II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1353 

To require States to automatically register eligible voters to vote in elections 

for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2017 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the 

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

Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To require States to automatically register eligible voters 

to vote in elections for Federal office, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2017’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.— 

7 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (A) the right to vote is a fundamental 

9 right of citizens of the United States; 


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1 (B) it is the responsibility of the State and 

2 Federal governments to ensure that every eligi3 ble citizen is registered to vote; 

4 (C) existing voter registration systems can 

5 be inaccurate, costly, inaccessible and con6 fusing, with damaging effects on voter partici7 pation in elections and disproportionate impacts 

8 on young people, persons with disabilities, and 

9 racial and ethnic minorities; and 

10 (D) voter registration systems must be up11 dated with 21st century technologies and proce12 dures to maintain their security. 

13 (2) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act— 

14 (A) to establish that it is the responsibility 

15 of government at every level to ensure that all 

16 eligible citizens are registered to vote; 

17 (B) to enable the State and Federal gov18 ernments to register all eligible citizens to vote 

19 with accurate, cost-efficient, and up-to-date pro20 cedures; 

21 (C) to modernize voter registration and list 

22 maintenance procedures with electronic and 

23 Internet capabilities; and 


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1 (D) to protect and enhance the integrity, 

2 accuracy, efficiency, and accessibility of the 

3 electoral process for all eligible citizens. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVID5 UALS. 

6 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH AND OPER7 ATE AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election offi9 cial of each State shall establish and operate a sys10 tem of automatic registration for the registration of 

11 eligible individuals to vote for elections for Federal 

12 office in the State, in accordance with the provisions 

13 of this Act. 

14 (2) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘automatic reg15 istration’’ means a system that registers an indi16 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in a 

17 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 

18 information necessary for registration from govern19 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 

20 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 

21 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 

22 in such elections. 

23 (b) REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON NEW

24 AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief State election official 

25 shall— 


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1 (1) not later than 15 days after a contributing 

2 agency has transmitted information with respect to 

3 an individual pursuant to section 3, ensure that the 

4 individual is registered to vote in elections for Fed5 eral office in the State if the individual is eligible to 

6 be registered to vote in such elections; and 

7 (2) send written notice to the individual, in ad8 dition to other means of notice established by this 

9 Act, of the individual’s voter registration status. 

10 (c) ONE-TIME REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON

11 EXISTING CONTRIBUTING AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief 

12 State election official shall— 

13 (1) identify all individuals whose information is 

14 transmitted by a contributing agency pursuant to 

15 section 4 and who are eligible to be, but are not cur16 rently, registered to vote in that State; 

17 (2) promptly send each such individual written 

18 notice, in addition to other means of notice estab19 lished by this Act, which shall not identify the con20 tributing agency that transmitted the information 

21 but shall include— 

22 (A) an explanation that voter registration 

23 is voluntary, but if the individual does not de24 cline registration, the individual will be reg25 istered to vote; 


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1 (B) a statement offering the opportunity to 

2 decline voter registration through means con3 sistent with the requirements of this Act; 

4 (C) in the case of a State in which affili5 ation or enrollment with a political party is re6 quired in order to participate in an election to 

7 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

8 Federal office, a statement offering the indi9 vidual the opportunity to affiliate or enroll with 

10 a political party or to decline to affiliate or en11 roll with a political party, through means con12 sistent with the requirements of this Act; 

13 (D) the substantive qualifications of an 

14 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

15 registration application form for elections for 

16 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 

17 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

18 the consequences of false registration, and a 

19 statement that the individual should decline to 

20 register if the individual does not meet all those 

21 qualifications; 

22 (E) instructions for correcting any erro23 neous information; and 

24 (F) instructions for providing any addi25 tional information which is listed in the mail 


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1 voter registration application form for elections 

2 for Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 

3 9 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

4 1993; 

5 (3) ensure that each such individual who is eli6 gible to register to vote in elections for Federal of7 fice in the State is promptly registered to vote not 

8 later than 45 days after the official sends the indi9 vidual the written notice under paragraph (2), un10 less, during the 30-day period which begins on the 

11 date the election official sends the individual such 

12 written notice, the individual declines registration in 

13 writing, through a communication made over the 

14 Internet, or by an officially logged telephone commu15 nication; and 

16 (4) send written notice to each such individual, 

17 in addition to other means of notice established by 

18 this Act, of the individual’s voter registration status. 

