II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3517 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in 

elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to vote, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself 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 ensure 

that voters in elections for Federal office do not wait 

in long lines in order to vote, 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 ‘‘People Over Long 

5 Lines Act’’ or the ‘‘POLL Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The right to vote for all Americans is fun9 damental and rules for voting and election adminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Dec 30, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3517.IS S3517
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1 tration should protect the right to vote and promote 

2 voter participation. 

3 (2) It is the responsibility of the State and Fed4 eral governments to ensure that every eligible citizen 

5 is able to register to vote and to cast a ballot. 

6 (3) There continues to be an alarming move7 ment to erect barriers to make it more difficult for 

8 Americans to participate in our Nation’s democratic 

9 process. The Nation has witnessed unprecedented ef10 forts to turn back the clock and erect barriers to 

11 voting for communities of color, which have faced 

12 historic and continuing discrimination, as well as 

13 disabled, young, elderly, and low-income Americans. 

14 (4) One way voting in communities of color has 

15 been suppressed is through long waits at polling lo16 cations. Studies have shown a number of contrib17 uting factors, including the drastic reduction of early 

18 voting days, poor allocation of resources to certain 

19 communities, cuts to election funding, and a reduc20 tion of polling locations. 

21 (5) A 2019 study led by economist Keith Chen 

22 of the University of California, Los Angeles, 

23 matched anonymous location data from 10,000,000 

24 smart phones to 93,000 polling places to create the 

25 most extensive map to date of voter wait times 

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1 across the United States. The results showed one 

2 very clear disparity: voters in predominantly Black 

3 neighborhoods waited 29 percent longer, on average, 

4 than those in White neighborhoods. They were also 

5 about 74 percent more likely to wait for more than 

6 half an hour. 

7 (6) Waiting in long lines discourages people 

8 from voting, undermines confidence in the electoral 

9 system, and imposes economic costs on voters. 

10 (7) Long lines are estimated to have deterred 

11 between 500,000 and 700,000 people from casting 

12 their ballot in 2012. 

13 (8) These problems led to the creation of the bi14 partisan Presidential Commission on Election Ad15 ministration, which issued a 2014 report that set 

16 forth a standard: ‘‘No citizen should have to wait 

17 more than 30 minutes to vote.’’. 

18 (9) Despite the work of the Presidential Com19 mission on Election Administration, long lines con20 tinue, particularly in communities of color where ra21 cial discrimination in voting is a clear and persistent 

22 problem. 

23 (10) In the Arizona 2016 Presidential primary, 

24 in one Maricopa County polling place for mostly 

25 Latino voters, some waited for 4 hours or more in 

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1 the 80-degree heat to cast their ballots. For the 

2 2016 general election, 3 people collapsed while wait3 ing to vote in an hours-long line in Georgia, and a 

4 line to vote in Ohio was a half-mile long. 

5 (11) According to a nationwide study, in 2016, 

6 roughly 3 percent of people standing in line at vot7 ing locations left before they could vote as a result 

8 of long lines. 

9 (12) The disenfranchisement that long lines 

10 create for voters is not limited to that one election. 

11 Research suggests that for each hour would-be vot12 ers wait, their probability of voting in the next elec13 tion drops by 1 percentage point. 

14 (13) Congress has the authority under article I, 

15 section 4 of the Constitution of the United States to 

16 enact laws governing the time, place, and manner of 

17 Federal elections. 

18 (14) Congress also has authority under section 

19 2 of the 15th Amendment to enforce the right of 

20 citizens of the United States to vote, which shall not 

21 be denied or abridged by the United States, by legis22 lation. 

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1 SEC. 3. PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING 

2 TIMES. 

3 (a) STATE PLANS REQUIRED.—Title III of the Help 

4 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

7 sections 305 and 306; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 304. UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING TIMES. 

11 ‘‘(a) STATE PLANS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days be13 fore each election for Federal office, each State shall 

14 make public (including through the website of the 

15 State on which election information is normally pub16 lished) and submit to the Election Assistance Com17 mission (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 

18 ‘Commission’) a written plan which meets the public 

19 notice and comment requirements of paragraph (2) 

20 and describes the measures it is implementing to en21 sure, to the greatest extent possible, an equitable 

22 waiting time for all voters in the State, including for 

23 voters with disabilities, and a waiting time of less 

24 than 30 minutes at any polling place in the election. 

