II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 700 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 

to vote by mail in Federal elections, to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for automatic voter registration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. MERKLEY) 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 allow 

all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections, 

to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

to provide for automatic voter registration. 

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 ‘‘Vote at Home Act of 

5 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the 

4 United States because voters in some States have 

5 the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 

6 other States do not. 

7 (2) Many voters often have work, family, or 

8 other commitments that make getting to polls and 

9 waiting in line on the date of an election difficult or 

10 impossible. Many citizens with disabilities are phys11 ically unable to vote due to long lines, inadequate 

12 parking, no curb cuts, steep ramps, and large 

13 crowds. In 2012, 30 percent of voters with disabil14 ities had difficulty voting, and in 2016, nearly two15 thirds of the 137 polling places inspected on election 

16 day had at least one impediment to people with dis17 abilities. However, with expanded access to mail-in 

18 ballots, people with disabilities made large gains in 

19 2020 with a historic voter turnout surge. 

20 (3) In 2020, despite a global pandemic, the 

21 general election saw record high turnout as a result 

22 of increased vote by mail options, which allowed vot23 ers to cast a ballot and stay safe at the same time. 

24 (4) Thirty-four States and the District of Co25 lumbia allow universal absentee voting (also known 

26 as ‘‘no-excuse’’ absentee voting), which permits any 


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1 voter to request a mail-in ballot without providing a 

2 reason for the request. No State which has imple3 mented no-excuse absentee voting has repealed it. 

4 (5) Five States currently hold elections entirely 

5 by mail. Eight States proactively send all registered 

6 voters a ballot to be submitted by mail or dropped 

7 off at a designated location. At least 22 States cur8 rently allow some elections to be conducted by mail, 

9 especially in large and rural jurisdictions where vot10 ing by mail is especially convenient. Polling stations 

11 in rural jurisdictions tend to have higher costs per 

12 voter, smaller staffs, and limited resources. Trans13 portation is often a crucial barrier for rural voters. 

14 (6) In 2020, in order to provide greater accessi15 bility and to protect the public health, 30 States 

16 adopted or changed their laws for the general elec17 tion to allow voters to cast their ballots from home. 

18 These changes included removing strict excuse re19 quirements, allowing COVID–19 concerns to be a 

20 valid excuse to vote absentee, allowing ballot drop 

21 boxes, offering prepaid postage on election mail, and 

22 proactively sending all active registered voters appli23 cations to request an absentee ballot—with some 

24 States even skipping that step and sending the ac25 tual ballots. 


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1 (7) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 

2 consider their choices, which is especially important 

3 as many ballots contain greater numbers of ques4 tions about complex issues than in the past due to 

5 the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 

6 process in many States. 

7 (8) Voting by mail is cost effective. After the 

8 State of Oregon adopted vote by mail for all voters 

9 in 1996, the cost to administer an election in the 

10 State dropped by nearly 30 percent over the next 

11 few elections, from $3.07 per voter to $2.21 per 

12 voter. After Colorado implemented all-mail balloting 

13 in 2013, voting administration costs decreased by an 

14 average of 40 percent. The cost of conducting vote15 by-mail elections is generally one-third to one-half 

16 less than conducting polling place elections. Voting 

17 by mail also saves a substantial amount by getting 

18 rid of the temporary labor costs of hiring poll work19 ers. In addition to that cost, many jurisdictions have 

20 been facing difficulty in obtaining sufficient numbers 

21 of poll workers. 

22 (9) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 

23 mail can reduce waiting times for those voters who 

24 choose to vote at the polls. In 2016, voters in Ari25 zona reported waiting in line from 1 to 5 hours to 


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1 vote; in New York, voters reported that stations ran 

2 out of ballots and did not have staff during all of 

3 the hours scheduled for voting. 

4 (10) Voting by mail is preferable to many vot5 ers as an alternative to going to the polls. In 2020, 

6 43.2 percent of ballots in the United States were 

7 cast by mail, up from 10 percent in 2000. Voting by 

8 mail has become increasingly popular with voters 

9 who want to be certain that they are able to vote no 

10 matter what comes up on election day, as it reduces 

11 the physical obstacles and eases the time constraints 

12 connected with the act of voting. 