19 (d) CONTRIBUTING AGENCY DEFINED.—In this Act, 

20 the term ‘‘contributing agency’’ means, with respect to a 

21 State, an agency listed in section 3(e). 

22 SEC. 3. CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE IN REGISTRA23 TION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this Act, each 

25 contributing agency in a State shall assist the State’s chief 


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1 election official in registering to vote all eligible individuals 

2 served by that agency. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRIBUTING AGEN4 CIES.— 

5 (1) INSTRUCTIONS ON AUTOMATIC REGISTRA6 TION.—With each application for service or assist7 ance, and with each related recertification, renewal, 

8 or change of address, or, in the case of an institu9 tion of higher education, with each registration of a 

10 student for enrollment in a course of study, each 

11 contributing agency that (in the normal course of its 

12 operations) requests individuals to affirm United 

13 States citizenship (either directly or as part of the 

14 overall application for service or assistance) shall in15 form each such individual who is a citizen of the 

16 United States of the following: 

17 (A) Unless that individual declines to reg18 ister to vote, or is found ineligible to vote, the 

19 individual will be registered to vote or, if appli20 cable, the individual’s registration will be up21 dated. 

22 (B) The substantive qualifications of an 

23 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

24 registration application form for elections for 

25 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 


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1 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

2 the consequences of false registration, and the 

3 individual should decline to register if the indi4 vidual does not meet all those qualifications. 

5 (C) In the case of a State in which affili6 ation or enrollment with a political party is re7 quired in order to participate in an election to 

8 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

9 Federal office, the requirement that the indi10 vidual must affiliate or enroll with a political 

11 party in order to participate in such an election. 

12 (D) Voter registration is voluntary, and 

13 neither registering nor declining to register to 

14 vote will in any way affect the availability of 

15 services or benefits, nor be used for other pur16 poses. 

17 (2) OPPORTUNITY TO DECLINE REGISTRATION

18 REQUIRED.—Each contributing agency shall ensure 

19 that each application for service or assistance, and 

20 each related recertification, renewal, or change of 

21 address, or, in the case of an institution of higher 

22 education, each registration of a student for enroll23 ment in a course of study, cannot be completed until 

24 the individual is given the opportunity to decline to 

25 be registered to vote. 


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1 (3) INFORMATION TRANSMITTAL.—Upon the 

2 expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the 

3 date the contributing agency informs the individual 

4 of the information described in paragraph (1), each 

5 contributing agency shall electronically transmit to 

6 the appropriate State election official, in a format 

7 compatible with the statewide voter database main8 tained under section 303 of the Help America Vote 

9 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083), the following infor10 mation, unless during such 30-day period the indi11 vidual declined to be registered to vote: 

12 (A) The individual’s given name(s) and 

13 surname(s). 

14 (B) The individual’s date of birth. 

15 (C) The individual’s residential address. 

16 (D) Information showing that the indi17 vidual is a citizen of the United States. 

18 (E) The date on which information per19 taining to that individual was collected or last 

20 updated. 

21 (F) If available, the individual’s signature 

22 in electronic form. 

23 (G) Information regarding the individual’s 

24 affiliation or enrollment with a political party, 

25 if the individual provides such information. 


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1 (H) Any additional information listed in 

2 the mail voter registration application form for 

3 elections for Federal office prescribed pursuant 

4 to section 9 of the National Voter Registration 

5 Act of 1993, including any valid driver’s license 

6 number or the last 4 digits of the individual’s 

7 social security number, if the individual pro8 vided such information. 

9 (c) ALTERNATE PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN CON10 TRIBUTING AGENCIES.—With each application for service 

11 or assistance, and with each related recertification, re12 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu13 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stu14 dent for enrollment in a course of study, any contributing 

15 agency that in the normal course of its operations does 

16 not request individuals applying for service or assistance 

17 to affirm United States citizenship (either directly or as 

18 part of the overall application for service or assistance) 

19 shall— 

20 (1) complete the requirements of section 7(a)(6) 

21 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

22 U.S.C. 20506(a)(6)); 

23 (2) ensure that each applicant’s transaction 

24 with the agency cannot be completed until the appli25 cant has indicated whether the applicant wishes to 


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1 register to vote or declines to register to vote in elec2 tions for Federal office held in the State; and 

3 (3) for each individual who wishes to register to 

4 vote, transmit that individual’s information in ac5 cordance with subsection (b)(3). 

