I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2358 

To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting for individuals 

with disabilities, protect the ability of individuals to exercise the right 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2021 

Mr. CLYBURN (for himself, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Mr. BROWN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 

GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SOTO, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. 

TRAHAN, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the 

Committees on the Judiciary, Science, Space, and Technology, Oversight 

and Reform, Education and Labor, and Financial Services, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting 

for individuals with disabilities, protect the ability of 

individuals to exercise 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

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

3 ‘‘Voter Empowerment Act of 2021’’. 

4 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

5 United States that— 

6 (1) the ability of all eligible citizens of the 

7 United States to access and exercise their constitu8 tional right to vote in a free, fair, and timely manner 

9 must be vigilantly enhanced, protected, and main10 tained; and 

11 (2) the integrity, security, and accountability of 

12 the voting process must be vigilantly protected, 

13 maintained, and enhanced in order to protect and 

14 preserve electoral and participatory democracy in the 

15 United States. 

16 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

17 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; statement of policy. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—VOTER REGISTRATION MODERNIZATION 

Subtitle A—Promoting Internet Registration 

Sec. 1001. Requiring availability of internet for voter registration. 

Sec. 1002. Use of internet to update registration information. 

Sec. 1003. Provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals 

registered to vote. 

Sec. 1004. Clarification of requirement regarding necessary information to 

show eligibility to vote. 

Sec. 1005. Prohibiting State from requiring applicants to provide more than 

last 4 digits of Social Security number. 

Sec. 1006. Report on data collection. 

Sec. 1007. Permitting voter registration application form to serve as application 

for absentee ballot. 

Sec. 1008. Effective date. 


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Subtitle B—Automatic Voter Registration 

Sec. 1101. Findings and purpose. 

Sec. 1102. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. 

Sec. 1103. Contributing agency assistance in registration. 

Sec. 1104. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible 

voters in existing records. 

Sec. 1105. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. 

Sec. 1106. Registration portability and correction. 

Sec. 1107. Payments and grants. 

Sec. 1108. Treatment of exempt States. 

Sec. 1109. Miscellaneous provisions. 

Sec. 1110. Definitions. 

Sec. 1111. Effective date. 

Subtitle C—Same Day Voter Registration 

Sec. 1201. Same day registration. 

Subtitle D—Conditions on Removal on Basis of Interstate Cross-Checks 

Sec. 1301. Conditions on removal of registrants from official list of eligible voters on basis of interstate cross-checks. 

Subtitle E—Other Initiatives To Promote Voter Registration 

Sec. 1401. Annual reports on voter registration statistics. 

Sec. 1402. Ensuring pre-election registration deadlines are consistent with timing of legal public holidays. 

Sec. 1403. Use of Postal Service hard copy change of address form to remind 

individuals to update voter registration. 

Sec. 1404. Grants to States for activities to encourage involvement of minors 

in election activities. 

Sec. 1405. Permission to place exhibits. 

Sec. 1406. Requiring States to establish and operate voter privacy programs. 

Sec. 1407. Inclusion of voter registration information with certain leases and 

vouchers for federally assisted rental housing and mortgage applications. 

Subtitle F—Availability of HAVA Requirements Payments 

Sec. 1501. Availability of requirements payments under HAVA to cover costs 

of compliance with new requirements. 

Subtitle G—Prohibiting Interference With Voter Registration 

Sec. 1601. Prohibiting hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. 

Sec. 1602. Establishment of best practices. 

Subtitle H—Voter Registration Efficiency Act 

Sec. 1701. Requiring applicants for motor vehicle driver’s licenses in new State 

to indicate whether State serves as residence for voter registration purposes. 

Subtitle I—Providing Voter Registration Information to Secondary School 

Students 


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Sec. 1801. Pilot program for providing voter registration information to secondary school students prior to graduation. 

Sec. 1802. Reports. 

Sec. 1803. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle J—Voter Registration of Minors 

Sec. 1901. Acceptance of voter registration applications from individuals under 

18 years of age. 

TITLE II—ACCESS TO VOTING FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH 

DISABILITIES 

Sec. 2001. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and 

voting for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 2002. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting 

access for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 2003. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register 

to vote privately and independently at residences. 

Sec. 2004. GAO analysis and report on voting access for individuals with disabilities. 

TITLE III—PROHIBITING VOTER CAGING 

Sec. 3001. Voter caging and other questionable challenges prohibited. 

Sec. 3002. Development and adoption of best practices for preventing voter 

caging. 

TITLE IV—PROHIBITING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES AND 

PREVENTING VOTER INTIMIDATION 

Sec. 4001. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

Sec. 4002. Corrective action. 

Sec. 4003. Reports to Congress. 

TITLE V—DEMOCRACY RESTORATION 

Sec. 5001. Findings. 

Sec. 5002. Rights of citizens. 

Sec. 5003. Enforcement. 

Sec. 5004. Notification of restoration of voting rights. 

Sec. 5005. Definitions. 

Sec. 5006. Relation to other laws. 

Sec. 5007. Federal prison funds. 

Sec. 5008. Effective date. 

TITLE VI—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY 

THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT 

Sec. 6001. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 6002. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 6003. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. 

Sec. 6004. Study and report on optimal ballot design. 

Sec. 6005. Paper ballot printing requirements. 

Sec. 6006. Effective date for new requirements. 

TITLE VII—PROVISIONAL BALLOTS 


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Sec. 7001. Requirements for counting provisional ballots; establishment of uniform and nondiscriminatory standards. 

TITLE VIII—EARLY VOTING 

Sec. 8001. Early voting. 

TITLE IX—VOTING BY MAIL 

Sec. 9001. Voting by mail. 

Sec. 9002. Absentee ballot tracking program. 

Sec. 9003. Voting materials postage. 

Sec. 9004. Study and report on vote-by-mail procedures. 

TITLE X—ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS AND 

OVERSEAS VOTERS 

Sec. 10001. Pre-election reports on availability and transmission of absentee 

ballots. 

Sec. 10002. Enforcement. 

Sec. 10003. Revisions to 45-day absentee ballot transmission rule. 

Sec. 10004. Use of single absentee ballot application for subsequent elections. 

Sec. 10005. Extending guarantee of residency for voting purposes to family 

members of absent military personnel. 

Sec. 10006. Requiring transmission of blank absentee ballots under UOCAVA 

to certain voters. 

Sec. 10007. Department of Justice report on voter disenfranchisement. 

Sec. 10008. Effective date. 

TITLE XI—POLL WORKER RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING 

Sec. 11001. Grants to States for poll worker recruitment and training. 

Sec. 11002. State defined. 

TITLE XII—ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 12001. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

TITLE XIII—FEDERAL ELECTION INTEGRITY 

Sec. 13001. Prohibition on campaign activities by chief State election administration officials. 

TITLE XIV—PROMOTING VOTER ACCESS THROUGH ELECTION 

ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENTS 

Subtitle A—Promoting Voter Access 

Sec. 14001. Treatment of institutions of higher education. 

Sec. 14002. Minimum notification requirements for voters affected by polling 

place changes. 

Sec. 14003. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification 

requirements for voting. 

Sec. 14004. Accommodations for voters residing in Indian lands. 

Sec. 14005. Voter information response systems and hotline. 

Sec. 14006. Ensuring equitable and efficient operation of polling places. 

Sec. 14007. Requiring States to provide secured drop boxes for voted absentee 

ballots in elections for Federal office. 

Sec. 14008. Prohibiting States from restricting curbside voting. 


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Sec. 14009. Election Day holiday. 

Sec. 14010. GAO study on voter turnout rates. 

Sec. 14011. Study on ranked-choice voting. 

Subtitle B—Disaster and Emergency Contingency Plans 

Sec. 14101. Requirements for Federal election contingency plans in response to 

natural disasters and emergencies. 

Subtitle C—Improvements in Operation of Election Assistance Commission 

Sec. 14201. Reauthorization of Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 14202. Requiring States to participate in post-general election surveys. 

Sec. 14203. Reports by National Institute of Standards and Technology on use 

of funds transferred from Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 14204. Recommendations to improve operations of Election Assistance 

Commission. 

Sec. 14205. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain government contracting requirements. 

Subtitle D—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 14301. Application of Federal election administration laws to territories of 

the United States. 

Sec. 14302. Definition of election for Federal office. 

Sec. 14303. Authorizing payments to voting accessibility protection and advocacy systems serving the American Indian Consortium. 

Sec. 14304. Application of Federal voter protection laws to territories of the 

United States. 

Sec. 14305. Placement of statues of citizens of territories of the United States 

in Statuary Hall. 

Sec. 14306. No effect on other laws. 

Sec. 14307. Clarification of exemption for States without voter registration. 

Subtitle E—Voter Notice 

Sec. 14401. Public education campaigns in event of changes in elections in response to emergencies. 

Sec. 14402. Requirements for websites of election officials. 

Sec. 14403. Payments by Election Assistance Commission to States for costs 

of compliance. 

TITLE XV—SEVERABILITY 

Sec. 15001. Severability. 


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1 TITLE I—VOTER REGISTRATION 

2 MODERNIZATION 

3 Subtitle A—Promoting Internet 

4 Registration 

5 SEC. 1001. REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 

6 VOTER REGISTRATION. 

7 (a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

8 REGISTRATION.—The National Voter Registration Act of 

9 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

10 after section 6 the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 6A. INTERNET REGISTRATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

13 ONLINE REGISTRATION.—Each State, acting through the 

14 chief State election official, shall ensure that the following 

15 services are available to the public at any time on the offi16 cial public websites of the appropriate State and local elec17 tion officials in the State, in the same manner and subject 

18 to the same terms and conditions as the services provided 

19 by voter registration agencies under section 7(a): 

20 ‘‘(1) Online application for voter registration. 

21 ‘‘(2) Online assistance to applicants in applying 

22 to register to vote. 

23 ‘‘(3) Online completion and submission by ap24 plicants of the mail voter registration application 

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1 sion pursuant to section 9(a)(2), including assist2 ance with providing a signature as required under 

3 subsection (c)). 

4 ‘‘(4) Online receipt of completed voter registra5 tion applications. 

6 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS.— 

7 A State shall accept an online voter registration applica8 tion provided by an individual under this section, and en9 sure that the individual is registered to vote in the State, 

10 if— 

11 ‘‘(1) the individual meets the same voter reg12 istration requirements applicable to individuals who 

13 register to vote by mail in accordance with section 

14 6(a)(1) using the mail voter registration application 

15 form prescribed by the Election Assistance Commis16 sion pursuant to section 9(a)(2); and 

17 ‘‘(2) the individual meets the requirements of 

18 subsection (c) to provide a signature in electronic 

19 form (but only in the case of applications submitted 

20 during or after the second year in which this section 

21 is in effect in the State). 

22 ‘‘(c) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec24 tion, an individual meets the requirements of this 

25 subsection as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) In the case of an individual who has 

2 a signature on file with a State agency, includ3 ing the State motor vehicle authority, that is 

4 required to provide voter registration services 

5 under this Act or any other law, the individual 

6 consents to the transfer of that electronic signa7 ture. 

8 ‘‘(B) If subparagraph (A) does not apply, 

9 the individual submits with the application an 

10 electronic copy of the individual’s handwritten 

11 signature through electronic means. 

12 ‘‘(C) If subparagraph (A) and subpara13 graph (B) do not apply, the individual executes 

14 a computerized mark in the signature field on 

15 an online voter registration application, in ac16 cordance with reasonable security measures es17 tablished by the State, but only if the State ac18 cepts such mark from the individual. 

19 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNABLE TO

20 MEET REQUIREMENT.—If an individual is unable to 

21 meet the requirements of paragraph (1), the State 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) permit the individual to complete all 

24 other elements of the online voter registration 

25 application; 


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1 ‘‘(B) permit the individual to provide a sig2 nature at the time the individual requests a bal3 lot in an election (whether the individual re4 quests the ballot at a polling place or requests 

5 the ballot by mail); and 

6 ‘‘(C) if the individual carries out the steps 

7 described in subparagraph (A) and subpara8 graph (B), ensure that the individual is reg9 istered to vote in the State. 

10 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—The State shall ensure that in11 dividuals applying to register to vote online are noti12 fied of the requirements of paragraph (1) and of the 

13 treatment of individuals unable to meet such re14 quirements, as described in paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(d) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT.—Upon the 

17 online submission of a completed voter registration 

18 application by an individual under this section, the 

19 appropriate State or local election official shall send 

20 the individual a notice confirming the State’s receipt 

21 of the application and providing instructions on how 

22 the individual may check the status of the applica23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF DISPOSITION.—Not later than 

25 7 days after the appropriate State or local election 


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1 official has approved or rejected an application sub2 mitted by an individual under this section, the offi3 cial shall send the individual a notice of the disposi4 tion of the application. 

5 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.—The appro6 priate State or local election official shall send the 

7 notices required under this subsection by regular 

8 mail and— 

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who has 

10 provided the official with an electronic mail ad11 dress, by electronic mail; and 

12 ‘‘(B) at the option of the individual, by 

13 text message. 

14 ‘‘(e) PROVISION OF SERVICES IN NONPARTISAN

15 MANNER.—The services made available under subsection 

16 (a) shall be provided in a manner that ensures that, con17 sistent with section 7(a)(5)— 

18 ‘‘(1) the online application does not seek to in19 fluence an applicant’s political preference or party 

20 registration; and 

21 ‘‘(2) there is no display on the website pro22 moting any political preference or party allegiance, 

23 except that nothing in this paragraph may be con24 strued to prohibit an applicant from registering to 

25 vote as a member of a political party. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PROTECTION OF SECURITY OF INFORMATION.— 

2 In meeting the requirements of this section, the State shall 

3 establish appropriate technological security measures to 

4 prevent to the greatest extent practicable any unauthor5 ized access to information provided by individuals using 

6 the services made available under subsection (a). 

7 ‘‘(g) ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICES.—A state shall en8 sure that the services made available under this section 

9 are made available to individuals with disabilities to the 

10 same extent as services are made available to all other in11 dividuals. 

12 ‘‘(h) USE OF ADDITIONAL TELEPHONE-BASED SYS13 TEM.—A State shall make the services made available on14 line under subsection (a) available through the use of an 

15 automated telephone-based system, subject to the same 

16 terms and conditions applicable under this section to the 

17 services made available online, in addition to making the 

18 services available online in accordance with the require19 ments of this section. 

20 ‘‘(i) NONDISCRIMINATION AMONG REGISTERED VOT21 ERS USING MAIL AND ONLINE REGISTRATION.—In car22 rying out this Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 

23 or any other Federal, State, or local law governing the 

24 treatment of registered voters in the State or the adminis25 tration of elections for public office in the State, a State 


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1 shall treat a registered voter who registered to vote online 

2 in accordance with this section in the same manner as the 

3 State treats a registered voter who registered to vote by 

4 mail.’’. 

5 (b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS

6 USING ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

7 (1) TREATMENT AS INDIVIDUALS REGISTERING

8 TO VOTE BY MAIL FOR PURPOSES OF FIRST-TIME

9 VOTER IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

10 303(b)(1)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

11 (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘by mail’’ and inserting ‘‘by mail or online under 

13 section 6A of the National Voter Registration Act of 

14 1993’’. 

15 (2) REQUIRING SIGNATURE FOR FIRST-TIME

16 VOTERS IN JURISDICTION.—Section 303(b) of such 

17 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)) is amended— 

18 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

19 paragraph (6); and 

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

21 following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRST23 TIME VOTERS USING ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State shall, in a 

25 uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, require 


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1 an individual to meet the requirements of sub2 paragraph (B) if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the individual registered to vote 

4 in the State online under section 6A of the 

5 National Voter Registration Act of 1993; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the individual has not previously 

8 voted in an election for Federal office in 

9 the State. 

10 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An individual 

11 meets the requirements of this subparagraph 

12 if— 

13 ‘‘(i) in the case of an individual who 

14 votes in person, the individual provides the 

15 appropriate State or local election official 

16 with a handwritten signature; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual who 

18 votes by mail, the individual submits with 

19 the ballot a handwritten signature. 

20 ‘‘(C) INAPPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph 

21 (A) does not apply in the case of an individual 

22 who is— 

23 ‘‘(i) entitled to vote by absentee ballot 

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1 zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

2 20302 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(ii) provided the right to vote other4 wise than in person under section 

5 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Voting Accessibility 

6 for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (52 

7 U.S.C. 20102(b)(2)(B)(ii)); or 

8 ‘‘(iii) entitled to vote otherwise than 

9 in person under any other Federal law.’’. 

10 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

11 EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(2)(A) of such 

12 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(2)(A)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘Each State’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro14 vided in subsection (b)(5), each State’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) TIMING OF REGISTRATION.—Section 8(a)(1) 

17 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

18 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) is amended— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub20 paragraph (C); 

21 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

22 subparagraph (E); and 

23 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

24 the following new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(D) in the case of online registration 

2 through the official public website of an election 

3 official under section 6A, if the valid voter reg4 istration application is submitted online not 

5 later than the lesser of 28 days, or the period 

6 provided by State law, before the date of the 

7 election (as determined by treating the date on 

8 which the application is sent electronically as 

9 the date on which it is submitted); and’’. 

10 (2) INFORMING APPLICANTS OF ELIGIBILITY

11 REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES.—Section 8(a)(5) 

12 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(5)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘and 7’’ and inserting ‘‘6A, and 7’’. 

14 SEC. 1002. USE OF INTERNET TO UPDATE REGISTRATION 

15 INFORMATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

17 (1) UPDATES TO INFORMATION CONTAINED ON

18 COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION

19 LIST.—Section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act 

20 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)) is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(6) USE OF INTERNET BY REGISTERED VOT23 ERS TO UPDATE INFORMATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State 

25 or local election official shall ensure that any 


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1 registered voter on the computerized list may at 

2 any time update the voter’s registration infor3 mation, including the voter’s address and elec4 tronic mail address, online through the official 

5 public website of the election official responsible 

6 for the maintenance of the list, so long as the 

7 voter attests to the contents of the update by 

8 providing a signature in electronic form in the 

9 same manner required under section 6A(c) of 

10 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. 

11 ‘‘(B) PROCESSING OF UPDATED INFORMA12 TION BY ELECTION OFFICIALS.—If a registered 

13 voter updates registration information under 

14 subparagraph (A), the appropriate State or 

15 local election official shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) revise any information on the 

17 computerized list to reflect the update 

18 made by the voter; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) if the updated registration infor20 mation affects the voter’s eligibility to vote 

21 in an election for Federal office, ensure 

22 that the information is processed with re23 spect to the election if the voter updates 

24 the information not later than the lesser of 


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1 7 days, or the period provided by State 

2 law, before the date of the election. 

3 ‘‘(C) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 

4 ‘‘(i) CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT.— 

5 Upon the online submission of updated 

6 registration information by an individual 

7 under this paragraph, the appropriate 

8 State or local election official shall send 

9 the individual a notice confirming the 

10 State’s receipt of the updated information 

11 and providing instructions on how the indi12 vidual may check the status of the update. 

13 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF DISPOSITION.—Not 

14 later than 7 days after the appropriate 

15 State or local election official has accepted 

16 or rejected updated information submitted 

17 by an individual under this paragraph, the 

18 official shall send the individual a notice of 

19 the disposition of the update. 

20 ‘‘(iii) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.— 

21 The appropriate State or local election offi22 cial shall send the notices required under 

23 this subparagraph by regular mail and— 

24 ‘‘(I) in the case of an individual 

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1 vide voter registration and voting in2 formation through electronic mail, by 

3 electronic mail; and 

4 ‘‘(II) at the option of the indi5 vidual, by text message.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

7 EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(1)(A) of such 

8 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(1)(A)) is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub10 paragraph (B) and subsection (a)(6)’’. 

11 (b) ABILITY OF REGISTRANT TO USE ONLINE UP12 DATE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON RESIDENCE.—Sec13 tion 8(d)(2)(A) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

14 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(d)(2)(A)) is amended— 

15 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting after ‘‘re16 turn the card’’ the following: ‘‘or update the reg17 istrant’s information on the computerized statewide 

18 voter registration list using the online method pro19 vided under section 303(a)(6) of the Help America 

20 Vote Act of 2002’’; and 

21 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘re22 turned,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘returned or if 

23 the registrant does not update the registrant’s infor24 mation on the computerized Statewide voter reg25 istration list using such online method,’’. 


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1 SEC. 1003. PROVISION OF ELECTION INFORMATION BY 

2 ELECTRONIC MAIL TO INDIVIDUALS REG3 ISTERED TO VOTE. 

4 (a) INCLUDING OPTION ON VOTER REGISTRATION

5 APPLICATION TO PROVIDE EMAIL ADDRESS AND RE6 CEIVE INFORMATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the National 

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

9 20508(b)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para11 graph (3); 

12 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

13 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(5) shall include a space for the applicant to 

17 provide (at the applicant’s option) an electronic mail 

18 address, together with a statement that, if the appli19 cant so requests, instead of using regular mail the 

20 appropriate State and local election officials shall 

21 provide to the applicant, through electronic mail sent 

22 to that address, the same voting information (as de23 fined in section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote 

24 Act of 2002) which the officials would provide to the 

25 applicant through regular mail.’’. 


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1 (2) PROHIBITING USE FOR PURPOSES UNRE2 LATED TO OFFICIAL DUTIES OF ELECTION OFFI3 CIALS.—Section 9 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20508) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 subsection: 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING USE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL AD7 DRESSES FOR OTHER THAN OFFICIAL PURPOSES.—The 

8 chief State election official shall ensure that any electronic 

9 mail address provided by an applicant under subsection 

10 (b)(5) is used only for purposes of carrying out official 

11 duties of election officials and is not transmitted by any 

12 State or local election official (or any agent of such an 

13 official, including a contractor) to any person who does 

14 not require the address to carry out such official duties 

15 and who is not under the direct supervision and control 

16 of a State or local election official.’’. 

17 (b) REQUIRING PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY

18 ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Section 302(b) of the Help Amer19 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) PROVISION OF OTHER INFORMATION BY

22 ELECTRONIC MAIL.—If an individual who is a reg23 istered voter has provided the State or local election 

24 official with an electronic mail address for the pur25 pose of receiving voting information (as described in 


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1 section 9(b)(5) of the National Voter Registration 

2 Act of 1993), the appropriate State or local election 

3 official, through electronic mail transmitted not later 

4 than 7 days before the date of the election for Fed5 eral office involved, shall provide the individual with 

6 information on how to obtain the following informa7 tion by electronic means: 

8 ‘‘(A) The name and address of the polling 

9 place at which the individual is assigned to vote 

10 in the election. 

11 ‘‘(B) The hours of operation for the polling 

12 place. 

13 ‘‘(C) A description of any identification or 

14 other information the individual may be re15 quired to present at the polling place.’’. 

16 SEC. 1004. CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT REGARDING 

17 NECESSARY INFORMATION TO SHOW ELIGI18 BILITY TO VOTE. 

19 Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

20 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub22 section (k); and 

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol24 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j) REQUIREMENT FOR STATE TO REGISTER APPLI2 CANTS PROVIDING NECESSARY INFORMATION TO SHOW

3 ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE.—For purposes meeting the re4 quirement of subsection (a)(1) that an eligible applicant 

5 is registered to vote in an election for Federal office within 

6 the deadlines required under such subsection, the State 

7 shall consider an applicant to have provided a ‘valid voter 

8 registration form’ if— 

9 ‘‘(1) the applicant has substantially completed 

10 the application form and attested to the statement 

11 required by section 9(b)(2); and 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of an applicant who registers 

13 to vote online in accordance with section 6A, the ap14 plicant provides a signature in accordance with sub15 section (c) of such section.’’. 

16 SEC. 1005. PROHIBITING STATE FROM REQUIRING APPLI17 CANTS TO PROVIDE MORE THAN LAST 4 DIG18 ITS OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. 

19 (a) FORM INCLUDED WITH APPLICATION FOR

20 MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER’S LICENSE.—Section 

21 5(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

22 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504(c)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended by strik23 ing the semicolon at the end and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘, and to the extent that the application requires the appli25 cant to provide a Social Security number, may not require 


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1 the applicant to provide more than the last 4 digits of such 

2 number;’’. 

3 (b) NATIONAL MAIL VOTER REGISTRATION FORM.— 

4 Section 9(b)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20508(b)(1)) is 

5 amended by striking the semicolon at the end and insert6 ing the following: ‘‘, and to the extent that the form re7 quires the applicant to provide a Social Security number, 

8 the form may not require the applicant to provide more 

9 than the last 4 digits of such number;’’. 

10 SEC. 1006. REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION. 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress 

13 a report on local, State, and Federal personally identifi14 able information data collections efforts, the cyber security 

15 resources necessary to defend such efforts from online at16 tacks, and the impact of a potential data breach of local, 

17 State, or Federal online voter registration systems. 

18 SEC. 1007. PERMITTING VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICA19 TION FORM TO SERVE AS APPLICATION FOR 

20 ABSENTEE BALLOT. 

21 Section 5(c)(2) of the National Voter Registration 

22 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504(c)(2)) is amended— 

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


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

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

5 ‘‘(F) at the option of the applicant, shall serve 

6 as an application to vote by absentee ballot in the 

7 next election for Federal office held in the State and 

8 in each subsequent election for Federal office held in 

9 the State.’’. 

10 SEC. 1008. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (b), the amendments made by this subtitle (other than the 

13 amendments made by section 1004) shall take effect Jan14 uary 1, 2022. 

15 (b) WAIVER.—Subject to the approval of the Election 

16 Assistance Commission, if a State certifies to the Election 

17 Assistance Commission that the State will not meet the 

18 deadline referred to in subsection (a) because of extraor19 dinary circumstances and includes in the certification the 

20 reasons for the failure to meet the deadline, subsection 

21 (a) shall apply to the State as if the reference in such 

22 subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2022’’ were a reference to 

23 ‘‘January 1, 2024’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Automatic Voter 

2 Registration 

3 SEC. 1101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

5 (1) the right to vote is a fundamental right of 

6 citizens of the United States; 

7 (2) it is the responsibility of the State and Fed8 eral Governments to ensure that every eligible cit9 izen is registered to vote; 

10 (3) existing voter registration systems can be 

11 inaccurate, costly, inaccessible and confusing, with 

12 damaging effects on voter participation in elections 

13 for Federal office and disproportionate impacts on 

14 young people, persons with disabilities, and racial 

15 and ethnic minorities; and 

16 (4) voter registration systems must be updated 

17 with 21st Century technologies and procedures to 

18 maintain their security. 

19 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this subtitle— 

20 (1) to establish that it is the responsibility of 

21 government at every level to ensure that all eligible 

22 citizens are registered to vote in elections for Fed23 eral office; 


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1 (2) to enable the State and Federal Govern2 ments to register all eligible citizens to vote with ac3 curate, cost-efficient, and up-to-date procedures; 

4 (3) to modernize voter registration and list 

5 maintenance procedures with electronic and internet 

6 capabilities; and 

7 (4) to protect and enhance the integrity, accu8 racy, efficiency, and accessibility of the electoral 

9 process for all eligible citizens. 

10 SEC. 1102. AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDI11 VIDUALS. 

12 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH AND OPER13 ATE AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election offi15 cial of each State shall establish and operate a sys16 tem of automatic registration for the registration of 

17 eligible individuals to vote for elections for Federal 

18 office in the State, in accordance with the provisions 

19 of this part. 

20 (2) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘automatic reg21 istration’’ means a system that registers an indi22 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in a 

23 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 

24 information necessary for registration from govern25 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 


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1 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 

2 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 

3 in such elections. 

