II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4668 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in 

elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to vote. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced 

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

on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure 

that voters in elections for Federal office do not wait 

in long lines in order 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 ‘‘People Over Long 

5 Lines Act (POLL Act)’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The right to vote for all Americans is fun9 damental and rules for voting and election adminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4668.IS S4668

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1 tration should protect the right to vote and promote 

2 voter participation. 

3 (2) It is the responsibility of the State and Fed4 eral Governments to ensure that every eligible cit5 izen is able to register to vote and to cast a ballot. 

6 (3) There continues to be an alarming move7 ment to erect barriers to make it more difficult for 

8 Americans to participate in our Nation’s democratic 

9 process. The Nation has witnessed unprecedented ef10 forts to turn back the clock and erect barriers to 

11 voting for communities of color, which have faced 

12 historic and continuing discrimination, as well as 

13 disabled, young, elderly, and low-income Americans. 

14 (4) One way voting in communities of color has 

15 been suppressed is through long waits at polling lo16 cations. Studies have shown a number of contrib17 uting factors, including the drastic reduction of early 

18 voting days, poor allocation of resources to certain 

19 communities, cuts to election funding, and a reduc20 tion of polling locations. 

21 (5) A 2019 study led by economist Keith Chen 

22 of the University of California, Los Angeles, 

23 matched anonymous location data from 10,000,000 

24 smartphones to 93,000 polling places to create the 

25 most extensive map to date of voter wait times 


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1 across the United States. The results showed one 

2 very clear disparity: voters in predominantly Black 

3 neighborhoods waited 29 percent longer, on average, 

4 than those in White neighborhoods. They were also 

5 about 74 percent more likely to wait for more than 

6 half an hour. 

7 (6) Waiting in long lines discourages people 

8 from voting, undermines confidence in the electoral 

9 system, and imposes economic costs on voters. 

10 (7) Long lines are estimated to have deterred 

11 between 500,000 and 700,000 people from casting 

12 their ballot in 2012. 

13 (8) These problems led to the creation of the bi14 partisan Presidential Commission on Election Ad15 ministration, which issued a 2014 report that set 

16 forth a standard: ‘‘No citizen should have to wait 

17 more than 30 minutes to vote.’’. 

18 (9) Despite the work of the Presidential Com19 mission on Election Administration, long lines con20 tinue, particularly in communities of color where ra21 cial discrimination in voting is a clear and persistent 

22 problem. 

23 (10) In the Arizona 2016 Presidential primary, 

24 in one Maricopa County polling place for mostly 

25 Latino voters, some waited for 4 hours or more in 


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1 the 80-degree heat to cast their ballots. For the 

2 2016 general election, 3 people collapsed while wait3 ing to vote in an hours-long line in Georgia, and a 

4 line to vote in Cincinnati, Ohio was a half-mile long. 

5 (11) According to a nationwide study, in 2016, 

6 roughly 3 percent of people standing in line at vot7 ing locations left before they could vote as a result 

8 of long lines. 

9 (12) The disenfranchisement that long lines 

10 create for voters is not limited to that one election. 

11 Research suggests that for each hour would-be vot12 ers wait, their probability of voting in the next elec13 tion drops by 1 percentage point. 

14 (13) Congress has the authority under article I, 

15 section 4 of the Constitution of the United States to 

16 enact laws governing the time, place, and manner of 

17 Federal elections. 

18 (14) Congress also has authority under section 

19 2 of the 15th Amendment to enforce the right of 

20 citizens of the United States to vote, which shall not 

21 be denied or abridged by the United States, by legis22 lation. 


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1 SEC. 3. PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING 

2 TIMES. 

3 (a) STATE PLANS REQUIRED.—Title III of the Help 

4 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

7 sections 305 and 306; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 304. UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING TIMES. 

11 ‘‘(a) STATE PLANS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days be13 fore each election for Federal office, each State shall 

14 make public (including through the website of the 

15 State on which election information is normally pub16 lished) and submit to the Commission a written plan 

17 which meets the public notice and comment require18 ments of paragraph (2) and describes the measures 

19 it is implementing to ensure, to the greatest extent 

20 possible, an equitable waiting time for all voters in 

21 the State, and a waiting time of less than 30 min22 utes at any polling place in the election. 