6 (d) REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF AUTOMATIC REG7 ISTRATION OPPORTUNITY WITH EACH APPLICATION FOR

8 SERVICE OR ASSISTANCE.—Each contributing agency 

9 shall offer each individual, with each application for serv10 ice or assistance, and with each related recertification, re11 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu12 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stu13 dent for enrollment in a course of study, the opportunity 

14 to register to vote as prescribed by this section without 

15 regard to whether the individual previously declined a reg16 istration opportunity. 

17 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES.— 

18 (1) STATE AGENCIES.—In each State, each of 

19 the following agencies shall be treated as a contrib20 uting agency: 

21 (A) Each agency in a State that is re22 quired by Federal law to provide voter registra23 tion services, including the State motor vehicle 

24 authority and other voter registration agencies 


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1 under the National Voter Registration Act of 

2 1993. 

3 (B) Each agency in a State that admin4 isters a program pursuant to title III of the So5 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.), title 

6 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 

7 et seq.), or the Patient Protection and Afford8 able Care Act (Public Law 111–148). 

9 (C) Each State agency primarily respon10 sible for regulating the private possession of 

11 firearms. 

12 (D) Each State agency primarily respon13 sible for maintaining identifying information for 

14 students enrolled at public secondary schools, 

15 including, where applicable, the State agency 

16 responsible for maintaining the education data 

17 system described in section 6201(e)(2) of the 

18 America COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 

19 9871(e)(2)). 

20 (E) In the case of a State in which an in21 dividual disenfranchised by a criminal convic22 tion may become eligible to vote upon comple23 tion of a criminal sentence or any part thereof, 

24 or upon formal restoration of rights, the State 

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1 tence, or part thereof, or that restoration of 

2 rights. 

3 (F) Any other agency of the State which is 

4 designated by the State as a contributing agen5 cy. 

6 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In each State, each 

7 of the following agencies of the Federal Government 

8 shall be treated as a contributing agency with re9 spect to individuals who are residents of that State 

10 (except as provided in subparagraph (C)): 

11 (A) The Social Security Administration, 

12 the Department of Veterans Affairs, the De13 fense Manpower Data Center of the Depart14 ment of Defense, the Employee and Training 

15 Administration of the Department of Labor, 

16 and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv17 ices of the Department of Health and Human 

18 Services. 

19 (B) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immi20 gration Services, but only with respect to indi21 viduals who have completed the naturalization 

22 process. 

23 (C) In the case of an individual who is a 

24 resident of a State in which an individual 

25 disenfranchised by a criminal conviction under 


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1 Federal law may become eligible to vote upon 

2 completion of a criminal sentence or any part 

3 thereof, or upon formal restoration of rights, 

4 the Federal agency responsible for admin5 istering that sentence or part thereof (without 

6 regard to whether the agency is located in the 

7 same State in which the individual is a resi8 dent), but only with respect to individuals who 

9 have completed the criminal sentence or any 

10 part thereof. 

11 (D) Any other agency of the Federal Gov12 ernment which the State designates as a con13 tributing agency, but only if the State and the 

14 head of the agency determine that the agency 

15 collects information sufficient to carry out the 

16 responsibilities of a contributing agency under 

17 this section. 

18 (3) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

19 Each institution of higher education that receives 

20 Federal funds shall be treated as a contributing 

21 agency in the State in which it is located, but only 

22 with respect to students of the institution (including 

23 students who attend classes online) who reside in the 

24 State. An institution of higher education described 

25 in the previous sentence shall be exempt from the 


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1 voter registration requirements of section 487(a)(23) 

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

3 1094(a)(23)) if the institution is in compliance with 

4 the applicable requirements of this Act. 

5 (4) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 days 

6 prior to the date of each election for Federal office 

7 held in the State, the chief State election official 

8 shall publish on the public website of the official an 

9 updated list of all contributing agencies in that 

10 State. 

11 (5) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The chief State elec12 tion official of each State, in collaboration with each 

13 contributing agency, shall take appropriate measures 

14 to educate the public about voter registration under 

15 this section. 