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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE COMMENT REQUIRE2 MENT.—The public notice and comment require3 ments of this paragraph are met if— 

4 ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days prior to the 

5 submission of the plan to the Commission, the 

6 State made a preliminary version of the plan 

7 available for public inspection and comment; 

8 ‘‘(B) the State publishes notice that the 

9 preliminary version of the plan is so available; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(C) the State took the public comments 

12 made regarding the preliminary version of the 

13 plan into account in preparing the plan which 

14 was submitted to the Commission under para15 graph (1). 

16 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT17 ING TIMES.—Each State shall ensure that no person vot18 ing in an election for Federal office shall wait for more 

19 than 30 minutes at any polling place for purposes of cast20 ing a vote in such election. 

21 ‘‘(c) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES22 SIVE VOTER WAIT TIMES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF VOTER WAIT TIMES.—After 

24 each election for Federal office, the Commission 

25 shall review voter waiting times for each jurisdiction 

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1 for which voting in such election took place and 

2 make publicly available a report on its findings. 

3 ‘‘(2) STATE REMEDIAL PLANS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) REMEDIAL PLANS.—Each jurisdiction 

5 for which the Commission, after the review con6 ducted under paragraph (1), determines that a 

7 substantial number of voters, including voters 

8 with disabilities, waited more than 60 minutes 

9 to cast a vote, or in which there were substan10 tial violations of the standards established 

11 under section 299, shall comply with a State re12 medial plan established by the Attorney General 

13 to provide for the effective allocation of re14 sources to administer elections for Federal of15 fice held in the State and to reduce the waiting 

16 time of voters. 

17 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—Each remedial plan 

18 established by the Attorney General shall pro19 vide for coordination between the Commission, 

20 the Attorney General, and the State involved to 

21 monitor the compliance of the State with the 

22 remedial plan during the period leading up to 

23 the election and on the date of the election and 

24 to respond to serious delays in the ability of 

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1 voters, including voters with disabilities, to cast 

2 their ballots at polling places. 

3 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—A jurisdiction shall 

4 not be required to comply with a State remedial 

5 plan required under subparagraph (A) if the 

6 Commission determines that the voter waiting 

7 times were less than 60 minutes for 2 consecu8 tive regularly scheduled general elections for 

9 Federal office. 

10 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes of 

11 this subsection, the term ‘jurisdiction’ has the mean12 ing given the term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 

13 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

14 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(j)). 

15 ‘‘(4) STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

17 Attorney General shall establish standards for con18 ducting the review under paragraph (1) and for es19 tablishing remedial plans under paragraph (2)(A). 

20 ‘‘(5) ROLE OF OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND

21 COMMISSION.—The Attorney General shall carry out 

22 this section acting through the Office of Civil Rights 

23 of the Department of Justice and in consultation 

24 with the Commission. 

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1 ‘‘(6) APPROPRIATIONS.—In addition to other 

2 amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Com3 mission, there are authorized to be appropriated for 

4 each of the fiscal years 2024 through 2033, 

5 $5,000,000 for each such year for the Commission 

6 to carry out this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(d) EMERGENCY BALLOTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a failure of 

9 voting equipment or other circumstance at a polling 

10 place that causes an unreasonable delay, any indi11 vidual who is waiting at the polling place to cast a 

12 ballot in an election for Federal office at the time 

13 of the failure shall be advised immediately of the in14 dividual’s right to use an emergency paper ballot, 

15 and upon request shall be provided with such an 

16 emergency paper ballot for the election and the sup17 plies necessary to mark the ballot. 

18 ‘‘(2) BALLOT REQUIREMENTS.—Any emergency 

19 paper ballot provided under paragraph (1) shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) include the names of each candidate 

21 for each Federal office for which voting occurs 

22 at such polling place; and 

23 ‘‘(B) be available in each language for 

24 which other ballots provided at the polling place 

25 are available. 

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1 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF BALLOT.—Any emergency 

2 paper ballot which is cast by an individual under 

3 this subsection shall be counted in the same manner 

4 as a regular ballot, unless the individual casting the 

5 ballot would have otherwise been required to cast a 

6 provisional ballot in the absence of the delay, in 

7 which case that ballot shall be treated in the same 

8 manner as a provisional ballot.’’. 