4 (b) REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON NEW

5 AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief State election official 

6 shall— 

7 (1) not later than 15 days after a contributing 

8 agency has transmitted information with respect to 

9 an individual pursuant to section 1103, ensure that 

10 the individual is registered to vote in elections for 

11 Federal office in the State if the individual is eligible 

12 to be registered to vote in such elections; and 

13 (2) not later than 120 days after a contributing 

14 agency has transmitted such information with re15 spect to the individual, send written notice to the in16 dividual, in addition to other means of notice estab17 lished by this subtitle, of the individual’s voter reg18 istration status. 

19 (c) ONE-TIME REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON

20 EXISTING CONTRIBUTING AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief 

21 State election official shall— 

22 (1) identify all individuals whose information is 

23 transmitted by a contributing agency pursuant to 

24 section 1104 and who are eligible to be, but are not 

25 currently, registered to vote in that State; 


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1 (2) promptly send each such individual written 

2 notice, in addition to other means of notice estab3 lished by this subtitle, which shall not identify the 

4 contributing agency that transmitted the informa5 tion but shall include— 

6 (A) an explanation that voter registration 

7 is voluntary, but if the individual does not de8 cline registration, the individual will be reg9 istered to vote; 

10 (B) a statement offering the opportunity to 

11 decline voter registration through means con12 sistent with the requirements of this subtitle; 

13 (C) in the case of a State in which affili14 ation or enrollment with a political party is re15 quired in order to participate in an election to 

16 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

17 Federal office, a statement offering the indi18 vidual the opportunity to affiliate or enroll with 

19 a political party or to decline to affiliate or en20 roll with a political party, through means con21 sistent with the requirements of this subtitle; 

22 (D) the substantive qualifications of an 

23 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

24 registration application form for elections for 

25 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 


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1 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

2 the consequences of false registration, and a 

3 statement that the individual should decline to 

4 register if the individual does not meet all those 

5 qualifications; 

6 (E) instructions for correcting any erro7 neous information; 

8 (F) instructions for providing any addi9 tional information which is listed in the mail 

10 voter registration application form for elections 

11 for Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 

12 9 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

13 1993; and 

14 (G) an explanation of what information the 

15 State and local election officials maintain with 

16 respect to an individual voter registration status 

17 for purposes of elections for Federal office in 

18 the State, how that information is shared or 

19 sold and with whom, what information is auto20 matically kept confidential, what information is 

21 needed to access voter information online, and 

22 what privacy programs are available, such as 

23 those described in section 1406; 

24 (3) ensure that each such individual who is eli25 gible to register to vote in elections for Federal ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 fice in the State is promptly registered to vote not 

2 later than 45 days after the official sends the indi3 vidual the written notice under paragraph (2), un4 less, during the 30-day period which begins on the 

5 date the election official sends the individual such 

6 written notice, the individual declines registration in 

7 writing, through a communication made over the 

8 internet, or by an officially logged telephone commu9 nication; and 

10 (4) send written notice to each such individual, 

11 in addition to other means of notice established by 

12 this subtitle, of the individual’s voter registration 

13 status. 

14 (d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18 YEARS

15 OF AGE.—A State may not refuse to treat an individual 

16 as an eligible individual for purposes of this subtitle on 

17 the grounds that the individual is less than 18 years of 

18 age at the time a contributing agency receives information 

19 with respect to the individual, so long as the individual 

20 is at least 16 years of age at such time. Nothing in the 

21 previous sentence may be construed to require a State to 

22 permit an individual who is under 18 years of age at the 

23 time of an election for Federal office to vote in the elec24 tion. 


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1 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCY DEFINED.—In this sub2 title, the term ‘‘contributing agency’’ means, with respect 

3 to a State, an agency listed in section 1103(e). 

4 SEC. 1103. CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE IN REG5 ISTRATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this subtitle, 

7 each contributing agency in a State shall assist the State’s 

8 chief election official in registering to vote all eligible indi9 viduals served by that agency. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRIBUTING AGEN11 CIES.— 

12 (1) INSTRUCTIONS ON AUTOMATIC REGISTRA13 TION.—With each application for service or assist14 ance, and with each related recertification, renewal, 

15 or change of address, or, in the case of an institu16 tion of higher education, with each registration of a 

17 student for enrollment in a course of study, each 

18 contributing agency that (in the normal course of its 

19 operations) requests individuals to affirm United 

20 States citizenship (either directly or as part of the 

21 overall application for service or assistance) shall in22 form each such individual who is a citizen of the 

23 United States of the following: 

24 (A) Unless that individual declines to reg25 ister to vote, or is found ineligible to vote, the 


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1 individual will be registered to vote or, if appli2 cable, the individual’s registration will be up3 dated. 

4 (B) The substantive qualifications of an 

5 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

6 registration application form for elections for 

7 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 

8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

9 the consequences of false registration, and the 

10 individual should decline to register if the indi11 vidual does not meet all those qualifications. 

12 (C) In the case of a State in which affili13 ation or enrollment with a political party is re14 quired in order to participate in an election to 

15 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

16 Federal office, the requirement that the indi17 vidual must affiliate or enroll with a political 

18 party in order to participate in such an election. 

19 (D) Voter registration is voluntary, and 

20 neither registering nor declining to register to 

21 vote will in any way affect the availability of 

22 services or benefits, nor be used for other pur23 poses. 

24 (2) OPPORTUNITY TO DECLINE REGISTRATION

25 REQUIRED.—Except as otherwise provided in this 


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1 section, each contributing agency shall ensure that 

2 each application for service or assistance, and each 

3 related recertification, renewal, or change of address 

4 cannot be completed until the individual is given the 

5 opportunity to decline to be registered to vote. 

6 (3) INFORMATION TRANSMITTAL.—Upon the 

7 expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the 

8 date a contributing agency as described in para9 graph (1) informs an individual of the information 

10 described in such paragraph, unless the individual 

11 has declined to be registered to vote or informs the 

12 agency that they are already registered to vote, each 

13 contributing agency shall electronically transmit to 

14 the appropriate State election official, in a format 

15 compatible with the statewide voter database main16 tained under section 303 of the Help America Vote 

17 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083), the following infor18 mation: 

19 (A) The individual’s given name(s) and 

20 surname(s). 

21 (B) The individual’s date of birth. 

22 (C) The individual’s residential address. 

23 (D) Information showing that the indi24 vidual is a citizen of the United States. 


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1 (E) The date on which information per2 taining to that individual was collected or last 

3 updated. 

4 (F) If available, the individual’s signature 

5 in electronic form. 

6 (G) Except in the case in which the con7 tributing agency is a covered institution of 

8 higher education, in the case of a State in 

9 which affiliation or enrollment with a political 

10 party is required in order to participate in an 

11 election to select the party’s candidate in an 

12 election for Federal office, information regard13 ing the individual’s affiliation or enrollment 

14 with a political party, but only if the individual 

15 provides such information. 

16 (H) Any additional information listed in 

17 the mail voter registration application form for 

18 elections for Federal office prescribed pursuant 

19 to section 9 of the National Voter Registration 

20 Act of 1993, including any valid driver’s license 

21 number or the last 4 digits of the individual’s 

22 social security number, if the individual pro23 vided such information. 

24 (c) ALTERNATE PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN CON25 TRIBUTING AGENCIES.—With each application for service 


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1 or assistance, and with each related recertification, re2 newal, or change of address, any contributing agency that 

3 in the normal course of its operations does not request 

4 individuals applying for service or assistance to affirm 

5 United States citizenship (either directly or as part of the 

6 overall application for service or assistance) shall— 

7 (1) complete the requirements of section 7(a)(6) 

8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

9 U.S.C. 20506(a)(6)); 

10 (2) ensure that each applicant’s transaction 

11 with the agency cannot be completed until the appli12 cant has indicated whether the applicant wishes to 

13 register to vote or declines to register to vote in elec14 tions for Federal office held in the State; and 

15 (3) for each individual who wishes to register to 

16 vote, transmit that individual’s information in ac17 cordance with subsection (b)(3). 

18 (d) REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF AUTOMATIC REG19 ISTRATION OPPORTUNITY WITH EACH APPLICATION FOR

20 SERVICE OR ASSISTANCE.—Each contributing agency 

21 shall offer each individual, with each application for serv22 ice or assistance, and with each related recertification, re23 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu24 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stu25 dent for enrollment in a course of study, the opportunity 


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1 to register to vote as prescribed by this section without 

2 regard to whether the individual previously declined a reg3 istration opportunity. 

4 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES.— 

5 (1) STATE AGENCIES.—In each State, each of 

6 the following agencies shall be treated as a contrib7 uting agency: 

8 (A) Each agency in a State that is re9 quired by Federal law to provide voter registra10 tion services, including the State motor vehicle 

11 authority and other voter registration agencies 

12 under the National Voter Registration Act of 

13 1993. 

14 (B) Each agency in a State that admin15 isters a program pursuant to title III of the So16 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.), title 

17 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 

18 et seq.), or the Patient Protection and Afford19 able Care Act (Public Law 111–148). 

20 (C) Each State agency primarily respon21 sible for regulating the private possession of 

22 firearms. 

23 (D) Each State agency primarily respon24 sible for maintaining identifying information for 

25 students enrolled at public secondary schools, 


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1 including, where applicable, the State agency 

2 responsible for maintaining the education data 

3 system described in section 6201(e)(2) of the 

4 America COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 

5 9871(e)(2)). 

6 (E) In the case of a State in which an in7 dividual disenfranchised by a criminal convic8 tion may become eligible to vote upon comple9 tion of a criminal sentence or any part thereof, 

10 or upon formal restoration of rights, the State 

11 agency responsible for administering that sen12 tence, or part thereof, or that restoration of 

13 rights. 

14 (F) Any other agency of the State which is 

15 designated by the State as a contributing agen16 cy. 

17 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In each State, each 

18 of the following agencies of the Federal Government 

19 shall be treated as a contributing agency with re20 spect to individuals who are residents of that State 

21 (except as provided in subparagraph (C)): 

22 (A) The Social Security Administration, 

23 the Department of Veterans Affairs, the De24 fense Manpower Data Center of the Depart25 ment of Defense, the Employee and Training 


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1 Administration of the Department of Labor, 

2 and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Serv3 ices of the Department of Health and Human 

4 Services. 

5 (B) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immi6 gration Services, but only with respect to indi7 viduals who have completed the naturalization 

8 process. 

9 (C) In the case of an individual who is a 

10 resident of a State in which an individual 

11 disenfranchised by a criminal conviction under 

12 Federal law may become eligible to vote upon 

13 completion of a criminal sentence or any part 

14 thereof, or upon formal restoration of rights, 

15 the Federal agency responsible for admin16 istering that sentence or part thereof (without 

17 regard to whether the agency is located in the 

18 same State in which the individual is a resi19 dent), but only with respect to individuals who 

20 have completed the criminal sentence or any 

21 part thereof. 

22 (D) Any other agency of the Federal Gov23 ernment which the State designates as a con24 tributing agency, but only if the State and the 

25 head of the agency determine that the agency 


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1 collects information sufficient to carry out the 

2 responsibilities of a contributing agency under 

3 this section. 

4 (3) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 days 

5 prior to the date of each election for Federal office 

6 held in the State, the chief State election official 

7 shall publish on the public website of the official an 

8 updated list of all contributing agencies in that 

9 State. 

10 (4) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The chief State elec11 tion official of each State, in collaboration with each 

12 contributing agency, shall take appropriate measures 

13 to educate the public about voter registration under 

14 this section. 

15 (f) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered institution of 

17 higher education shall be treated as a contributing 

18 agency in the State in which the institution is lo19 cated with respect to in-State students. 

20 (2) PROCEDURES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec22 tion 444 of the General Education Provisions 

23 Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; commonly referred to as 

24 the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy 

25 Act of 1974’’) or any other provision of law, 


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1 each covered institution of higher education 

2 shall comply with the requirements of sub3 section (b) with respect to each in-State stu4 dent. 

5 (B) RULES FOR COMPLIANCE.—In com6 plying with the requirements described in sub7 paragraph (A), the institution— 

8 (i) may use information provided in 

9 the Free Application for Federal Student 

10 Aid described in section 483 of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090) 

12 to collect information described in para13 graph (3) of such subsection for purposes 

14 of transmitting such information to the ap15 propriate State election official pursuant to 

16 such paragraph; and 

17 (ii) shall not be required to prevent or 

18 delay students from enrolling in a course 

19 of study or otherwise impede the comple20 tion of the enrollment process; and (iii) 

21 shall not withhold, delay, or impede the 

22 provision of Federal financial aid provided 

23 under title IV of the Higher Education Act 

24 of 1965. 


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1 (C) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this sub2 title may be construed to require an institution 

3 of higher education to request each student to 

4 affirm whether or not the student is a United 

5 States citizen or otherwise collect information 

6 with respect to citizenship. 

7 (3) DEFINITIONS.— 

8 (A) COVERED INSTITUTION OF HIGHER

9 EDUCATION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 

10 institution of higher education’’ means an insti11 tution of higher education that— 

12 (i) has a program participation agree13 ment in effect with the Secretary of Edu14 cation under section 487 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094); 

16 (ii) in its normal course of operations, 

17 requests each in-State student enrolling in 

18 the institution to affirm whether or not the 

19 student is a United States citizen; and 

20 (iii) is located in a State to which sec21 tion 4(b)(1) of the National Voter Reg22 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

23 20503(b)(1)) does not apply. 

24 (B) IN-STATE STUDENT.—In this section, 

25 the term ‘‘in-State student’’— 


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1 (i) means a student enrolled in a cov2 ered institution of higher education who, 

3 for purposes related to in-State tuition, fi4 nancial aid eligibility, or other similar pur5 poses, resides in the State; and 

6 (ii) includes a student described in 

7 clause (i) who is enrolled in a program of 

8 distance education, as defined in section 

9 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

10 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

11 SEC. 1104. ONE-TIME CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE 

12 IN REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS IN 

13 EXISTING RECORDS. 

14 (a) INITIAL TRANSMITTAL OF INFORMATION.—For 

15 each individual already listed in a contributing agency’s 

16 records as of the date of enactment of this Act, and for 

17 whom the agency has the information listed in section 

18 1103(b)(3), the agency shall promptly transmit that infor19 mation to the appropriate State election official in accord20 ance with section 1103(b)(3) not later than the effective 

21 date described in section 1111(a). 

22 (b) TRANSITION.—For each individual listed in a con23 tributing agency’s records as of the effective date de24 scribed in section 1111(a) (but who was not listed in a 

25 contributing agency’s records as of the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act), and for whom the agency has the information 

2 listed in section 1103(b)(3), the Agency shall promptly 

3 transmit that information to the appropriate State election 

4 official in accordance with section 1103(b)(3) not later 

5 than 6 months after the effective date described in section 

6 1111(a). 

7 SEC. 1105. VOTER PROTECTION AND SECURITY IN AUTO8 MATIC REGISTRATION. 

9 (a) PROTECTIONS FOR ERRORS IN REGISTRATION.— 

10 An individual shall not be prosecuted under any Federal 

11 or State law, adversely affected in any civil adjudication 

12 concerning immigration status or naturalization, or sub13 ject to an allegation in any legal proceeding that the indi14 vidual is not a citizen of the United States on any of the 

15 following grounds: 

16 (1) The individual notified an election office of 

17 the individual’s automatic registration to vote under 

18 this part. 

19 (2) The individual is not eligible to vote in elec20 tions for Federal office but was automatically reg21 istered to vote under this part. 

22 (3) The individual was automatically registered 

23 to vote under this subtitle at an incorrect address. 

24 (4) The individual declined the opportunity to 

25 register to vote or did not make an affirmation of 


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1 citizenship, including through automatic registration, 

2 under this part. 

3 (b) LIMITS ON USE OF AUTOMATIC REGISTRA4 TION.—The automatic registration of any individual or the 

5 fact that an individual declined the opportunity to register 

6 to vote or did not make an affirmation of citizenship (in7 cluding through automatic registration) under this subtitle 

8 may not be used as evidence against that individual in any 

9 State or Federal law enforcement proceeding, and an indi10 vidual’s lack of knowledge or willfulness of such registra11 tion may be demonstrated by the individual’s testimony 

12 alone. 

13 (c) PROTECTION OF ELECTION INTEGRITY.—Noth14 ing in subsections (a) or (b) may be construed to prohibit 

15 or restrict any action under color of law against an indi16 vidual who— 

17 (1) knowingly and willfully makes a false state18 ment to effectuate or perpetuate automatic voter 

19 registration by any individual; or 

20 (2) casts a ballot knowingly and willfully in vio21 lation of State law or the laws of the United States. 

22 (d) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES’ PROTECTION OF IN23 FORMATION.—Nothing in this subtitle authorizes a con24 tributing agency to collect, retain, transmit, or publicly 

25 disclose any of the following: 


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1 (1) An individual’s decision to decline to reg2 ister to vote or not to register to vote. 

3 (2) An individual’s decision not to affirm his or 

4 her citizenship. 

5 (3) Any information that a contributing agency 

6 transmits pursuant to section 1103(b)(3), except in 

7 pursuing the agency’s ordinary course of business. 

8 (e) ELECTION OFFICIALS’ PROTECTION OF INFOR9 MATION.— 

10 (1) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (B), with respect to any individual for 

13 whom any State election official receives infor14 mation from a contributing agency, the State 

15 election officials shall not publicly disclose any 

16 of the following: 

17 (i) The identity of the contributing 

18 agency. 

19 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

20 voter registration. 

21 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

22 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

23 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg24 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

25 20507(a)). 


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1 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so2 cial security number. 

3 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

4 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

5 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

6 (vii) The individual’s telephone num7 ber. 

8 (viii) The individual’s email address. 

9 (B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS REG10 ISTERED TO VOTE.—With respect to any indi11 vidual for whom any State election official re12 ceives information from a contributing agency 

13 and who, on the basis of such information, is 

14 registered to vote in the State under this sub15 title, the State election officials shall not pub16 licly disclose any of the following: 

17 (i) The identity of the contributing 

18 agency. 

19 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

20 voter registration. 

21 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

22 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

23 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg24 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

25 20507(a)). 


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1 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so2 cial security number. 

3 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

4 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

5 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

6 (2) VOTER RECORD CHANGES.—Each State 

7 shall maintain for at least 2 years and shall make 

8 available for public inspection (and, where available, 

9 photocopying at a reasonable cost), including in elec10 tronic form and through electronic methods, all 

11 records of changes to voter records, including remov12 als, the reasons for removals, and updates. 

13 (3) DATABASE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS.— 

14 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

15 and Technology shall, after providing the public with 

16 notice and the opportunity to comment— 

17 (A) establish standards governing the com18 parison of data for voter registration list main19 tenance purposes, identifying as part of such 

20 standards the specific data elements, the 

21 matching rules used, and how a State may use 

22 the data to determine and deem that an indi23 vidual is ineligible under State law to vote in an 

24 election, or to deem a record to be a duplicate 

25 or outdated; 


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1 (B) ensure that the standards developed 

2 pursuant to this paragraph are uniform and 

3 nondiscriminatory and are applied in a uniform 

4 and nondiscriminatory manner; and 

5 (C) not later than 45 days after the dead6 line for public notice and comment, publish the 

7 standards developed pursuant to this paragraph 

8 on the Director’s website and make those 

9 standards available in written form upon re10 quest. 

11 (4) SECURITY POLICY.—The Director of the 

12 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

13 shall, after providing the public with notice and the 

14 opportunity to comment, publish privacy and secu15 rity standards for voter registration information not 

16 later than 45 days after the deadline for public no17 tice and comment. The standards shall require the 

18 chief State election official of each State to adopt a 

19 policy that shall specify— 

20 (A) each class of users who shall have au21 thorized access to the computerized statewide 

22 voter registration list, specifying for each class 

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1 tect the privacy, security, and accuracy of the 

2 information on the list; and 

3 (B) security safeguards to protect personal 

4 information transmitted through the informa5 tion transmittal processes of section 1103 or 

6 section 1104, the online system used pursuant 

7 to section 1107, any telephone interface, the 

8 maintenance of the voter registration database, 

9 and any audit procedure to track access to the 

10 system. 

11 (5) STATE COMPLIANCE WITH NATIONAL

12 STANDARDS.— 

13 (A) CERTIFICATION.—The chief executive 

14 officer of the State shall annually file with the 

15 Election Assistance Commission a statement 

16 certifying to the Director of the National Insti17 tute of Standards and Technology that the 

18 State is in compliance with the standards re19 ferred to in paragraphs (3) and (4). A State 

20 may meet the requirement of the previous sen21 tence by filing with the Commission a statement 

22 which reads as follows: ‘‘lllll hereby 

23 certifies that it is in compliance with the stand24 ards referred to in paragraphs (3) and (4) of 

25 section 1105(e) of the Voter Empowerment Act 


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1 of 2021.’’ (with the blank to be filled in with 

2 the name of the State involved). 

3 (B) PUBLICATION OF POLICIES AND PRO4 CEDURES.—The chief State election official of a 

5 State shall publish on the official’s website the 

6 policies and procedures established under this 

7 section, and shall make those policies and pro8 cedures available in written form upon public 

9 request. 

10 (C) FUNDING DEPENDENT ON CERTIFI11 CATION.—If a State does not timely file the cer12 tification required under this paragraph, it shall 

13 not receive any payment under this subtitle for 

14 the upcoming fiscal year. 

15 (D) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT RE16 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case 

17 of a State that requires State legislation to 

18 carry out an activity covered by any certifi19 cation submitted under this paragraph, for a 

20 period of not more than 2 years the State shall 

21 be permitted to make the certification notwith22 standing that the legislation has not been en23 acted at the time the certification is submitted, 

24 and such State shall submit an additional cer25 tification once such legislation is enacted. 


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1 (f) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF INFORMATION.—No 

2 person acting under color of law may discriminate against 

3 any individual based on, or use for any purpose other than 

4 voter registration, election administration, or enforcement 

5 relating to election crimes, any of the following: 

6 (1) Voter registration records. 

7 (2) An individual’s declination to register to 

8 vote or complete an affirmation of citizenship under 

9 section 1103(b). 

10 (3) An individual’s voter registration status. 

11 (g) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF VOTER REGISTRA12 TION INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—In13 formation collected under this subtitle shall not be used 

14 for commercial purposes. Nothing in this subsection may 

15 be construed to prohibit the transmission, exchange, or 

16 dissemination of information for political purposes, includ17 ing the support of campaigns for election for Federal, 

18 State, or local public office or the activities of political 

19 committees (including committees of political parties) 

20 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. 

21 SEC. 1106. REGISTRATION PORTABILITY AND CORRECTION. 

22 (a) CORRECTING REGISTRATION INFORMATION AT

23 POLLING PLACE.—Notwithstanding section 302(a) of the 

24 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(a)), if 

25 an individual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 


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1 office held in a State, the appropriate election official at 

2 the polling place for any such election (including a location 

3 used as a polling place on a date other than the date of 

4 the election) shall permit the individual to— 

5 (1) update the individual’s address for purposes 

6 of the records of the election official; 

7 (2) correct any incorrect information relating to 

8 the individual, including the individual’s name and 

9 political party affiliation, in the records of the elec10 tion official; and 

11 (3) cast a ballot in the election on the basis of 

12 the updated address or corrected information, and to 

13 have the ballot treated as a regular ballot and not 

14 as a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of such 

15 Act. 

16 (b) UPDATES TO COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER

17 REGISTRATION LISTS.—If an election official at the poll18 ing place receives an updated address or corrected infor19 mation from an individual under subsection (a), the offi20 cial shall ensure that the address or information is 

21 promptly entered into the computerized statewide voter 

22 registration list in accordance with section 

23 303(a)(1)(A)(vi) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

24 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(1)(A)(vi)). 


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1 SEC. 1107. PAYMENTS AND GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis3 sion shall make grants to each eligible State to assist the 

4 State in implementing the requirements of this subtitle 

5 (or, in the case of an exempt State, in implementing its 

6 existing automatic voter registration program). 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION.—A State is eligible 

8 to receive a grant under this section if the State submits 

9 to the Commission, at such time and in such form as the 

10 Commission may require, an application containing— 

11 (1) a description of the activities the State will 

12 carry out with the grant; 

13 (2) an assurance that the State shall carry out 

14 such activities without partisan bias and without 

15 promoting any particular point of view regarding 

16 any issue; and 

17 (3) such other information and assurances as 

18 the Commission may require. 

19 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT; PRIORITIES.—The Commis20 sion shall determine the amount of a grant made to an 

21 eligible State under this section. In determining the 

22 amounts of the grants, the Commission shall give priority 

23 to providing funds for those activities which are most like24 ly to accelerate compliance with the requirements of this 

25 subtitle (or, in the case of an exempt State, which are 

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1 cally register individuals to vote through its existing auto2 matic voter registration program), including— 

3 (1) investments supporting electronic informa4 tion transfer, including electronic collection and 

5 transfer of signatures, between contributing agencies 

6 and the appropriate State election officials; 

7 (2) updates to online or electronic voter reg8 istration systems already operating as of the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act; 

10 (3) introduction of online voter registration sys11 tems in jurisdictions in which those systems did not 

12 previously exist; and 

13 (4) public education on the availability of new 

14 methods of registering to vote, updating registration, 

15 and correcting registration. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

18 be appropriated to carry out this section— 

19 (A) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 

20 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

21 each succeeding fiscal year. 

22 (2) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

23 Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the authority 

24 of this subsection shall remain available without fis25 cal year limitation until expended. 


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1 SEC. 1108. TREATMENT OF EXEMPT STATES. 

2 (a) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—Except as pro3 vided in subsection (b), this subtitle does not apply with 

4 respect to an exempt State. 

5 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions of this 

6 subtitle apply with respect to an exempt State: 

7 (1) Section 1106 (relating to registration port8 ability and correction). 

9 (2) Section 1107 (relating to payments and 

10 grants). 

11 (3) Section 1109(e) (relating to enforcement). 

12 (4) Section 1109(f) (relating to relation to 

13 other laws). 

14 SEC. 1109. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

15 (a) ACCESSIBILITY OF REGISTRATION SERVICES.— 

16 Each contributing agency shall ensure that the services 

17 it provides under this subtitle are made available to indi18 viduals with disabilities to the same extent as services are 

19 made available to all other individuals. 

20 (b) TRANSMISSION THROUGH SECURE THIRD PARTY

21 PERMITTED.—Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed 

22 to prevent a contributing agency from contracting with a 

23 third party to assist the agency in meeting the information 

24 transmittal requirements of this subtitle, so long as the 

25 data transmittal complies with the applicable requirements 


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1 of this subtitle, including the privacy and security provi2 sions of section 1105. 

3 (c) NONPARTISAN, NONDISCRIMINATORY PROVISION

4 OF SERVICES.—The services made available by contrib5 uting agencies under this subtitle and by the State under 

6 sections 1105 and 1106 shall be made in a manner con7 sistent with paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)(C) of section 7(a) 

8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20506(a)). 

10 (d) NOTICES.—Each State may send notices under 

11 this subtitle via electronic mail if the individual has pro12 vided an electronic mail address and consented to elec13 tronic mail communications for election-related materials. 

14 All notices sent pursuant to this subtitle that require a 

15 response must offer the individual notified the opportunity 

16 to respond at no cost to the individual. 

17 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 11 of the National 

18 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20510), relat19 ing to civil enforcement and the availability of private 

20 rights of action, shall apply with respect to this subtitle 

21 in the same manner as such section applies to such Act. 

