I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1748 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit an individual 

who is subject to a requirement to present identification as a condition 

of voting in an election for Federal office to meet such requirement 

by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual’s 

identification, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2013 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HONDA, Mr. FARR, Ms. CHU, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 

BECERRA, Mr. COHEN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. 

SCHWARTZ, Mr. RUSH, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. 

MOORE, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. RANGEL, 

Mr. TONKO, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, and Mr. SERRANO) 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 permit 

an individual who is subject to a requirement to present 

identification as a condition of voting in an election 

for Federal office to meet such requirement by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual’s identification, 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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘America Votes Act of 

3 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT 

5 TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 

6 FOR VOTING. 

7 (a) PERMITTING USE OF STATEMENT.—Title III of 

8 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et 

9 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the fol10 lowing new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE12 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE13 MENTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) USE OF STATEMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub16 section (c), if a State has in effect a requirement 

17 that an individual present identification as a condi18 tion of receiving and casting a ballot in an election 

19 for Federal office, the State shall permit the indi20 vidual to meet the requirement— 

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de22 sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro23 priate State or local election official with a 

24 sworn written statement, signed by the indi25 vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 

26 individual’s identification and attesting that the 


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1 individual is registered to vote in the election; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de4 sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 

5 ballot the statement described in subparagraph 

6 (A). 

7 ‘‘(2) PROVIDING PRE-PRINTED COPY OF STATE8 MENT.—A State which is subject to paragraph (1) 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) prepare a pre-printed version of the 

11 statement described in paragraph (1)(A) which 

12 includes a blank space for an individual to pro13 vide a name and signature; 

14 ‘‘(B) make copies of the pre-printed 

15 version available at polling places for election 

16 officials to distribute to individuals who desire 

17 to vote in person; and 

18 ‘‘(C) include a copy of the pre-printed 

19 version with each blank absentee or other ballot 

20 transmitted to an individual who desires to vote 

21 by mail. 

22 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING USE OF REGULAR BALLOT.—A 

23 State may not require an individual who presents or sub24 mits a sworn written statement in accordance with subVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:05 May 01, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748

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1 section (a)(1) to cast a provisional ballot in the election 

2 under section 302. 

3 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REG4 ISTERING BY MAIL.—Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply 

5 with respect to any individual described in paragraph (1) 

6 of section 303(b) who is required to meet the requirements 

7 of paragraph (2) of such section.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN9 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) 

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

11 303A’’. 

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

13 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

14 to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification 

requirements.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. REQUIRING STATES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION ON 

16 USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT IN 

17 VOTING INFORMATION MATERIAL POSTED AT 

18 POLLING PLACES. 

19 Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 

20 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(b)(2)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara22 graph (E); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub24 paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(G) in the case of a State that has in ef4 fect a requirement that an individual present 

5 identification as a condition of receiving and 

6 casting a ballot in an election for Federal office, 

7 information on how an individual may meet 

8 such requirement by presenting a sworn written 

9 statement in accordance with section 303A.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

12 respect to elections occurring on or after the date of the 

13 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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