I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10032 

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

secured drop boxes for voted absentee ballots in an election for Federal 

office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2024 

Ms. SCANLON (for herself, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, and Ms. ESCOBAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 

Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 

States to provide secured drop boxes for voted absentee 

ballots in an election 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dropbox Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING STATES TO PROVIDE SECURED DROP 

2 BOXES FOR VOTED ABSENTEE BALLOTS IN 

3 ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

5 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

8 sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 304. USE OF SECURED DROP BOXES FOR VOTED AB12 SENTEE BALLOTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING USE OF DROP BOXES.—In each 

14 county in the State, each State shall provide in-person, 

15 secured, and clearly labeled drop boxes at which individ16 uals may, at any time during the period described in sub17 section (b), drop off voted absentee ballots in an election 

18 for Federal office. 

19 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR AVAILABILITY OF DROP

20 BOXES.—The period described in this subsection is, with 

21 respect to an election, the period which begins 45 days 

22 before the date of the election and which ends at the time 

23 the polls close for the election in the county involved. 

24 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall ensure 

2 that the drop boxes provided under this section are 

3 accessible for use— 

4 ‘‘(A) by individuals with disabilities, as de5 termined in consultation with the protection 

6 and advocacy systems (as defined in section 102 

7 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance 

8 and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

9 15002)) of the State; and 

10 ‘‘(B) by individuals with limited proficiency 

11 in the English language. 

12 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF ACCESSIBILITY FOR

13 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—For purposes of 

14 this subsection, drop boxes shall be considered to be 

15 accessible for use by individuals with disabilities if 

16 the drop boxes meet such criteria as the Attorney 

17 General may establish for such purposes. 

18 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—If a State pro19 vides a drop box under this section on the grounds 

20 of or inside a building or facility which serves as a 

21 polling place for an election during the period de22 scribed in subsection (b), nothing in this subsection 

23 may be construed to waive any requirements regard24 ing the accessibility of such polling place for the use 


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1 of individuals with disabilities or individuals with 

2 limited proficiency in the English language. 

3 ‘‘(d) NUMBER OF DROP BOXES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) FORMULA FOR DETERMINATION OF NUM5 BER.—The number of drop boxes provided under 

6 this section in a county with respect to an election 

7 shall be determined as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) In the case of a county in which the 

9 number of individuals who are residents of the 

10 county and who are registered to vote in the 

11 election is equal to or greater than 20,000, the 

12 number of drop boxes shall be a number equal 

13 to or greater than the number of such individ14 uals divided by 20,000 (rounded to the nearest 

15 whole number). 

16 ‘‘(B) In the case of any other county, the 

17 number of drop boxes shall be equal to or 

18 greater than one. 

19 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—For purposes of this subsection, 

20 the number of individuals who reside in a county 

21 and who are registered to vote in the election shall 

22 be determined as of the 90th day before the date of 

23 the election. 

24 ‘‘(e) LOCATION OF DROP BOXES.—The State shall 

25 determine the location of drop boxes provided under this 


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1 section in a county on the basis of criteria which ensure 

2 that the drop boxes are— 

3 ‘‘(1) available to all voters on a non-discrimina4 tory basis; 

5 ‘‘(2) accessible to voters with disabilities (in ac6 cordance with subsection (c)); 

7 ‘‘(3) accessible by public transportation to the 

8 greatest extent possible; 

9 ‘‘(4) available during all hours of the day; and 

10 ‘‘(5) sufficiently available in all communities in 

11 the county, including rural communities and on 

12 Tribal lands within the county (subject to subsection 

13 (f)). 

14 ‘‘(f) RULES FOR DROP BOXES ON TRIBAL LANDS.— 

15 In making a determination of the number and location of 

16 drop boxes provided under this section on Tribal lands in 

17 a county, the appropriate State and local election officials 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) consult with Tribal leaders prior to making 

20 the determination; and 

21 ‘‘(2) take into account criteria such as the 

22 availability of direct-to-door residential mail delivery, 

23 the distance and time necessary to travel to the drop 

24 box locations (including in inclement weather), 

25 modes of transportation available, conditions of 


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1 roads, and the availability (if any) of public trans2 portation. 

3 ‘‘(g) POSTING OF INFORMATION.—On or adjacent to 

4 each drop box provided under this section, the State shall 

5 post information on the requirements that voted absentee 

6 ballots must meet in order to be counted and tabulated 

7 in the election. 

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

9 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

10 Federal office held in November 2025 and each succeeding 

11 election for Federal office.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN13 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act 

14 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 

15 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 304’’. 

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

17 of such Act is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec19 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

20 306, respectively; and 

21 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Use of secured drop boxes for voted absentee ballots.’’. 

Æ 


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