22 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Except as pro23 vided, nothing in this subtitle may be construed to author24 ize or require conduct prohibited under, or to supersede, 

25 restrict, or limit the application of any of the following: 


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1 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

2 10301 et seq.). 

3 (2) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab4 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

5 (3) The National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

7 (4) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

8 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

9 SEC. 1110. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

11 (1) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

12 means, with respect to a State, the individual des13 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na14 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

15 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

16 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

17 (2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

18 Assistance Commission. 

19 (3) The term ‘‘exempt State’’ means a State 

20 which, under law which is in effect continuously on 

21 and after the date of the enactment of this Act, op22 erates an automatic voter registration program 

23 under which an individual is automatically registered 

24 to vote in elections for Federal office in the State if 

25 the individual provides the motor vehicle authority of 


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1 the State (or, in the case of a State in which an in2 dividual is automatically registered to vote at the 

3 time the individual applies for benefits or services 

4 with a Permanent Dividend Fund of the State, pro5 vides the appropriate official of such Fund) with 

6 such identifying information as the State may re7 quire. 

8 (4) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

9 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

10 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 

11 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 

12 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

13 SEC. 1111. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

15 (b), this subtitle and the amendments made by this sub16 title shall apply with respect to a State beginning January 

17 1, 2023. 

18 (b) WAIVER.—Subject to the approval of the Com19 mission, if a State certifies to the Commission that the 

20 State will not meet the deadline referred to in subsection 

21 (a) because of extraordinary circumstances and includes 

22 in the certification the reasons for the failure to meet the 

23 deadline, subsection (a) shall apply to the State as if the 

24 reference in such subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2023’’ were 

25 a reference to ‘‘January 1, 2025’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Same Day Voter 

2 Registration 

3 SEC. 1201. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

5 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 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. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Each State shall permit 

13 any eligible individual on the day of a Federal elec14 tion and on any day when voting, including early 

15 voting, is permitted for a Federal election— 

16 ‘‘(A) to register to vote in such election at 

17 the polling place using a form that meets the 

18 requirements under section 9(b) of the National 

19 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (or, if the indi20 vidual is already registered to vote, to revise 

21 any of the individual’s voter registration infor22 mation); and 

23 ‘‘(B) to cast a vote in such election. 

24 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The requirements under 

25 paragraph (1) shall not apply to a State in which, 


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1 under a State law in effect continuously on and after 

2 the date of the enactment of this section, there is no 

3 voter registration requirement for individuals in the 

4 State with respect to elections for Federal office. 

5 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

6 section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means, with respect 

7 to any election for Federal office, an individual who is oth8 erwise qualified to vote in that election. 

9 ‘‘(c) ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF FORMS.—The 

10 State shall ensure that each polling place has copies of 

11 any forms an individual may be required to complete in 

12 order to register to vote or revise the individual’s voter 

13 registration information under this section. 

14 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re15 quired to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) 

16 for the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of17 fice occurring in November 2022 and for any subsequent 

18 election for Federal office.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN20 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

21 is amended by striking ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘subtitle A of title III’’. 

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

24 of such Act is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec2 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

3 306; and 

4 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec5 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Same day registration.’’. 

6 Subtitle D—Conditions on Removal 

7 on Basis of Interstate Cross-Checks 

8 SEC. 1301. CONDITIONS ON REMOVAL OF REGISTRANTS 

9 FROM OFFICIAL LIST OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS 

10 ON BASIS OF INTERSTATE CROSS-CHECKS. 

11 (a) MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR RE12 MOVAL UNDER CROSS-CHECK.—Section 8(c)(2) of the 

13 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

14 20507(c))(2)) is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub16 paragraph (D); and 

17 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol18 lowing new subparagraphs: 

19 ‘‘(B) To the extent that the program carried out by 

20 a State under subparagraph (A) to systematically remove 

21 the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligi22 ble voters uses information obtained in an interstate cross23 check, in addition to any other conditions imposed under 

24 this Act on the authority of the State to remove the name 


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1 of the voter from such a list, the State may not remove 

2 the name of the voter from such a list unless— 

3 ‘‘(i) the State obtained the voter’s full name 

4 (including the voter’s middle name, if any) and date 

5 of birth, and the last 4 digits of the voter’s social 

6 security number, in the interstate cross-check; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) the State obtained documentation from the 

8 ERIC system that the voter is no longer a resident 

9 of the State. 

10 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph— 

11 ‘‘(i) the term ‘interstate cross-check’ means the 

12 transmission of information from an election official 

13 in one State to an election official of another State; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘ERIC system’ means the system 

16 operated by the Electronic Registration Information 

17 Center to share voter registration information and 

18 voter identification information among participating 

19 States.’’. 

20 (b) REQUIRING COMPLETION OF CROSS-CHECKS

21 NOT LATER THAN 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO ELECTION.— 

22 Subparagraph (A) of section 8(c)(2) of such Act (52 

23 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘not later 

24 than 90 days’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘not later than 


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1 90 days (or, in the case of a program in which the State 

2 uses interstate cross-checks, not later than 6 months)’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subparagraph (D) 

4 of section 8(c)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)), 

5 as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘Subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘This paragraph’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this Act shall apply with respect to elections held on or 

9 after the expiration of the 6-month period which begins 

10 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 Subtitle E—Other Initiatives To 

12 Promote Voter Registration 

13 SEC. 1401. ANNUAL REPORTS ON VOTER REGISTRATION 

14 STATISTICS. 

15 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the end of each year, each State shall submit to the Elec17 tion Assistance Commission and Congress a report con18 taining the following categories of information for the 

19 year: 

20 (1) The number of individuals who were reg21 istered under part 2. 

22 (2) The number of voter registration applica23 tion forms completed by individuals that were trans24 mitted by motor vehicle authorities in the State 

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1 istration Act of 1993) and voter registration agen2 cies in the State (as designated under section 7 of 

3 such Act) to the chief State election official of the 

4 State, broken down by each such authority and 

5 agency. 

6 (3) The number of such individuals whose voter 

7 registration application forms were accepted and 

8 who were registered to vote in the State and the 

9 number of such individuals whose forms were re10 jected and who were not registered to vote in the 

11 State, broken down by each such authority and 

12 agency. 

13 (4) The number of change of address forms and 

14 other forms of information indicating that an indi15 vidual’s identifying information has been changed 

16 that were transmitted by such motor vehicle authori17 ties and voter registration agencies to the chief State 

18 election official of the State, broken down by each 

19 such authority and agency and the type of form 

20 transmitted. 

21 (5) The number of individuals on the statewide 

22 computerized voter registration list (as established 

23 and maintained under section 303 of the Help 

24 America Vote Act of 2002) whose voter registration 

25 information was revised by the chief State election 


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1 official as a result of the forms transmitted to the 

2 official by such motor vehicle authorities and voter 

3 registration agencies (as described in paragraph 

4 (3)), broken down by each such authority and agen5 cy and the type of form transmitted. 

6 (6) The number of individuals who requested 

7 the chief State election official to revise voter reg8 istration information on such list, and the number of 

9 individuals whose information was revised as a result 

10 of such a request. 

11 (7) The number of individuals who were purged 

12 from the official voter registration list or moved to 

13 inactive status, broken down by the reason for those 

14 actions, including the method used for identifying 

15 those voters. 

16 (b) BREAKDOWN OF INFORMATION.—In preparing 

17 the report under this section, the State shall, for each cat18 egory of information described in subsection (a), include 

19 a breakdown by race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the 

20 individuals whose information is included in the category, 

21 to the extent that information on the race, ethnicity, age, 

22 and gender of such individuals is available to the State. 

23 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—In pre24 paring and submitting a report under this section, the 

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1 tion regarding the identification of any individual is re2 vealed. 

3 (d) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, a ‘‘State’’ in4 cludes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

5 Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 

6 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

7 Mariana Islands, but does not include any State in which, 

8 under a State law in effect continuously on and after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, there is no voter reg10 istration requirement for individuals in the State with re11 spect to elections for Federal office. 

12 SEC. 1402. ENSURING PRE-ELECTION REGISTRATION DEAD13 LINES ARE CONSISTENT WITH TIMING OF 

14 LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAYS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(a)(1) of the National 

16 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) 

17 is amended by striking ‘‘30 days’’ each place it appears 

18 and inserting ‘‘28 days’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections held 

21 in 2022 or any succeeding year. 


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1 SEC. 1403. USE OF POSTAL SERVICE HARD COPY CHANGE 

2 OF ADDRESS FORM TO REMIND INDIVIDUALS 

3 TO UPDATE VOTER REGISTRATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Postmaster General 

6 shall modify any hard copy change of address form used 

7 by the United States Postal Service so that such form con8 tains a reminder that any individual using such form 

9 should update the individual’s voter registration as a re10 sult of any change in address. 

11 (b) APPLICATION.—The requirement in subsection 

12 (a) shall not apply to any electronic version of a change 

13 of address form used by the United States Postal Service. 

14 SEC. 1404. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ACTIVITIES TO EN15 COURAGE INVOLVEMENT OF MINORS IN 

16 ELECTION ACTIVITIES. 

17 (a) GRANTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

19 Commission (hereafter in this section referred to as 

20 the ‘‘Commission’’) shall make grants to eligible 

21 States to enable such States to carry out a plan to 

22 increase the involvement of individuals under 18 

23 years of age in public election activities in the State. 

24 (2) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—A State’s plan 

25 under this subsection shall include— 


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1 (A) methods to promote the use of the pre2 registration process implemented under section 

3 8A of the National Voter Registration Act of 

4 1993 (as added by section 2(a)); 

5 (B) modifications to the curriculum of sec6 ondary schools in the State to promote civic en7 gagement; and 

8 (C) such other activities to encourage the 

9 involvement of young people in the electoral 

10 process as the State considers appropriate. 

11 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 

12 grant under this section if the State submits to the Com13 mission, at such time and in such form as the Commission 

14 may require, an application containing— 

15 (1) a description of the State’s plan under sub16 section (a); 

17 (2) a description of the performance measures 

18 and targets the State will use to determine its suc19 cess in carrying out the plan; and 

20 (3) such other information and assurances as 

21 the Commission may require. 

22 (c) PERIOD OF GRANT; REPORT.— 

23 (1) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A State receiving a 

24 grant under this section shall use the funds provided 


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1 by the grant over a 2-year period agreed to between 

2 the State and the Commission. 

3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

4 the end of the 2-year period agreed to under para5 graph (1), the State shall submit to the Commission 

6 a report on the activities the State carried out with 

7 the funds provided by the grant, and shall include 

8 in the report an analysis of the extent to which the 

9 State met the performance measures and targets in10 cluded in its application under subsection (b)(2). 

11 (d) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States and the District 

13 of Columbia. 

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

16 section $25,000,000, to remain available until expended. 

17 SEC. 1405. PERMISSION TO PLACE EXHIBITS. 

18 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement 

19 procedures to allow the chief election officer of a State 

20 to provide information about voter registration, including 

21 through a display or exhibit, after the conclusion of an 

22 administrative naturalization ceremony in that State. 


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1 SEC. 1406. REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH AND OPER2 ATE VOTER PRIVACY PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish and op4 erate a privacy program to enable victims of domestic vio5 lence, dating violence, stalking, sexual assault, and traf6 ficking to have personally identifiable information that the 

7 State or local election officials maintain with respect to 

8 an individual voter registration status for purposes of elec9 tions for Federal office in the State, including addresses, 

10 be kept confidential. 

11 (b) NOTICE.—Each State shall notify residents of 

12 that State of the information that State and local election 

13 officials maintain with respect to an individual voter reg14 istration status for purposes of elections for Federal office 

15 in the State, how that information is shared or sold and 

16 with whom, what information is automatically kept con17 fidential, what information is needed to access voter infor18 mation online, and the privacy programs that are avail19 able. 

20 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each State shall make 

21 information about the program established under sub22 section (a) available on a publicly accessible website. 

23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) The terms ‘‘domestic violence’’, ‘‘stalking’’, 

25 ‘‘sexual assault’’, and ‘‘dating violence’’ have the 

26 meanings given such terms in section 40002 of the 


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1 Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

2 12291). 

3 (2) The term ‘‘trafficking’’ means an act or 

4 practice described in paragraph (11) or (12) of sec5 tion 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 

6 of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102). 

7 SEC. 1407. INCLUSION OF VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMA8 TION WITH CERTAIN LEASES AND VOUCHERS 

9 FOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED RENTAL HOUSING 

10 AND MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS. 

11 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF UNIFORM STATEMENT.—The 

12 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 

13 in coordination with the Election Assistance Commission, 

14 shall develop a uniform statement designed to provide re15 cipients of such statement pursuant to this section of how 

16 they can register to vote and their voting rights under law. 

17 (b) LEASES AND VOUCHERS FOR FEDERALLY AS18 SISTED RENTAL HOUSING.—The Secretary of Housing 

19 and Urban Development shall require— 

20 (1) each public housing agency to provide a 

21 copy of the uniform statement developed pursuant to 

22 subsection (a) to each lessee of a dwelling unit in 

23 public housing administered by such agency— 


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1 (A) together with the lease for such a 

2 dwelling unit, at the same time such lease is 

3 provided to the lessee; and 

4 (B) together with any income verification 

5 form, at the same time such form is provided 

6 to the lessee; 

7 (2) each public housing agency that administers 

8 rental assistance under the Housing Choice Voucher 

9 program under section 8(o) of the United States 

10 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), includ11 ing the program under paragraph (13) of such sec12 tion 8(o), to provide a copy of the uniform statement 

13 developed pursuant to subsection (a) to each assisted 

14 family or individual— 

15 (A) together with the voucher for such as16 sistance, at the time such voucher is issued for 

17 such family or individual; and 

18 (B) together with any income verification 

19 form, at the same time such form is provided 

20 to the applicant or assisted family or individual; 

21 and 

22 (3) each owner of a dwelling unit assisted with 

23 Federal project-based rental assistance to provide a 

24 copy of the uniform statement developed pursuant to 


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1 subsection (a) to provide to the lessee of such dwell2 ing unit— 

3 (A) together with the lease for such dwell4 ing unit, at the same time such form is pro5 vided to the lessee; and 

6 (B) together with any income verification 

7 form, at the same time such form is provided 

8 to the applicant or tenant; 

9 except that the Secretary of Agriculture shall admin10 ister the requirement under this paragraph with re11 spect to Federal project-based rental assistance 

12 specified in subsection (e)(1)(D). 

13 (c) APPLICATIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE

14 LOANS.—The Director of the Bureau of Consumer Finan15 cial Protection shall require each creditor that receives an 

16 application (within the meaning of such term as used in 

17 the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691)) for 

18 a residential mortgage loan to provide a copy of the uni19 form statement developed pursuant to subsection (a) in 

20 written form to the applicant for such residential mort21 gage loan, within 5 business days of the date of applica22 tion. 

23 (d) OPTIONAL COMPLETION OF APPLICATION.— 

24 Nothing in this section may be construed to require any 


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1 individual to complete an application for voter registra2 tion. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

4 (1) FEDERAL PROJECT-BASED RENTAL ASSIST5 ANCE.—The term ‘‘Federal project-based rental as6 sistance’’ means project-based rental assistance pro7 vided under— 

8 (A) section 8 of the United States Housing 

9 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 

10 (B) section 202 of the Housing Act of 

11 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); 

12 (C) section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 

13 National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 8013); 

15 (D) title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 

16 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.), including voucher assist17 ance under section 542 of such title (42 U.S.C. 

18 1490r); 

19 (E) subtitle D of title VIII of the Cran20 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 

22 (F) title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na23 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 12721 et seq.); 


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1 (G) the Housing Trust Fund program 

2 under section 1338 of the Federal Housing En3 terprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act 

4 of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4588); or 

5 (H) subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney6 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 11381 et seq.). 

8 (2) OWNER.—The term ‘‘owner’’ has the mean9 ing given such term in section 8(f) of the United 

10 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(f)). 

11 (3) PUBLIC HOUSING; PUBLIC HOUSING AGEN12 CY.—The terms ‘‘public housing’’ and ‘‘public hous13 ing agency’’ have the meanings given such terms in 

14 section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 

15 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

16 (4) RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN.—The term 

17 ‘‘residential mortgage loan’’ includes any loan which 

18 is secured by a first or subordinate lien on residen19 tial real property (including individual units of con20 dominiums and cooperatives) designed principally for 

21 the occupancy of from 1 to 4 families. 

22 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Housing and 

23 Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 

24 Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 


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1 may issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry 

2 out this section. 

3 Subtitle F—Availability of HAVA 

4 Requirements Payments 

5 SEC. 1501. AVAILABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS 

6 UNDER HAVA TO COVER COSTS OF COMPLI7 ANCE WITH NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b) of the Help Amer9 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘as provided 

11 in paragraphs (2) and (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘as other12 wise provided in this subsection’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN VOTER REGISTRATION ACTIVI16 TIES.—A State may use a requirements payment to 

17 carry out any of the requirements of the Voter Reg18 istration Modernization Act of 2021, including the 

19 requirements of the National Voter Registration Act 

20 of 1993 which are imposed pursuant to the amend21 ments made to such Act by the Voter Registration 

22 Modernization Act of 2021.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 254(a)(1) 

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1 ing ‘‘section 251(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

2 251(b)(2)’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2022 

5 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

6 Subtitle G—Prohibiting Inter7 ference With Voter Registration 

8 SEC. 1601. PROHIBITING HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, 

9 OR PREVENTING VOTER REGISTRATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 

11 States Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

12 new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 612. Hindering, interfering with, or preventing 

14 registering to vote 

15 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per16 son, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, to 

17 corruptly hinder, interfere with, or prevent another person 

18 from registering to vote or to corruptly hinder, interfere 

19 with, or prevent another person from aiding another per20 son in registering to vote. 

21 ‘‘(b) ATTEMPT.—Any person who attempts to commit 

22 any offense described in subsection (a) shall be subject to 

23 the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense that 

24 the person attempted to commit. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

2 (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

3 than 5 years, or both.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘612. Hindering, interfering with, or preventing registering to vote.’’. 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 

9 or after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 

10 no person may be found to have violated section 612 of 

11 title 18, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), 

12 on the basis of any act occurring prior to the date of the 

13 enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 1602. ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES. 

15 (a) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assist17 ance Commission shall develop and publish recommenda18 tions for best practices for States to use to deter and pre19 vent violations of section 612 of title 18, United States 

20 Code (as added by section 1601), and section 12 of the 

21 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

22 20511) (relating to the unlawful interference with reg23 istering to vote, or voting, or attempting to register to vote 

24 or vote), including practices to provide for the posting of 

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1 tion agencies under such Act, the training of poll workers 

2 and election officials, and relevant educational materials. 

3 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘State’’ includes 

4 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

5 Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

6 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

7 Islands. 

8 (b) INCLUSION IN VOTER INFORMATION REQUIRE9 MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act 

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

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara12 graph (E); 

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub14 paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(G) information relating to the prohibi18 tions of section 612 of title 18, United States 

19 Code, and section 12 of the National Voter 

20 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20511) 

21 (relating to the unlawful interference with reg22 istering to vote, or voting, or attempting to reg23 ister to vote or vote), including information on 

24 how individuals may report allegations of viola25 tions of such prohibitions.’’. 


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1 Subtitle H—Voter Registration 

2 Efficiency Act 

3 SEC. 1701. REQUIRING APPLICANTS FOR MOTOR VEHICLE 

4 DRIVER’S LICENSES IN NEW STATE TO INDI5 CATE WHETHER STATE SERVES AS RESI6 DENCE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION PUR7 POSES. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS FOR LI9 CENSES.—Section 5(d) of the National Voter Registration 

10 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504(d)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘Any change’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘(1) Any change’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(2)(A) A State motor vehicle authority shall 

16 require each individual applying for a motor vehicle 

17 driver’s license in the State— 

18 ‘‘(i) to indicate whether the individual re19 sides in another State or resided in another 

20 State prior to applying for the license, and, if 

21 so, to identify the State involved; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) to indicate whether the individual in23 tends for the State to serve as the individual’s 

24 residence for purposes of registering to vote in 

25 elections for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(B) If pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) an in2 dividual indicates to the State motor vehicle author3 ity that the individual intends for the State to serve 

4 as the individual’s residence for purposes of reg5 istering to vote in elections for Federal office, the 

6 authority shall notify the motor vehicle authority of 

7 the State identified by the individual pursuant to 

8 subparagraph (A)(i), who shall notify the chief State 

9 election official of such State that the individual no 

10 longer intends for that State to serve as the individ11 ual’s residence for purposes of registering to vote in 

12 elections for Federal office.’’. 

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

14 subsection (a) shall take effect with respect to elections 

15 occurring in 2021 or any succeeding year. 

16 Subtitle I—Providing Voter Reg17 istration Information to Sec18 ondary School Students 

19 SEC. 1801. PILOT PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING VOTER REG20 ISTRATION INFORMATION TO SECONDARY 

21 SCHOOL STUDENTS PRIOR TO GRADUATION. 

22 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Election Assistance Com23 mission (hereafter in this subtitle referred to as the ‘‘Com24 mission’’) shall carry out a pilot program under which the 

25 Commission shall provide funds during the 1-year period 


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1 beginning after the date of the enactment of this subtitle 

2 to eligible local educational agencies for initiatives to pro3 vide information on registering to vote in elections for pub4 lic office to secondary school students in the 12th grade. 

5 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A local educational agency is eligi6 ble to receive funds under the pilot program under this 

7 subtitle if the agency submits to the Commission, at such 

8 time and in such form as the Commission may require, 

9 an application containing— 

10 (1) a description of the initiatives the agency 

11 intends to carry out with the funds; 

12 (2) a description of how the agency will 

13 prioritize access to such initiatives for schools that 

14 serve— 

15 (A) the highest numbers or percentages of 

16 students counted under section 1124(c) of the 

17 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

18 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)); and 

19 (B) the highest percentages of students 

20 who are eligible for a free or reduced price 

21 lunch under the Richard B. Russell National 

22 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) 

23 (which, in the case of a high school, may be cal24 culated using comparable data from the schools 

25 that feed into the high school), as compared to 


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1 other public schools in the jurisdiction of the 

2 agency; 

3 (3) an estimate of the costs associated with 

4 such initiatives; and 

5 (4) such other information and assurances as 

6 the Commission may require. 

7 (c) PRIORITY FOR SCHOOLS RECEIVING TITLE I 

8 FUNDS.—In selecting among eligible local educational 

9 agencies for receiving funds under the pilot program under 

10 this subtitle, the Commission shall give priority to local 

11 educational agencies that receive funds under part A of 

12 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

13 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.). 

14 (d) CONSULTATION WITH ELECTION OFFICIALS.—A 

15 local educational agency receiving funds under the pilot 

16 program shall consult with the State and local election of17 ficials who are responsible for administering elections for 

18 public office in the area served by the agency in developing 

19 the initiatives the agency will carry out with the funds. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this subtitle, the terms ‘‘local 

21 educational agency’’ and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 

22 meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the Elemen23 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

24 7801). 


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1 SEC. 1802. REPORTS. 

2 (a) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF FUNDS.—Not later 

3 than the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on 

4 the date of the receipt of the funds, each local educational 

5 agency receiving funds under the pilot program under this 

6 subtitle shall submit a report to the Commission describ7 ing the initiatives carried out with the funds and analyzing 

8 their effectiveness. 

9 (b) REPORT BY COMMISSION.—Not later than the ex10 piration of the 60-day period which begins on the date 

11 the Commission receives the final report submitted by a 

12 local educational agency under subsection (a), the Com13 mission shall submit a report to Congress on the pilot pro14 gram under this part. 

15 SEC. 1803. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

17 as may be necessary to carry out this subtitle. 

18 Subtitle J—Voter Registration of 

19 Minors 

20 SEC. 1901. ACCEPTANCE OF VOTER REGISTRATION APPLI21 CATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18 

22 YEARS OF AGE. 

23 (a) ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS.—Section 8 of 

24 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

25 20507), as amended by section 1004, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub2 section (l); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol4 lowing new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(k) ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS FROM INDIVID6 UALS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may not refuse to 

8 accept or process an individual’s application to reg9 ister to vote in elections for Federal office on the 

10 grounds that the individual is under 18 years of age 

11 at the time the individual submits the application, so 

12 long as the individual is at least 16 years of age at 

13 such time. 

14 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON STATE VOTING AGE RE15 QUIREMENTS.—Nothing in paragraph (1) may be 

16 construed to require a State to permit an individual 

17 who is under 18 years of age at the time of an elec18 tion for Federal office to vote in the election.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur21 ring on or after January 1, 2022. 


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1 TITLE II—ACCESS TO VOTING 

2 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS3 ABILITIES 

4 SEC. 2001. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES TO PROMOTE AC5 CESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

6 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

8 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

9 as amended by section 1201(a), is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 

11 sections 306 and 307; and 

12 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 

13 new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 305. ACCESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

15 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT OF APPLICATIONS AND BAL17 LOTS.—Each State shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) permit individuals with disabilities to use 

19 absentee registration procedures and to vote by ab20 sentee ballot in elections for Federal office; 

21 ‘‘(2) accept and process, with respect to any 

22 election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter 

23 registration application and absentee ballot applica24 tion from an individual with a disability if the appli25 cation is received by the appropriate State election 


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1 official within the deadline for the election which is 

2 applicable under Federal law; 

3 ‘‘(3) in addition to any other method of reg4 istering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot in 

5 the State, establish procedures— 

6 ‘‘(A) for individuals with disabilities to re7 quest by mail and electronically voter registra8 tion applications and absentee ballot applica9 tions with respect to elections for Federal office 

10 in accordance with subsection (c); 

11 ‘‘(B) for States to send by mail and elec12 tronically (in accordance with the preferred 

13 method of transmission designated by the indi14 vidual under subparagraph (C)) voter registra15 tion applications and absentee ballot applica16 tions requested under subparagraph (A) in ac17 cordance with subsection (c)); and 

18 ‘‘(C) by which such an individual can des19 ignate whether the individual prefers that such 

20 voter registration application or absentee ballot 

21 application be transmitted by mail or electroni22 cally; 

23 ‘‘(4) in addition to any other method of trans24 mitting blank absentee ballots in the State, establish 

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1 cally blank absentee ballots to individuals with dis2 abilities with respect to elections for Federal office 

3 in accordance with subsection (d); 

4 ‘‘(5) transmit a validly requested absentee bal5 lot to an individual with a disability— 

6 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subsection (e), 

7 in the case in which the request is received at 

8 least 45 days before an election for Federal of9 fice, not later than 45 days before the election; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case in which the request is re12 ceived less than 45 days before an election for 

13 Federal office— 

14 ‘‘(i) in accordance with State law; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) if practicable and as determined 

16 appropriate by the State, in a manner that 

17 expedites the transmission of such absen18 tee ballot; and 

19 ‘‘(6) if the State declares or otherwise holds a 

20 runoff election for Federal office, establish a written 

21 plan that provides absentee ballots are made avail22 able to individuals with disabilities in a manner that 

23 gives them sufficient time to vote in the runoff elec24 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF SINGLE STATE OFFICE TO

2 PROVIDE INFORMATION ON REGISTRATION AND ABSEN3 TEE BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR ALL DISABLED VOTERS

4 IN STATE.—Each State shall designate a single office 

5 which shall be responsible for providing information re6 garding voter registration procedures and absentee ballot 

7 procedures to be used by individuals with disabilities with 

8 respect to elections for Federal office to all individuals 

9 with disabilities who wish to register to vote or vote in 

10 any jurisdiction in the State. 