13 (11) Despite attempts to claim that voting by 

14 mail is susceptible to fraud, it is not. Strategies such 

15 as tracking systems for ballots and postal service co16 operation in preventing ballots from being delivered 

17 to names not recognized as receiving mail at an ad18 dress nearly eliminate the potential for fraud in vote 

19 by mail elections. Evidence of undue influence or 

20 voter coercion after vote-by-mail implementation in 

21 Oregon has been nonexistent to minimal. 

22 (12) Many of the reasons which voters in many 

23 States are required to provide in order to vote by 

24 mail require the revelation of personal information 

25 about health, travel plans, or religious activities, 


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1 which violate voters’ privacy while doing nothing to 

2 prevent voter fraud. 

3 (13) State laws which require voters to obtain 

4 a notary signature to vote by mail only add cost and 

5 inconvenience to voters without increasing security. 

6 (14) Many voters choose to cast ballots early 

7 when they have the option (over 50 percent in Ari8 zona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Geor9 gia, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North 

10 Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and 

11 Washington). Approximately 70 percent of voters in 

12 the 2020 election cast their ballot before election 

13 day. In Oregon, 7 years after vote-by-mail election 

14 implementation, over 80 percent of voters favored 

15 the vote-by-mail system. 

16 (15) Vote-by-mail typically increases turnout in 

17 all elections, but can be particularly effective in in18 creasing voter participation in special elections and 

19 primary elections. Oregon, Washington, and Colo20 rado, 3 of the 5 States with entirely vote by mail 

21 elections, continue to have consistently high voter 

22 turnout rates. In 2020, the presidential election 

23 turnout was about 7 percentage points higher than 

24 in 2016, and turnout rates increased in every State 

25 compared with 2016. In the 10 States where it rose 


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1 the most, 7 conducted their vote entirely or mostly 

2 by mail, with 6 of those States having recently 

3 adopted all-mail voting, either permanently (Utah 

4 and Hawaii) or for the 2020 election only. 

5 (16) A crucial component of a modern voting 

6 system is making it easy, affordable, and accessible 

7 to register to vote. Twenty-two States and the Dis8 trict of Columbia have enacted automatic voter reg9 istration policies, with Oregon and California becom10 ing the first to automatically register their citizens 

11 to vote when they apply for a driver’s license. Auto12 matic, permanent voter registration has the potential 

13 to increase participation, protect election integrity, 

14 and reduce registration costs. 

15 SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 

16 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

17 (a) VOTING BY MAIL IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

19 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 

20 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 

21 the following new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

23 MAIL. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli25 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 


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1 State may not impose any additional conditions or require2 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 

3 in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 

4 State imposes a deadline for returning the ballot to the 

5 appropriate State or local election official. 

6 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF BALLOT MATERIALS.—Not later 

7 than 2 weeks before the date of any election for Federal 

8 office, each State shall mail ballots to individuals who are 

9 registered to vote in such election. 

10 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS11 ABILITIES.—All ballots provided under this section shall 

12 be accessible to individuals with disabilities in a manner 

13 that provides the same opportunity for access and partici14 pation (including for privacy and independence) as for 

15 other voters. 

16 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 

18 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 

19 polling places at which individuals cast ballots. 

20 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 

21 to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) with re22 spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 

23 with 2024.’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

25 ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 


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1 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘303, and 303A’’. 

3 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents for such Act is amended by inserting after the 

5 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 

6 (b) FREE POSTAGE FOR VOTING BY MAIL.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 

8 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elec11 tions 

12 ‘‘The following shall be carried expeditiously and free 

13 of postage: 

14 ‘‘(1) Blank ballots mailed pursuant to section 

15 303A(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (in16 dividually or in bulk). 

17 ‘‘(2) Any ballot described in paragraph (1) that 

18 is completed by a voter and mailed by the voter to 

19 an election official for counting.’’. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND21 MENTS.— 

22 (A) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of 

23 sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 


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1 States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

‘‘3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elections.’’. 

3 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA4 TIONS.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, United 

5 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘3403 

6 through 3406’’ and inserting ‘‘3403 through 

7 3407’’. 

8 SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH 

9 STATE MOTOR VEHICLE AUTHORITIES. 

10 (a) AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION.—Section 5 

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

12 20504) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 5. VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH MOTOR VEHICLE 

14 AUTHORITY. 

15 ‘‘(a) SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION FOR VOTER REG16 ISTRATION AND APPLICATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLE

17 DRIVER’S LICENSE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION TO ELEC19 TION OFFICIALS.—Each State’s motor vehicle au20 thority, upon receiving any of the identifying infor21 mation described in paragraph (2) with respect to 

22 any applicable individual, shall securely transmit the 

23 identifying information to the appropriate State elec24 tion official. 


