II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4254 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to encourage voting by students 

and to establish emergency procedures for institutions of higher education 

to assist students in exercising their right to vote. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2020 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. BOOKER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to encourage 

voting by students and to establish emergency procedures 

for institutions of higher education to assist students 

in exercising their right to vote. 

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 ‘‘National Emergency 

5 Student Vote Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSISTING POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS IN OBTAIN2 ING ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 

3 (a) INSTITUTION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

4 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(23)(A) The institution will make every rea7 sonable effort to— 

8 ‘‘(i) distribute the mail voter registration 

9 application form for elections for Federal office 

10 prescribed pursuant to section 9 of the National 

11 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

12 20508), which may include sharing a direct, 

13 guided link to the application form, to each stu14 dent enrolled in the institution; 

15 ‘‘(ii) provide clear guidance that a student 

16 should— 

17 ‘‘(I) register in the State in which the 

18 student is eligible to vote in the next elec19 tion described in subparagraph (F); and 

20 ‘‘(II) update the student’s existing 

21 voter registration if the student’s address 

22 has changed; 

23 ‘‘(iii) share credible, nonpartisan resources 

24 to help students determine where they are eligi25 ble to vote, which may include resources from 

26 State and local election officials; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) make voter registration forms widely 

2 available, including through access to online 

3 voter registration, to students at the institution. 

4 ‘‘(B) If an institution is in a State that has a 

5 deadline for absentee ballots and the institution has 

6 decided to require or encourage students of the insti7 tution to remain off-campus due to a national, State, 

8 or local public health or other emergency as of the 

9 date that is 90 days prior to such State’s deadline, 

10 the following requirements take effect: 

11 ‘‘(i) By the date that is not less than 75 

12 days prior to such deadline, the institution will 

13 request that the State provide the institution 

14 with printed absentee ballot application forms, 

15 as applicable, or for the State to share the offi16 cial State website or online portal through 

17 which eligible voters can directly request an ab18 sentee ballot. 

19 ‘‘(ii) By the date that is not less than 60 

20 days before the absentee ballot deadline for the 

21 State, the institution will make every reasonable 

22 effort to— 

23 ‘‘(I) distribute to each student en24 rolled in the institution an absentee ballot 

25 application form, requested from the State 


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1 under clause (i) and received in accordance 

2 with section 303(d) of the Help America 

3 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)) or 

4 the official State website or online portal 

5 through which eligible voters can directly 

6 request an absentee ballot, with clear in7 structions that the form, website, or online 

8 portal should be used only by students eli9 gible to vote in the State; 

10 ‘‘(II) share, with all students enrolled 

11 in the institution, credible, nonpartisan re12 sources to help students who are registered 

13 in another State to apply for absentee bal14 lots in such State, which may include re15 sources from State and local election offi16 cials; and 

17 ‘‘(III) make such absentee ballot ap18 plication forms, in printed or electronic 

19 format, widely available to students en20 rolled in the institution. 

21 ‘‘(iii) In any case where an institution has 

22 not received from the State the official website 

23 or online portal through which eligible voters 

24 can request an absentee ballot application, or a 

25 sufficient quantity of printed absentee ballot 


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1 application forms, as needed to fulfill this sec2 tion by the date described in clause (ii), the in3 stitution shall not be held liable for not meeting 

4 the requirements of this section during that 

5 election year. 

6 ‘‘(C) Not later than 30 days prior to the State’s 

7 deadline to submit an absentee ballot or, in a State 

8 that mails ballots to all voters without requiring an 

9 application, submit the mailed ballot, the institution 

10 shall make every reasonable effort to communicate 

11 with each student enrolled in the institution regard12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(i) information about the applicable ab14 sentee ballot or mailed ballot deadline of the 

15 State; 

16 ‘‘(ii) information about any requirements 

17 in the State to cast a valid absentee ballot or 

18 mailed ballot, including requirements for a wit19 ness signature or a copy of valid identification; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iii) current (as of the date of the com22 munication), credible information from appro23 priate State and local election officials about all 

24 other voting options, such as early and in-per25 son voting and voting on Election Day. 


