II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2971 

To remove barriers to the ability of unhoused individuals to register to 

vote and vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. PADILLA, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To remove barriers to the ability of unhoused individuals 

to register to vote and 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Unhoused Voter Opportunity Through Elections Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Unhoused VOTE Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—VOTING RIGHTS OF UNHOUSED CITIZENS 

Sec. 101. Voting rights of unhoused citizens. 

Sec. 102. Enforcement. 

Sec. 103. Relationship to Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

Sec. 104. Definitions. 

TITLE II—PROTECTIONS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR PROTECTING 

ACCESS TO VOTING AND VOTER REGISTRATION FOR 

UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

Sec. 201. Description of protections. 

Sec. 202. Special requirements for voter registration. 

Sec. 203. Inclusion of information on voter registration and voting in surveys 

conducted by recipients of HUD homeless assistance. 

TITLE III—GRANTS TO SUPPORT ACCESS TO VOTING FOR 

UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

Sec. 301. Grant program described. 

Sec. 302. Eligibility. 

Sec. 303. Definition. 

Sec. 304. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. State defined. 

Sec. 402. Effective date. 

1 TITLE I—VOTING RIGHTS OF 

2 UNHOUSED CITIZENS 

3 SEC. 101. VOTING RIGHTS OF UNHOUSED CITIZENS. 

4 No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or 

5 standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or ap6 plied by any State or political subdivision to deny or 

7 abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to 

8 vote because that citizen resides at or in a nontraditional 

9 abode. 

10 SEC. 102. ENFORCEMENT. 

11 (a) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney 

12 General may commence in the name of the United States 

13 a civil action (including an action against a State or politVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Oct 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2971.IS S2971

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1 ical subdivision) for declaratory or injunctive relief against 

2 a violation of this title. 

3 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person who is 

4 aggrieved by an alleged violation of this title may bring 

5 a civil action in an appropriate district court for declara6 tory or injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 

7 SEC. 103. RELATIONSHIP TO VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. 

8 Nothing in this title may be construed to impair any 

9 right guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

10 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.). 

11 SEC. 104. DEFINITIONS. 

12 As used in this title, the term ‘‘nontraditional abode’’ 

13 includes— 

14 (1) a supervised publicly or privately operated 

15 shelter designed to provide temporary living accom16 modations (including welfare hotels, congregate shel17 ters, transitional housing, substance abuse treatment 

18 facilities); 

19 (2) a public or private place not designated for, 

20 or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommoda21 tion for human beings; 

22 (3) any location in which, because an individual 

23 resides in the location, the individual is considered 

24 to be a homeless individual for purposes of section 


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1 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 11302); and 

3 (4) in the case of a State in which an individual 

4 incarcerated in a prison is eligible to register to vote 

5 and vote in elections for public office, a prison. 

6 TITLE II—PROTECTIONS AND 

7 BEST PRACTICES FOR PRO8 TECTING ACCESS TO VOTING 

9 AND VOTER REGISTRATION 

10 FOR UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

11 SEC. 201. DESCRIPTION OF PROTECTIONS. 

12 (a) DESCRIPTION.—Title III of the Help America 

13 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 

15 ‘‘Subtitle C—Access to Voting for 

16 Unhoused Individuals 

17 ‘‘SEC. 321. PROMOTING USE OF DROP BOXES BY UNHOUSED 

18 INDIVIDUALS. 

19 ‘‘(a) DROP BOX ACCESSIBILITY.—If a jurisdiction re20 sponsible for the administration of an election for Federal 

21 office in a State permits individuals to drop off voted bal22 lots in the election in drop boxes, the jurisdiction shall en23 sure that the drop boxes are available for in-person use 

24 and are accessible and clearly labeled. 


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1 ‘‘(b) APPLYING CRITERIA BASED ON GREATEST AC2 CESS BY UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS.—In establishing the 

3 location, number, and time of operation of the drop boxes 

4 described in subsection (a), the appropriate election offi5 cial of a jurisdiction which is subject to such subsection 

6 shall take into account the need to provide access to such 

7 drop boxes by unhoused individuals, based on consultation 

8 with persons who provide services for unhoused individuals 

9 and other relevant stakeholders. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 322. ACCEPTANCE OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTATION OF 

11 RESIDENCE AND IDENTIFICATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) RESIDENCE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ATTESTATION.—If a State imposes a re14 quirement that an individual who desires to vote in 

15 an election for Federal office in the State provide 

16 the appropriate election official with documentation 

17 of the individual’s residence, the State shall consider 

18 the individual to meet that requirement if the indi19 vidual provides the official with a written attestation 

20 of the individual’s residence, signed under penalty of 

21 perjury. 