11 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COM12 MUNICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO

13 REQUEST AND FOR STATES TO SEND VOTER REGISTRA14 TION APPLICATIONS AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA15 TIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES RELATED TO VOTING

16 INFORMATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall, in addi18 tion to the designation of a single State office under 

19 subsection (b), designate not less than 1 means of 

20 electronic communication— 

21 ‘‘(A) for use by individuals with disabilities 

22 who wish to register to vote or vote in any ju23 risdiction in the State to request voter registra24 tion applications and absentee ballot applica25 tions under subsection (a)(3); 


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1 ‘‘(B) for use by States to send voter reg2 istration applications and absentee ballot appli3 cations requested under such subsection; and 

4 ‘‘(C) for the purpose of providing related 

5 voting, balloting, and election information to in6 dividuals with disabilities. 

7 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION REGARDING PROVISION OF

8 MULTIPLE MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA9 TION.—A State may, in addition to the means of 

10 electronic communication so designated, provide 

11 multiple means of electronic communication to indi12 viduals with disabilities, including a means of elec13 tronic communication for the appropriate jurisdic14 tion of the State. 

15 ‘‘(3) INCLUSION OF DESIGNATED MEANS OF

16 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION WITH INFORMA17 TIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT AC18 COMPANY BALLOTING MATERIALS.—Each State shall 

19 include a means of electronic communication so des20 ignated with all informational and instructional ma21 terials that accompany balloting materials sent by 

22 the State to individuals with disabilities. 

23 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI24 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis25 ability does not designate a preference under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 section (a)(3)(C), the State shall transmit the voter 

2 registration application or absentee ballot application 

3 by any delivery method allowable in accordance with 

4 applicable State law, or if there is no applicable 

5 State law, by mail. 

6 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE BALLOTS

7 BY MAIL AND ELECTRONICALLY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 

9 procedures— 

10 ‘‘(A) to securely transmit blank absentee 

11 ballots by mail and electronically (in accordance 

12 with the preferred method of transmission des13 ignated by the individual with a disability under 

14 subparagraph (B)) to individuals with disabil15 ities for an election for Federal office; and 

16 ‘‘(B) by which the individual with a dis17 ability can designate whether the individual pre18 fers that such blank absentee ballot be trans19 mitted by mail or electronically. 

20 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI21 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis22 ability does not designate a preference under para23 graph (1)(B), the State shall transmit the ballot by 

24 any delivery method allowable in accordance with apVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 plicable State law, or if there is no applicable State 

2 law, by mail. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF METHODS TO TRACK DE4 LIVERY TO AND RETURN OF BALLOT BY INDIVIDUAL

5 REQUESTING BALLOT.—Under the procedures estab6 lished under paragraph (1), the State shall apply 

7 such methods as the State considers appropriate, 

8 such as assigning a unique identifier to the ballot, 

9 to ensure that if an individual with a disability re10 quests the State to transmit a blank absentee ballot 

11 to the individual in accordance with this subsection, 

12 the voted absentee ballot which is returned by the 

13 individual is the same blank absentee ballot which 

14 the State transmitted to the individual. 

15 ‘‘(e) HARDSHIP EXEMPTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the chief State election 

17 official determines that the State is unable to meet 

18 the requirement under subsection (a)(5)(A) with re19 spect to an election for Federal office due to an 

20 undue hardship described in paragraph (2)(B), the 

21 chief State election official shall request that the At22 torney General grant a waiver to the State of the 

23 application of such subsection. Such request shall in24 clude— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a recognition that the purpose of 

2 such subsection is to individuals with disabil3 ities enough time to vote in an election for Fed4 eral office; 

5 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the hardship that 

6 indicates why the State is unable to transmit 

7 such individuals an absentee ballot in accord8 ance with such subsection; 

9 ‘‘(C) the number of days prior to the elec10 tion for Federal office that the State requires 

11 absentee ballots be transmitted to such individ12 uals; and 

13 ‘‘(D) a comprehensive plan to ensure that 

14 such individuals are able to receive absentee 

15 ballots which they have requested and submit 

16 marked absentee ballots to the appropriate 

17 State election official in time to have that ballot 

18 counted in the election for Federal office, which 

19 includes— 

20 ‘‘(i) the steps the State will undertake 

21 to ensure that such individuals have time 

22 to receive, mark, and submit their ballots 

23 in time to have those ballots counted in the 

24 election; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) why the plan provides such indi2 viduals sufficient time to vote as a sub3 stitute for the requirements under such 

4 subsection; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) the underlying factual informa6 tion which explains how the plan provides 

7 such sufficient time to vote as a substitute 

8 for such requirements. 

9 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF WAIVER REQUEST.—The 

10 Attorney General shall approve a waiver request 

11 under paragraph (1) if the Attorney General deter12 mines each of the following requirements are met: 

13 ‘‘(A) The comprehensive plan under sub14 paragraph (D) of such paragraph provides indi15 viduals with disabilities sufficient time to re16 ceive absentee ballots they have requested and 

17 submit marked absentee ballots to the appro18 priate State election official in time to have that 

19 ballot counted in the election for Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(B) One or more of the following issues 

21 creates an undue hardship for the State: 

22 ‘‘(i) The State’s primary election date 

23 prohibits the State from complying with 

24 subsection (a)(5)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The State has suffered a delay in 

2 generating ballots due to a legal contest. 

3 ‘‘(iii) The State Constitution prohibits 

4 the State from complying with such sub5 section. 

6 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF WAIVER.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

8 under subparagraph (B), a State that requests 

9 a waiver under paragraph (1) shall submit to 

10 the Attorney General the written waiver request 

11 not later than 90 days before the election for 

12 Federal office with respect to which the request 

13 is submitted. The Attorney General shall ap14 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

15 65 days before such election. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a State requests a 

17 waiver under paragraph (1) as the result of an 

18 undue hardship described in paragraph 

19 (2)(B)(ii), the State shall submit to the Attor20 ney General the written waiver request as soon 

21 as practicable. The Attorney General shall ap22 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

23 5 business days after the date on which the re24 quest is received. 


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1 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF WAIVER.—A waiver ap2 proved under paragraph (2) shall only apply with re3 spect to the election for Federal office for which the 

4 request was submitted. For each subsequent election 

5 for Federal office, the Attorney General shall only 

6 approve a waiver if the State has submitted a re7 quest under paragraph (1) with respect to such elec8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion may be construed to allow the marking or casting of 

11 ballots over the internet. 

12 ‘‘(g) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY DEFINED.— 

13 In this section, an ‘individual with a disability’ means an 

14 individual with an impairment that substantially limits 

15 any major life activities and who is otherwise qualified to 

16 vote in elections for Federal office. 

17 ‘‘(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

18 with respect to elections for Federal office held on or after 

19 January 1, 2022.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

21 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS22 SISTANCE COMMISSION.— 

23 (1) TIMING OF ISSUANCE.—Section 311(b) of 

24 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (2); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

8 respect to section 305, January 1, 2022.’’. 

9 (2) REDESIGNATION.—Title III of such Act (52 

10 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by redesignating 

11 sections 311 and 312 as sections 321 and 322. 

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

13 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c)), is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec16 tions 305 and 306 as relating to sections 306 and 

17 307; 

18 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec19 tion 304 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 305. Access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities.’’; 

20 and 

21 (3) by redesignating the items relating to sec22 tions 311 and 312 as relating to sections 321 and 

23 322. 


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1 SEC. 2002. EXPANSION AND REAUTHORIZATION OF GRANT 

2 PROGRAM TO ASSURE VOTING ACCESS FOR 

3 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

4 (a) PURPOSES OF PAYMENTS.—Section 261(b) of the 

5 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21021(b)) is 

6 amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) making absentee voting and voting at 

9 home accessible to individuals with the full range of 

10 disabilities (including impairments involving vision, 

11 hearing, mobility, or dexterity) through the imple12 mentation of accessible absentee voting systems that 

13 work in conjunction with assistive technologies for 

14 which individuals have access at their homes, inde15 pendent living centers, or other facilities; 

16 ‘‘(2) making polling places, including the path 

17 of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each 

18 polling facility, accessible to individuals with disabil19 ities, including the blind and visually impaired, in a 

20 manner that provides the same opportunity for ac21 cess and participation (including privacy and inde22 pendence) as for other voters; and 

23 ‘‘(3) providing solutions to problems of access 

24 to voting and elections for individuals with disabil25 ities that are universally designed and provide the 


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1 same opportunities for individuals with and without 

2 disabilities.’’. 

3 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 264(a) of such Act 

4 (52 U.S.C. 21024(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2022 and each succeeding 

7 fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary to carry 

8 out this part.’’. 

9 (c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 

10 264 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21024) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Any 

12 amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub13 section (b), any amounts’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 section: 

16 ‘‘(c) RETURN AND TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR OBLIGATION AND EXPEND18 ITURE.—In the case of any amounts appropriated 

19 pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) for a 

20 payment to a State or unit of local government for 

21 fiscal year 2022 or any succeeding fiscal year, any 

22 portion of such amounts which have not been obli23 gated or expended by the State or unit of local gov24 ernment prior to the expiration of the 4-year period 

25 which begins on the date the State or unit of local 


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1 government first received the amounts shall be 

2 transferred to the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION OF TRANSFERRED

4 AMOUNTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

6 use the amounts transferred under paragraph 

7 (1) to make payments on a pro rata basis to 

8 each covered payment recipient described in 

9 subparagraph (B), which may obligate and ex10 pend such payment for the purposes described 

11 in section 261(b) during the 1-year period 

12 which begins on the date of receipt. 

13 ‘‘(B) COVERED PAYMENT RECIPIENTS DE14 SCRIBED.—In subparagraph (A), a ‘covered 

15 payment recipient’ is a State or unit of local 

16 government with respect to which— 

17 ‘‘(i) amounts were appropriated pur18 suant to the authority of subsection (a); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) no amounts were transferred to 

21 the Commission under paragraph (1).’’. 


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1 SEC. 2003. PILOT PROGRAMS FOR ENABLING INDIVIDUALS 

2 WITH DISABILITIES TO REGISTER TO VOTE 

3 PRIVATELY AND INDEPENDENTLY AT RESI4 DENCES. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAMS.—The 

6 Election Assistance Commission (hereafter referred to as 

7 the ‘‘Commission’’) shall, subject to the availability of ap8 propriations to carry out this section, make grants to eligi9 ble States to conduct pilot programs under which individ10 uals with disabilities may use electronic means (including 

11 the internet and telephones utilizing assistive devices) to 

12 register to vote and to request and receive absentee ballots 

13 in a manner which permits such individuals to do so pri14 vately and independently at their own residences. 

15 (b) REPORTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant for 

17 a year under this section shall submit a report to the 

18 Commission on the pilot programs the State carried 

19 out with the grant with respect to elections for pub20 lic office held in the State during the year. 

21 (2) DEADLINE.—A State shall submit a report 

22 under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after 

23 the last election for public office held in the State 

24 during the year. 

25 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 

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1 mission, at such time and in such form as the Commission 

2 may require, an application containing such information 

3 and assurances as the Commission may require. 

4 (d) TIMING.—The Commission shall make the first 

5 grants under this section for pilot programs which will be 

6 in effect with respect to elections for Federal office held 

7 in 2022, or, at the option of a State, with respect to other 

8 elections for public office held in the State in 2022. 

9 (e) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

10 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common11 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

12 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

13 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

14 SEC. 2004. GAO ANALYSIS AND REPORT ON VOTING ACCESS 

15 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

16 (a) ANALYSIS.—The Comptroller General of the 

17 United States shall conduct an analysis after each regu18 larly scheduled general election for Federal office with re19 spect to the following: 

20 (1) In relation to polling places located in 

21 houses of worship or other facilities that may be ex22 empt from accessibility requirements under the 

23 Americans with Disabilities Act— 

24 (A) efforts to overcome accessibility chal25 lenges posed by such facilities; and 


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1 (B) the extent to which such facilities are 

2 used as polling places in elections for Federal 

3 office. 

4 (2) Assistance provided by the Election Assist5 ance Commission, Department of Justice, or other 

6 Federal agencies to help State and local officials im7 prove voting access for individuals with disabilities 

8 during elections for Federal office. 

9 (3) When accessible voting machines are avail10 able at a polling place, the extent to which such ma11 chines— 

12 (A) are located in places that are difficult 

13 to access; 

14 (B) malfunction; or 

15 (C) fail to provide sufficient privacy to en16 sure that the ballot of the individual cannot be 

17 seen by another individual. 

18 (4) The process by which Federal, State, and 

19 local governments track compliance with accessibility 

20 requirements related to voting access, including 

21 methods to receive and address complaints. 

22 (5) The extent to which poll workers receive 

23 training on how to assist individuals with disabil24 ities, including the receipt by such poll workers of 


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1 information on legal requirements related to voting 

2 rights for individuals with disabilities. 

3 (6) The extent and effectiveness of training pro4 vided to poll workers on the operation of accessible 

5 voting machines. 

6 (7) The extent to which individuals with a de7 velopmental or psychiatric disability experience 

8 greater barriers to voting, and whether poll worker 

9 training adequately addresses the needs of such indi10 viduals. 

11 (8) The extent to which State or local govern12 ments employ, or attempt to employ, individuals 

13 with disabilities to work at polling sites. 

14 (b) REPORT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 9 months 

16 after the date of a regularly scheduled general elec17 tion for Federal office, the Comptroller General shall 

18 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

19 a report with respect to the most recent regularly 

20 scheduled general election for Federal office that 

21 contains the following: 

22 (A) The analysis required by subsection 

23 (a). 

24 (B) Recommendations, as appropriate, to 

25 promote the use of best practices used by State 


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1 and local officials to address barriers to accessi2 bility and privacy concerns for individuals with 

3 disabilities in elections for Federal office. 

4 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

6 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on House Administra8 tion of the House of Representatives; 

9 (B) the Committee on Rules and Adminis10 tration of the Senate; 

11 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

12 the House of Representatives; and 

13 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

14 the Senate. 

15 TITLE III—PROHIBITING VOTER 

16 CAGING 

17 SEC. 3001. VOTER CAGING AND OTHER QUESTIONABLE 

18 CHALLENGES PROHIBITED. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 

20 States Code, as amended by section 1601(a), is amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 613. Voter caging and other questionable chal23 lenges 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) the term ‘voter caging document’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a nonforwardable document that is 

2 returned to the sender or a third party as unde3 livered or undeliverable despite an attempt to 

4 deliver such document to the address of a reg5 istered voter or applicant; or 

6 ‘‘(B) any document with instructions to an 

7 addressee that the document be returned to the 

8 sender or a third party but is not so returned, 

9 despite an attempt to deliver such document to 

10 the address of a registered voter or applicant, 

11 unless at least two Federal election cycles have 

12 passed since the date of the attempted delivery; 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘voter caging list’ means a list of 

14 individuals compiled from voter caging documents; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(3) the term ‘unverified match list’ means a 

17 list produced by matching the information of reg18 istered voters or applicants for voter registration to 

19 a list of individuals who are ineligible to vote in the 

20 registrar’s jurisdiction, by virtue of death, convic21 tion, change of address, or otherwise; unless one of 

22 the pieces of information matched includes a signa23 ture, photograph, or unique identifying number en24 suring that the information from each source refers 

25 to the same individual. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION AGAINST VOTER CAGING.—No 

2 State or local election official shall prevent an individual 

3 from registering or voting in any election for Federal of4 fice, or permit in connection with any election for Federal 

5 office a formal challenge under State law to an individual’s 

6 registration status or eligibility to vote, if the basis for 

7 such decision is evidence consisting of— 

8 ‘‘(1) a voter caging document or voter caging 

9 list; 

10 ‘‘(2) an unverified match list; 

11 ‘‘(3) an error or omission on any record or 

12 paper relating to any application, registration, or 

13 other act requisite to voting, if such error or omis14 sion is not material to an individual’s eligibility to 

15 vote under section 2004 of the Revised Statutes, as 

16 amended (52 U.S.C. 10101(a)(2)(B)); or 

17 ‘‘(4) any other evidence so designated for pur18 poses of this section by the Election Assistance Com19 mission, 

20 except that the election official may use such evidence if 

21 it is corroborated by independent evidence of the individ22 ual’s ineligibility to register or vote. 

23 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES BY PERSONS

24 OTHER THAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES.—No 

2 person, other than a State or local election official, 

3 shall submit a formal challenge to an individual’s eli4 gibility to register to vote in an election for Federal 

5 office or to vote in an election for Federal office un6 less that challenge is supported by personal knowl7 edge regarding the grounds for ineligibility which 

8 is— 

9 ‘‘(A) documented in writing; and 

10 ‘‘(B) subject to an oath or attestation 

11 under penalty of perjury that the challenger has 

12 a good faith factual basis to believe that the in13 dividual who is the subject of the challenge is 

14 ineligible to register to vote or vote in that elec15 tion, except a challenge which is based on the 

16 age, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the in17 dividual who is the subject of the challenge may 

18 not be considered to have a good faith factual 

19 basis for purposes of this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON CHALLENGES ON OR

21 NEAR DATE OF ELECTION.—No person, other than 

22 a State or local election official, shall be permitted— 

23 ‘‘(A) to challenge an individual’s eligibility 

24 to vote in an election for Federal office on Elec25 tion Day, or 


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1 ‘‘(B) to challenge an individual’s eligibility 

2 to register to vote in an election for Federal of3 fice or to vote in an election for Federal office 

4 less than 10 days before the election unless the 

5 individual registered to vote less than 20 days 

6 before the election. 

7 ‘‘(d) PENALTIES FOR KNOWING MISCONDUCT.— 

8 Whoever knowingly challenges the eligibility of one or 

9 more individuals to register or vote or knowingly causes 

10 the eligibility of such individuals to be challenged in viola11 tion of this section with the intent that one or more eligi12 ble voters be disqualified, shall be fined under this title 

13 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, for each such 

14 violation. Each violation shall be a separate offense. 

15 ‘‘(e) NO EFFECT ON RELATED LAWS.—Nothing in 

16 this section is intended to override the protections of the 

17 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

18 20501 et seq.) or to affect the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

19 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.).’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, as amended 

22 by section 1601(b), is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

‘‘613. Voter caging and other questionable challenges.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3002. DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF BEST PRAC2 TICES FOR PREVENTING VOTER CAGING. 

3 (a) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assist5 ance Commission shall develop and publish for the use of 

6 States recommendations for best practices to deter and 

7 prevent violations of section 613 of title 18, United States 

8 Code, as added by section 3001(a), including practices to 

9 provide for the posting of relevant information at polling 

10 places and voter registration agencies, the training of poll 

11 workers and election officials, and relevant educational 

12 measures. For purposes of this subsection, the term 

13 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common14 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

15 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

16 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

17 (b) INCLUSION IN VOTING INFORMATION REQUIRE18 MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act 

19 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)), as amended by section 

20 1602(b), is amended— 

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

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub24 paragraph (G) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub26 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(H) information relating to the prohibi2 tion against voter caging and other questionable 

3 challenges (as set forth in section 613 of title 

4 18, United States Code), including information 

5 on how individuals may report allegations of 

6 violations of such prohibition.’’. 

7 TITLE IV—PROHIBITING DECEP8 TIVE PRACTICES AND PRE9 VENTING VOTER INTIMIDA10 TION 

11 SEC. 4001. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN 

12 FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Subsection (b) of section 2004 of 

14 the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person’’; and 

18 (2) by inserting at the end the following new 

19 paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(2) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERAL

21 ELECTIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person, whether 

23 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall, 

24 within 60 days before an election described in 

25 paragraph (5), by any means, including by 


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1 means of written, electronic, or telephonic com2 munications, communicate or cause to be com3 municated information described in subpara4 graph (B), or produce information described in 

5 subparagraph (B) with the intent that such in6 formation be communicated, if such person— 

7 ‘‘(i) knows such information to be ma8 terially false; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to impede or pre10 vent another person from exercising the 

11 right to vote in an election described in 

12 paragraph (5). 

13 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Infor14 mation is described in this subparagraph if such 

15 information is regarding— 

16 ‘‘(i) the time, place, or manner of 

17 holding any election described in para18 graph (5); or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the qualifications for or restric20 tions on voter eligibility for any such elec21 tion, including— 

22 ‘‘(I) any criminal, civil, or other 

23 legal penalties associated with voting 

24 in any such election; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) information regarding a 

2 voter’s registration status or eligi3 bility. 

4 ‘‘(3) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING PUBLIC

5 ENDORSEMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person, whether 

7 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall, 

8 within 60 days before an election described in 

9 paragraph (5), by any means, including by 

10 means of written, electronic, or telephonic com11 munications, communicate, or cause to be com12 municated, a materially false statement about 

13 an endorsement, if such person— 

14 ‘‘(i) knows such statement to be false; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to impede or pre17 vent another person from exercising the 

18 right to vote in an election described in 

19 paragraph (5). 

20 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF ‘MATERIALLY

21 FALSE’.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a 

22 statement about an endorsement is ‘materially 

23 false’ if, with respect to an upcoming election 

24 described in paragraph (5)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the statement states that a spe2 cifically named person, political party, or 

3 organization has endorsed the election of a 

4 specific candidate for a Federal office de5 scribed in such paragraph; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) such person, political party, or 

7 organization has not endorsed the election 

8 of such candidate. 

9 ‘‘(4) HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, OR PRE10 VENTING VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.—No 

11 person, whether acting under color of law or other12 wise, shall intentionally hinder, interfere with, or 

13 prevent another person from voting, registering to 

14 vote, or aiding another person to vote or register to 

15 vote in an election described in paragraph (5). 

16 ‘‘(5) ELECTION DESCRIBED.—An election de17 scribed in this paragraph is any general, primary, 

18 run-off, or special election held solely or in part for 

19 the purpose of nominating or electing a candidate 

20 for the office of President, Vice President, presi21 dential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of 

22 the House of Representatives, or Delegate or Com23 missioner from a Territory or possession.’’. 

24 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 

2 2004 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(c)) 

3 is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person’’ 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any person’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person aggrieved by a 

10 violation of subsection (b)(2), (b)(3), or (b)(4) may 

11 institute a civil action for preventive relief, including 

12 an application in a United States district court for 

13 a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining 

14 order, or other order. In any such action, the court, 

15 in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a 

16 reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2004 

18 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101) is 

19 amended— 

20 (A) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘sub21 section (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’; 

22 and 

23 (B) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘sub24 section (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

25 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 


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1 (1) DECEPTIVE ACTS.—Section 594 of title 18, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(a) INTIMIDATION.—Whoever’’; 

6 (B) in subsection (a), as inserted by sub7 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘at any election’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘at any general, primary, run-off, 

9 or special election’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

11 subsections: 

12 ‘‘(b) DECEPTIVE ACTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERAL

14 ELECTIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

16 for any person, whether acting under color of 

17 law or otherwise, within 60 days before an elec18 tion described in subsection (e), by any means, 

19 including by means of written, electronic, or tel20 ephonic communications, to communicate or 

21 cause to be communicated information de22 scribed in subparagraph (B), or produce infor23 mation described in subparagraph (B) with the 

24 intent that such information be communicated, 

25 if such person— 


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1 ‘‘(i) knows such information to be ma2 terially false; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to mislead voters, 

4 or the intent to impede or prevent another 

5 person from exercising the right to vote in 

6 an election described in subsection (e). 

7 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Infor8 mation is described in this subparagraph if such 

9 information is regarding— 

10 ‘‘(i) the time or place of holding any 

11 election described in subsection (e); or 

12 ‘‘(ii) the qualifications for or restric13 tions on voter eligibility for any such elec14 tion, including— 

15 ‘‘(I) any criminal, civil, or other 

16 legal penalties associated with voting 

17 in any such election; or 

18 ‘‘(II) information regarding a 

19 voter’s registration status or eligi20 bility. 

21 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para22 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

23 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

24 ‘‘(c) HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, OR PRE25 VENTING VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for 

2 any person, whether acting under color of law or 

3 otherwise, to intentionally hinder, interfere with, or 

4 prevent another person from voting, registering to 

5 vote, or aiding another person to vote or register to 

6 vote in an election described in subsection (e), in7 cluding by operating a polling place or ballot box 

8 that falsely purports to be an official location estab9 lished for such an election by a unit of government. 

10 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para11 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

12 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

13 ‘‘(d) ATTEMPT.—Any person who attempts to commit 

14 any offense described in subsection (a), (b)(1), or (c)(1) 

15 shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed 

16 for the offense that the person attempted to commit. 

17 ‘‘(e) ELECTION DESCRIBED.—An election described 

18 in this subsection is any general, primary, run-off, or spe19 cial election held solely or in part for the purpose of nomi20 nating or electing a candidate for the office of President, 

21 Vice President, presidential elector, Senator, Member of 

22 the House of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident 

23 Commissioner to the Congress.’’. 

24 (2) MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER IN25 TIMIDATION.—Section 594(a) of title 18, United 


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1 States Code, as amended by paragraph (1), is 

2 amended by striking ‘‘fined under this title or im3 prisoned not more than one year’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned for not 

5 more than 5 years’’. 

6 (3) SENTENCING GUIDELINES.— 

7 (A) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later 

8 than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

9 this Act, the United States Sentencing Commis10 sion, pursuant to its authority under section 

11 994 of title 28, United States Code, and in ac12 cordance with this section, shall review and, if 

13 appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing 

14 guidelines and policy statements applicable to 

15 persons convicted of any offense under section 

16 594 of title 18, United States Code, as amend17 ed by this section. 

18 (B) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States 

19 Sentencing Commission may amend the Federal 

20 Sentencing Guidelines in accordance with the 

21 procedures set forth in section 21(a) of the Sen22 tencing Act of 1987 (28 U.S.C. 994 note) as 

23 though the authority under that section had not 

24 expired. 


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1 (4) PAYMENTS FOR REFRAINING FROM VOT2 ING.—Subsection (c) of section 11 of the Voting 

3 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10307) is amended 

4 by striking ‘‘either for registration to vote or for vot5 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘for registration to vote, for vot6 ing, or for not voting’’. 

7 SEC. 4002. CORRECTIVE ACTION. 

8 (a) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney General re10 ceives a credible report that materially false informa11 tion has been or is being communicated in violation 

12 of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 2004(b) of the 

13 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)), as added by 

14 section 4001(a), and if the Attorney General deter15 mines that State and local election officials have not 

16 taken adequate steps to promptly communicate accu17 rate information to correct the materially false infor18 mation, the Attorney General shall, pursuant to the 

19 written procedures and standards under subsection 

20 (b), communicate to the public, by any means, in21 cluding by means of written, electronic, or telephonic 

22 communications, accurate information designed to 

23 correct the materially false information. 


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1 (2) COMMUNICATION OF CORRECTIVE INFORMA2 TION.—Any information communicated by the Attor3 ney General under paragraph (1)— 

4 (A) shall— 

5 (i) be accurate and objective; 

6 (ii) consist of only the information 

7 necessary to correct the materially false in8 formation that has been or is being com9 municated; and 

10 (iii) to the extent practicable, be by a 

11 means that the Attorney General deter12 mines will reach the persons to whom the 

13 materially false information has been or is 

14 being communicated; and 

15 (B) shall not be designed to favor or dis16 favor any particular candidate, organization, or 

17 political party. 

18 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS FOR

19 TAKING CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

22 General shall publish written procedures and stand23 ards for determining when and how corrective action 

24 will be taken under this section. 


