I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 861 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit an individual 

who is subject to a requirement to present identification as a condition 

of voting in an election for Federal office to meet such requirement 

by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual’s 

identification, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. VEASEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit 

an individual who is subject to a requirement to present 

identification as a condition of voting in an election 

for Federal office to meet such requirement by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual’s identification, 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 ‘‘America Votes Act of 

5 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT 

2 TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 

3 FOR VOTING. 

4 (a) PERMITTING USE OF STATEMENT.—Title III of 

5 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et 

6 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the fol7 lowing new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE9 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE10 MENTS. 

11 ‘‘(a) USE OF STATEMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub13 section (c), if a State has in effect a requirement 

14 that an individual present identification as a condi15 tion of receiving and casting a ballot in an election 

16 for Federal office, the State shall permit the indi17 vidual to meet the requirement— 

18 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de19 sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro20 priate State or local election official with a 

21 sworn written statement, signed by the indi22 vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 

23 individual’s identification and attesting that the 

24 individual is registered to vote in the election; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de2 sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 

3 ballot the statement described in subparagraph 

4 (A). 

5 ‘‘(2) PROVIDING PRE-PRINTED COPY OF STATE6 MENT.—A State which is subject to paragraph (1) 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) prepare a pre-printed version of the 

9 statement described in paragraph (1)(A) which 

10 includes a blank space for an individual to pro11 vide a name and signature; 

12 ‘‘(B) make copies of the pre-printed 

13 version available at polling places for election 

14 officials to distribute to individuals who desire 

15 to vote in person; and 

16 ‘‘(C) include a copy of the pre-printed 

17 version with each blank absentee or other ballot 

18 transmitted to an individual who desires to vote 

19 by mail. 

20 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING USE OF REGULAR BALLOT.—A 

21 State may not require an individual who presents or sub22 mits a sworn written statement in accordance with sub23 section (a)(1) to cast a provisional ballot in the election 

24 under section 302. 


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1 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REG2 ISTERING BY MAIL.—Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply 

3 with respect to any individual described in paragraph (1) 

4 of section 303(b) who is required to meet the requirements 

5 of paragraph (2) of such section.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN7 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

9 303A’’. 

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

12 to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification 

requirements.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. REQUIRING STATES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION ON 

14 USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT IN 

15 VOTING INFORMATION MATERIAL POSTED AT 

16 POLLING PLACES. 

17 Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 

18 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara20 graph (E); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub22 paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(G) in the case of a State that has in ef2 fect a requirement that an individual present 

3 identification as a condition of receiving and 

4 casting a ballot in an election for Federal office, 

5 information on how an individual may meet 

6 such requirement by presenting a sworn written 

7 statement in accordance with section 303A.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

10 respect to elections occurring on or after the date of the 

11 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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