22 ‘‘(2) USE OF SHELTER AS RESIDENCE FOR

23 VOTING PURPOSES.—A State may not prohibit an 

24 individual who is residing in a homeless shelter from 

25 using the shelter as the individual’s residence for 


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1 purposes of voting in an election for Federal office 

2 which is held in the jurisdiction in which the shelter 

3 is located. 

4 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION ISSUED BY ENTITIES OF

5 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—If a State imposes a re6 quirement that an individual who desires to vote in an 

7 election for Federal office in the State provide the appro8 priate election official with documentation of the individ9 ual’s identification, the State shall consider the individual 

10 to meet the requirement if the individual provides the offi11 cial with a document containing the individual’s name 

12 which is issued by an entity of the criminal justice system, 

13 including a correctional facility, court, probation officer, 

14 or parole officer. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 323. OUTREACH TO UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS. 

16 ‘‘(a) INFORMATION ON WEBSITES OF ELECTION OF17 FICIALS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The chief 

19 State election official shall ensure that the official 

20 public website of each election official of the State 

21 includes an accessible, clear, and separate hyperlink 

22 to simple information on how unhoused individuals 

23 may register to vote and vote in elections for Fed24 eral office held in the State. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY IN LANGUAGE OTHER THAN

2 ENGLISH.—If a State or political subdivision is re3 quired under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act 

4 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503) to provide voting mate5 rials in a language other than English, the appro6 priate election official shall ensure that the informa7 tion provided under paragraph (1) is provided in 

8 that language as well as English. 

9 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES.—Not 

11 later than 60 days prior to the deadline for reg12 istering to vote in an election for Federal office held 

13 in a State, the chief State election official shall send 

14 a notification of the deadline to each homeless shel15 ter in a jurisdiction of the State in which the elec16 tion will be held, local social services agencies which 

17 commonly serve unhoused individuals, and other en18 tities which provide services to a significant popu19 lation of unhoused individuals in the jurisdiction. 

20 ‘‘(2) DATES OF ELECTIONS.—Not later than 30 

21 days prior to the date of an election for Federal of22 fice, the chief State election official shall send a no23 tification of the election to each homeless shelter in 

24 a jurisdiction of the State in which the election will 

25 be held, along with the other agencies and entities 


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1 to whom the chief State election official sent notice 

2 of the registration deadline under paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘SEC. 324. DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES. 

4 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION.—In con5 sultation with the United States Interagency Council on 

6 Homelessness, the Commission shall develop and regularly 

7 update recommendations for the best practices for State 

8 and local election officials to follow to protect and promote 

9 the access of unhoused individuals to voter registration 

10 and voting in elections for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC ELEMENTS.—The Commission shall 

12 include in the best practices developed and updated under 

13 this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) methods to ensure that unhoused individ15 uals are aware of the procedures and locations for 

16 registering to vote and voting; 

17 ‘‘(2) methods to help election officials comply 

18 with requirements for providing access to voter reg19 istration and voting for people with disabilities, in20 cluding requirements established and enforced by the 

21 Department of Justice; 

22 ‘‘(3) methods to train election officials, includ23 ing poll workers, in recognizing and responding to 

24 the challenges faced by unhoused individuals in reg25 istering to vote and voting; 


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1 ‘‘(4) methods to ensure that individuals who are 

2 not eligible to register to vote, including individuals 

3 who are not citizens of the United States, and indi4 viduals who are eligible but who do not wish to reg5 ister to vote are not denied access to services pro6 vided by homeless shelters and local social services 

7 agencies which commonly serve unhoused individ8 uals; and 

9 ‘‘(5) such other practices as the Commission 

10 considers appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing and updating 

12 the best practices under this section, the Commission shall 

13 consult with individuals who have experience in being 

14 unhoused and with homeless shelters and local social serv15 ices agencies which commonly serve unhoused individuals, 

16 including shelters and agencies with experience in serving 

17 unhoused individuals who are not citizens of the United 

18 States. 

19 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall develop the 

20 first set of best practices under this section not later than 

21 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Unhoused 

22 VOTE Act. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 325. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘In this subtitle— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘homeless shelter’ means an 

2 emergency shelter under section 321 of the McKin3 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 11351); and 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘unhoused individual’ means a 

6 homeless individual, as defined in section 103 of 

7 such Act (42 U.S.C. 11302).’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN9 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

10 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

11 ‘‘, and subtitle C of title III.’’. 