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1 (2) INCLUSION OF APPROPRIATE DEADLINES.— 

2 The procedures and standards under paragraph (1) 

3 shall include appropriate deadlines, based in part on 

4 the number of days remaining before the upcoming 

5 election. 

6 (3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the proce7 dures and standards under paragraph (1), the Attor8 ney General shall consult with the Election Assist9 ance Commission, State and local election officials, 

10 civil rights organizations, voting rights groups, voter 

11 protection groups, and other interested community 

12 organizations. 

13 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

15 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this subtitle. 

16 SEC. 4003. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

18 each general election for Federal office, the Attorney Gen19 eral shall submit to Congress a report compiling all allega20 tions received by the Attorney General of deceptive prac21 tices described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 

22 2004(b) of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)), as 

23 added by section 4001(a), relating to the general election 

24 for Federal office and any primary, run-off, or a special 


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1 election for Federal office held in the 2 years preceding 

2 the general election. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report submitted 

5 under subsection (a) shall include— 

6 (A) a description of each allegation of a 

7 deceptive practice described in subsection (a), 

8 including the geographic location, racial and 

9 ethnic composition, and language minority10 group membership of the persons toward whom 

11 the alleged deceptive practice was directed; 

12 (B) the status of the investigation of each 

13 allegation described in subparagraph (A); 

14 (C) a description of each corrective action 

15 taken by the Attorney General under section 

16 4(a) in response to an allegation described in 

17 subparagraph (A); 

18 (D) a description of each referral of an al19 legation described in subparagraph (A) to other 

20 Federal, State, or local agencies; 

21 (E) to the extent information is available, 

22 a description of any civil action instituted under 

23 section 2004(c)(2) of the Revised Statutes (52 

24 U.S.C. 10101(c)(2)), as added by section 


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1 4001(b), in connection with an allegation de2 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

3 (F) a description of any criminal prosecu4 tion instituted under section 594 of title 18, 

5 United States Code, as amended by section 

6 4001(c), in connection with the receipt of an al7 legation described in subparagraph (A) by the 

8 Attorney General. 

9 (2) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

11 shall not include in a report submitted under 

12 subsection (a) any information protected from 

13 disclosure by rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of 

14 Criminal Procedure or any Federal criminal 

15 statute. 

16 (B) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN OTHER IN17 FORMATION.—The Attorney General may deter18 mine that the following information shall not be 

19 included in a report submitted under subsection 

20 (a): 

21 (i) Any information that is privileged. 

22 (ii) Any information concerning an 

23 ongoing investigation. 


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1 (iii) Any information concerning a 

2 criminal or civil proceeding conducted 

3 under seal. 

4 (iv) Any other nonpublic information 

5 that the Attorney General determines the 

6 disclosure of which could reasonably be ex7 pected to infringe on the rights of any in8 dividual or adversely affect the integrity of 

9 a pending or future criminal investigation. 

10 (c) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—On the date that the 

11 Attorney General submits the report under subsection (a), 

12 the Attorney General shall also make the report publicly 

13 available through the internet and other appropriate 

14 means. 

15 TITLE V—DEMOCRACY 

16 RESTORATION 

17 SEC. 5001. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress makes the following findings: 

19 (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu20 tive act of citizenship. Regaining the right to vote 

21 reintegrates individuals with criminal convictions 

22 into free society, helping to enhance public safety. 

23 (2) Article I, section 4, of the Constitution 

24 grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over 


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1 Federal elections, an authority which has repeatedly 

2 been upheld by the Supreme Court. 

3 (3) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 

4 and equal protection require an equal opportunity 

5 for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal 

6 elections. The right to vote may not be abridged or 

7 denied by the United States or by any State on ac8 count of race, color, gender, or previous condition of 

9 servitude. The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 

10 26th Amendments to the Constitution empower Con11 gress to enact measures to protect the right to vote 

12 in Federal elections. The 8th Amendment to the 

13 Constitution provides for no excessive bail to be re14 quired, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 

15 unusual punishments inflicted. 

16 (4) There are 3 areas in which discrepancies in 

17 State laws regarding criminal convictions lead to un18 fairness in Federal elections: 

19 (A) The lack of a uniform standard for 

20 voting in Federal elections leads to an unfair 

21 disparity and unequal participation in Federal 

22 elections based solely on where a person lives. 

23 (B) Laws governing the restoration of vot24 ing rights after a criminal conviction vary 

25 throughout the country, and persons in some 


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1 States can easily regain their voting rights 

2 while in other States persons effectively lose 

3 their right to vote permanently. 

4 (C) State disenfranchisement laws dis5 proportionately impact racial and ethnic minori6 ties. 

7 (5) Two States (Maine and Vermont), the Dis8 trict of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto 

9 Rico do not disenfranchise individuals with criminal 

10 convictions at all, but 48 States have laws that deny 

11 convicted individuals the right to vote while they are 

12 in prison. 

13 (6) In some States disenfranchisement results 

14 from varying State laws that restrict voting while in15 dividuals are under the supervision of the criminal 

16 justice system or after they have completed a crimi17 nal sentence. In 30 States, convicted individuals may 

18 not vote while they are on parole and 27 States dis19 enfranchise individuals on felony probation as well. 

20 In 11 States, a conviction can result in lifetime dis21 enfranchisement. 

22 (7) Several States deny the right to vote to in23 dividuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. 

24 (8) An estimated 5,200,000 citizens of the 

25 United States, or about 1 in 44 adults in the United 


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1 States, currently cannot vote as a result of a felony 

2 conviction. Of the 5,200,000 citizens barred from 

3 voting, only 24 percent are in prison. By contrast, 

4 75 percent of the disenfranchised reside in their 

5 communities while on probation or parole or after 

6 having completed their sentences. Approximately 

7 2,200,000 citizens who have completed their sen8 tences remain disenfranchised due to restrictive 

9 State laws. In at least 6 States—Alabama, Florida, 

10 Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia— 

11 more than 5 percent of the total voting-age popu12 lation is disenfranchised. 

13 (9) In those States that disenfranchise individ14 uals post-sentence, the right to vote can be regained 

15 in theory, but in practice this possibility is often 

16 granted in a non-uniform and potentially discrimina17 tory manner. Disenfranchised individuals must ei18 ther obtain a pardon or an order from the Governor 

19 or an action by the parole or pardon board, depend20 ing on the offense and State. Individuals convicted 

21 of a Federal offense often have additional barriers to 

22 regaining voting rights. 

23 (10) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor24 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. More 

25 than 6 percent of the African-American voting-age 


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1 population, or 1,800,000 African Americans, are 

2 disenfranchised. Currently, 1 of every 16 voting-age 

3 African Americans are rendered unable to vote be4 cause of felony disenfranchisement, which is a rate 

5 more than 3.7 times greater than non-African Amer6 icans. Over 6 percent of African-American adults are 

7 disenfranchised whereas only 1.7 percent of non-Af8 rican Americans are. In 7 States (Alabama, 16 per9 cent; Florida, 15 percent; Kentucky, 15 percent; 

10 Mississippi, 16 percent; Tennessee, 21 percent; Vir11 ginia, 16 percent; and Wyoming, 36 percent), more 

12 than 1 in 7 African Americans are unable to vote 

13 because of prior convictions, twice the national aver14 age for African Americans. 

15 (11) Latino citizens are disproportionately 

16 disenfranchised based upon their disproportionate 

17 representation in the criminal justice system. In re18 cent years, Latinos have been imprisoned at 2.5 

19 times the rate of Whites. More than 2 percent of the 

20 voting-age Latino population, or 560,000 Latinos, 

21 are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. In 34 

22 states Latinos are disenfranchised at a higher rate 

23 than the general population. In 11 states 4 percent 

24 or more of Latino adults are disenfranchised due to 

25 a felony conviction (Alabama, 4 percent; Arizona, 7 


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1 percent; Arkansas, 4 percent; Idaho, 4 percent; 

2 Iowa, 4 percent; Kentucky, 6 percent; Minnesota, 4 

3 percent; Mississippi, 5 percent; Nebraska, 6 percent; 

4 Tennessee, 11 percent, Wyoming, 4 percent), twice 

5 the national average for Latinos. 

6 (12) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

7 convicted of a criminal offense and who are living 

8 and working in the community serves no compelling 

9 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

10 reintegration into society. 

11 (13) State disenfranchisement laws can sup12 press electoral participation among eligible voters by 

13 discouraging voting among family and community 

14 members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec15 toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 

16 parents may be impacted as well. 

17 (14) The United States is the only Western de18 mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 

19 rights for individuals with felony convictions. 

20 SEC. 5002. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

21 The right of an individual who is a citizen of the 

22 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

23 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

24 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 


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1 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

2 or facility at the time of the election. 

3 SEC. 5003. ENFORCEMENT. 

4 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

5 may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 

6 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this subtitle. 

7 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

9 by a violation of this title may provide written notice 

10 of the violation to the chief election official of the 

11 State involved. 

12 (2) RELIEF.—Except as provided in paragraph 

13 (3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 

14 after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 

15 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola16 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 

17 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

18 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc19 tive relief with respect to the violation. 

20 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

21 within 30 days before the date of an election for 

22 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

23 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

24 paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 


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1 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

2 violation. 

3 SEC. 5004. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

4 RIGHTS. 

5 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 

6 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

7 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ8 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

9 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

10 such individual has the right to vote in an election 

11 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res12 toration Act of 2021 and may register to vote in any 

13 such election and provide such individual with any 

14 materials that are necessary to register to vote in 

15 any such election. 

16 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

17 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

18 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

19 felony, the notification required under para20 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

21 the individual— 

22 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

23 of probation; or 

24 (ii) is released from the custody of 

25 that State (other than to the custody of 


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1 another State or the Federal Government 

2 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel3 ony conviction). 

4 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

5 case of such an individual who has been con6 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re7 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

8 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

9 by a State court. 

10 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

11 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 

12 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 

13 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 

14 (2) that such individual has the right to vote in an 

15 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ16 racy Restoration Act of 2021 and may register to 

17 vote in any such election and provide such individual 

18 with any materials that are necessary to register to 

19 vote in any such election. 

20 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

21 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

22 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

23 felony, the notification required under para24 graph (1) shall be given— 


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1 (i) in the case of an individual who is 

2 sentenced to serve only a term of proba3 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of4 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 

5 the Administrative Office of the United 

6 States Courts on the date on which the in7 dividual is sentenced; or 

8 (ii) in the case of any individual com9 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 

10 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 

11 Prisons, during the period beginning on 

12 the date that is 6 months before such indi13 vidual is released and ending on the date 

14 such individual is released from the cus15 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

16 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

17 case of such an individual who has been con18 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re19 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

20 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

21 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 

22 SEC. 5005. DEFINITIONS. 

23 For purposes of this title: 

24 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL25 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 


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1 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu2 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

3 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

4 privately operated, except that such term does not 

5 include any residential community treatment center 

6 (or similar public or private facility). 

7 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 

8 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 

9 election; 

10 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

11 party held to nominate a candidate; 

12 (C) a primary election held for the selec13 tion of delegates to a national nominating con14 vention of a political party; or 

15 (D) a primary election held for the expres16 sion of a preference for the nomination of per17 sons for election to the office of President. 

18 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of19 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

20 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa21 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

22 the Congress of the United States. 

23 (4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 

24 probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 


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1 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

2 involved concerning— 

3 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 

4 (B) the payment of damages by the indi5 vidual; 

6 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

7 an officer of the court; or 

8 (D) supervision of the individual by an of9 ficer of the court. 

10 SEC. 5006. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

11 (a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 

12 Nothing in this title be construed to prohibit the States 

13 from enacting any State law which affords the right to 

14 vote in any election for Federal office on terms less restric15 tive than those established by this subtitle. 

16 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem17 edies established by this title are in addition to all other 

18 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

19 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re20 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

21 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) or the National Voter 

22 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

23 SEC. 5007. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

24 No State, unit of local government, or other person 

25 may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 


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1 prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 

2 funds unless that person has in effect a program under 

3 which each individual incarcerated in that person’s juris4 diction who is a citizen of the United States is notified, 

5 upon release from such incarceration, of that individual’s 

6 rights under section 5002. 

7 SEC. 5008. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This subtitle shall apply to citizens of the United 

9 States voting in any election for Federal office held after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 TITLE VI—PROMOTING ACCU12 RACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU13 RITY THROUGH VOTER14 VERIFIED PERMANENT 

15 PAPER BALLOT 

16 SEC. 6001. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE17 QUIREMENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the Help 

19 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(2)) is 

20 amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

24 (I) The voting system shall require the use 

25 of an individual, durable, voter-verified 


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1 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 

2 be marked and made available for inspec3 tion and verification by the voter before 

4 the voter’s vote is cast and counted, and 

5 which shall be counted by hand or read by 

6 an optical character recognition device or 

7 other counting device. For purposes of this 

8 subclause, the term ‘individual, durable, 

9 voter-verified paper ballot’ means a paper 

10 ballot marked by the voter by hand or a 

11 paper ballot marked through the use of a 

12 nontabulating ballot marking device or sys13 tem, so long as the voter shall have the op14 tion to mark his or her ballot by hand. 

15 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

16 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

17 any error on the paper ballot before the 

18 permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 

19 preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 

20 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

21 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

22 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

23 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso24 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

25 vote without the voter’s consent. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

2 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter3 verified paper ballot used in accordance 

4 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 

5 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 

6 the official ballot for purposes of any re7 count or audit conducted with respect to 

8 any election for Federal office in which the 

9 voting system is used. 

10 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIRE11 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 

12 Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 

13 (i) shall be suitable for a manual audit, 

14 and shall be counted by hand in any re15 count or audit conducted with respect to 

16 any election for Federal office. 

17 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist18 encies or irregularities between any elec19 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de20 termined by counting by hand the indi21 vidual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots 

22 used pursuant to clause (i), and subject to 

23 subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 

24 voter-verified paper ballots shall be the 

25 true and correct record of the votes cast. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL2 LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara3 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec4 tions for Federal office, including ballots 

5 cast by absent uniformed services voters 

6 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

7 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

8 and other absentee voters. 

9 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

10 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

11 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

15 between any electronic vote tallies and 

16 the vote tallies determined by count17 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

18 voter-verified paper ballots used pur19 suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re20 spect to any election for Federal of21 fice; and 

22 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

23 and convincing evidence (as deter24 mined in accordance with the applica25 ble standards in the jurisdiction inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00141 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 volved) in any recount, audit, or con2 test of the result of the election that 

3 the paper ballots have been com4 promised (by damage or mischief or 

5 otherwise) and that a sufficient num6 ber of the ballots have been so com7 promised that the result of the elec8 tion could be changed, 

9 the determination of the appropriate rem10 edy with respect to the election shall be 

11 made in accordance with applicable State 

12 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

13 not be used as the exclusive basis for de14 termining the official certified result. 

15 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

16 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

17 MACHINE.—For purposes of clause (i), 

18 only the paper ballots deemed com19 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

20 calculation of whether or not the result of 

21 the election could be changed due to the 

22 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI24 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

25 Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(4)) 


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1 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re2 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys3 tem’’. 

4 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

5 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘count8 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

9 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘count11 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

12 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

13 (3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘count14 ed’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘counted, in 

15 accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

16 (4) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘count17 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

18 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

19 SEC. 6002. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

20 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(3)(B) of the Help 

22 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)(B)) is 

23 amended to read as follows: 

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1 portunity to vote, including with privacy and 

2 independence, in a manner that produces a 

3 voter-verified paper ballot as for other voters; 

4 ‘‘(ii) satisfy the requirement of subpara5 graph (A) through the use of a sufficient num6 ber, but at least one, of voting systems, as de7 termined by the Commission in consultation 

8 with the United States Access Board and the 

9 National Institute of Standards and Tech10 nology, equipped to serve individuals with and 

11 without disabilities, including nonvisual and en12 hanced visual accessibility for the blind and vis13 ually impaired, and nonmanual and enhanced 

14 manual accessibility for the mobility and dex15 terity impaired, for all in person voting options; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) meet the requirements of subpara18 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys19 tem that— 

20 ‘‘(I) allows the voter to privately and 

21 independently verify the permanent paper 

22 ballot through the presentation, in acces23 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

24 selections from the same printed or 


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1 marked information that would be used for 

2 any vote counting or auditing; and 

3 ‘‘(II) allows the voter to privately and 

4 independently verify and cast the perma5 nent paper ballot without requiring the 

6 voter to manually handle the paper bal7 lot;’’. 

8 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

9 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE VOTING OPTIONS.— 

10 (1) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle C of 

11 title II of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

12 amended— 

13 (A) by redesignating section 247 as section 

14 248; and 

15 (B) by inserting after section 246 the fol16 lowing new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE VOTING 

18 OPTIONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) GRANTS TO STUDY AND REPORT.—The Com20 mission, in coordination with the Access Board and the 

21 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, shall 

22 make grants to not fewer than three eligible entities to 

23 study, test, and develop accessible and secure remote vot24 ing systems and voting, verification, and casting devices 


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1 to enhance the accessibility of voting and verification for 

2 individuals with disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 

4 grant under this part if it submits to the Commission (at 

5 such time and in such form as the Commission may re6 quire) an application containing— 

7 ‘‘(1) a certification that the entity shall com8 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

9 later than January 1, 2024; and 

10 ‘‘(2) such other information and certifications 

11 as the Commission may require. 

12 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech13 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

14 shall be treated as non-proprietary and shall be made 

15 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot16 ing systems. 

17 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH18 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Commission shall carry 

19 out this section so that the activities carried out with the 

20 grants made under subsection (a) are coordinated with the 

21 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

22 by the Commission under section 271, to the extent that 

23 the Commission determines necessary to provide for the 

24 advancement of accessible voting technology. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

3 (a) $10,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents of such Act is amended— 

6 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

7 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 

8 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

9 section 246 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 247. Study and report on accessible voting options.’’. 

10 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

11 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

12 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

13 III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac14 cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 

15 individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com16 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

17 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt18 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

19 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

20 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN21 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec22 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

23 U.S.C. 21062(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘; except that’’ 

24 and all that follows and inserting a period. 


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1 SEC. 6003. DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

2 FOR BALLOTS. 

3 Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

4 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(7) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE7 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

9 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All voter-verified 

11 paper ballots required to be used under 

12 this Act shall be marked or printed on du13 rable paper. 

14 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

15 this Act, paper is ‘durable’ if it is capable 

16 of withstanding multiple counts and re17 counts by hand without compromising the 

18 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

19 capable of retaining the information 

20 marked or printed on them for the full du21 ration of a retention and preservation pe22 riod of 22 months. 

23 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

24 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

25 DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com26 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 


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1 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 

2 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

3 or other personal vision enhancing devices) and 

4 by an optical character recognition device or 

5 other device equipped for individuals with dis6 abilities.’’. 

7 SEC. 6004. STUDY AND REPORT ON OPTIMAL BALLOT DE8 SIGN. 

9 (a) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commission 

10 shall conduct a study of the best ways to design ballots 

11 used in elections for public office, including paper ballots 

12 and electronic or digital ballots, to minimize confusion and 

13 user errors. 

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2022, the 

15 Election Assistance Commission shall submit to Congress 

16 a report on the study conducted under subsection (a). 

17 SEC. 6005. PAPER BALLOT PRINTING REQUIREMENTS. 

18 Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

19 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 6003, is fur20 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para21 graph: 

22 ‘‘(8) PRINTING REQUIREMENTS FOR BAL23 LOTS.—All paper ballots used in an election for Fed24 eral office shall be printed in the United States on 

25 paper manufactured in the United States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6006. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

2 Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

3 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re7 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec8 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE10 MENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

12 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the requirements of 

13 this section which are first imposed on a State 

14 and jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments 

15 made by the Voter Confidence and Increased 

16 Accessibility Act of 2021 shall apply with re17 spect to voting systems used for any election for 

18 Federal office held in 2022 or any succeeding 

19 year. 

20 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

21 CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN

22 SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING VOTER23 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2020.— 

24 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris25 diction described in clause (ii), subpara26 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 


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1 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

2 subparagraph to ‘2022’ were a reference to 

3 ‘2024’, but only with respect to the fol4 lowing requirements of this section: 

5 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 

6 subsection (a) (relating to the use of 

7 voter-verified paper ballots). 

8 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 

9 (II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac10 cess to verification from and casting 

11 of the durable paper ballot). 

12 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (7) of sub13 section (a) (relating to durability and 

14 readability requirements for ballots). 

15 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

16 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju17 risdiction— 

18 ‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 

19 paper record printers attached to di20 rect recording electronic voting ma21 chines, or which used other voting 

22 systems that used or produced paper 

23 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

24 but that are not in compliance with 

25 paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(iii)(i) 


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1 and (II), and (7) of subsection (a) (as 

2 amended or added by the Voter Con3 fidence and Increased Accessibility 

4 Act of 2021), for the administration 

5 of the regularly scheduled general 

6 election for Federal office held in No7 vember 2020; and 

8 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

9 such printers or systems for the ad10 ministration of elections for Federal 

11 office held in years before 2024. 

12 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

13 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES

14 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

15 SYSTEMS.— 

16 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

17 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap18 propriate election official at each poll19 ing place that uses a printer or sys20 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

21 administration of elections for Federal 

22 office shall offer each individual who 

23 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

24 at the polling place the opportunity to 

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1 ed paper ballot which the individual 

2 may mark by hand and which is not 

3 produced by the direct recording elec4 tronic voting machine or other such 

5 system. The official shall provide the 

6 individual with the ballot and the sup7 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 

8 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

9 practicable) that the waiting period 

10 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

11 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

12 waiting period for an individual who 

13 does not agree to cast the vote using 

14 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

15 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

16 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

17 individual under this clause shall be 

18 counted and otherwise treated as a 

19 regular ballot for all purposes (includ20 ing by incorporating it into the final 

21 unofficial vote count (as defined by 

22 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

23 a provisional ballot, unless the indi24 vidual casting the ballot would have 


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1 otherwise been required to cast a pro2 visional ballot. 

3 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

4 The appropriate election official shall 

5 ensure there is prominently displayed 

6 at each polling place a notice that de7 scribes the obligation of the official to 

8 offer individuals the opportunity to 

9 cast votes using a pre-printed blank 

10 paper ballot. The notice shall take 

11 into consideration factors including 

12 the linguistic preferences of voters in 

13 the jurisdiction. 

14 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

15 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

16 official shall ensure that election offi17 cials at polling places in the State are 

18 aware of the requirements of this 

19 clause, including the requirement to 

20 display a notice under subclause (III), 

21 and are aware that it is a violation of 

22 the requirements of this title for an 

23 election official to fail to offer an indi24 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

25 using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 


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1 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA2 BILITY.—The requirements of this 

3 clause apply only during the period in 

4 which the delay is in effect under 

5 clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

7 USING CERTAIN NONTABULATING BALLOT

8 MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdic9 tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 

10 device which automatically deposits the ballot 

11 into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 

12 apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 

13 if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘any 

14 election for Federal office held in 2022 or any 

15 succeeding year’ were a reference to ‘elections 

16 for Federal office occurring held in 2024 or 

17 each succeeding year’, but only with respect to 

18 paragraph (3)(B)(iii)(II) of subsection (a) (re19 lating to nonmanual casting of the durable 

20 paper ballot).’’. 


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1 TITLE VII—PROVISIONAL 

2 BALLOTS 

3 SEC. 7001. REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTING PROVISIONAL 

4 BALLOTS; ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM AND 

5 NONDISCRIMINATORY STANDARDS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Help America 

7 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub9 section (f); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol11 lowing new subsections: 

12 ‘‘(d) STATEWIDE COUNTING OF PROVISIONAL BAL13 LOTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

15 (a)(4), notwithstanding the precinct or polling place 

16 at which a provisional ballot is cast within the State, 

17 the appropriate election official of the jurisdiction in 

18 which the individual is registered shall count each 

19 vote on such ballot for each election in which the in20 dividual who cast such ballot is eligible to vote. 

21 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

22 apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu23 ary 1, 2022. 

24 ‘‘(e) UNIFORM AND NONDISCRIMINATORY STAND25 ARDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the re2 quirements of this section, each State shall establish 

3 uniform and nondiscriminatory standards for the 

4 issuance, handling, and counting of provisional bal5 lots. 

6 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

7 apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu8 ary 1, 2022.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(f) of 

10 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(f)), as redesignated by sub11 section (a), is amended by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and in12 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsections (d)(2) and 

13 (e)(2), each State’’. 

14 TITLE VIII—EARLY VOTING 

15 SEC. 8001. EARLY VOTING. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

17 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

18 as amended by section 1201(a) and section 2001(a), is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating sections 306 and 307 as 

21 sections 307 and 308; and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 305 the following 

23 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 306. EARLY VOTING. 

2 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE OF ELEC3 TION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow indi5 viduals to vote in an election for Federal office dur6 ing an early voting period which occurs prior to the 

7 date of the election, in the same manner as voting 

8 is allowed on such date. 

9 ‘‘(2) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—The early voting 

10 period required under this subsection with respect to 

11 an election shall consist of a period of consecutive 

12 days (including weekends) which begins on the 15th 

13 day before the date of the election (or, at the option 

14 of the State, on a day prior to the 15th day before 

15 the date of the election) and ends on the date of the 

16 election. 

17 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 Each polling place which allows voting during an early vot19 ing period under subsection (a) shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 10 hours 

21 on each day; 

22 ‘‘(2) have uniform hours each day for which 

23 such voting occurs; and 

24 ‘‘(3) allow such voting to be held for some pe25 riod of time prior to 9:00 a.m (local time) and some 

26 period of time after 5:00 p.m. (local time). 


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1 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) PROXIMITY TO PUBLIC TRANSPOR3 TATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a State 

4 shall ensure that each polling place which allows vot5 ing during an early voting period under subsection 

6 (a) is located within walking distance of a stop on 

7 a public transportation route. 

8 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY IN RURAL AREAS.—The 

9 State shall ensure that polling places which allow 

10 voting during an early voting period under sub11 section (a) will be located in rural areas of the State, 

12 and shall ensure that such polling places are located 

13 in communities which will provide the greatest op14 portunity for residents of rural areas to vote during 

15 the early voting period. 

16 ‘‘(3) COLLEGE CAMPUSES.—The State shall en17 sure that polling places which allow voting during an 

18 early voting period under subsection (a) will be lo19 cated on campuses of institutions of higher edu20 cation in the State. 

21 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall issue 

23 standards for the administration of voting prior to 

24 the day scheduled for a Federal election. Such 

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1 graphic placement of polling places at which such 

2 voting occurs. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 

4 paragraph (1) shall permit States, upon providing 

5 adequate public notice, to deviate from any require6 ment in the case of unforeseen circumstances such 

7 as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or a change 

8 in voter turnout. 

9 ‘‘(e) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING REQUIRE10 MENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall begin proc12 essing and scanning ballots cast during in-person 

13 early voting for tabulation at least 14 days prior to 

14 the date of the election involved. 

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

16 shall be construed to permit a State to tabulate bal17 lots in an election before the closing of the polls on 

18 the date of the election. 

19 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

20 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

21 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

22 election for Federal office.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

24 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS25 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 321(b) of such Act (52 


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1 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as redesignated and amended by sec2 tion 2001(b), is amended— 

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

4 (3); 

5 (2) by striking the period at the end of para6 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(5) except as provided in paragraph (4), in the 

10 case of the recommendations with respect to any sec11 tion added by the Voter Empowerment Act of 2021, 

12 June 30, 2022.’’. 

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

14 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c) and section 

15 2001(c), is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec17 tions 306 and 307 as relating to sections 307 and 

18 308; and 

19 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec20 tion 305 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 306. Early voting.’’. 

