II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3916 

Protecting the right to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. 

KING, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

Protecting the right 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Right to Vote Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNDUE BURDENS ON THE ABILITY TO VOTE IN 

2 ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE PROHIB3 ITED. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every citizen of legal voting age 

5 shall have the fundamental right to vote in elections for 

6 Federal office. 

7 (b) RETROGRESSION.—A government may not dimin8 ish the ability to vote in an election for Federal office un9 less the law, rule, standard, practice, procedure, or other 

10 governmental action causing the diminishment is the least 

11 restrictive means of significantly furthering an important, 

12 particularized government interest. 

13 (c) SUBSTANTIAL IMPAIRMENT.—A government may 

14 not substantially impair the ability to vote in an election 

15 for Federal office unless the law, rule, standard, practice, 

16 procedure, or other governmental action causing the im17 pairment significantly furthers an important, particular18 ized governmental interest. A substantial impairment is a 

19 non-trivial impairment that makes it more difficult to vote 

20 than if the law, rule, standard, practice, procedure, or 

21 other governmental action had not been adopted or imple22 mented. An impairment may be substantial even if the 

23 voter or other similarly situated voters are able to vote 

24 notwithstanding the impairment. 


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1 SEC. 3. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

2 (a) CIVIL ACTION.—An action challenging a violation 

3 of the rights created by this Act may be brought in the 

4 district court for the District of Columbia, or the district 

5 court for the district in which the violation took place or 

6 where any defendant resides or does business, at the selec7 tion of the plaintiff, to obtain all appropriate relief, wheth8 er declaratory or injunctive, or facial or as-applied. Proc9 ess may be served in any district where a defendant re10 sides, does business, or may be found. 

11 (b) STANDARDS TO BE APPLIED.—Courts adjudi12 cating actions brought to enforce the rights created by this 

13 Act shall apply the following standards: 

14 (1) RETROGRESSION.— 

15 (A) A plaintiff establishes a prima facie 

16 case of retrogression by demonstrating by a 

17 preponderance of the evidence that a rule, 

18 standard, practice, procedure, or other govern19 mental action diminishes the ability, or other20 wise makes it more difficult, to vote. 

21 (B) Once a plaintiff establishes a prima 

22 facie case as described in subparagraph (A), the 

23 government shall be provided an opportunity to 

24 demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence 

25 that the diminishment is necessary to signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Mar 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3916.IS S3916

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1 cantly further an important, particularized gov2 ernmental interest. 

3 (C) If the government meets its burden 

4 under subparagraph (B), the challenged rule, 

5 standard, practice, procedure, or other govern6 mental action shall nonetheless be deemed in7 valid if the plaintiff demonstrates by a prepon8 derance of the evidence that the government 

9 could adopt or implement a less-restrictive 

10 means of furthering the particular important 

11 governmental interest. 

12 (2) SUBSTANTIAL IMPAIRMENT.— 

13 (A) A plaintiff establishes a prima facie 

14 case of substantial impairment by dem15 onstrating by a preponderance of the evidence 

16 that a rule, standard, practice, procedure, or 

17 other governmental action substantially impairs 

18 the ability, or makes it substantially difficult, to 

19 vote. 

20 (B) Once a plaintiff establishes a prima 

21 facie case as described in subparagraph (A), the 

22 government shall be provided an opportunity to 

23 demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence 

24 that the impairment significantly furthers an 

25 important, particularized governmental interest. 


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1 (c) DUTY TO EXPEDITE.—It shall be the duty of the 

2 court to advance on the docket and to expedite to the 

3 greatest reasonable extent the disposition of the action 

4 and appeal under this section. 

5 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re6 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘or section 40302’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘section 40302’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘, the court’’ and inserting ‘‘, or 

10 the Right to Vote Act, the court’’. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘covered entity’’ means the Dis14 trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

15 Rico, and each territory and possession of the 

16 United States; 

17 (2) the terms ‘‘election’’ and ‘‘Federal office’’ 

18 have the meanings given such terms in section 301 

19 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

20 U.S.C. 30101); 

21 (3) the term ‘‘government’’ includes a branch, 

22 department, agency, instrumentality, and official (or 

23 other person acting under color of law) of the 

24 United States, of any State, of any covered entity, 


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1 or of any political subdivision of any State or cov2 ered entity; and 

3 (4) the term ‘‘vote’’ means all actions necessary 

4 to make a vote effective, including registration or 

5 other action required by law as a prerequisite to vot6 ing, casting a ballot, and having such ballot counted 

7 and included in the appropriate totals of votes cast 

8 with respect to candidates for public office for which 

9 votes are received in an election. 

10 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

11 (a) BURDENS NOT AUTHORIZED.—Nothing in this 

12 Act may be construed to authorize a government to burden 

13 the right to vote in elections for Federal office. 

14 (b) OTHER RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.—Nothing in 

15 this Act shall be construed as indicating an intent on the 

16 part of Congress to alter any rights existing under a State 

17 constitution or the Constitution of the United States, or 

18 to limit any remedies for any other violations of Federal, 

19 State, or local law. 

20 (c) OTHER PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

21 construed as conflicting with section 1703 (‘‘Rights of 

22 Citizens’’) of S.1 of the 118th Congress. 

23 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

24 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

25 provision to any citizen or circumstance is held to be unVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Mar 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3916.IS S3916

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1 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica2 tion of the provisions of such to any citizen or cir3 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

4 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

5 (a) ACTIONS BROUGHT FOR RETROGRESSION.—Sub6 section (b) of section 2 shall apply to any law, rule, stand7 ard, practice, procedure, or other governmental action that 

8 was not in effect during the November 2022 general elec9 tion for Federal office but that will be in effect with re10 spect to elections for Federal office occurring on or after 

11 September 1, 2024, even if such law, rule, standard, prac12 tice, procedure, or other governmental action is already 

13 in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 (b) ACTIONS BROUGHT FOR SUBSTANTIAL IMPAIR15 MENT.—Subsection (c) of section 2 shall apply to any law, 

16 rule, standard, practice, procedure, or other governmental 

17 action in effect with respect to elections for Federal office 

18 occurring on or after September 1, 2024. 

Æ 


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