23 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE COMMENT REQUIRE24 MENT.—The public notice and comment require25 ments of this paragraph are met if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days prior to the 

2 submission of the plan to the Commission, the 

3 State made a preliminary version of the plan 

4 available for public inspection and comment; 

5 ‘‘(B) the State publishes notice that the 

6 preliminary version of the plan is so available; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) the State took the public comments 

9 made regarding the preliminary version of the 

10 plan into account in preparing the plan which 

11 was submitted to the Commission under para12 graph (1). 

13 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT14 ING TIMES.—Each State shall ensure that no person vot15 ing in an election for Federal office shall wait for more 

16 than 30 minutes at any polling place for purposes of cast17 ing a vote in such election. 

18 ‘‘(c) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES19 SIVE VOTER WAIT TIMES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF VOTER WAIT TIMES.—After 

21 each election for Federal office, the Commission 

22 shall review voter waiting times for each jurisdiction 

23 for which voting in such election took place and 

24 make publicly available a report on its findings. 

25 ‘‘(2) STATE REMEDIAL PLANS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REMEDIAL PLANS.—Notwithstanding 

2 section 209, each jurisdiction for which the 

3 Commission, after the review conducted under 

4 paragraph (1), determines that a substantial 

5 number of voters waited more than 60 minutes 

6 to cast a vote, or in which there were substan7 tial violations of the standards established 

8 under section 299, shall comply with a State re9 medial plan established by the Commission to 

10 provide for the effective allocation of resources 

11 to administer elections for Federal office held in 

12 the State and to reduce the waiting time of vot13 ers. 

14 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH ATTORNEY

15 GENERAL AND STATES.—Each remedial plan 

16 established by the Commission shall provide for 

17 coordination between the Commission, the At18 torney General, and the State involved to mon19 itor the compliance of the State with the reme20 dial plan during the period leading up to the 

21 election and on the date of the election and to 

22 respond to serious delays in the ability of voters 

23 to cast their ballots at polling places. 

24 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—A jurisdiction shall 

25 not be required to comply with a State remedial 


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1 plan required under subparagraph (A) if the 

2 Commission determines that the voter waiting 

3 times were less than 60 minutes for 2 consecu4 tive regularly scheduled general elections for 

5 Federal office. 

6 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes of 

7 this subsection, the term ‘jurisdiction’ has the mean8 ing given the term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 

9 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

10 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(j)). 

11 ‘‘(4) STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

13 Commission shall establish standards for conducting 

14 the review under paragraph (1) and for establishing 

15 remedial plans under paragraph (2)(A). 

16 ‘‘(5) APPROPRIATIONS.—In addition to other 

17 amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Com18 mission, there are authorized to be appropriated for 

19 each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2031, 

20 $5,000,000 for each such year for the Commission 

21 to carry out this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(d) EMERGENCY BALLOTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a failure of 

24 voting equipment or other circumstance at a polling 

25 place that causes an unreasonable delay, any indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4668.IS S4668

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1 vidual who is waiting at the polling place to cast a 

2 ballot in an election for Federal office at the time 

3 of the failure shall be advised immediately of the in4 dividual’s right to use an emergency paper ballot, 

5 and upon request shall be provided with such an 

6 emergency paper ballot for the election and the sup7 plies necessary to mark the ballot. 

8 ‘‘(2) BALLOT REQUIREMENTS.—Any emergency 

9 paper ballot provided under paragraph (1) shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) include the names of each candidate 

11 for each Federal office for which voting occurs 

12 at such polling place; and 

13 ‘‘(B) be available in each language for 

14 which other ballots provided at the polling place 

15 are available. 

16 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF BALLOT.—Any emergency 

17 paper ballot which is cast by an individual under 

18 this subsection shall be counted in the same manner 

19 as a regular ballot, unless the individual casting the 

20 ballot would have otherwise been required to cast a 

21 provisional ballot in the absence of the delay, in 

22 which case that ballot shall be treated in the same 

23 manner as a provisional ballot.’’. 