21 TITLE IX—VOTING BY MAIL 

22 SEC. 9001. VOTING BY MAIL. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

24 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 


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1 as amended by section 1201(a), section 2001(a), and sec2 tion 8001(a), is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating sections 307 and 308 as 

4 sections 308 and 309; and 

5 (2) by inserting after section 306 the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 307. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

8 MAIL. 

9 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM AVAILABILITY OF ABSENTEE VOTING

10 TO ALL VOTERS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State 

12 is eligible to cast a vote in an election for Federal 

13 office, the State may not impose any additional con14 ditions or requirements on the eligibility of the indi15 vidual to cast the vote in such election by absentee 

16 ballot by mail. 

17 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION OF VOTING BY MAIL.— 

18 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITING IDENTIFICATION RE19 QUIREMENT AS CONDITION OF OBTAINING BAL20 LOT.—A State may not require an individual to 

21 provide any form of identification as a condition 

22 of obtaining an absentee ballot, except that 

23 nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 

24 prevent a State from requiring a signature of 


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1 the individual or similar affirmation as a condi2 tion of obtaining an absentee ballot. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITING REQUIREMENT TO PRO4 VIDE NOTARIZATION OR WITNESS SIGNATURE

5 AS CONDITION OF OBTAINING OR CASTING BAL6 LOT.—A State may not require notarization or 

7 witness signature or other formal authentica8 tion (other than voter attestation) as a condi9 tion of obtaining or casting an absentee ballot. 

10 ‘‘(C) DEADLINE FOR RETURNING BAL11 LOT.—A State may impose a reasonable dead12 line for requesting the absentee ballot and re13 lated voting materials from the appropriate 

14 State or local election official and for returning 

15 the ballot to the appropriate State or local elec16 tion official. 

17 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE18 MENTS FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REGISTERING BY

19 MAIL.—Nothing in this subsection may be construed 

20 to exempt any individual described in paragraph (1) 

21 of section 303(b) from meeting the requirements of 

22 paragraph (2) of such section. 

23 ‘‘(b) DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES

24 REQUIRING SIGNATURE VERIFICATION.— 

25 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State may not im2 pose a signature verification requirement as a 

3 condition of accepting and counting an absentee 

4 ballot submitted by any individual with respect 

5 to an election for Federal office unless the 

6 State meets the due process requirements de7 scribed in paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(B) SIGNATURE VERIFICATION REQUIRE9 MENT DESCRIBED.—In this subsection, a ‘sig10 nature verification requirement’ is a require11 ment that an election official verify the identi12 fication of an individual by comparing the indi13 vidual’s signature on the absentee ballot with 

14 the individual’s signature on the official list of 

15 registered voters in the State or another official 

16 record or other document used by the State to 

17 verify the signatures of voters. 

18 ‘‘(2) DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE

20 DISCREPANCY IN SIGNATURES.—If an indi21 vidual submits an absentee ballot and the ap22 propriate State or local election official deter23 mines that a discrepancy exists between the sig24 nature on such ballot and the signature of such 

25 individual on the official list of registered voters 


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1 in the State or other official record or document 

2 used by the State to verify the signatures of 

3 voters, such election official, prior to making a 

4 final determination as to the validity of such 

5 ballot, shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) make a good faith effort to imme7 diately notify the individual by mail, tele8 phone, and (if available) text message and 

9 electronic mail that— 

10 ‘‘(I) a discrepancy exists between 

11 the signature on such ballot and the 

12 signature of the individual on the offi13 cial list of registered voters in the 

14 State or other official record or docu15 ment used by the State to verify the 

16 signatures of voters, and 

17 ‘‘(II) if such discrepancy is not 

18 cured prior to the expiration of the 

19 10-day period which begins on the 

20 date the official notifies the individual 

21 of the discrepancy, such ballot will not 

22 be counted; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) cure such discrepancy and count 

24 the ballot if, prior to the expiration of the 

25 10-day period described in clause (i)(II), 


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1 the individual provides the official with in2 formation to cure such discrepancy, either 

3 in person, by telephone, or by electronic 

4 methods. 

5 ‘‘(B) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE

6 MISSING SIGNATURE OR OTHER DEFECT.—If an 

7 individual submits an absentee ballot without a 

8 signature or submits an absentee ballot with 

9 another defect which, if left uncured, would 

10 cause the ballot to not be counted, the appro11 priate State or local election official, prior to 

12 making a final determination as to the validity 

13 of the ballot, shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) make a good faith effort to imme15 diately notify the individual by mail, tele16 phone, and (if available) text message and 

17 electronic mail that— 

18 ‘‘(I) the ballot did not include a 

19 signature or has some other defect, 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) if the individual does not 

22 provide the missing signature or cure 

23 the other defect prior to the expira24 tion of the 10-day period which begins 

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1 dividual that the ballot did not include 

2 a signature or has some other defect, 

3 such ballot will not be counted; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) count the ballot if, prior to the 

5 expiration of the 10-day period described 

6 in clause (i)(II), the individual provides the 

7 official with the missing signature on a 

8 form proscribed by the State or cures the 

9 other defect. 

10 This subparagraph does not apply with respect 

11 to a defect consisting of the failure of a ballot 

12 to meet the applicable deadline for the accept13 ance of the ballot, as described in subsection 

14 (e). 

15 ‘‘(C) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—An election 

16 official may not make a determination that a 

17 discrepancy exists between the signature on an 

18 absentee ballot and the signature of the indi19 vidual who submits the ballot on the official list 

20 of registered voters in the State or other official 

21 record or other document used by the State to 

22 verify the signatures of voters unless— 

23 ‘‘(i) at least 2 election officials make 

24 the determination; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) each official who makes the de2 termination has received training in proce3 dures used to verify signatures; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) of the officials who make the de5 termination, at least one is affiliated with 

6 the political party whose candidate received 

7 the most votes in the most recent statewide 

8 election for Federal office held in the State 

9 and at least one is affiliated with the polit10 ical party whose candidate received the 

11 second most votes in the most recent state12 wide election for Federal office held in the 

13 State. 

14 ‘‘(3) REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

16 days after the end of a Federal election cycle, 

17 each chief State election official shall submit to 

18 Congress and the Commission a report con19 taining the following information for the appli20 cable Federal election cycle in the State: 

21 ‘‘(i) The number of ballots invalidated 

22 due to a discrepancy under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Description of attempts to con24 tact voters to provide notice as required by 

25 this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Description of the cure process 

2 developed by such State pursuant to this 

3 subsection, including the number of ballots 

4 determined valid as a result of such proc5 ess. 

6 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ELECTION CYCLE DE7 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the 

8 term ‘Federal election cycle’ means the period 

9 beginning on January 1 of any odd numbered 

10 year and ending on December 31 of the fol11 lowing year. 

12 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

13 this subsection shall be construed— 

14 ‘‘(A) to prohibit a State from rejecting a 

15 ballot attempted to be cast in an election for 

16 Federal office by an individual who is not eligi17 ble to vote in the election; or 

18 ‘‘(B) to prohibit a State from providing an 

19 individual with more time and more methods 

20 for curing a discrepancy in the individual’s sig21 nature, providing a missing signature, or curing 

22 any other defect than the State is required to 

23 provide under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(c) TRANSMISSION OF APPLICATIONS, BALLOTS, 

25 AND BALLOTING MATERIALS TO VOTERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION OF ABSENTEE

2 BALLOT APPLICATIONS BY MAIL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) TRANSMISSION OF APPLICATIONS.— 

4 Not later than 60 days before the date of an 

5 election for Federal office, the appropriate 

6 State or local election official shall transmit by 

7 mail an application for an absentee ballot for 

8 the election to each individual who is registered 

9 to vote in the election, or, in the case of any 

10 State that does not register voters, all individ11 uals who are in the State’s central voter file (or 

12 if the State does not keep a central voter file, 

13 all individuals who are eligible to vote in such 

14 election). 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR INDIVIDUALS AL16 READY RECEIVING APPLICATIONS AUTOMATI17 CALLY.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply with 

18 respect to an individual to whom the State is 

19 already required to transmit an application for 

20 an absentee ballot for the election because the 

21 individual exercised the option described in sub22 paragraph (D) of paragraph (2) to treat an ap23 plication for an absentee ballot in a previous 

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1 plication for an absentee ballot in all subse2 quent elections for Federal office in the State. 

3 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION FOR STATES TRANSMIT4 TING BALLOTS WITHOUT APPLICATION.—Sub5 paragraph (A) does not apply with respect to a 

6 State which transmits a ballot in an election for 

7 Federal office in the State to a voter prior to 

8 the date of the election without regard to 

9 whether or not the voter submitted an applica10 tion for the ballot to the State. 

11 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

12 in this paragraph may be construed to prohibit 

13 an individual from submitting to the appro14 priate State or local election official an applica15 tion for an absentee ballot in an election for 

16 Federal office, including through the methods 

17 described in paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(2) OTHER METHODS FOR APPLYING FOR AB19 SENTEE BALLOT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to such 

21 other methods as the State may establish for an 

22 individual to apply for an absentee ballot, the 

23 State shall permit an individual— 

24 ‘‘(i) to submit an application for an 

25 absentee ballot online; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to submit an application for an 

2 absentee ballot through the use of an auto3 mated telephone-based system, subject to 

4 the same terms and conditions applicable 

5 under this paragraph to the services made 

6 available online. 

7 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF WEBSITES.—The 

8 State shall be considered to meet the require9 ments of subparagraph (A)(i) if the website of 

10 the appropriate State or local election official 

11 allows an application for an absentee ballot to 

12 be completed and submitted online and if the 

13 website permits the individual— 

14 ‘‘(i) to print the application so that 

15 the individual may complete the application 

16 and return it to the official; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) request that a paper copy of the 

18 application be transmitted to the individual 

19 by mail or electronic mail so that the indi20 vidual may complete the application and 

21 return it to the official. 

22 ‘‘(C) ENSURING DELIVERY PRIOR TO

23 ELECTION.—If an individual who is eligible to 

24 vote in an election for Federal office submits an 

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1 tion, the appropriate State or local election offi2 cial shall ensure that the ballot and relating 

3 voting materials are received by the individual 

4 prior to the date of the election so long as the 

5 individual’s application is received by the offi6 cial not later than 5 days (excluding Saturdays, 

7 Sundays, and legal public holidays) before the 

8 date of the election, except that nothing in this 

9 paragraph shall preclude a State or local juris10 diction from allowing for the acceptance and 

11 processing of absentee ballot applications sub12 mitted or received after such required period. 

13 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION FOR ALL FUTURE

14 ELECTIONS.—At the option of an individual, a 

15 State shall treat the individual’s application to 

16 vote by absentee ballot by mail in an election 

17 for Federal office as an application for an ab18 sentee ballot by mail in all subsequent Federal 

19 elections held in the State. 

20 ‘‘(3) SAME-DAY PROCESSING.—The United 

21 States Postal Service shall ensure, to the maximum 

22 extent practicable, that ballots are processed and 

23 cleared from any postal facility or post office on the 

24 same day the ballots are received at such a facility 

25 or post office. 


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1 ‘‘(d) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS2 ABILITIES.—The State shall ensure that all absentee bal3 lot applications, absentee ballots, and related voting mate4 rials in elections for Federal office are accessible to indi5 viduals with disabilities in a manner that provides the 

6 same opportunity for access and participation (including 

7 with privacy and independence) as for other voters. 

8 ‘‘(e) UNIFORM DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTANCE OF

9 MAILED BALLOTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may not refuse to 

11 accept or process a ballot submitted by an individual 

12 by mail with respect to an election for Federal office 

13 in the State on the grounds that the individual did 

14 not meet a deadline for returning the ballot to the 

15 appropriate State or local election official if— 

16 ‘‘(A) the ballot is postmarked or otherwise 

17 indicated by the United States Postal Service to 

18 have been mailed on or before the date of the 

19 election, or has been signed by the voter on or 

20 before the date of the election; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the ballot is received by the appro22 priate election official prior to the expiration of 

23 the 10-day period which begins on the date of 

24 the election. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a State 

3 from having a law that allows for counting of ballots 

4 in an election for Federal office that are received 

5 through the mail after the date that is 10 days after 

6 the date of the election. 

7 ‘‘(f) ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF RETURNING BAL8 LOTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to permitting 

10 an individual to whom a ballot in an election was 

11 provided under this section to return the ballot to an 

12 election official by mail, the State shall permit the 

13 individual to cast the ballot by delivering the ballot 

14 at such times and to such locations as the State may 

15 establish, including— 

16 ‘‘(A) permitting the individual to deliver 

17 the ballot to a polling place on any date on 

18 which voting in the election is held at the poll19 ing place; and 

20 ‘‘(B) permitting the individual to deliver 

21 the ballot to a designated ballot drop-off loca22 tion, a tribally designated building, or the office 

23 of a State or local election official. 

24 ‘‘(2) PERMITTING VOTERS TO DESIGNATE

25 OTHER PERSON TO RETURN BALLOT.—The State— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall permit a voter to designate any 

2 person to return a voted and sealed absentee 

3 ballot to the post office, a ballot drop-off loca4 tion, tribally designated building, or election of5 fice so long as the person designated to return 

6 the ballot does not receive any form of com7 pensation based on the number of ballots that 

8 the person has returned and no individual, 

9 group, or organization provides compensation 

10 on this basis; and 

11 ‘‘(B) may not put any limit on how many 

12 voted and sealed absentee ballots any des13 ignated person can return to the post office, a 

14 ballot drop-off location, tribally designated 

15 building, or election office. 

16 ‘‘(g) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING REQUIRE17 MENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall begin proc19 essing and scanning ballots cast by mail for tabula20 tion at least 14 days prior to the date of the election 

21 involved. 

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

23 shall be construed to permit a State to tabulate bal24 lots in an election before the closing of the polls on 

25 the date of the election. 


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1 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITING CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON AC2 CESS TO VOTING MATERIALS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DISTRIBUTION OF ABSENTEE BALLOT AP4 PLICATIONS BY THIRD PARTIES.—A State may not 

5 prohibit any person from providing an application 

6 for an absentee ballot in the election to any indi7 vidual who is eligible to vote in the election. 

8 ‘‘(2) UNSOLICITED PROVISION OF VOTER REG9 ISTRATION APPLICATIONS BY ELECTION OFFI10 CIALS.—A State may not prohibit an election official 

11 from providing an unsolicited application to register 

12 to vote in an election for Federal office to any indi13 vidual who is eligible to register to vote in the elec14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec16 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 

17 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 

18 polling places at which individuals cast ballots. 

19 ‘‘(j) NO EFFECT ON BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY AB20 SENT MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTERS.—Nothing in 

21 this section may be construed to affect the treatment of 

22 any ballot submitted by an individual who is entitled to 

23 vote by absentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas 

24 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(k) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

2 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

3 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

4 election for Federal office.’’. 

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

6 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c), section 

7 2001(c), and section 8001(c), is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec9 tions 307 and 308 as relating to sections 308 and 

10 309; and 

11 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec12 tion 306 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 307. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 

13 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE VERIFICATION

14 METHODS.— 

15 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.—The Na16 tional Institute of Standards, in consultation with 

17 the Election Assistance Commission, shall develop 

18 standards for the use of alternative methods which 

19 could be used in place of signature verification re20 quirements for purposes of verifying the identifica21 tion of an individual voting by absentee ballot in 

22 elections for Federal office. 

23 (2) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—The Na24 tional Institute of Standards shall solicit comments 


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1 from the public in the development of standards 

2 under paragraph (1). 

3 (3) DEADLINE.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the National 

5 Institute of Standards shall publish the standards 

6 developed under paragraph (1). 

7 SEC. 9002. ABSENTEE BALLOT TRACKING PROGRAM. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

9 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

10 as amended by section 1201(a), section 2001(a), section 

11 8001(a), and section 9001(a), is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating sections 308 and 309 as 

13 sections 309 and 310; and 

14 (2) by inserting after section 307 the following 

15 new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 308. ABSENTEE BALLOT TRACKING PROGRAM. 

17 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each State shall carry out a 

18 program to track and confirm the receipt of absentee bal19 lots in an election for Federal office under which the State 

20 or local election official responsible for the receipt of voted 

21 absentee ballots in the election carries out procedures to 

22 track and confirm the receipt of such ballots, and makes 

23 information on the receipt of such ballots available to the 

24 individual who cast the ballot, by means of online access 

25 using the Internet site of the official’s office. 


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1 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION ON WHETHER VOTE WAS AC2 CEPTED.—The information referred to under subsection 

3 (a) with respect to the receipt of an absentee ballot shall 

4 include information regarding whether the vote cast on the 

5 ballot was accepted, and, in the case of a vote which was 

6 rejected, the reasons therefor. 

7 ‘‘(c) USE OF TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER BY

8 OFFICIALS WITHOUT INTERNET SITE.—A program estab9 lished by a State or local election official whose office does 

10 not have an Internet site may meet the requirements of 

11 subsection (a) if the official has established a toll-free tele12 phone number that may be used by an individual who cast 

13 an absentee ballot to obtain the information on the receipt 

14 of the voted absentee ballot as provided under such sub15 section. 

16 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

17 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

18 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

19 election for Federal office.’’. 

20 (b) REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS INCURRED BY

21 STATES IN ESTABLISHING PROGRAM.—Subtitle D of title 

22 II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

23 15401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO REIMBURSE STATES 

2 FOR COSTS INCURRED IN ESTABLISHING 

3 PROGRAM TO TRACK AND CONFIRM RE4 CEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS 

5 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

6 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF PROGRAM.—In ac7 cordance with this section, the Commission shall make a 

8 payment to a State to reimburse the State for the costs 

9 incurred in establishing the absentee ballot tracking pro10 gram under section 308 (including costs incurred prior to 

11 the date of the enactment of this part). 

12 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND COSTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order to 

14 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

15 submit to the Commission a statement containing— 

16 ‘‘(A) a certification that the State has es17 tablished an absentee ballot tracking program 

18 with respect to elections for Federal office held 

19 in the State; and 

20 ‘‘(B) a statement of the costs incurred by 

21 the State in establishing the program. 

22 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a 

23 payment made to a State under this section shall be 

24 equal to the costs incurred by the State in estab25 lishing the absentee ballot tracking program, as set 

26 forth in the statement submitted under paragraph 


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1 (1), except that such amount may not exceed the 

2 product of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the number of jurisdictions in the 

4 State which are responsible for operating the 

5 program; and 

6 ‘‘(B) $3,000. 

7 ‘‘(3) LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PAYMENTS RE8 CEIVED.—A State may not receive more than one 

9 payment under this part. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 297A. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be 

12 appropriated to the Commission for fiscal year 2022 and 

13 each succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary 

14 for payments under this part. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any 

16 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

17 this section shall remain available until expended.’’. 

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

19 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c), section 

20 2001(c), section 8001(c), and section 9001(b), is amend21 ed— 


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1 (1) by adding at the end of the items relating 

2 to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO REIMBURSE STATES FOR COSTS INCURRED IN ESTABLISHING PROGRAM TO TRACK AND CONFIRM RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE

BALLOTS

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Authorization of appropriations.’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating the items relating to sec4 tions 308 and 309 as relating to sections 309 and 

5 310; and 

6 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 307 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 308. Absentee ballot tracking program.’’. 

8 SEC. 9003. VOTING MATERIALS POSTAGE. 

9 (a) PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE ON RETURN ENVE10 LOPES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

12 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 

13 et seq.), as amended by section 1201(a), section 

14 2001(a), section 8001(a), section 9001(a), and sec15 tion 9002(a), is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating sections 309 and 310 

17 as sections 310 and 311; and 

18 (B) by inserting after section 308 the fol19 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 309. PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE ON RETURN ENVE2 LOPES FOR VOTING MATERIALS. 

3 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF RETURN ENVELOPES.—The ap4 propriate State or local election official shall provide a 

5 self-sealing return envelope with— 

6 ‘‘(1) any voter registration application form 

7 transmitted to a registrant by mail; 

8 ‘‘(2) any application for an absentee ballot 

9 transmitted to an applicant by mail; and 

10 ‘‘(3) any blank absentee ballot transmitted to a 

11 voter by mail. 

12 ‘‘(b) PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE.—Consistent with 

13 regulations of the United States Postal Service, the State 

14 or the unit of local government responsible for the admin15 istration of the election involved shall prepay the postage 

16 on any envelope provided under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON BALLOTS OR BALLOTING MATE18 RIALS TRANSMITTED TO ABSENT MILITARY AND OVER19 SEAS VOTERS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 

20 to affect the treatment of any ballot or balloting materials 

21 transmitted to an individual who is entitled to vote by ab22 sentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

23 Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

24 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take ef25 fect on the date that is 90 days after the date of the enact26 ment of this section, except that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) State and local jurisdictions shall make ar2 rangements with the United States Postal Service to 

3 pay for all postage costs that such jurisdictions 

4 would be required to pay under this section if this 

5 section took effect on the date of enactment; and 

6 ‘‘(2) States shall take all reasonable efforts to 

7 provide self-sealing return envelopes as provided in 

8 this section.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c), 

11 section 2001(c), section 8001(c), and section 

12 9001(b), is amended— 

13 (A) by redesignating the items relating to 

14 sections 309 and 310 as relating to sections 

15 310 and 311; and 

16 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

17 section 308 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 309. Prepayment of postage on return envelopes for voting materials.’’. 

18 (b) ROLE OF UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 

20 United States Code, is amended by adding after sec21 tion 3406 the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 3407. Voting materials; restrictions on operational 

23 changes prior to elections 

24 ‘‘(a) Any voter registration application, absentee bal25 lot application, or absentee ballot with respect to any elecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00185 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 tion for Federal office shall be carried in accordance with 

2 the service standards established for first-class mail, re3 gardless of the class of postage prepaid. 

4 ‘‘(b) In the case of any election mail carried by the 

5 Postal Service that consists of a ballot, the Postal Service 

6 shall indicate on the ballot envelope, using a postmark or 

7 otherwise— 

8 ‘‘(1) the fact that the ballot was carried by the 

9 Postal Service; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the date on which the ballot was mailed. 

11 ‘‘(c) During the 120-day period which ends on the 

12 date of an election for Federal office, the Postal Service 

13 may not carry out any new operational change that would 

14 restrict the prompt and reliable delivery of voting mate15 rials with respect to the election, including voter registra16 tion applications, absentee ballot applications, and absen17 tee ballots. This paragraph applies to operational changes 

18 which include removing or eliminating any mail collection 

19 box without immediately replacing it, and removing, de20 commissioning, or any other form of stopping the oper21 ation of mail sorting machines, other than for routine 

22 maintenance. 

23 ‘‘(d) The Postal Service shall appoint an Election 

24 Mail Coordinator in every Postal Area and District to fa25 cilitate relevant information sharing with State, territorial, 


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1 local, and tribal election officials in regards to the mailing 

2 of voter registration applications, absentee ballot applica3 tions, and absentee ballots. 

4 ‘‘(e) As used in this section— 

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any ballot 

6 transmitted by a voter by mail in an election for 

7 Federal office, but does not include any ballot cov8 ered by section 3406; and 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 

10 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 

11 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 

12 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com13 missioner to, the Congress. 

14 ‘‘(f) Nothing in this section may be construed to af15 fect the treatment of any ballot or balloting materials 

16 transmitted to an individual who is entitled to vote by ab17 sentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

18 Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.).’’. 

19 (2) MAIL-IN BALLOTS AND POSTAL SERVICE

20 BARCODE SERVICE.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3001 of title 

22 39, United States Code, is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(p) Any ballot sent within the United States for an 

25 election for Federal office is nonmailable and shall not be 


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1 carried or delivered by mail unless the ballot is mailed in 

2 an envelope that— 

3 ‘‘(1) contains a Postal Service barcode (or suc4 cessive service or marking) that enables tracking of 

5 each individual ballot; 

6 ‘‘(2) satisfies requirements for ballot envelope 

7 design that the Postal Service may promulgate by 

8 regulation; 

9 ‘‘(3) satisfies requirements for machineable let10 ters that the Postal Service may promulgate by reg11 ulation; and 

12 ‘‘(4) includes the Official Election Mail Logo 

13 (or any successor label that the Postal Service may 

14 establish for ballots).’’. 

15 (B) APPLICATION.—The amendment made 

16 by subsection (a) shall apply to any election for 

17 Federal office occurring after the date of enact18 ment of this Act. 

19 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec20 tions for chapter 34 of such title is amended by in21 serting after the item relating to section 3406 the 

22 following: 

‘‘3407. Voting materials; restrictions on operational changes prior to elections.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9004. STUDY AND REPORT ON VOTE-BY-MAIL PROCE2 DURES. 

3 (a) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commission 

4 shall conduct a study on the 2020 elections and compile 

5 a list of recommendations to— 

6 (1) help States transitioning to vote-by-mail 

7 procedures; and 

8 (2) improve their current vote-by-mail systems. 

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2022, the 

10 Election Assistance Commission shall submit to Congress 

11 a report on the study conducted under subsection (a). 

12 TITLE X—ABSENT UNIFORMED 

13 SERVICES VOTERS AND 

14 OVERSEAS VOTERS 

15 SEC. 10001. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON AVAILABILITY 

16 AND TRANSMISSION OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 

17 Section 102(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi18 zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(c)) is amend19 ed to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(c) REPORTS ON AVAILABILITY, TRANSMISSION, 

21 AND RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) PRE-ELECTION REPORT ON ABSENTEE

23 BALLOT AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 55 days be24 fore any regularly scheduled general election for 

25 Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 

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1 mission (hereafter in this subsection referred to as 

2 the ‘Commission’), and the Presidential Designee, 

3 and make that report publicly available that same 

4 day, certifying that absentee ballots for the election 

5 are or will be available for transmission to absent 

6 uniformed services voters and overseas voters by not 

7 later than 45 days before the election. The report 

8 shall be in a form prescribed jointly by the Attorney 

9 General and the Commission and shall require the 

10 State to certify specific information about ballot 

11 availability from each unit of local government which 

12 will administer the election. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRE-ELECTION REPORT ON ABSENTEE

14 BALLOT TRANSMISSION.—Not later than 43 days be15 fore any regularly scheduled general election for 

16 Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 

17 the Attorney General, the Commission, and the 

18 Presidential Designee, and make that report publicly 

19 available that same day, certifying whether all ab20 sentee ballots have been transmitted by not later 

21 than 45 days before the election to all qualified ab22 sent uniformed services and overseas voters whose 

23 requests were received at least 45 days before the 

24 election. The report shall be in a form prescribed 

25 jointly by the Attorney General and the Commission, 


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1 and shall require the State to certify specific infor2 mation about ballot transmission, including the total 

3 numbers of ballot requests received and ballots 

4 transmitted, from each unit of local government 

5 which will administer the election. 

6 ‘‘(3) POST-ELECTION REPORT ON NUMBER OF

7 ABSENTEE BALLOTS TRANSMITTED AND RE8 CEIVED.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 

9 each regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

10 office, each State and unit of local government 

11 which administered the election shall (through the 

12 State, in the case of a unit of local government) sub13 mit a report to the Attorney General, the Commis14 sion, and the Presidential Designee on the combined 

15 number of absentee ballots transmitted to absent 

16 uniformed services voters and overseas voters for the 

17 election and the combined number of such ballots 

18 which were returned by such voters and cast in the 

19 election, and shall make such report available to the 

20 general public that same day.’’. 