16 SEC. 4. ONE-TIME CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE IN 

17 REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS IN EX18 ISTING RECORDS. 

19 (a) INITIAL TRANSMITTAL OF INFORMATION.—For 

20 each individual already listed in a contributing agency’s 

21 records as of the date of enactment of this Act, and for 

22 whom the agency has the information listed in section 

23 3(b)(3), the agency shall promptly transmit that informa24 tion to the appropriate State election official in accordance 


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1 with section 3(b)(3) not later than the effective date de2 scribed in section 11(a). 

3 (b) TRANSITION.—For each individual listed in a con4 tributing agency’s records as of the effective date de5 scribed in section 11(a) (but who was not listed in a con6 tributing agency’s records as of the date of enactment of 

7 this Act), and for whom the agency has the information 

8 listed in section 3(b)(3), the Agency shall promptly trans9 mit that information to the appropriate State election offi10 cial in accordance with section 3(b)(3) not later than 6 

11 months after the effective date described in section 11(a). 

12 SEC. 5. VOTER PROTECTION AND SECURITY IN AUTOMATIC 

13 REGISTRATION. 

14 (a) PROTECTIONS FOR ERRORS IN REGISTRATION.— 

15 An individual shall not be prosecuted under any Federal 

16 law, adversely affected in any civil adjudication concerning 

17 immigration status or naturalization, or subject to an alle18 gation in any legal proceeding that the individual is not 

19 a citizen of the United States on any of the following 

20 grounds: 

21 (1) The individual notified an election office of 

22 the individual’s automatic registration to vote under 

23 this Act. 


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1 (2) The individual is not eligible to vote in elec2 tions for Federal office but was automatically reg3 istered to vote under this Act. 

4 (3) The individual was automatically registered 

5 to vote under this Act at an incorrect address. 

6 (4) The individual declined the opportunity to 

7 register to vote or did not make an affirmation of 

8 citizenship, including through automatic registration, 

9 under this Act. 

10 (b) LIMITS ON USE OF AUTOMATIC REGISTRA11 TION.—The automatic registration of any individual or the 

12 fact that an individual declined the opportunity to register 

13 to vote or did not make an affirmation of citizenship (in14 cluding through automatic registration) under this Act 

15 may not be used as evidence against that individual in any 

16 State or Federal law enforcement proceeding, and an indi17 vidual’s lack of knowledge or willfulness of such registra18 tion may be demonstrated by the individual’s testimony 

19 alone. 

20 (c) PROTECTION OF ELECTION INTEGRITY.—Noth21 ing in subsection (a) or (b) may be construed to prohibit 

22 or restrict any action under color of law against an indi23 vidual who— 


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1 (1) knowingly and willfully makes a false state2 ment to effectuate or perpetuate automatic voter 

3 registration by any individual; or 

4 (2) casts a ballot knowingly and willfully in vio5 lation of State law or the laws of the United States. 

6 (d) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES’ PROTECTION OF IN7 FORMATION.—Nothing in this Act authorizes a contrib8 uting agency to collect, retain, transmit, or publicly dis9 close any of the following: 

10 (1) An individual’s decision to decline to reg11 ister to vote or not to register to vote. 

12 (2) An individual’s decision not to affirm his or 

13 her citizenship. 

14 (3) Any information that a contributing agency 

15 transmits pursuant to section 3(b)(3), except in pur16 suing the agency’s ordinary course of business. 

17 (e) ELECTION OFFICIALS’ PROTECTION OF INFOR18 MATION.— 

19 (1) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara21 graph (B), with respect to any individual for 

22 whom any State election official receives infor23 mation from a contributing agency, the State 

24 election officials shall not publicly disclose any 

25 of the following: 


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1 (i) The identity of the contributing 

2 agency. 

3 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

4 voter registration. 

5 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

6 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

7 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg8 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20507(a)). 

10 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so11 cial security number. 

12 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

13 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

14 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

15 (vii) The individual’s telephone num16 ber. 

17 (viii) The individual’s email address. 

18 (B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS REG19 ISTERED TO VOTE.—With respect to any indi20 vidual for whom any State election official re21 ceives information from a contributing agency 

22 and who, on the basis of such information, is 

23 registered to vote in the State under this Act, 

24 the State election officials shall not publicly dis25 close any of the following: 


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1 (i) The identity of the contributing 

2 agency. 