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1 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 

2 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNREASON5 ABLE VOTER WAITING TIME. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sec7 tion 304(b), section 402 shall not apply and any person 

8 who is aggrieved by such violation may commence a civil 

9 action in any appropriate district court of the United 

10 States for relief. 

11 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—In any civil action commenced under 

12 subsection (a): 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds a viola14 tion of section 304(a), the court shall assess a civil 

15 penalty equal to the sum of— 

16 ‘‘(A) $50; plus 

17 ‘‘(B) an additional $50 for each additional 

18 hour the person waited at the polling place to 

19 cast a vote. 

20 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the court determines 

21 that the violation was due to an intentional action 

22 to suppress votes or was made with reckless dis23 regard of the requirements of section 304— 

24 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1)(A) shall be applied by 

25 substituting ‘$650’ for ‘$50’; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) paragraph (1)(B) shall be applied by 

2 substituting ‘$150’ for ‘$50’.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 of such 

4 Act (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

6 paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in section 

10 304(c);’’. 

11 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

12 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec14 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

15 306, and by inserting after the item relating to sec16 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Unreasonable voter waiting times.’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec19 tion 402 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for unreasonable voter waiting time.’’. 

20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL 

2 WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

3 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer5 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 subtitle: 

8 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 

9 Requirements 

10 ‘‘SEC. 321. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND 

11 POLL WORKERS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for the 

13 minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, 

14 and other election resources (including all other physical 

15 resources) for each voting site on the day of any Federal 

16 election and on any days during which such State allows 

17 early voting for a Federal election in accordance with the 

18 standards determined under section 299. 

19 ‘‘(b) VOTING SITE.—For purposes of this section and 

20 section 299, the term ‘voting site’ means a polling loca21 tion, except that in the case of any polling location that 

22 serves more than 1 precinct, such term shall mean a pre23 cinct. 

24 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re25 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

26 and after September 15, 2021.’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

2 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

3 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in4 serting ‘‘303, and subtitle C’’. 

5 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con6 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

7 of the items relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Minimum required voting systems and poll workers.’’. 

8 (b) STANDARDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Help America 

10 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new 

12 subtitle: 

13 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

14 Standards 

15 ‘‘SEC. 299. STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING THE MINIMUM 

16 REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND POLL 

17 WORKERS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1, 

19 2021, the Attorney General, to the maximum extent prac20 ticable in coordination with the Commission, shall issue 

21 standards regarding the minimum number of voting sys22 tems, poll workers, and other election resources (including 

23 all other physical resources) required under section 321 


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1 on the day of any Federal election and on any days during 

2 which early voting is allowed for a Federal election. 

3 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The standards described in 

5 subsection (a) shall provide for a uniform and non6 discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, 

7 and other resources, and shall take into account, 

8 among other factors, the following with respect to 

9 any voting site (as defined in section 321(b)): 

10 ‘‘(A) The voting-age population. 

11 ‘‘(B) Voter turnout in past elections. 

12 ‘‘(C) The number of voters registered. 

13 ‘‘(D) The number of voters who have reg14 istered since the most recent Federal election. 

15 ‘‘(E) Census data for the population served 

16 by such voting site. 

17 ‘‘(F) The educational levels and socio-eco18 nomic factors of the population served by such 

19 voting site. 

20 ‘‘(G) The needs and numbers of disabled 

21 voters and voters with limited English pro22 ficiency. 

23 ‘‘(H) The type of voting systems used. 

24 ‘‘(2) NO FACTOR DISPOSITIVE.—The standards 

25 shall provide that any distribution of such systems 


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1 shall take into account the totality of all relevant 

2 factors, and no single factor shall be dispositive 

3 under the standards. 

4 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, the 

5 standards shall provide for a distribution of voting 

6 systems, poll workers, and other election resources, 

7 with the goals of— 

8 ‘‘(A) ensuring an equal waiting time for all 

9 voters in the State; and 

10 ‘‘(B) preventing a waiting time of over 30 

11 minutes at any polling place. 