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1 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION DESCRIBED.— 

2 The identifying information described in this para3 graph with respect to any individual is as follows: 

4 ‘‘(A) The individual’s legal name. 

5 ‘‘(B) The individual’s age. 

6 ‘‘(C) The individual’s residence. 

7 ‘‘(D) The individual’s citizenship status. 

8 ‘‘(E) The individual’s electronic signature. 

9 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF OFFICIALS RECEIVING INFORMA10 TION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving the identi12 fying information with respect to an applicable indi13 vidual under subsection (a), the appropriate State 

14 election official shall determine— 

15 ‘‘(A) whether such individual is eligible to 

16 vote in an election for Federal office; and 

17 ‘‘(B) whether such individual is currently 

18 registered to vote in elections for Federal office 

19 at the address provided in such identifying in20 formation. 

21 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO INDIVIDUALS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE UNREGISTERED INDIVID23 UALS.—In the case of an applicable individual 

24 who is eligible to vote in an election for Federal 

25 office and who is not currently registered to 


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1 vote, the appropriate State election official shall 

2 issue a notification to the individual con3 taining— 

4 ‘‘(i) a statement that, unless the indi5 vidual notifies the election official prior to 

6 the expiration of the 21-calendar-day pe7 riod which begins on the date the official 

8 issued the notification that the individual 

9 declines to be registered to vote in elections 

10 for Federal office held in the State, the in11 dividual’s records and signature will con12 stitute a completed registration for the in13 dividual; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) a description of the process by 

15 which the individual may decline to be reg16 istered to vote in elections for Federal of17 fice in the State. 

18 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED

19 AT A DIFFERENT ADDRESS.—In the case of an 

20 applicable individual who is eligible to vote in 

21 an election for Federal office and who is reg22 istered to vote in such election at a different 

23 address than the address provided in the identi24 fying information, the appropriate State elecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S700.IS S700

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1 tion official shall issue a notification to the indi2 vidual containing— 

3 ‘‘(i) a statement that, unless the indi4 vidual notifies the election official prior to 

5 the expiration of the 21-calendar-day pe6 riod which begins on the date the official 

7 issued the notification that the address 

8 provided in the identifying information 

9 should not be used for voter registration 

10 purposes, the address provided in the iden11 tifying information shall be used as the in12 dividual’s address for voter registration 

13 purposes; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) a description of the process by 

15 which the individual may decline a change 

16 of address for voter registration purposes. 

17 ‘‘(c) AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDI18 VIDUALS; AUTOMATIC CHANGE OF ADDRESS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Upon the expiration of 

20 the 21-calendar-day period which begins on the date 

21 the appropriate State election official issues a notifi22 cation to an individual under subsection (b)(2)(A), 

23 the official shall ensure that the individual is reg24 istered to vote in elections for Federal office held in 

25 the State unless— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the official later determines that the 

2 individual does not meet the eligibility require3 ments for registering to vote in such elections; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(B) prior to the expiration of such 21-cal6 endar-day period, the individual notifies the of7 ficial that the individual declines to be reg8 istered to vote in such elections. 

9 ‘‘(2) CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—Upon the expira10 tion of the 21-calendar-day period which begins on 

11 the date the appropriate State election official issues 

12 a notification to an individual under subsection 

13 (b)(2)(B), the official shall ensure that the indi14 vidual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 

15 office at the address provided in the identifying in16 formation unless— 

17 ‘‘(A) the official later determines that the 

18 individual does not meet the eligibility require19 ments for registering to vote in such elections; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(B) prior to the expiration of such 21-cal22 endar-day period, the individual notifies the of23 ficial that the individual declines a change of 

24 address for voter registration purposes. 


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1 ‘‘(d) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

2 section, the term ‘applicable individual’ means any indi3 vidual who seeks assistance from, receives benefits from, 

4 or receives service or assistance from a State motor vehicle 

5 authority that issues motor vehicle driver’s licenses.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO TIM7 ING OF REGISTRATION PRIOR TO ELECTIONS.—Section 

8 8(a)(1)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)(A)) is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) in the case of registration through a 

11 motor vehicle authority under section 5, if the 

12 identifying information with respect to the indi13 vidual is transmitted by the authority to the ap14 propriate State election official under section 

15 5(a)(1) not later than the lesser of 30 days, or 

16 the period provided by State law, before the 

17 date of the election;’’. 

18 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

19 4(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20503(a)(1)) is amended 

20 to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(1) through the State motor vehicle authority 

22 pursuant to section 5;’’. 

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

24 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 


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1 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act. 

Æ 


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