21 SEC. 10002. ENFORCEMENT. 

22 (a) AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL PENALTIES AND PRI23 VATE RIGHTS OF ACTION.—Section 105 of the Uniformed 

24 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

25 20307) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 ‘‘(a) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

4 bring civil action in an appropriate district court for 

5 such declaratory or injunctive relief as may be nec6 essary to carry out this title. 

7 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—In a civil action brought under 

8 paragraph (1), if the court finds that the State vio9 lated any provision of this title, it may, to vindicate 

10 the public interest, assess a civil penalty against the 

11 State— 

12 ‘‘(A) in an amount not to exceed $110,000 

13 for each such violation, in the case of a first 

14 violation; or 

15 ‘‘(B) in an amount not to exceed $220,000 

16 for each such violation, for any subsequent vio17 lation. 

18 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

19 December 31 of each year, the Attorney General 

20 shall submit to Congress an annual report on any 

21 civil action brought under paragraph (1) during the 

22 preceding year. 

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

24 aggrieved by a State’s violation of this title may bring a 

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1 atory or injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out 

2 this title. 

3 ‘‘(c) STATE AS ONLY NECESSARY DEFENDANT.—In 

4 any action brought under this section, the only necessary 

5 party defendant is the State, and it shall not be a defense 

6 to any such action that a local election official or a unit 

7 of local government is not named as a defendant, notwith8 standing that a State has exercised the authority described 

9 in section 576 of the Military and Overseas Voter Em10 powerment Act to delegate to another jurisdiction in the 

11 State any duty or responsibility which is the subject of 

12 an action brought under this section.’’. 

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

14 this section shall apply with respect to violations alleged 

15 to have occurred on or after the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 SEC. 10003. REVISIONS TO 45-DAY ABSENTEE BALLOT 

18 TRANSMISSION RULE. 

19 (a) REPEAL OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Uni21 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

22 (52 U.S.C. 20302) is amended by striking sub23 section (g). 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

25 102(a)(8)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 20302(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘except as 

2 provided in subsection (g),’’. 

3 (b) REQUIRING USE OF EXPRESS DELIVERY IN CASE

4 OF FAILURE TO MEET REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of 

5 such Act (52 U.S.C. 20302), as amended by subsection 

6 (a), is amended by inserting after subsection (f) the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(g) REQUIRING USE OF EXPRESS DELIVERY IN

9 CASE OF FAILURE TO TRANSMIT BALLOTS WITHIN

10 DEADLINES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF BALLOT BY EXPRESS

12 DELIVERY.—If a State fails to meet the requirement 

13 of subsection (a)(8)(A) to transmit a validly re14 quested absentee ballot to an absent uniformed serv15 ices voter or overseas voter not later than 45 days 

16 before the election (in the case in which the request 

17 is received at least 45 days before the election)— 

18 ‘‘(A) the State shall transmit the ballot to 

19 the voter by express delivery; or 

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of a voter who has des21 ignated that absentee ballots be transmitted 

22 electronically in accordance with subsection 

23 (f)(1), the State shall transmit the ballot to the 

24 voter electronically. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR TRANSMISSION FEWER

2 THAN 40 DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION.—If, in car3 rying out paragraph (1), a State transmits an ab4 sentee ballot to an absent uniformed services voter 

5 or overseas voter fewer than 40 days before the elec6 tion, the State shall enable the ballot to be returned 

7 by the voter by express delivery, except that in the 

8 case of an absentee ballot of an absent uniformed 

9 services voter for a regularly scheduled general elec10 tion for Federal office, the State may satisfy the re11 quirement of this paragraph by notifying the voter 

12 of the procedures for the collection and delivery of 

13 such ballots under section 103A. 

14 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT FOR USE OF EXPRESS DELIV15 ERY.—The State shall be responsible for the pay16 ment of the costs associated with the use of express 

17 delivery for the transmittal of ballots under this sub18 section.’’. 

19 (c) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF WEEK20 ENDS.—Section 102(a)(8)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

21 20302(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the election;’’ 

22 and inserting the following: ‘‘the election (or, if the 45th 

23 day preceding the election is a weekend or legal public hol24 iday, not later than the most recent weekday which pre25 cedes such 45th day and which is not a legal public holiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00195 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 day, but only if the request is received by at least such 

2 most recent weekday);’’. 

3 SEC. 10004. USE OF SINGLE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA4 TION FOR SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Uniformed and 

6 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20306) 

7 is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 104. USE OF SINGLE APPLICATION FOR SUBSEQUENT 

9 ELECTIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a State accepts and processes 

11 an official post card form (prescribed under section 101) 

12 submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or over13 seas voter for simultaneous voter registration and absen14 tee ballot application (in accordance with section 

15 102(a)(4)) and the voter requests that the application be 

16 considered an application for an absentee ballot for each 

17 subsequent election for Federal office held in the State 

18 through the next regularly scheduled general election for 

19 Federal office (including any runoff elections which may 

20 occur as a result of the outcome of such general election), 

21 the State shall provide an absentee ballot to the voter for 

22 each such subsequent election. 

23 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR VOTERS CHANGING REGISTRA24 TION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to a 

25 voter registered to vote in a State for any election held 


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1 after the voter notifies the State that the voter no longer 

2 wishes to be registered to vote in the State or after the 

3 State determines that the voter has registered to vote in 

4 another State or is otherwise no longer eligible to vote in 

5 the State. 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF APPLICATION ON

7 GROUNDS OF EARLY SUBMISSION.—A State may not 

8 refuse to accept or to process, with respect to any election 

9 for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter registration 

10 application or absentee ballot application (including the 

11 postcard form prescribed under section 101) submitted by 

12 an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter on 

13 the grounds that the voter submitted the application be14 fore the first date on which the State otherwise accepts 

15 or processes such applications for that election which are 

16 submitted by absentee voters who are not members of the 

17 uniformed services or overseas citizens.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to voter registration 

20 and absentee ballot applications which are submitted to 

21 a State or local election official on or after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 10005. EXTENDING GUARANTEE OF RESIDENCY FOR 

2 VOTING PURPOSES TO FAMILY MEMBERS OF 

3 ABSENT MILITARY PERSONNEL. 

4 Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

5 Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20302) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(j) GUARANTEE OF RESIDENCY FOR SPOUSES AND

8 DEPENDENTS OF ABSENT MEMBERS OF UNIFORMED

9 SERVICE.—For the purposes of voting for in any election 

10 for any Federal office or any State or local office, a spouse 

11 or dependent of an individual who is an absent uniformed 

12 services voter described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sec13 tion 107(1) shall not, solely by reason of that individual’s 

14 absence and without regard to whether or not such spouse 

15 or dependent is accompanying that individual— 

16 ‘‘(1) be deemed to have lost a residence or 

17 domicile in that State, without regard to whether or 

18 not that individual intends to return to that State; 

19 ‘‘(2) be deemed to have acquired a residence or 

20 domicile in any other State; or 

21 ‘‘(3) be deemed to have become a resident in or 

22 a resident of any other State.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10006. REQUIRING TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSEN2 TEE BALLOTS UNDER UOCAVA TO CERTAIN 

3 VOTERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Uniformed and Overseas 

5 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.) 

6 is amended by inserting after section 103B the following 

7 new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 103C. TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE BALLOTS 

9 TO CERTAIN OTHER VOTERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Subject to the 

12 provisions of this section, each State shall transmit 

13 blank absentee ballots electronically to qualified indi14 viduals who request such ballots in the same manner 

15 and under the same terms and conditions under 

16 which the State transmits such ballots electronically 

17 to absent uniformed services voters and overseas vot18 ers under the provisions of section 102(f), except 

19 that no such marked ballots shall be returned elec20 tronically. 

21 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any blank absentee bal22 lot transmitted to a qualified individual under this 

23 section— 

24 ‘‘(A) must comply with the language re25 quirements under section 203 of the Voting 

26 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) must comply with the disability re2 quirements under section 508 of the Rehabilita3 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

4 ‘‘(3) AFFIRMATION.—The State may not trans5 mit a ballot to a qualified individual under this sec6 tion unless the individual provides the State with a 

7 signed affirmation in electronic form that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the individual is a qualified individual 

9 (as defined in subsection (b)); 

10 ‘‘(B) the individual has not and will not 

11 cast another ballot with respect to the election; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(C) acknowledges that a material 

14 misstatement of fact in completing the ballot 

15 may constitute grounds for conviction of per16 jury. 

17 ‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION REGARDING FREE POST18 AGE.—An absentee ballot obtained by a qualified in19 dividual under this section shall be considered bal20 loting materials as defined in section 107 for pur21 poses of section 3406 of title 39, United States 

22 Code. 

23 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BAL24 LOT FOR FAILURE TO MEET CERTAIN REQUIRE25 MENTS.—A State shall not refuse to accept and 


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1 process any otherwise valid blank absentee ballot 

2 which was transmitted to a qualified individual 

3 under this section and used by the individual to vote 

4 in the election solely on the basis of the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Notarization or witness signature re6 quirements. 

7 ‘‘(B) Restrictions on paper type, including 

8 weight and size. 

9 ‘‘(C) Restrictions on envelope type, includ10 ing weight and size. 

11 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, except as 

13 provided in paragraph (2), the term ‘qualified indi14 vidual’ means any individual who is otherwise quali15 fied to vote in an election for Federal office and who 

16 meets any of the following requirements: 

17 ‘‘(A) The individual— 

18 ‘‘(i) has previously requested an ab19 sentee ballot from the State or jurisdiction 

20 in which such individual is registered to 

21 vote; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) has not received such absentee 

23 ballot at least 2 days before the date of the 

24 election. 

25 ‘‘(B) The individual— 


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1 ‘‘(i) resides in an area of a State with 

2 respect to which an emergency or public 

3 health emergency has been declared by the 

4 chief executive of the State or of the area 

5 involved within 5 days of the date of the 

6 election under the laws of the State due to 

7 reasons including a natural disaster, in8 cluding severe weather, or an infectious 

9 disease; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) has not previously requested an 

11 absentee ballot. 

12 ‘‘(C) The individual expects to be absent 

13 from such individual’s jurisdiction on the date 

14 of the election due to professional or volunteer 

15 service in response to a natural disaster or 

16 emergency as described in subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(D) The individual is hospitalized or ex18 pects to be hospitalized on the date of the elec19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(E) The individual is an individual with a 

21 disability (as defined in section 3 of the Ameri22 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

23 12102)) and resides in a State which does not 

24 offer voters the ability to use secure and acces25 sible remote ballot marking. For purposes of 


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1 this subparagraph, a State shall permit an indi2 vidual to self-certify that the individual is an in3 dividual with a disability. 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION OF ABSENT UNIFORMED SERV5 ICES AND OVERSEAS VOTERS.—The term ‘qualified 

6 individual’ shall not include an absent uniformed 

7 services voter or an overseas voter. 

8 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

9 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common10 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

11 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

12 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

13 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

14 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

15 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

16 election for Federal office.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 102(a) of 

18 such Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(a)) is amended— 

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

20 (10); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (11) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(12) meet the requirements of section 103C 

2 with respect to the provision of blank absentee bal3 lots for the use of qualified individuals described in 

4 such section.’’. 

5 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

6 of such Act is amended by inserting the following after 

7 section 103: 

‘‘Sec. 103A. Procedures for collection and delivery of marked absentee ballots 

of absent overseas uniformed services voters. 

‘‘Sec. 103B. Federal voting assistance program improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 103C. Transmission of blank absentee ballots to certain other voters.’’. 

8 SEC. 10007. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT ON VOTER 

9 DISENFRANCHISEMENT. 

10 Not later than 1 year of enactment of this Act, the 

11 Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the 

12 impact of wide-spread mail-in voting on the ability of ac13 tive duty military servicemembers to vote, how quickly 

14 their votes are counted, and whether higher volumes of 

15 mail-in votes makes it harder for such individuals to vote 

16 in federal elections. 

17 SEC. 10008. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 Except as provided in section 10002(b) and section 

19 10004(b), the amendments made by this title shall apply 

20 with respect to elections occurring on or after January 1, 

21 2022. 


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1 TITLE XI—POLL WORKER 

2 RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING 

3 SEC. 11001. GRANTS TO STATES FOR POLL WORKER RE4 CRUITMENT AND TRAINING. 

5 (a) GRANTS BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS6 SION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

8 Commission (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Commis9 sion’’) shall, subject to the availability of appropria10 tions provided to carry out this section, make a 

11 grant to each eligible State for recruiting and train12 ing individuals to serve as poll workers on dates of 

13 elections for public office. 

14 (2) USE OF COMMISSION MATERIALS.—In car15 rying out activities with a grant provided under this 

16 section, the recipient of the grant shall use the man17 ual prepared by the Commission on successful prac18 tices for poll worker recruiting, training and reten19 tion as an interactive training tool, and shall develop 

20 training programs with the participation and input 

21 of experts in adult learning. 

22 (3) ACCESS AND CULTURAL CONSIDER23 ATIONS.—The Commission shall ensure that the 

24 manual described in paragraph (2) provides training 

25 in methods that will enable poll workers to provide 


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1 access and delivery of services in a culturally com2 petent manner to all voters who use their services, 

3 including those with limited English proficiency, di4 verse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, 

5 and regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or gen6 der identity. These methods must ensure that each 

7 voter will have access to poll worker services that are 

8 delivered in a manner that meets the unique needs 

9 of the voter. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

11 (1) APPLICATION.—Each State that desires to 

12 receive a payment under this section shall submit an 

13 application for the payment to the Commission at 

14 such time and in such manner and containing such 

15 information as the Commission shall require. 

16 (2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each appli17 cation submitted under paragraph (1) shall— 

18 (A) describe the activities for which assist19 ance under this section is sought; 

20 (B) provide assurances that the funds pro21 vided under this section will be used to supple22 ment and not supplant other funds used to 

23 carry out the activities; 

24 (C) provide assurances that the State will 

25 furnish the Commission with information on the 


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1 number of individuals who served as poll work2 ers after recruitment and training with the 

3 funds provided under this section; 

4 (D) provide assurances that the State will 

5 dedicate poll worker recruitment efforts with re6 spect to youth and minors, including by recruit7 ing at institutions of higher education and sec8 ondary education; and 

9 (E) provide such additional information 

10 and certifications as the Commission deter11 mines to be essential to ensure compliance with 

12 the requirements of this section. 

13 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant 

15 made to a State under this section shall be equal to 

16 the product of— 

17 (A) the aggregate amount made available 

18 for grants to States under this section; and 

19 (B) the voting age population percentage 

20 for the State. 

21 (2) VOTING AGE POPULATION PERCENTAGE DE22 FINED.—In paragraph (1), the ‘‘voting age popu23 lation percentage’’ for a State is the quotient of— 

24 (A) the voting age population of the State 

25 (as determined on the basis of the most recent 


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1 information available from the Bureau of the 

2 Census); and 

3 (B) the total voting age population of all 

4 States (as determined on the basis of the most 

5 recent information available from the Bureau of 

6 the Census). 

7 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

8 (1) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS.—Not 

9 later than 6 months after the date on which the 

10 final grant is made under this section, each recipient 

11 of a grant shall submit a report to the Commission 

12 on the activities conducted with the funds provided 

13 by the grant. 

14 (2) REPORTS BY COMMISSION.—Not later than 

15 1 year after the date on which the final grant is 

16 made under this section, the Commission shall sub17 mit a report to Congress on the grants made under 

18 this section and the activities carried out by recipi19 ents with the grants, and shall include in the report 

20 such recommendations as the Commission considers 

21 appropriate. 

22 (e) FUNDING.— 

23 (1) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNT AP24 PROPRIATED.—Any amount appropriated to carry 


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1 out this section shall remain available without fiscal 

2 year limitation until expended. 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

4 amount appropriated for any fiscal year to carry out 

5 this section, not more than 3 percent shall be avail6 able for administrative expenses of the Commission. 

7 SEC. 11002. STATE DEFINED. 

8 In this title, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District 

9 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

10 American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and 

11 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

12 TITLE XII—ENHANCEMENT OF 

13 ENFORCEMENT 

14 SEC. 12001. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP 

15 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

16 (a) COMPLAINTS; AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT

17 OF ACTION.—Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act 

18 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in20 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

21 and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub23 sections: 

24 ‘‘(b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS BY AGGRIEVED PER25 SONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

2 by a violation of title III which has occurred, is oc3 curring, or is about to occur may file a written, 

4 signed, notarized complaint with the Attorney Gen5 eral describing the violation and requesting the At6 torney General to take appropriate action under this 

7 section. The Attorney General shall immediately pro8 vide a copy of a complaint filed under the previous 

9 sentence to the entity responsible for administering 

10 the State-based administrative complaint procedures 

11 described in section 402(a) for the State involved. 

12 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 

13 Attorney General shall respond to each complaint 

14 filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with proce15 dures established by the Attorney General that re16 quire responses and determinations to be made with17 in the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a 

18 State under the State-based administrative com19 plaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). 

20 The Attorney General shall immediately provide a 

21 copy of the response made under the previous sen22 tence to the entity responsible for administering the 

23 State-based administrative complaint procedures de24 scribed in section 402(a) for the State involved. 


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1 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC2 TION.—Any person who is authorized to file a complaint 

3 under subsection (b)(1) (including any individual who 

4 seeks to enforce the individual’s right to a voter-verified 

5 paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal6 lot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right 

7 under title III) may file an action under section 1979 of 

8 the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 

9 1983) to enforce the uniform and nondiscriminatory elec10 tion technology and administration requirements under 

11 subtitle A of title III. 

12 ‘‘(d) NO EFFECT ON STATE PROCEDURES.—Nothing 

13 in this section may be construed to affect the availability 

14 of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re15 quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 

16 under this subsection.’’. 

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

18 this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring 

19 with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2022 

20 or any succeeding year. 


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1 TITLE XIII—FEDERAL ELECTION 

2 INTEGRITY 

3 SEC. 13001. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY 

4 CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

5 OFFICIALS. 

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

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

8 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION

11 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

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

13 for a chief State election administration official to take 

14 an active part in political management or in a political 

15 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 

16 over which such official has supervisory authority. 

17 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF18 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of19 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 

20 for the administration of Federal elections under State 

21 law. 

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

23 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po24 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(1) holding any position (including any unpaid 

2 or honorary position) with an authorized committee 

3 of a candidate, or participating in any decision-mak4 ing of an authorized committee of a candidate; 

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

6 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 

7 result of an election for Federal office; 

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

9 contribution from any person on behalf of a can10 didate for Federal office; and 

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

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

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

14 to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 

15 prohibition on running for public office). 

16 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION IN CASE OF RECUSAL FROM AD17 MINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS INVOLVING OFFICIAL OR

18 IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 

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

20 to a chief State election administration official with 

21 respect to an election for Federal office in which the 

22 official or an immediate family member of the offi23 cial is a candidate, but only if— 


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

2 from all of the official’s responsibilities for the 

3 administration of such election; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the official who assumes responsi5 bility for supervising the administration of the 

6 election does not report directly to such official. 

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

8 In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem9 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 

10 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

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

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

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

14 Federal office held after December 2021. 

15 TITLE XIV—PROMOTING VOTER 

16 ACCESS THROUGH ELECTION 

17 ADMINISTRATION IMPROVE18 MENTS 

19 Subtitle A—Promoting Voter 

20 Access 

21 SEC. 14001. TREATMENT OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 

22 EDUCATION. 

23 (a) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS AS

24 VOTER REGISTRATION AGENCIES UNDER NATIONAL

25 VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993.—Section 7(a) of the 


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1 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

2 20506(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (A); 

6 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

7 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

9 subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(C) each institution of higher education 

11 which has a program participation agreement in 

12 effect with the Secretary of Education under 

13 section 487 of the Higher Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094), other than an institu15 tion which is treated as a contributing agency 

16 under the Automatic Voter Registration Act of 

17 2021.’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ‘‘or, in 

19 the case of an institution of higher education, with 

20 each registration of a student for enrollment in a 

21 course of study, including enrollment in a program 

22 of distance education, as defined in section 103(7) 

23 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

24 1003(7)),’’ after ‘‘assistance,’’. 


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1 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF INSTITUTIONS UNDER

2 HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 487(a)(23) of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1094(a)(23)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(23)(A)(i) The institution will ensure that an 

7 appropriate staff person or office is designated pub8 licly as a ‘Campus Vote Coordinator’ and will ensure 

9 that such person’s or office’s contact information is 

10 included on the institution’s website. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Not fewer than twice during each calendar 

12 year (beginning with 2021), the Campus Vote Coor13 dinator shall transmit electronically to each student 

14 enrolled in the institution (including students en15 rolled in distance education programs) a message 

16 containing the following information: 

17 ‘‘(I) Information on the location of polling 

18 places in the jurisdiction in which the institu19 tion is located, together with information on 

20 available methods of transportation to and from 

21 such polling places. 

22 ‘‘(II) A referral to a government-affiliated 

23 website or online platform which provides cen24 tralized voter registration information for all 

25 States, including access to applicable voter regVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00216 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 istration forms and information to assist indi2 viduals who are not registered to vote in reg3 istering to vote. 

4 ‘‘(III) Any additional voter registration 

5 and voting information the Coordinator con6 siders appropriate, in consultation with the ap7 propriate State election official. 

8 ‘‘(iii) In addition to transmitting the message 

9 described in clause (ii) not fewer than twice during 

10 each calendar year, the Campus Vote Coordinator 

11 shall transmit the message under such clause, and 

12 shall include on the institution’s website and boost 

13 awareness on the institution’s social media plat14 forms, not fewer than 30 days prior to the deadline 

15 for registering to vote for any election for Federal, 

16 State, or local office in the State. 

17 ‘‘(B) If the institution in its normal course of 

18 operations requests each student registering for en19 rollment in a course of study, including students 

20 registering for enrollment in a program of distance 

21 education, to affirm whether or not the student is a 

22 United States citizen, the institution will comply 

23 with the applicable requirements for a contributing 

24 agency under the Automatic Voter Registration Act 

25 of 2021. 


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1 ‘‘(C) If the institution is not described in sub2 paragraph (B), the institution will comply with the 

3 requirements for a voter registration agency in the 

4 State in which it is located in accordance with sec5 tion 7 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506). 

7 ‘‘(D) This paragraph applies only with respect 

8 to an institution which is located in a State to which 

9 section 4(b) of the National Voter Registration Act 

10 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20503(b)) does not apply.’’. 

11 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

12 by this subsection shall apply with respect to elec13 tions held on or after January 1, 2022. 

14 (c) GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS DEMONSTRATING EX15 CELLENCE IN STUDENT VOTER REGISTRATION.— 

16 (1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of 

17 Education may award competitive grants to public 

18 and private nonprofit institutions of higher edu19 cation that are subject to the requirements of sec20 tion 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act of 

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)), as amended by sub22 section (a), and that the Secretary determines have 

23 demonstrated excellence in registering students to 

24 vote in elections for public office beyond meeting the 

25 minimum requirements of such section. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—An institution of higher edu2 cation is eligible to receive a grant under this sub3 section if the institution submits to the Secretary of 

4 Education, at such time and in such form as the 

5 Secretary may require, an application containing 

6 such information and assurances as the Secretary 

7 may require to make the determination described in 

8 paragraph (1), including information and assurances 

9 that the institution carried out activities to promote 

10 voter registration by students, such as the following: 

11 (A) Sponsoring large on-campus voter mo12 bilization efforts. 

13 (B) Engaging the surrounding community 

14 in nonpartisan voter registration and get out 

15 the vote efforts, including initiatives to facilitate 

16 the enfranchisement of groups of individuals 

17 that have historically faced barriers to voting. 

18 (C) Creating a website for students with 

19 centralized information about voter registration 

20 and election dates. 

21 (D) Inviting candidates to speak on cam22 pus. 

23 (E) Offering rides to students to the polls 

24 to increase voter education, registration, and 

25 mobilization. 


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1 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

3 year 2022 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums 

4 as may be necessary to award grants under this sub5 section. Of the funds appropriated, the Secretary 

6 shall ensure that 25 percent is reserved for Minority 

7 Institutions described in section 371(a) of the High8 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 

9 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO OPTION OF

10 STUDENTS TO REGISTER IN JURISDICTION OF INSTITU11 TION OF HIGHER EDUCATION OR JURISDICTION OF DOMI12 CILE.—It is the sense of Congress that, as provided under 

13 existing law, students who attend an institution of higher 

14 education and reside in the jurisdiction of the institution 

15 while attending the institution should have the option of 

16 registering to vote, without being subjected to intimidation 

17 or deceptive practices, in elections for Federal office in 

18 that jurisdiction or in the jurisdiction of their own domi19 cile. 

20 SEC. 14002. MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 

21 VOTERS AFFECTED BY POLLING PLACE 

22 CHANGES. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 302 of the Help Amer24 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082), as amended by 

25 section 7001(a), is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub2 section (g); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol4 lowing new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(f) MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

6 VOTERS AFFECTED BY POLLING PLACE CHANGES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State assigns an indi8 vidual who is a registered voter in a State to a poll9 ing place with respect to an election for Federal of10 fice which is not the same polling place to which the 

11 individual was previously assigned with respect to 

12 the most recent election for Federal office in the 

13 State in which the individual was eligible to vote— 

14 ‘‘(A) the State shall notify the individual of 

15 the location of the polling place not later than 

16 7 days before the date of the election or the 

17 first day of an early voting period (whichever 

18 occurs first); or 

19 ‘‘(B) if the State makes such an assign20 ment fewer than 7 days before the date of the 

21 election and the individual appears on the date 

22 of the election at the polling place to which the 

23 individual was previously assigned, the State 

24 shall make every reasonable effort to enable the 

25 individual to vote on the date of the election. 


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1 ‘‘(2) METHODS OF NOTIFICATION.—The State 

2 shall notify an individual under subparagraph (A) of 

3 paragraph (1) by mail, telephone, and (if available) 

4 text message and electronic mail, taking into consid5 eration factors which include the linguistic pref6 erences of voters in the jurisdiction. 

7 ‘‘(3) PLACEMENT OF SIGNS AT CLOSED POLL8 ING PLACES.—If a location which served as a polling 

9 place in an election for Federal office does not serve 

10 as a polling place in the next election for Federal of11 fice held in the jurisdiction involved, the State shall 

12 ensure that signs are posted at such location on the 

13 date of the election and during any early voting pe14 riod for the election containing the following infor15 mation, taking into consideration factors which in16 clude the linguistic preferences of voters in the juris17 diction: 

18 ‘‘(A) A statement that the location is not 

19 serving as a polling place in the election. 

20 ‘‘(B) The locations serving as polling 

21 places in the election in the jurisdiction in22 volved. 

23 ‘‘(C) Contact information, including a tele24 phone number and website, for the appropriate 

25 State or local election official through which an 


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1 individual may find the polling place to which 

2 the individual is assigned for the election. 

3 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

4 apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu5 ary 1, 2021.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(g) of 

7 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(g)), as redesignated by sub8 section (a) and as amended by section 7001(b), is amend9 ed by striking ‘‘(d)(2) and (e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(2), 

10 (e)(2), and (f)(4)’’. 

11 SEC. 14003. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE12 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE13 MENTS FOR VOTING. 

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

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

16 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the fol17 lowing new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE19 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE20 MENTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) USE OF STATEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub23 section (c), if a State has in effect a requirement 

24 that an individual present identification as a condi25 tion of receiving and casting a ballot in an election 


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1 for Federal office, the State shall permit the indi2 vidual to meet the requirement— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de4 sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro5 priate State or local election official with a 

6 sworn written statement, signed by the indi7 vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 

8 individual’s identity and attesting that the indi9 vidual is eligible to vote in the election; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de11 sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 

12 ballot the statement described in subparagraph 

13 (A). 