3 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

4 voter registration. 

5 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

6 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

7 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg8 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20507(a)). 

10 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so11 cial security number. 

12 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

13 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

14 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

15 (2) VOTER RECORD CHANGES.—Each State 

16 shall maintain for at least 2 years and shall make 

17 available for public inspection and, where available, 

18 photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records of 

19 changes to voter records, including removals and up20 dates. 

21 (3) DATABASE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS.— 

22 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

23 and Technology shall, after providing the public with 

24 notice and the opportunity to comment— 


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1 (A) establish standards governing the com2 parison of data for voter registration list main3 tenance purposes, identifying as part of such 

4 standards the specific data elements, the 

5 matching rules used, and how a State may use 

6 the data to determine and deem that an indi7 vidual is ineligible under State law to vote in an 

8 election, or to deem a record to be a duplicate 

9 or outdated; 

10 (B) ensure that the standards developed 

11 pursuant to this paragraph are uniform and 

12 nondiscriminatory and are applied in a uniform 

13 and nondiscriminatory manner; and 

14 (C) publish the standards developed pursu15 ant to this paragraph on the Director’s website 

16 and make those standards available in written 

17 form upon request. 

18 (4) SECURITY POLICY.—The Director of the 

19 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

20 shall, after providing the public with notice and the 

21 opportunity to comment, publish privacy and secu22 rity standards for voter registration information. 

23 The standards shall require the chief State election 

24 official of each State to adopt a policy that shall 

25 specify— 


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1 (A) each class of users who shall have au2 thorized access to the computerized statewide 

3 voter registration list, specifying for each class 

4 the permission and levels of access to be grant5 ed, and setting forth other safeguards to pro6 tect the privacy, security, and accuracy of the 

7 information on the list; and 

8 (B) security safeguards to protect personal 

9 information transmitted through the informa10 tion transmittal processes of section 3 or sec11 tion 4, the online system used pursuant to sec12 tion 7, any telephone interface, the maintenance 

13 of the voter registration database, and any 

14 audit procedure to track access to the system. 

15 (5) STATE COMPLIANCE WITH NATIONAL

16 STANDARDS.— 

17 (A) CERTIFICATION.—The chief executive 

18 officer of the State shall annually file with the 

19 Election Assistance Commission a statement 

20 certifying to the Director of the National Insti21 tute of Standards and Technology that the 

22 State is in compliance with the standards re23 ferred to in paragraphs (4) and (5). A State 

24 may meet the requirement of the previous sen25 tence by filing with the Commission a statement 


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1 which reads as follows: ‘‘lllll hereby 

2 certifies that it is in compliance with the stand3 ards referred to in paragraphs (4) and (5) of 

4 section 5(e) of the Automatic Voter Registra5 tion Act of 2017.’’ (with the blank to be filled 

6 in with the name of the State involved). 

7 (B) PUBLICATION OF POLICIES AND PRO8 CEDURES.—The chief State election official of a 

9 State shall publish on the official’s website the 

10 policies and procedures established under this 

11 section, and shall make those policies and pro12 cedures available in written form upon public 

13 request. 

14 (C) FUNDING DEPENDENT ON CERTIFI15 CATION.—If a State does not timely file the cer16 tification required under this paragraph, it shall 

17 not receive any payment under this Act for the 

18 upcoming fiscal year. 

19 (D) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT RE20 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case 

21 of a State that requires State legislation to 

22 carry out an activity covered by any certifi23 cation submitted under this paragraph, for a 

24 period of not more than 2 years the State shall 

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1 standing that the legislation has not been en2 acted at the time the certification is submitted, 

3 and such State shall submit an additional cer4 tification once such legislation is enacted. 

5 (f) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF INFORMATION.—No 

6 person acting under color of law may discriminate against 

7 any individual based on, or use for any purpose other than 

8 voter registration, election administration, or enforcement 

9 relating to election crimes, any of the following: 

10 (1) Voter registration records. 

11 (2) An individual’s declination to register to 

12 vote or complete an affirmation of citizenship under 

13 section 3(b). 

14 (3) An individual’s voter registration status. 

