II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4707 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide Federal standards 

for mail-in ballots and reporting of election results with respect to elections for Federal office. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida 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 provide 

Federal standards for mail-in ballots and reporting of 

election results with respect to elections for Federal office. 

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 ‘‘Verifiable, Orderly, 

5 and Timely Election Results Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR MAIL-IN BALLOTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

8 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

2 sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 304. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR MAIL-IN BALLOTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When otherwise permitted by 

7 State law, any vote-by-mail system used in an election for 

8 Federal office must be designed and implemented to en9 sure a secure, uniform, and timely system to cast a mail10 in ballot in accordance with this section. 

11 ‘‘(b) REQUESTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Requests for a mail-in bal13 lot under such system may be submitted electroni14 cally or by postal mail using a standardized form ap15 proved for such requests by the chief State election 

16 official. 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUEST.—The form for such requests 

18 must enable an election official who receives the re19 quest to confirm— 

20 ‘‘(A) the identity of the individual submit21 ting the request; 

22 ‘‘(B) that the individual is validly reg23 istered to vote in the jurisdiction where the re24 quest is submitted; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) that the individual continues to reside 

2 at the physical address where the individual is 

3 registered to vote (if different than the mailing 

4 address where the ballot is requested to be 

5 sent). 

6 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—Such re7 quest must be submitted by an individual and re8 ceived by the office of the State or local election su9 pervisor not later than 21 days before the date of 

10 the election for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(4) MAILING OF BALLOTS.—Upon receipt of 

12 such a request, the State or local election supervisor 

13 shall fulfill the request by mailing a mail-in ballot to 

14 the individual within 3 days. 

15 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE OR LOCAL ELEC16 TION OFFICIALS.—The office of the State or local election 

17 supervisor shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) record the total number of mail-in ballots 

19 sent to voters pursuant to this section; and 

20 ‘‘(2) include a notation on the voter rolls main21 tained by the office and provided to the individual 

22 polling locations, which identifies that a voter has 

23 received a mail-in ballot and the date that mail-in 

24 ballot was sent to the voter. 

25 ‘‘(d) BALLOT REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be considered validly 

2 cast and eligible to be counted in an election for 

3 Federal office, a mail-in ballot must— 

4 ‘‘(A) be marked using blue or black ink, 

5 and properly designate the individual’s vote for 

6 each candidate; 

7 ‘‘(B) be signed by the individual using the 

8 same signature the individual used to register 

9 to vote; 

10 ‘‘(C) be dated; 

11 ‘‘(D) be received by the appropriate elec12 tion official no later than the time polls close on 

13 the date of the election; 

14 ‘‘(E) include an attestation, signed by the 

15 individual, that the individual submitting the 

16 mail-in ballot is— 

17 ‘‘(i) the individual to whom the ballot 

18 was mailed; 

19 ‘‘(ii) registered to vote in the jurisdic20 tion where the ballot is being submitted; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) submitting the mail-in ballot in 

23 lieu of casting a ballot in-person, and will 

24 not attempt to cast a ballot in-person after 

25 submitting the mail-in ballot. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RETURN OF BALLOTS IN-PERSON.—An in2 dividual may choose to return a mail-in ballot in-per3 son to the polling place where the individual is reg4 istered to vote in lieu of returning the ballot by mail. 

5 ‘‘(e) OPTION TO VOTE IN-PERSON.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who receives 

7 a mail-in ballot with respect to an election for Fed8 eral office may instead vote in-person in such elec9 tion if the individual turns in the blank or incom10 plete mail-in ballot received by the individual to the 

11 polling location where the individual plans to vote in12 person. 

13 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONAL BALLOT.—If the individual 

14 attempts to vote in-person but does not bring their 

15 blank or incomplete mail-in ballot to the polling loca16 tion, the individual shall be directed to complete a 

17 provisional ballot. 

18 ‘‘(f) PERSONS PERMITTED TO POSSESS MAIL-IN

19 BALLOTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

21 person to possess or return a mail-in ballot com22 pleted by another person, except as provided in this 

23 subsection. 

24 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person may possess 

2 or return a mail-in ballot completed by an im3 mediate family member, provided that the per4 son does not possess more than two such com5 pleted mail-in ballots other than his or her own. 

6 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY

7 MEMBER.—In this paragraph, the term ‘imme8 diate family member’ means the spouse, child, 

9 parent, grandparent, or sibling of the person. 

10 ‘‘(3) CAREGIVER.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A caregiver may pos12 sess or return a mail-in ballot completed by a 

13 person under the supervision or care of the 

14 caregiver, provided that the caregiver does not 

15 possess more than two such completed mail-in 

16 ballots other than his or her own. 

17 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF CAREGIVER.—In this 

18 paragraph, the term ‘caregiver’ means an indi19 vidual who has the responsibility for the care of 

20 an older individual, either voluntarily, by con21 tract, by receipt of payment for care, or as a re22 sult of the operation of law and means an indi23 vidual who provides (on behalf of such indi24 vidual or of a public or private agency, organiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Oct 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4707.IS S4707

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1 zation, or institution) compensated or uncom2 pensated care to an older individual. 

3 ‘‘(4) INCIDENTAL POSSESSION EXCEPTED.— 

4 The prohibition under paragraph (1) shall not apply 

5 to the incidental possession of mail-in ballots by a 

6 postal worker or election official acting within the 

7 scope of his or her official capacity. 

8 ‘‘(5) PENALTY.—Any person who violates this 

9 subsection shall be fined under title 18, United 

10 States Code, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or 

11 both. 

12 ‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

13 with respect to elections for Federal office held after the 

14 date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN16 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

18 304’’. 

19 SEC. 3. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR REPORTING ELECTION 

20 RESULTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

22 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), as amended 

23 by section 2(a), is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 

25 sections 306 and 307, respectively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 

2 new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 305. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR REPORTING ELEC4 TION RESULTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election official 

6 shall ensure that ballots validly cast in an election for Fed7 eral office are able to be counted and reported in a timely 

8 manner as follows: 

9 ‘‘(1) Mail-in ballots received prior to the date of 

10 the election shall be counted beginning at the time 

11 polls open on the date of the election. 

12 ‘‘(2) One hour after polls close on the date of 

13 the election, each voting precinct shall report to the 

14 chief State election official the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) The total number of mail-in ballots 

16 received by the voting precinct. 

17 ‘‘(B) The total number of ballots cast in18 person in the voting precinct. 

19 ‘‘(C) Of the ballots reported under sub20 paragraphs (A) and (B), the number of such 

21 ballots that have been counted and the number 

22 of such ballots that remain to be counted. 

23 ‘‘(3) All ballots validly cast in an election for 

24 Federal office shall be counted and reported within 


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1 24 hours after the conclusion of voting on the date 

2 of the election. 

3 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

4 with respect to elections for Federal office held after the 

5 date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN7 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

8 21111), as amended by section 2(b), is amended by strik9 ing ‘‘and 304’’ and inserting ‘‘304, and 305’’. 

Æ 


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