9 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 

10 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNREASON13 ABLE VOTER WAITING TIME. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sec15 tion 304(b), section 402 shall not apply and any person 

16 who is aggrieved by such violation may commence a civil 

17 action in any appropriate district court of the United 

18 States for relief. 

19 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—In any civil action commenced under 

20 subsection (a): 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds a viola22 tion of section 304(b), the court shall assess a civil 

23 penalty equal to the sum of— 

24 ‘‘(A) $50; plus 

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1 ‘‘(B) an additional $50 for each additional 

2 hour the person waited at the polling place to 

3 cast a vote; plus 

4 ‘‘(C) reasonable attorney fees, including 

5 litigation expenses, and costs. 

6 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the court determines 

7 that the violation was due to an intentional action 

8 to suppress votes or was made with reckless dis9 regard of the requirements of section 304— 

10 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1)(A) shall be applied by 

11 substituting ‘$650’ for ‘$50’; and 

12 ‘‘(B) paragraph (1(B) shall be applied by 

13 substituting ‘$150’ for ‘$50’.’’. 

14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 of such 

15 Act (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

17 paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol19 lowing new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in section 

21 304(c);’’. 

22 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

23 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec25 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

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1 306, and by inserting after the item relating to sec2 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Unreasonable voter waiting times.’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec5 tion 402 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for unreasonable voter waiting time.’’. 

6 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 

8 or after the expiration of the 180-day period which begins 

9 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 4. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL 

11 WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

12 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer14 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following new 

16 subtitle: 

17 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 

18 Requirements 

19 ‘‘SEC. 321. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND 

20 POLL WORKERS. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for the 

22 minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, 

23 and other election resources (including all other physical 

24 resources) for each voting site on the day of any Federal 

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1 election and on any days during which such State allows 

2 early voting for a Federal election in accordance with the 

3 standards determined under section 299. 

4 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section and 

5 section 299— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘voting site’ means a polling loca7 tion; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘voting system’ means the total 

9 combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or 

10 electronic equipment (including the software, 

11 firmware, and documentation required to program, 

12 control, and support the equipment) that is used at 

13 a voting site— 

14 ‘‘(A) to check the official list of eligible 

15 voters for purposes of confirming that an indi16 vidual is eligible to cast a vote at the site; 

17 ‘‘(B) to cast and count votes; and 

18 ‘‘(C) to maintain and produce any audit 

19 trail information. 

20 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re21 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

22 and after January 1, 2025.’’. 

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

24 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

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1 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in2 serting ‘‘303, and subtitle C’’. 

3 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

5 of the items relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Minimum required voting systems and poll workers.’’. 

6 (b) STANDARDS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Help America 

8 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new 

10 subtitle: 

11 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

12 Standards 

13 ‘‘SEC. 299. STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING THE MINIMUM 

14 REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND POLL 

15 WORKERS. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

17 the date of the enactment of the POLL Act, the Attorney 

18 General, acting through the Office of Civil Rights of the 

19 Department of Justice and in consultation with the Com20 mission, shall issue standards regarding the minimum 

21 number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election 

22 resources (including all other physical resources) required 

23 under section 321 on the day of any Federal election and 

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1 on any days during which early voting is allowed for a 

2 Federal election. 

3 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The standards described in 

5 subsection (a) shall provide for a uniform and non6 discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, 

7 and other resources, and shall take into account, 

8 among other factors, the following with respect to 

9 any voting site (as defined in section 321(b)): 

10 ‘‘(A) The voting-age population. 

11 ‘‘(B) Voter turnout in past elections. 

12 ‘‘(C) The number of voters registered. 

13 ‘‘(D) The number of voters who have reg14 istered since the most recent Federal election. 

15 ‘‘(E) Census data for the population served 

16 by such voting site. 

17 ‘‘(F) The educational levels and socio-eco18 nomic factors of the population served by such 

19 voting site. 

20 ‘‘(G) The needs and numbers of disabled 

21 voters and voters with limited English pro22 ficiency. 

23 ‘‘(H) The type of voting systems used. 

24 ‘‘(2) NO FACTOR DISPOSITIVE.—The standards 

25 shall provide that any distribution of such systems 

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1 shall take into account the totality of all relevant 

2 factors, including the effects of State laws on the 

3 availability of such systems and resources for use by 

4 local election officials, and no single factor shall be 

5 dispositive under the standards. 