15 (g) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF VOTER REGISTRA16 TION INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—In17 formation collected under this Act shall not be used for 

18 commercial purposes. Nothing in this subsection may be 

19 construed to prohibit the transmission, exchange, or dis20 semination of information for political purposes, including 

21 the support of campaigns for election for Federal, State, 

22 or local public office or the activities of political commit23 tees (including committees of political parties) under the 

24 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. 


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1 SEC. 6. REGISTRATION PORTABILITY AND CORRECTION. 

2 (a) CORRECTING REGISTRATION INFORMATION AT

3 POLLING PLACE.—Notwithstanding section 302(a) of the 

4 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(a)), if 

5 an individual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 

6 office held in a State, the appropriate election official at 

7 the polling place for any such election (including a location 

8 used as a polling place on a date other than the date of 

9 the election) shall permit the individual to— 

10 (1) update the individual’s address for purposes 

11 of the records of the election official; 

12 (2) correct any incorrect information relating to 

13 the individual, including the individual’s name and 

14 political party affiliation, in the records of the elec15 tion official; and 

16 (3) cast a ballot in the election on the basis of 

17 the updated address or corrected information, and to 

18 have the ballot treated as a regular ballot and not 

19 as a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of such 

20 Act. 

21 (b) UPDATES TO COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER

22 REGISTRATION LISTS.—If an election official at the poll23 ing place receives an updated address or corrected infor24 mation from an individual under subsection (a), the offi25 cial shall ensure that the address or information is 

26 promptly entered into the computerized statewide voter 


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1 registration list in accordance with section 

2 303(a)(1)(A)(vi) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

3 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(1)(A)(vi)). 

4 SEC. 7. ONLINE REGISTRATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall ensure that the 

6 following services are available on the official public 

7 websites of the appropriate State election officials: 

8 (1) Application for or update to voter registra9 tion using an electronic version of the mail voter 

10 registration application form the Election Assistance 

11 Commission prescribes, and any additional voter reg12 istration form the State develops pursuant to section 

13 6(a) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

14 (52 U.S.C. 20505(a)). 

15 (2) Completion of a printable version of the 

16 mail voter registration application form the Election 

17 Assistance Commission prescribes, and any addi18 tional voter registration form the State develops pur19 suant to section 6(a) of the National Voter Registra20 tion Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20505(a)). 

21 (3) Correction of voter registration. 

22 (4) Designation of political party affiliation, 

23 where applicable. 

24 (5) Cancellation of registration and removal 

25 from the voter rolls. 


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1 (6) Declination of any automatic registration. 

2 (b) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS.—The appropriate 

3 State election official shall accept an online voter registra4 tion application and register each eligible individual to 

5 vote if the application provides a signature by any of the 

6 following: 

7 (1) In the case of an individual who has a sig8 nature on file with a State agency, including the 

9 State motor vehicle authority, that is required to 

10 provide voter registration services by the National 

11 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et 

12 seq.), the individual consents to the transfer of that 

13 electronic signature. 

14 (2) The individual submits with the application 

15 an electronic copy of the individual’s handwritten 

16 signature. 

17 (3) If the State chooses to accept it, the indi18 vidual’s execution of a computerized mark in the sig19 nature field on an online voter registration applica20 tion. 

21 (4) The individual otherwise completes registra22 tion under this section and provides a signature at 

23 the time of casting a ballot in an election or at the 

24 time of applying for a ballot (including an absentee 

25 ballot) in an upcoming election. The online system 


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1 and disposition notice sent to any individual pursu2 ant to this paragraph must inform the individual of 

3 the process for providing a signature. 

4 (c) INTERAGENCY TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRONIC

5 SIGNATURES.—Each State agency that is required by the 

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

7 20501 et seq.) to provide voter registration services, in8 cluding the State motor vehicle authority, shall electroni9 cally transmit to the appropriate State election official the 

10 signature of any individual who has a signature on file 

11 with the agency and who consents to the transfer of that 

12 electronic signature under subsection (b)(1). 

13 (d) PRE-ELECTION CORRECTION.—Any correction to 

14 the statewide voter registration database pursuant to this 

15 section that is made no later than the lesser of thirty days, 

16 or the period State law provides, before a Federal election 

17 shall be effective for purposes of that Federal election and 

18 succeeding elections. 