12 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING ELECTRONIC

13 POLL BOOKS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), 

14 and (3), in the case of any voting site that uses an 

15 electronic poll book, the standards described in sub16 section (a) shall require at least 1 paper poll book 

17 (containing identical information to the information 

18 in the electronic poll book) for each such electronic 

19 poll book used at such voting site. 

20 ‘‘(c) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub21 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

22 public notice, to deviate from any allocation requirements 

23 in the case of unforeseen circumstances such as a natural 

24 disaster or terrorist attack.’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 

2 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20922), as amended by sec3 tion 3(c), is amended— 

4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), 

5 and (6) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respec6 tively; and 

7 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

8 following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in sub10 title E;’’. 

11 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con12 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

13 of the items relating to title II the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 

‘‘Sec. 299. Standards for establishing the minimum required voting systems 

and poll workers.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF 

15 STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OFFI16 CIALS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

18 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

19 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

20 section: 


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1 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION

2 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

3 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

4 for a chief State election administration official to take 

5 an active part in political management or in a political 

6 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 

7 over which such official has supervisory authority. 

8 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF9 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of10 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 

11 for the administration of Federal elections under State 

12 law. 

13 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR

14 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po15 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 

16 ‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com17 mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 

18 ‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 

19 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 

20 result of an election for Federal office; 

21 ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 

22 contribution from any person on behalf of a can23 didate for Federal office; and 

24 ‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 

25 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 


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1 title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 

2 to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 

3 prohibition on running for public office). 

4 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION IN CASE OF RECUSAL FROM AD5 MINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS INVOLVING ELECTION OF6 FICIAL OR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 

8 to a chief State election administration official with 

9 respect to an election for Federal office in which 

10 such official or an immediate family member of the 

11 official is a candidate, but only if— 

12 ‘‘(A) such official recuses himself or herself 

13 from all of the official’s responsibilities for the 

14 administration of such election; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the official who assumes responsi16 bility for supervising the administration of the 

17 election does not report directly to such official. 

18 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 

19 In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem20 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 

21 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

22 wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 

25 Federal office held after September 15, 2021. 


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1 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS TO STATES TO PREVENT UNREASON2 ABLE WAIT TIMES AND PROMOTE WELL-RUN 

3 ELECTIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

5 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘PART VII—PAYMENTS FOR PREVENTING 

8 UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT TIMES 

9 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a 

11 payment to each eligible State. Such payments shall be 

12 made not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this part. 

14 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For purposes of this section, 

15 a State is an eligible State if such State has filed with 

16 the Commission a State plan covering the fiscal year in 

17 which the State describes how it intends to use the funds 

18 provided under this section. 

19 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible State shall use the 

20 payment received under this part to meet the requirements 

21 of section 304 and 321. 

22 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of payment 

24 made to a State under this section shall be the min25 imum payment amount described in paragraph (2) 


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1 plus the voting age population proportion amount 

2 described in paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The min4 imum payment amount described in this paragraph 

5 is— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of any of the several 

7 States or the District of Columbia, one-half of 

8 1 percent of the aggregate amount made avail9 able for payments under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Commonwealth of 

11 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the 

12 United States Virgin Islands, one-tenth of 1 

13 percent of such aggregate amount. 

14 ‘‘(3) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

15 AMOUNT.—The voting age population proportion 

16 amount described in this paragraph is the product 

17 of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the aggregate amount made available 

19 for payments under this section minus the total 

20 of all of the minimum payment amounts deter21 mined under paragraph (2); and 

22 ‘‘(B) the voting age population proportion 

23 for the State (as defined in paragraph (4)). 

24 ‘‘(4) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

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1 tion’ means, with respect to a State, the amount 

2 equal to the quotient of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the voting age population of the State 

4 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen5 sus); and 

6 ‘‘(B) the total voting age population of all 

7 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

8 census). 

9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

11 appropriated for payments under this section 

12 $500,000 for each fiscal year. 

13 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro14 priated pursuant to the authority of paragraph (1) 

15 shall remain available without fiscal year limitation 

16 until expended.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

19 to section 296 the following: 

‘‘PART VII—PAYMENTS FOR PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT

TIMES

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to States.’’. 

Æ 


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