6 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, the 

7 standards shall provide for a distribution of voting 

8 systems, poll workers, and other election resources, 

9 with the goals of— 

10 ‘‘(A) ensuring an equal waiting time for all 

11 voters in the State; and 

12 ‘‘(B) preventing a waiting time of over 30 

13 minutes at any polling place. 

14 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING ELECTRONIC

15 POLL BOOKS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), 

16 and (3), in the case of any voting site that uses an 

17 electronic poll book, the standards described in sub18 section (a) shall require at least 1 paper poll book 

19 (containing all of the information necessary to con20 firm that an individual is eligible to cast a vote at 

21 the site) for each such electronic poll book used at 

22 such voting site. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub24 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

25 public notice, to deviate from any allocation requirements 

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1 in the case of unforeseen circumstances such as a natural 

2 disaster or terrorist attack.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 

4 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20922), as amended by sec5 tion 3(c), is amended— 

6 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), 

7 and (6) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respec8 tively; and 

9 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in sub12 title E;’’. 

13 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con14 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

15 of the items relating to title II the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 

‘‘Sec. 299. Standards for establishing the minimum required voting systems 

and poll workers.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF 

17 STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OFFI18 CIALS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

20 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

21 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

22 section: 

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1 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION

2 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

3 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

4 for a chief State election administration official to take 

5 an active part in political management or in a political 

6 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 

7 over which such official has supervisory authority. 

8 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF9 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of10 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 

11 for the administration of Federal elections under State 

12 law. 

13 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR

14 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po15 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 

16 ‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com17 mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 

18 ‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 

19 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 

20 result of an election for Federal office; 

21 ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 

22 contribution from any person on behalf of a can23 didate for Federal office; and 

24 ‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 

25 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 

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1 title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 

2 to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 

3 prohibition on running for public office). 

4 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION IN CASE OF RECUSAL FROM AD5 MINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS INVOLVING ELECTION OF6 FICIAL OR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 

8 to a chief State election administration official with 

9 respect to an election for Federal office in which 

10 such official or an immediate family member of the 

11 official is a candidate, but only if— 

12 ‘‘(A) such official recuses himself or herself 

13 from all of the official’s responsibilities for the 

14 administration of such election; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the official who assumes responsi16 bility for supervising the administration of the 

17 election does not report directly to such official. 

18 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 

19 In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem20 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 

21 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

22 wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 

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

24 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 

25 Federal office held after January 1, 2025. 

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1 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS TO STATES TO PREVENT UNREASON2 ABLE WAIT TIMES AND PROMOTE WELL-RUN 

3 ELECTIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

5 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘PART VII—PAYMENTS FOR PREVENTING 

8 UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT TIMES 

9 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a 

11 payment to each eligible State. Such payments shall be 

12 made not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this part. 

14 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For purposes of this section, 

15 a State is an eligible State if such State has filed with 

16 the Commission a State plan covering the fiscal year in 

17 which the State describes how it intends to use the funds 

18 provided under this section. 

19 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible State shall use the 

20 payment received under this part to meet the requirements 

21 of sections 304 and 321. 

22 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of payment 

24 made to a State under this section shall be the min25 imum payment amount described in paragraph (2) 

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1 plus the voting age population proportion amount 

2 described in paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The min4 imum payment amount described in this paragraph 

5 is— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of any of the several 

7 States or the District of Columbia, one-half of 

8 1 percent of the aggregate amount made avail9 able for payments under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Commonwealth of 

11 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the 

12 United States Virgin Islands, one-tenth of 1 

13 percent of such aggregate amount. 

14 ‘‘(3) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

15 AMOUNT.—The voting age population proportion 

16 amount described in this paragraph is the product 

17 of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the aggregate amount made available 

19 for payments under this section minus the total 

20 of all of the minimum payment amounts deter21 mined under paragraph (2); and 

22 ‘‘(B) the voting age population proportion 

23 for the State (as defined in paragraph (4)). 

24 ‘‘(4) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

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1 tion’ means, with respect to a State, the amount 

2 equal to the quotient of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the voting age population of the State 

4 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen5 sus); and 

6 ‘‘(B) the total voting age population of all 

7 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

8 census). 

9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

11 appropriated for payments under this section 

12 $500,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

13 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro14 priated pursuant to the authority of paragraph (1) 

15 shall remain available without fiscal year limitation 

16 until expended.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

19 to section 296 the following: 

‘‘PART VII—PAYMENTS FOR PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT

TIMES

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to States.’’. 

Æ