election Day; 

13 (3) States should establish Election Day as a 

14 legal public holiday in each year and should provide 

15 full paid leave for State government employees on 

16 Election Day; and 

17 (4) the treatment of Election Day in the same 

18 manner as Veterans Day for purposes of laws relat19 ing to Federal employment will lead to increased 

20 voter turnout and will increase the availability of poll 

21 workers and suitable polling places. 

22 (b) TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MAN23 NER AS VETERANS DAY FOR PURPOSES OF FEDERAL EM24 PLOYMENT.—For purposes of any law relating to Federal 

25 employment, the Tuesday next after the first Monday in
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1 November in 2004 and each even-numbered year there2 after shall be treated in the same manner as November 

3 11. 

4 SEC. 202. VOTING LEAVE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each employee of an employer 

6 may take up to 2 hours of leave (or up to 3 hours of leave, 

7 in the case of an employee whose workplace is further than 

8 25 miles from the polling place at which the employee is 

9 eligible to cast a ballot under State law) in order to vote 

10 on any workday on which an election for Federal office 

11 is held. 

12 (b) UNPAID OR PAID LEAVE PERMITTED.—Notwith13 standing any other provision of law, leave granted under 

14 this subsection may be unpaid leave or paid leave. 

15 (c) DUTIES OF EMPLOYEE.—An employee taking 

16 leave under this subsection shall make a reasonable effort 

17 to schedule the leave so as not to disrupt unduly the oper18 ations of the employer, shall provide such notice prior to 

19 taking leave as is practicable, and shall make a reasonable 

20 effort to vote. 

21 (d) NO LOSS OF BENEFITS.—The taking of leave 

22 under this subsection shall not result in the loss of any 

23 employment benefit accrued prior to the date on which the 

24 leave commenced. 

25 (e) PROHIBITED ACTS.—
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1 (1) EXERCISE OF RIGHTS.—It shall be unlawful 

2 for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny 

3 the taking of or the attempt to take any leave pro4 vided under this subsection. 

5 (2) DISCRIMINATION.—It shall be unlawful for 

6 any employer to discharge or in any other manner 

7 discriminate against any individual for—

8 (A) opposing any practice made unlawful 

9 by this subsection; 

10 (B) filing any charge, or instituting or 

11 causing to be instituted any proceeding, under 

12 or related to this subsection; 

13 (C) giving or preparing to give any infor14 mation in connection with any inquiry or pro15 ceeding relating to any leave provided under 

16 this subsection; or 

17 (D) testifying or preparing to testify in 

18 any inquiry or proceeding relating to any leave 

19 provided under this subsection. 

20 (f) INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

21 Labor shall have investigative authority with respect to the 

22 provisions of this subsection in the same manner and 

23 under the same terms and conditions as the investigative 

24 authority provided under section 106 of the Family and 

25 Medical Leave Act of 1993, and the requirements of sec-
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1 tion 106 of such Act shall apply to employers under this 

2 subsection in the same manner as such requirements apply 

3 to employers under section 106 of such Act. 

4 (g) ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of section 107 

5 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 shall apply 

6 with respect to the enforcement of the requirements of this 

7 subsection in the same manner and under the same terms 

8 and conditions as such provisions apply with respect to 

9 the enforcement of the requirements of title I of such Act. 

10 (h) EMPLOYER DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘‘employer’’ means any person engaged in commerce or in 

12 any industry or activity affecting commerce who employs 

13 25 or more employees during a calendar year, and includes 

14 any person who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest 

15 of an employer to any of the employees of such employer 

16 and any successor in interest of an employer. In the pre17 vious sentence, the terms ‘‘commerce’’ and ‘‘industry or 

18 activity affecting commerce’’ have the meaning given such 

19 terms in section 101(1) of the Family and Medical Leave 

20 Act of 1993. 

21 (i) NONDISCRIMINATION.—The implementation and 

22 enforcement of this section shall be in compliance with the 

23 Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

24 (j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

25 respect to elections occurring after January 2004. 
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1 SEC. 203. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DISTRIBUTION 

2 OF SAMPLE BALLOTS AND VOTING MATE3 RIALS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that the distribution of 

5 sample ballots, information on voting, and other voter edu6 cation materials will help to prevent errors by voters at 

7 the polls and to reduce the rates of spoiled ballots, and 

8 Congress encourages States and other jurisdictions which 

9 administer elections to distribute these materials to reg10 istered voters prior to elections.

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