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1 ‘‘(D) An institution of higher education that 

2 only provides distance education shall, in lieu of the 

3 requirements of subparagraphs (B), and (C)— 

4 ‘‘(i) 60 days before the date of a general 

5 election for Federal office, share credible, non6 partisan resources, which may include resources 

7 from State and local officials, to help students 

8 apply for absentee ballots and learn about re9 quirements for different options to vote, such as 

10 absentee voting, voting by mail, early and in11 person voting, and voting on Election Day; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) 30 days before the date of a general 

13 election for Federal office, remind students 

14 about the date of the general election for Fed15 eral office and provide credible, nonpartisan re16 sources, which may include resources from 

17 State and local officials, for different options to 

18 vote, such as absentee voting, voting by mail, 

19 early and in-person voting, and voting on Elec20 tion Day. 

21 ‘‘(E) An institution subject to the requirements 

22 of this paragraph shall ensure that— 

23 ‘‘(i) in distributing voting materials (as de24 fined in section 203(b)(3) of the Voting Rights 

25 Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503(b)(3)) that are 


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1 produced by a covered State or political subdivi2 sion (as defined in such section), such voting 

3 materials are provided in accordance with sec4 tion 203 of that Act (52 U.S.C. 10503); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) all materials and information made 

6 available electronically under this paragraph— 

7 ‘‘(I) are accessible to individuals with 

8 disabilities; and 

9 ‘‘(II) conform to the accessibility 

10 standards under section 508 of the Reha11 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

12 ‘‘(F) This paragraph shall apply to general and 

13 special elections for Federal office and to the elec14 tions for Governor or other chief executive within 

15 such State), unless otherwise provided. 

16 ‘‘(G)(i) An institution may satisfy the require17 ments of subparagraphs (A) through (D), and shall 

18 be considered in compliance with such subpara19 graphs, with respect to each student to whom the in20 stitution electronically transmits a message con21 taining the information required under such sub22 paragraphs, if such information is in an electronic 

23 message devoted exclusively to that information. 

24 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in this subparagraph shall be con25 strued to prevent an institution from including inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4254.IS S4254

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1 mation described in clause (i) through routine, wide2 ly disseminated communications with students en3 rolled in the institution, in addition to the electronic 

4 message devoted exclusively to that information as 

5 described in clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(H) In this paragraph— 

7 ‘‘(i) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any 

8 ballot cast by any means other than in person 

9 and for which the State requires an application; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘distance education’ has the 

11 meaning given the term in section 103, except 

12 such term shall not include distance education 

13 that is provided due to a decision of an institu14 tion to require or encourage students of the in15 stitution to remain off-campus due to a na16 tional, State, or local public health or other 

17 emergency; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘Federal office’ has the 

19 meaning given in section 301 (3) of the Federal 

20 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

21 30101(3)).’’. 

22 (b) STATE REQUIREMENT.—Section 303 of the Help 

23 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083) is amend24 ed— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; PRO2 VISION OF FORMS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH3 ER EDUCATION’’ after ‘‘BY MAIL’’; 

4 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub5 section (e); 

6 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA9 TION FORMS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU10 CATION.—Each State shall provide the voter registration 

11 and absentee ballot application forms or access to elec12 tronic versions of such forms to each institution of higher 

13 education for the purposes described in section 487(a)(23) 

14 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

15 1094(a)(23)).’’; and 

16 (4) in subsection (e), as redesignated by para17 graph (2), by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE VOTER REG20 ISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION

21 FORMS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

22 Each State and jurisdiction shall be required to 

23 comply with the requirements of subsection (d) on 

24 and after the earlier of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the date that is 30 days after the 

2 date of enactment of the National Emergency 

3 Student Vote Act; or 

4 ‘‘(B) August 1, 2020.’’. 

Æ 


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