19 (e) ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICES.—Each State shall 

20 ensure that all of the services provided under this section 

21 are provided in a manner accessible to individuals with 

22 disabilities. 


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1 SEC. 8. PAYMENTS AND GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis3 sion shall make grants to each eligible State to assist the 

4 State in implementing the requirements of this Act. 

5 (b) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION.—A State is eligible 

6 to receive a grant under this section if the State submits 

7 to the Commission, at such time and in such form as the 

8 Commission may require, an application containing— 

9 (1) a description of the activities the State will 

10 carry out with the grant; 

11 (2) an assurance that the State shall carry out 

12 such activities without partisan bias and without 

13 promoting any particular point of view regarding 

14 any issue; and 

15 (3) such other information and assurances as 

16 the Commission may require. 

17 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT; PRIORITIES.—The Commis18 sion shall determine the amount of a grant made to an 

19 eligible State under this section. In determining the 

20 amounts of the grants, the Commission shall give priority 

21 to providing funds for those activities which are most like22 ly to accelerate compliance with the requirements of this 

23 Act, including— 

24 (1) investments supporting electronic informa25 tion transfer, including electronic collection and 


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1 transfer of signatures, between contributing agencies 

2 and the appropriate State election officials; 

3 (2) updates to online or electronic voter reg4 istration systems already operating as of the date of 

5 the enactment of this Act; 

6 (3) introduction of online voter registration sys7 tems in jurisdictions in which those systems did not 

8 previously exist; and 

9 (4) public education on the availability of new 

10 methods of registering to vote, updating registration, 

11 and correcting registration. 

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

14 be appropriated to carry out this section— 

15 (A) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and 

16 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

17 each succeeding fiscal year. 

18 (2) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

19 Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the authority 

20 of this subsection shall remain available without fis21 cal year limitation until expended. 

22 SEC. 9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

23 (a) ACCESSIBILITY OF REGISTRATION SERVICES.— 

24 Each contributing agency shall ensure that the services 

25 it provides under this Act are made available to individuals 


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1 with disabilities to the same extent as services are made 

2 available to all other individuals. 

3 (b) TRANSMISSION THROUGH SECURE THIRD PARTY

4 PERMITTED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

5 prevent a contributing agency from contracting with a 

6 third party to assist the agency in meeting the information 

7 transmittal requirements of this Act, so long as the data 

8 transmittal complies with the applicable requirements of 

9 this Act, including the privacy and security provisions of 

10 section 5. 

11 (c) NONPARTISAN, NONDISCRIMINATORY PROVISION

12 OF SERVICES.—The services made available by contrib13 uting agencies under this Act and by the State under sec14 tions 6 and 7 shall be made in a manner consistent with 

15 paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)(C) of section 7(a) of the Na16 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

17 20506(a)). 

18 (d) NOTICES.—Each State may send notices under 

19 this Act via electronic mail if the individual has provided 

20 an electronic mail address and consented to electronic mail 

21 communications for election-related materials. All notices 

22 sent pursuant to this Act that require a response must 

23 offer the individual notified the opportunity to respond at 

24 no cost to the individual. 


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1 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 11 of the National 

2 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20510), relat3 ing to civil enforcement and the availability of private 

4 rights of action, shall apply with respect to this Act in 

5 the same manner as such section applies to such Act. 

6 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Except as pro7 vided, nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize 

8 or require conduct prohibited under, or to supersede, re9 strict, or limit the application of any of the following: 

10 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

11 10301 et seq.). 

12 (2) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab13 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

14 (3) The National Voter Registration Act of 

15 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

16 (4) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

17 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

18 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

21 means, with respect to a State, the individual des22 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na23 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

24 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

25 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

2 Assistance Commission. 

3 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

4 States and the District of Columbia. 

5 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

8 apply with respect to a State beginning January 1, 2019. 

9 (b) WAIVER.—Subject to the approval of the Com10 mission, if a State certifies to the Commission that the 

11 State will not meet the deadline referred to in subsection 

12 (a) because of extraordinary circumstances and includes 

13 in the certification the reasons for the failure to meet the 

14 deadline, subsection (a) shall apply to the State as if the 

15 reference in such subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2019’’ were 

16 a reference to ‘‘January 1, 2021’’. 

Æ 


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