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

13 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

14 relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Access to Voting for Unhoused Individuals 

‘‘Sec. 321. Promoting use of drop boxes by unhoused individuals. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Acceptance of certain documentation of residence and identification. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Outreach to unhoused individuals. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Development of best practices. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Definitions.’’. 

15 SEC. 202. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTER REGISTRA16 TION. 

17 (a) TREATMENT OF SHELTERS AS VOTER REGISTRA18 TION AGENCIES.—Section 7(a)(2) of the National Voter 

19 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara22 graph (A); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub2 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(C) all emergency shelters in the State under 

6 section 321 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist7 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11351).’’. 

8 (b) PERMITTING APPLICANTS TO MARK LOCATION

9 OF RESIDENCE ON FEDERAL VOTER REGISTRATION AP10 PLICATION FORMS AND ALTERNATIVE FORMS USED BY

11 STATES.—Section 9(b) of the National Voter Registration 

12 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20508(b)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (3); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(5) include a drawing of an intersection on 

20 which the applicant may mark by hand the location 

21 of the applicant’s residence, including by writing in 

22 the names of the crossroads on the drawing and in23 dicating any nearby landmarks.’’. 


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1 (c) PERMITTING UNHOUSED APPLICANTS TO USE

2 UNSHELTERED STREET LOCATION AS ADDRESS.—Sec3 tion 8(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (5); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(7) permit an applicant who is an unhoused 

11 individual (defined for purposes of this paragraph as 

12 a homeless individual under section 103 of the 

13 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 11302)) to use an unsheltered street location 

15 as the individual’s place of residence for purposes of 

16 the application.’’. 

17 SEC. 203. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON VOTER REG18 ISTRATION AND VOTING IN SURVEYS CON19 DUCTED BY RECIPIENTS OF HUD HOMELESS 

20 ASSISTANCE. 

21 Section 402(f)(3) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

22 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360a(f)(3)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara24 graph (C); 


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1 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub2 paragraph (E); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol4 lowing new subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(D) collects information on the extent to 

6 which individuals experiencing homelessness are 

7 able to register to vote and vote in elections for 

8 Federal office; and’’. 

9 TITLE III—GRANTS TO SUPPORT 

10 ACCESS TO VOTING FOR 

11 UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

12 SEC. 301. GRANT PROGRAM DESCRIBED. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis14 sion shall make grants to eligible States and units of local 

15 government for programs and activities, such as operating 

16 mobile voting centers and providing direct outreach to 

17 unhoused individuals, to support the access of unhoused 

18 individuals to registering to vote and voting in elections 

19 for Federal office. 

20 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR GRANTS TO PRIVATE ENTI21 TIES.—A State or unit of local government which receives 

22 a grant under this title may use the funds provided by 

23 the grant to enter into contracts with private entities with 

24 experience in providing assistance to unhoused individuals 

25 to provide services to such individuals which will assist 


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1 them in registering to vote and voting in elections for Fed2 eral office. 

3 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or unit of local govern5 ment is eligible to receive a grant under this title if the 

6 State or unit submits to the Election Assistance Commis7 sion, at such time and in such form as the Commission 

8 may require, such information and assurances as the Com9 mission may require, including assurances that the State 

10 or political subdivision has a plan to engage stakeholders 

11 with a demonstrated experience of serving unhoused indi12 viduals. 

13 (b) SPECIAL CONDITION REGARDING PROTECTION

14 OF DOCUMENTS.—In order to be eligible to receive a grant 

15 under this title, a State or unit of local government shall 

16 include with the information and assurances required 

17 under subsection (a) specific information and assurances 

18 that if funds provided by the grant are used to produce 

19 documents for the use of unhoused individuals, including 

20 under a contract with a private entity as described in sec21 tion 301(b), the documents will be produced in a manner 

22 which ensures that they will remain readable and usable 

23 even if they are subject to extended exposure to the ele24 ments. 


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1 SEC. 303. DEFINITION. 

2 In this title, the term ‘‘unhoused individual’’ means 

3 a homeless individual, as defined in section 103 of the 

4 McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 11302). 

6 SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this title such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

9 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

10 TITLE IV—GENERAL 

11 PROVISIONS 

12 SEC. 401. STATE DEFINED. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the sev14 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

15 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

16 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

17 Northern Mariana Islands. 

18 SEC. 402. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

20 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 

21 elections for Federal office beginning 6 months after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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