I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1295 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow individuals to vote 

in an election for Federal office during an early voting period which 

occurs prior to the date of the election, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York 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 allow 

individuals to vote in an election for Federal office during 

an early voting period which occurs prior to the date 

of the election, 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 ‘‘Early Voting Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. EARLY VOTING. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

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

8 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

2 sections 305 and 306; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 304. EARLY VOTING. 

6 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE OF ELEC7 TION.—Each State shall allow individuals to vote in an 

8 election for Federal office during an early voting period 

9 which occurs prior to the date of the election, in a manner 

10 that allows the individual to receive, complete, and cast 

11 their ballot in-person. 

12 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

14 ‘‘(A) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—The early vot15 ing period required under this subsection with 

16 respect to an election shall consist of a period 

17 of consecutive days (including weekends) which 

18 begins on the 15th day before the date of the 

19 election (or, at the option of the State, on a day 

20 prior to the 15th day before the date of the 

21 election) and ends no earlier than the second 

22 day before the date of the election. 

23 ‘‘(B) HOURS FOR EARLY VOTING.—Each 

24 polling place which allows voting during an 


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1 early voting period under subparagraph (A) 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) allow such voting for no less than 

4 10 hours on each day during the period; 

5 ‘‘(ii) have uniform hours each day for 

6 which such voting occurs; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) allow such voting to be held for 

8 some period of time prior to 9:00 a.m 

9 (local time) and some period of time after 

10 5:00 p.m. (local time). 

11 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTE-BY-MAIL JURIS12 DICTIONS.—In the case of a jurisdiction that sends 

13 every registered voter a ballot by mail— 

14 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1) shall not apply; 

15 ‘‘(B) such jurisdiction shall allow eligible 

16 individuals to vote during an early voting period 

17 that ensures voters are provided the greatest 

18 opportunity to cast ballots ahead of election day 

19 and which includes at least one consecutive Sat20 urday and Sunday; and 

21 ‘‘(C) each polling place which allows voting 

22 during an early voting period under subpara23 graph (B) shall allow such voting— 

24 ‘‘(i) during the election office’s reg25 ular business hours; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for a period of not less than 8 

2 hours on Saturdays and Sundays included 

3 in the early voting period. 

4 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL JURISDIC5 TIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a juris7 diction described in subparagraph (B), para8 graph (1)(B) shall not apply so long as all eligi9 ble individuals in the jurisdiction have the op10 portunity to vote— 

11 ‘‘(i) at each polling place which allows 

12 voting during the early voting period de13 scribed in paragraph (1)(A)— 

14 ‘‘(I) during the election office’s 

15 regular business hours; and 

16 ‘‘(II) for a period of not less than 

17 8 hours on at least one Saturday and 

18 at least one Sunday included in the 

19 early voting period; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) at one or more polling places in 

21 the county in which such jurisdiction is lo22 cated that allows voting during the early 

23 voting period described in paragraph 

24 (1)(A) in accordance with the requirements 

25 under paragraph (1)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) JURISDICTION DESCRIBED.—A juris2 diction is described in this subparagraph if such 

3 jurisdiction— 

4 ‘‘(i) had less than 3,000 registered 

5 voters at the time of the most recent prior 

6 election for Federal office; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) consists of a geographic area 

8 that is smaller than the jurisdiction of the 

9 county in which such jurisdiction is lo10 cated. 

11 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

12 this subsection shall be construed— 

13 ‘‘(A) to limit the availability of additional 

14 temporary voting sites which provide voters 

15 more opportunities to cast their ballots but 

16 which do not meet the requirements of this sub17 section; 

18 ‘‘(B) to limit a polling place from being 

19 open for additional hours outside of the uniform 

20 hours set for the polling location on any day of 

21 the early voting period; or 

22 ‘‘(C) to limit a State or jurisdiction from 

23 offering early voting on the Monday before elec24 tion day. 

25 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROXIMITY TO PUBLIC TRANSPOR2 TATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, each 

3 State and jurisdiction shall ensure that each polling 

4 place which allows voting during an early voting pe5 riod under subsection (b) is located within walking 

6 distance of a stop on a public transportation route. 

7 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY IN RURAL AREAS.—In the 

8 case of a jurisdiction that includes a rural area, the 

9 State or jurisdiction shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) ensure that polling places which allow 

11 voting during an early voting period under sub12 section (b) will be located in such rural areas; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) ensure that such polling places are lo15 cated in communities which will provide the 

16 greatest opportunity for residents of rural areas 

17 to vote during the early voting period. 

18 ‘‘(3) COLLEGE CAMPUSES.—In the case of a ju19 risdiction that includes an institution of higher edu20 cation, the State or jurisdiction shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) ensure that an appropriate number 

22 (not less than one) of polling places which allow 

23 voting during the early voting period under sub24 section (b) will be located on each branch cam25 pus of the institution of higher education; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) ensure that such polling places pro2 vide the greatest opportunity for residents of 

3 the jurisdiction to vote. 

4 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.—Not later than June 30, 2024, 

5 the Commission shall issue voluntary standards for the ad6 ministration of voting during voting periods which occur 

7 prior to the date of a Federal election. Subject to sub8 section (c), such voluntary standards shall include the 

9 nondiscriminatory geographic placement of polling places 

10 at which such voting occurs. 

11 ‘‘(e) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING REQUIRE12 MENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State or jurisdiction 

14 shall begin processing and scanning ballots cast dur15 ing in-person early voting for tabulation not later 

16 than the date that is 14 days prior to the date of 

17 the election involved, except that a State or jurisdic18 tion may begin processing and scanning ballots cast 

19 during in-person early voting for tabulation after 

20 such date if the date on which the State or jurisdic21 tion begins such processing and scanning ensures, to 

22 the greatest extent practical, that ballots cast before 

23 the date of the election are processed and scanned 

24 before the date of the election. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

2 shall be construed— 

3 ‘‘(A) to permit a State or jurisdiction to 

4 tabulate ballots in an election before the closing 

5 of the polls on the date of the election unless 

6 such tabulation is a necessary component of 

7 preprocessing in the State or jurisdiction and is 

8 performed in accordance with existing State 

9 law; or 

10 ‘‘(B) to permit an official to make public 

11 any results of tabulation and processing before 

12 the closing of the polls on the date of the elec13 tion. 

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

15 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

16 Federal office held in November 2024 and each succeeding 

17 election for Federal office.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

19 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS20 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

21 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

23 (2); 

24 (2) by striking the period at the end of para25 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

4 respect to section 304, June 30, 2024.’’. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN6 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

8 304’’. 

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

10 of such Act is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec12 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

13 306; and 

14 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec15 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Early voting.’’. 

Æ 


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