II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3712 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to treat United 

States Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices as voter registration agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2024 

Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. BUTLER, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. DUCKWORTH, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

treat United States Citizenship and Immigration Services 

field offices as voter registration agencies, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) United States Citizenship and Immigration 

2 Services is responsible for overseeing the naturaliza3 tion of new citizens through— 

4 (A) administering naturalization cere5 monies; and 

6 (B) processing the naturalization of new 

7 citizens naturalized through judicial ceremonies 

8 or other means. 

9 (2) In performing the responsibilities described 

10 in paragraph (1), United States Citizenship and Im11 migration Services has the ability to facilitate effi12 cient voter registration application for all new citi13 zens. 

14 (3) Courts that have the privilege of admin15 istering the oath of allegiance to naturalize new citi16 zens also have a responsibility to assist in facili17 tating voter registration. 

18 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND 

19 IMMIGRATION SERVICES FIELD OFFICES AS 

20 VOTER REGISTRATION AGENCIES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the National Voter 

22 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506) is amended 

23 by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e) and by 

24 inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(d) VOTER REGISTRATION ACTIVITIES OF THE U.S. 

2 CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) FIELD OFFICES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A field office of U.S. 

5 Citizenship and Immigration Services shall be 

6 considered to be a voter registration agency 

7 designated under subsection (a)(2) for all pur8 poses of this Act. 

9 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—Each State and the 

10 Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly de11 velop and implement procedures for persons 

12 who have completed naturalization to apply to 

13 register to vote through field offices of U.S. 

14 Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

15 ‘‘(2) COURT NATURALIZATION CEREMONIES.— 

16 The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

17 Services shall conduct activities described in sub18 section (a)(4)(A) at any oath administration pro19 ceeding conducted by an eligible court (as defined in 

20 section 310(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 

21 Act (8 U.S.C. 1421(b))).’’. 

22 (b) FUNDING.— 

23 (1) USE OF IMMIGRATION EXAMINATIONS FEE

24 ACCOUNT.—Section 286(n) of the Immigration and 

25 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(n)) is amended by 


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1 striking ‘‘and naturalization services’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘, naturalization services, and voter registration 

3 services pursuant to section 7(d) of the National 

4 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

5 20506(d))’’. 

6 (2) USE OF GRANT PROGRAM FUNDS.—Section 

7 404 of division F of the Consolidated Appropriations 

8 Act, 2017 (8 U.S.C. 1382) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(e) Any amounts which— 

11 ‘‘(1) are in the Citizenship Gift and Bequest 

12 Account established under subsection (c); or 

13 ‘‘(2) are appropriated for the Citizenship and 

14 Integration Grant Program, 

15 may be used to pay for expenses for voter registration 

16 services provided pursuant to section 7(d) of the National 

17 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(d)).’’. 

18 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL APPRO19 PRIATIONS.—In addition to any other amounts, 

20 there are authorized to be appropriated to United 

21 States Citizenship and Immigration Services such 

22 sums as necessary to carry out activities required by 

23 the amendments made by subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF VOTER REGISTRATION ACTIVI2 TIES AT COURT NATURALIZATION CERE3 MONIES. 

4 Any eligible court described in paragraph (5) of sec5 tion 310(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

6 U.S.C. 1421(b)) that administers the oath of allegiance 

7 under that section— 

8 (1) shall permit the Director of U.S. Citizen9 ship and Immigration Services to conduct authorized 

10 activities described in section 7(a)(4)(A) of the Na11 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

12 20506(a)(4)(A)) at any oath administration pro13 ceeding conducted by such eligible court; and 

14 (2) shall not seek reimbursement from U.S. 

15 Citizenship and Immigration Services or any other 

16 person for costs incurred under this paragraph. 

Æ 


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