14 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF PRE-PRINTED VERSION

15 OF STATEMENT BY COMMISSION.—The Commission 

16 shall develop a pre-printed version of the statement 

17 described in paragraph (1)(A) which includes a 

18 blank space for an individual to provide a name and 

19 signature for use by election officials in States which 

20 are subject to paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(3) PROVIDING PRE-PRINTED COPY OF STATE22 MENT.—A State which is subject to paragraph (1) 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) make copies of the pre-printed 

25 version of the statement described in paragraph 


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1 (1)(A) which is prepared by the Commission 

2 available at polling places for election officials 

3 to distribute to individuals who desire to vote in 

4 person; and 

5 ‘‘(B) include a copy of such pre-printed 

6 version of the statement with each blank absen7 tee or other ballot transmitted to an individual 

8 who desires to vote by mail. 

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING USE OF BALLOT IN SAME MANNER

10 AS INDIVIDUALS PRESENTING IDENTIFICATION.—An in11 dividual who presents or submits a sworn written state12 ment in accordance with subsection (a)(1) shall be per13 mitted to cast a ballot in the election in the same manner 

14 as an individual who presents identification. 

15 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REG16 ISTERING BY MAIL.—Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply 

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

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

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

20 (b) REQUIRING STATES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION

21 ON USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT IN VOTING IN22 FORMATION MATERIAL POSTED AT POLLING PLACES.— 

23 Section 302(b)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)), 

24 as amended by section 1602(b) and section 3002(b), is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara2 graph (G); 

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub4 paragraph (H) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(I) in the case of a State that has in ef8 fect a requirement that an individual present 

9 identification as a condition of receiving and 

10 casting a ballot in an election for Federal office, 

11 information on how an individual may meet 

12 such requirement by presenting a sworn written 

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

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

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

16 to section 303 the following new item: 

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

requirements.’’. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 

19 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 14004. ACCOMMODATIONS FOR VOTERS RESIDING IN 

21 INDIAN LANDS. 

22 (a) ACCOMMODATIONS DESCRIBED.— 

23 (1) DESIGNATION OF BALLOT PICKUP AND COL24 LECTION LOCATIONS.—Given the widespread lack of 


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1 residential mail delivery in Indian Country, an In2 dian Tribe may designate buildings as ballot pickup 

3 and collection locations with respect to an election 

4 for Federal office at no cost to the Indian Tribe. An 

5 Indian Tribe may designate one building per pre6 cinct located within Indian lands. The applicable 

7 State or political subdivision shall collect ballots 

8 from those locations. The applicable State or polit9 ical subdivision shall provide the Indian Tribe with 

10 accurate precinct maps for all precincts located with11 in Indian lands 60 days before the election. 

12 (2) PROVISION OF MAIL-IN AND ABSENTEE

13 BALLOTS.—The State or political subdivision shall 

14 provide mail-in and absentee ballots with respect to 

15 an election for Federal office to each individual who 

16 is registered to vote in the election who resides on 

17 Indian lands in the State or political subdivision in18 volved without requiring a residential address or a 

19 mail-in or absentee ballot request. 

20 (3) USE OF DESIGNATED BUILDING AS RESI21 DENTIAL AND MAILING ADDRESS.—The address of a 

22 designated building that is a ballot pickup and col23 lection location with respect to an election for Fed24 eral office may serve as the residential address and 

25 mailing address for voters living on Indian lands if 


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1 the tribally designated building is in the same pre2 cinct as that voter. If there is no tribally designated 

3 building within a voter’s precinct, the voter may use 

4 another tribally designated building within the In5 dian lands where the voter is located. Voters using 

6 a tribally designated building outside of the voter’s 

7 precinct may use the tribally designated building as 

8 a mailing address and may separately designate the 

9 voter’s appropriate precinct through a description of 

10 the voter’s address, as specified in section 

11 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Federal Regula12 tions. 

13 (4) LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.—In the case of 

14 a State or political subdivision that is a covered 

15 State or political subdivision under section 203 of 

16 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), 

17 that State or political subdivision shall provide ab18 sentee or mail-in voting materials with respect to an 

19 election for Federal office in the language of the ap20 plicable minority group as well as in the English lan21 guage, bilingual election voting assistance, and writ22 ten translations of all voting materials in the lan23 guage of the applicable minority group, as required 

24 by section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

25 U.S.C. 10503), as amended by subsection (b). 


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1 (5) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section 

2 alters the ability of an individual voter residing on 

3 Indian lands to request a ballot in a manner avail4 able to all other voters in the State. 

5 (6) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (A) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.— 

7 The term ‘‘election for Federal office’’ means a 

8 general, special, primary or runoff election for 

9 the office of President or Vice President, or of 

10 Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 

11 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 

12 (B) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 4 of the In14 dian Self-Determination and Education Assist15 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

16 (C) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian 

17 lands’’ includes— 

18 (i) any Indian country of an Indian 

19 Tribe, as defined under section 1151 of 

20 title 18, United States Code; 

21 (ii) any land in Alaska owned, pursu22 ant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle23 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by an 

24 Indian Tribe that is a Native village (as 

25 defined in section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 


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1 1602)) or by a Village Corporation that is 

2 associated with an Indian Tribe (as de3 fined in section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

4 1602)); 

5 (iii) any land on which the seat of the 

6 Tribal Government is located; and 

7 (iv) any land that is part or all of a 

8 Tribal designated statistical area associ9 ated with an Indian Tribe, or is part or all 

10 of an Alaska Native village statistical area 

11 associated with an Indian Tribe, as defined 

12 by the Census Bureau for the purposes of 

13 the most recent decennial census. 

14 (D) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian 

15 Tribe’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian 

16 tribe’’ in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter17 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 

18 U.S.C. 5304). 

19 (E) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

20 ‘‘Tribal Government’’ means the recognized 

21 governing body of an Indian Tribe. 

22 (7) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 (A) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney 

24 General may bring a civil action in an appro25 priate district court for such declaratory or inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00230 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 junctive relief as is necessary to carry out this 

2 subsection. 

3 (B) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

4 (i) A person or Tribal Government 

5 who is aggrieved by a violation of this sub6 section may provide written notice of the 

7 violation to the chief election official of the 

8 State involved. 

9 (ii) An aggrieved person or Tribal 

10 Government may bring a civil action in an 

11 appropriate district court for declaratory 

12 or injunctive relief with respect to a viola13 tion of this subsection, if— 

14 (I) that person or Tribal Govern15 ment provides the notice described in 

16 clause (i); and 

17 (II)(aa) in the case of a violation 

18 that occurs more than 120 days be19 fore the date of an election for Fed20 eral office, the violation remains and 

21 90 days or more have passed since the 

22 date on which the chief election offi23 cial of the State receives the notice 

24 under clause (i); or 


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1 (bb) in the case of a violation 

2 that occurs 120 days or less before 

3 the date of an election for Federal of4 fice, the violation remains and 20 

5 days or more have passed since the 

6 date on which the chief election offi7 cial of the State receives the notice 

8 under clause (i). 

9 (iii) In the case of a violation of this 

10 section that occurs 30 days or less before 

11 the date of an election for Federal office, 

12 an aggrieved person or Tribal Government 

13 may bring a civil action in an appropriate 

14 district court for declaratory or injunctive 

15 relief with respect to the violation without 

16 providing notice to the chief election offi17 cial of the State under clause (i). 

18 (b) BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

19 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (b)(3)(C)), by striking ‘‘1990’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

23 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF VOTING MATERIALS IN THE LAN2 GUAGE OF A MINORITY GROUP.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any State or po4 litical subdivision subject to the prohibition of sub5 section (b) of this section provides any registration 

6 or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or 

7 other materials or information relating to the elec8 toral process, including ballots, it shall provide them 

9 in the language of the applicable minority group as 

10 well as in the English language. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) In the case of a minority group that 

13 is not American Indian or Alaska Native and 

14 the language of that minority group is oral or 

15 unwritten, the State or political subdivision 

16 shall only be required to furnish, in the covered 

17 language, oral instructions, assistance, trans18 lation of voting materials, or other information 

19 relating to registration and voting. 

20 ‘‘(B) In the case of a minority group that 

21 is American Indian or Alaska Native, the State 

22 or political subdivision shall only be required to 

23 furnish in the covered language oral instruc24 tions, assistance, or other information relating 

25 to registration and voting, including all voting 


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1 materials, if the Tribal Government of that mi2 nority group has certified that the language of 

3 the applicable American Indian or Alaska Na4 tive language is presently unwritten or the 

5 Tribal Government does not want written trans6 lations in the minority language. 

7 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION

8 WORKERS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the 

9 State or political division may be required to provide 

10 written translations of voting materials, with the 

11 consent of any applicable Indian Tribe, to election 

12 workers to ensure that the translations from English 

13 to the language of a minority group are complete, 

14 accurate, and uniform.’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend16 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to the 

17 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held 

18 in November 2022 and each succeeding election for Fed19 eral office. 

20 SEC. 14005. VOTER INFORMATION RESPONSE SYSTEMS AND 

21 HOTLINE. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF SYSTEMS

23 AND SERVICES.— 

24 (1) STATE-BASED RESPONSE SYSTEMS.—The 

25 Attorney General shall coordinate the establishment 


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1 of a State-based response system for responding to 

2 questions and complaints from individuals voting or 

3 seeking to vote, or registering to vote or seeking to 

4 register to vote, in elections for Federal office. Such 

5 system shall provide— 

6 (A) State-specific, same-day, and imme7 diate assistance to such individuals, including 

8 information on how to register to vote, the loca9 tion and hours of operation of polling places, 

10 and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 

11 (B) State-specific, same-day, and imme12 diate assistance to individuals encountering 

13 problems with registering to vote or voting, in14 cluding individuals encountering intimidation or 

15 deceptive practices. 

16 (2) HOTLINE.—The Attorney General, in con17 sultation with State election officials, shall establish 

18 and operate a toll-free telephone service, using a 

19 telephone number that is accessible throughout the 

20 United States and that uses easily identifiable nu21 merals, through which individuals throughout the 

22 United States— 

23 (A) may connect directly to the State24 based response system described in paragraph 

25 (1) with respect to the State involved; 


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1 (B) may obtain information on voting in 

2 elections for Federal office, including informa3 tion on how to register to vote in such elections, 

4 the locations and hours of operation of polling 

5 places, and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 

6 (C) may report information to the Attor7 ney General on problems encountered in reg8 istering to vote or voting, including incidences 

9 of voter intimidation or suppression. 

10 (3) COLLABORATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL

11 ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 

12 (A) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION FROM

13 STATES.—The Attorney General shall coordi14 nate the collection of information on State and 

15 local election laws and policies, including infor16 mation on the statewide computerized voter reg17 istration lists maintained under title III of the 

18 Help America Vote Act of 2002, so that indi19 viduals who contact the free telephone service 

20 established under paragraph (2) on the date of 

21 an election for Federal office may receive an 

22 immediate response on that day. 

23 (B) FORWARDING QUESTIONS AND COM24 PLAINTS TO STATES.—If an individual contacts 

25 the free telephone service established under 


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1 paragraph (2) on the date of an election for 

2 Federal office with a question or complaint with 

3 respect to a particular State or jurisdiction 

4 within a State, the Attorney General shall for5 ward the question or complaint immediately to 

6 the appropriate election official of the State or 

7 jurisdiction so that the official may answer the 

8 question or remedy the complaint on that date. 

9 (4) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DE10 VELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS AND SERVICES.—The At11 torney General shall ensure that the State-based re12 sponse system under paragraph (1) and the free 

13 telephone service under paragraph (2) are each de14 veloped in consultation with civil rights organiza15 tions, voting rights groups, State and local election 

16 officials, voter protection groups, and other inter17 ested community organizations, especially those that 

18 have experience in the operation of similar systems 

19 and services. 

20 (b) USE OF SERVICE BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS21 ABILITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH

22 LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY.—The Attorney General shall 

23 design and operate the telephone service established under 

24 this section in a manner that ensures that individuals with 

25 disabilities are fully able to use the service, and that asVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00237 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 sistance is provided in any language in which the State 

2 (or any jurisdiction in the State) is required to provide 

3 election materials under section 203 of the Voting Rights 

4 Act of 1965. 

5 (c) VOTER HOTLINE TASK FORCE.— 

6 (1) APPOINTMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

7 The Attorney General shall appoint individuals (in 

8 such number as the Attorney General considers ap9 propriate but in no event fewer than 3) to serve on 

10 a Voter Hotline Task Force to provide ongoing anal11 ysis and assessment of the operation of the tele12 phone service established under this section, and 

13 shall give special consideration in making appoint14 ments to the Task Force to individuals who rep15 resent civil rights organizations. At least one mem16 ber of the Task Force shall be a representative of 

17 an organization promoting voting rights or civil 

18 rights which has experience in the operation of simi19 lar telephone services or in protecting the rights of 

20 individuals to vote, especially individuals who are 

21 members of racial, ethnic, or linguistic minorities or 

22 of communities who have been adversely affected by 

23 efforts to suppress voting rights. 

24 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual shall be eligi25 ble to serve on the Task Force under this subsection 


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1 if the individual meets such criteria as the Attorney 

2 General may establish, except that an individual may 

3 not serve on the task force if the individual has been 

4 convicted of any criminal offense relating to voter in5 timidation or voter suppression. 

6 (3) TERM OF SERVICE.—An individual ap7 pointed to the Task Force shall serve a single term 

8 of 2 years, except that the initial terms of the mem9 bers first appointed to the Task Force shall be stag10 gered so that there are at least 3 individuals serving 

11 on the Task Force during each year. A vacancy in 

12 the membership of the Task Force shall be filled in 

13 the same manner as the original appointment. 

14 (4) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem15 bers of the Task Force shall serve without pay, but 

16 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in 

17 lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable 

18 provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

19 5, United States Code. 

20 (d) BI-ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

21 than March 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Attorney 

22 General shall submit a report to Congress on the operation 

23 of the telephone service established under this section dur24 ing the previous 2 years, and shall include in the report— 


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1 (1) an enumeration of the number and type of 

2 calls that were received by the service; 

3 (2) a compilation and description of the reports 

4 made to the service by individuals citing instances of 

5 voter intimidation or suppression, together with a 

6 description of any actions taken in response to such 

7 instances of voter intimidation or suppression; 

8 (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 

9 service in making information available to all house10 holds in the United States with telephone service; 

11 (4) any recommendations developed by the 

12 Task Force established under subsection (c) with re13 spect to how voting systems may be maintained or 

14 upgraded to better accommodate voters and better 

15 ensure the integrity of elections, including but not 

16 limited to identifying how to eliminate coordinated 

17 voter suppression efforts and how to establish effec18 tive mechanisms for distributing updates on changes 

19 to voting requirements; and 

20 (5) any recommendations on best practices for 

21 the State-based response systems established under 

22 subsection (a)(1). 

23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

25 be appropriated to the Attorney General for fiscal 


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1 year 2021 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums 

2 as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

3 (2) SET-ASIDE FOR OUTREACH.—Of the 

4 amounts appropriated to carry out this section for a 

5 fiscal year pursuant to the authorization under para6 graph (1), not less than 15 percent shall be used for 

7 outreach activities to make the public aware of the 

8 availability of the telephone service established under 

9 this section, with an emphasis on outreach to indi10 viduals with disabilities and individuals with limited 

11 proficiency in the English language. 

12 SEC. 14006. ENSURING EQUITABLE AND EFFICIENT OPER13 ATION OF POLLING PLACES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 

15 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), as 

16 amended by section 1201(a), section 2001(a), section 

17 8001(a), section 9001(a), section 9002(a), and section 

18 9003(a), is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating sections 310 and 311 as 

20 sections 311 and 312; and 

21 (2) by inserting after section 309 the following 

22 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 310. ENSURING EQUITABLE AND EFFICIENT OPER2 ATION OF POLLING PLACES. 

3 ‘‘(a) PREVENTING UNREASONABLE WAITING TIMES

4 FOR VOTERS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide a 

6 sufficient number of voting systems, poll workers, 

7 and other election resources (including physical re8 sources) at a polling place used in any election for 

9 Federal office, including a polling place at which in10 dividuals may cast ballots prior to the date of the 

11 election, to ensure— 

12 ‘‘(A) a fair and equitable waiting time for 

13 all voters in the State; and 

14 ‘‘(B) that no individual will be required to 

15 wait longer than 30 minutes to cast a ballot at 

16 the polling place. 

17 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—In determining the number of 

18 voting systems, poll workers, and other election re19 sources provided at a polling place for purposes of 

20 paragraph (1), the State shall take into account the 

21 following factors: 

22 ‘‘(A) The voting age population. 

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

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

25 ‘‘(D) The number of voters who have reg26 istered since the most recent Federal election. 


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

2 by the polling place, such as the proportion of 

3 the voting-age population who are under 25 

4 years of age or who are naturalized citizens. 

5 ‘‘(F) The needs and numbers of voters 

6 with disabilities and voters with limited English 

7 proficiency. 

8 ‘‘(G) The type of voting systems used. 

9 ‘‘(H) The length and complexity of initia10 tives, referenda, and other questions on the bal11 lot. 

12 ‘‘(I) Such other factors, including relevant 

13 demographic factors relating to the population 

14 served by the polling place, as the State con15 siders appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

17 this subsection may be construed to authorize a 

18 State to meet the requirements of this subsection by 

19 closing any polling place, prohibiting an individual 

20 from entering a line at a polling place, or refusing 

21 to permit an individual who has arrived at a polling 

22 place prior to closing time from voting at the polling 

23 place. 

24 ‘‘(4) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 180 days 

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


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1 Commission shall establish and publish guidelines to 

2 assist States in meeting the requirements of this 

3 subsection. 

4 ‘‘(5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

5 take effect upon the expiration of the 180-day period 

6 which begins on the date of the enactment of this 

7 subsection, without regard to whether or not the 

8 Commission has established and published guidelines 

9 under paragraph (4). 

10 ‘‘(b) LIMITING VARIATIONS ON NUMBER OF HOURS

11 OF OPERATION OF POLLING PLACES WITHIN A STATE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B) and paragraph (2), each 

15 State shall establish hours of operation for all 

16 polling places in the State on the date of any 

17 election for Federal office held in the State 

18 such that the polling place with the greatest 

19 number of hours of operation on such date is 

20 not in operation for more than 2 hours longer 

21 than the polling place with the fewest number 

22 of hours of operation on such date. 

23 ‘‘(B) PERMITTING VARIANCE ON BASIS OF

24 POPULATION.—Subparagraph (A) does not 

25 apply to the extent that the State establishes 


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1 variations in the hours of operation of polling 

2 places on the basis of the overall population or 

3 the voting age population (as the State may se4 lect) of the unit of local government in which 

5 such polling places are located. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS FOR POLLING PLACES WITH

7 HOURS ESTABLISHED BY UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERN8 MENT.—Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case of 

9 a polling place— 

10 ‘‘(A) whose hours of operation are estab11 lished, in accordance with State law, by the unit 

12 of local government in which the polling place 

13 is located; or 

14 ‘‘(B) which is required pursuant to an 

15 order by a court to extend its hours of oper16 ation beyond the hours otherwise established. 

17 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM HOURS OF OPERATION OUTSIDE OF

18 TYPICAL WORKING HOURS.—Each State shall establish 

19 hours of operation for all polling places in the State on 

20 the date of any election for Federal office held in the State 

21 such that no polling place is open for less than a total 

22 of 4 hours outside of the hours between 9:00 a.m. and 

23 5:00 p.m. in time zone in which the polling place is lo24 cated.’’. 


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1 (b) STUDY OF METHODS TO ENFORCE FAIR AND

2 EQUITABLE WAITING TIMES.— 

3 (1) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commis4 sion and the Comptroller General of the United 

5 States shall conduct a joint study of the effective6 ness of various methods of enforcing the require7 ments of section 310(a) of the Help America Vote 

8 Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a), including 

9 methods of best allocating resources to jurisdictions 

10 which have had the most difficulty in providing a 

11 fair and equitable waiting time at polling places to 

12 all voters, and to communities of color in particular. 

13 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election 

15 Assistance Commission and the Comptroller General 

16 of the United States shall publish and submit to 

17 Congress a report on the study conducted under 

18 paragraph (1). 

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

20 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as amended by 

21 section 1201(c), section 2001(c), section 8001(c), section 

22 9001(b), section 9002(c), and section 9003(a), is amend23 ed— 


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1 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec2 tions 310 and 311 as relating to sections 311 and 

3 312; and 

4 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec5 tion 309 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 310. Ensuring equitable and efficient operation of polling places.’’. 

6 SEC. 14007. REQUIRING STATES TO PROVIDE SECURED 

7 DROP BOXES FOR VOTED ABSENTEE BAL8 LOTS IN ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

10 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

11 as amended by section 1201(a), section 2001(a), section 

12 8001(a), section 9001(a), section 9002(a), section 

13 9003(a), and section 14006(a), is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating sections 311 and 312 as 

15 sections 312 and 313; and 

16 (2) by inserting after section 310 the following 

17 new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 311. USE OF SECURED DROP BOXES FOR VOTED AB19 SENTEE BALLOTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING USE OF DROP BOXES.—In each 

21 county in the State, each State shall provide in-person, 

22 secured, and clearly labeled drop boxes at which individ23 uals may, at any time during the period described in sub24 section (b), drop off voted absentee ballots in an election 

25 for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR AVAILABILITY OF DROP

2 BOXES.—The period described in this subsection is, with 

3 respect to an election, the period which begins 45 days 

4 before the date of the election and which ends at the time 

5 the polls close for the election in the county involved. 

6 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall ensure 

8 that the drop boxes provided under this section are 

9 accessible for use— 

10 ‘‘(A) by individuals with disabilities, as de11 termined in consultation with the protection 

12 and advocacy systems (as defined in section 102 

13 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance 

14 and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

15 15002)) of the State; 

16 ‘‘(B) by individuals with limited proficiency 

17 in the English language; and 

18 ‘‘(C) by homeless individuals (as defined in 

19 section 103 of the McKinney–Vento Homeless 

20 Assistance Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 11302)) of 

21 the State. 

22 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF ACCESSIBILITY FOR

23 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—For purposes of 

24 this subsection, drop boxes shall be considered to be 

25 accessible for use by individuals with disabilities if 


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1 the drop boxes meet such criteria as the Attorney 

2 General may establish for such purposes. 

3 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—If a State pro4 vides a drop box under this section on the grounds 

5 of or inside a building or facility which serves as a 

6 polling place for an election during the period de7 scribed in subsection (b), nothing in this subsection 

8 may be construed to waive any requirements regard9 ing the accessibility of such polling place for the use 

10 of individuals with disabilities or individuals with 

11 limited proficiency in the English language. 

12 ‘‘(d) NUMBER OF DROP BOXES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) FORMULA FOR DETERMINATION OF NUM14 BER.—The number of drop boxes provided under 

15 this section in a county with respect to an election 

16 shall be determined as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) In the case of a county in which the 

18 number of individuals who are residents of the 

19 county and who are registered to vote in the 

20 election is equal to or greater than 20,000, the 

21 number of drop boxes shall be a number equal 

22 to or greater than the number of such individ23 uals divided by 20,000 (rounded to the nearest 

24 whole number). 


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1 ‘‘(B) In the case of any other county, the 

2 number of drop boxes shall be equal to or 

3 greater than one. 

4 ‘‘(C) The State shall ensure that the num5 ber of drop boxes provided is sufficient to pro6 vide a reasonable opportunity for voters to sub7 mit their voted ballots in a timely manner. 

8 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—For purposes of this subsection, 

9 the number of individuals who reside in a county 

10 and who are registered to vote in the election shall 

11 be determined as of the 90th day before the date of 

12 the election. 

13 ‘‘(e) LOCATION OF DROP BOXES.—The State shall 

14 determine the location of drop boxes provided under this 

15 section in a county on the basis of criteria which ensure 

16 that the drop boxes are— 

17 ‘‘(1) available to all voters on a non-discrimina18 tory basis; 

19 ‘‘(2) accessible to voters with disabilities (in ac20 cordance with subsection (c)); 

21 ‘‘(3) accessible by public transportation to the 

22 greatest extent possible; 

23 ‘‘(4) available during all hours of the day; 

24 ‘‘(5) sufficiently available in all communities in 

25 the county, including rural communities and on 


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1 Tribal lands within the county (subject to subsection 

2 (f)); and 

3 ‘‘(6) geographically distributed to provide a rea4 sonable opportunity for voters to submit their voted 

5 ballot in a timely manner. 

6 ‘‘(f) RULES FOR DROP BOXES ON TRIBAL LANDS.— 

7 In making a determination of the number and location of 

8 drop boxes provided under this section on Tribal lands in 

9 a county, the appropriate State and local election officials 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) consult with Tribal leaders prior to making 

12 the determination; and 

13 ‘‘(2) take into account criteria such as the 

14 availability of direct-to-door residential mail delivery, 

15 the distance and time necessary to travel to the drop 

16 box locations (including in inclement weather), 

17 modes of transportation available, conditions of 

18 roads, and the availability (if any) of public trans19 portation. 

20 ‘‘(g) TIMING OF SCANNING AND PROCESSING OF

21 BALLOTS.—For purposes of section 306(e) (relating to 

22 the timing of the processing and scanning of ballots for 

23 tabulation), a vote cast using a drop box provided under 

24 this section shall be treated in the same manner as any 

25 other vote cast during early voting. 


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1 ‘‘(h) POSTING OF INFORMATION.—On or adjacent to 

2 each drop box provided under this section, the State shall 

3 post information on the requirements that voted absentee 

4 ballots must meet in order to be counted and tabulated 

5 in the election. 

6 ‘‘(i) REMOTE SURVEILLANCE PERMITTED.—The 

7 State may provide for the security of drop boxes through 

8 remote or electronic surveillance. 

9 ‘‘(j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

10 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

11 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

12 election for Federal office.’’. 

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

14 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c), section 

15 2001(c), section 8001(c), section 9001(b), section 

16 9002(c), section 9003(a), and section 14006(c), is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec19 tions 311 and 312 as relating to sections 312 and 

20 313; and 

21 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 310 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 311. Use of secured drop boxes for voted absentee ballots.’’. 


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1 SEC. 14008. PROHIBITING STATES FROM RESTRICTING 

2 CURBSIDE VOTING. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

4 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

5 as amended by section 1201(a), section 2001(a), section 

6 8001(a), section 9001(a), section 9002(a), section 

7 9003(a), section 14006(a), and section 14007(a), is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating sections 312 and 313 as 

10 sections 313 and 314; and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 311 the following 

12 new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 312. PROHIBITING STATES FROM RESTRICTING 

14 CURBSIDE VOTING. 

15 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—A State may not— 

16 ‘‘(1) prohibit any jurisdiction administering an 

17 election for Federal office in the State from utilizing 

18 curbside voting as a method by which individuals 

19 may cast ballots in the election; or 

20 ‘‘(2) impose any restrictions which would ex21 clude any individual who is eligible to vote in such 

22 an election in a jurisdiction which utilizes curbside 

23 voting from casting a ballot in the election by the 

24 method of curbside voting. 

25 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

26 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 


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1 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

2 election for Federal office.’’. 

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

4 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c), section 

5 2001(c), section 8001(c), section 9001(b), section 

6 9002(c), section 9003(a), section 14006(c), and section 

7 14007(b), is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec9 tions 312 and 313 as relating to sections 313 and 

10 314; and 

11 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec12 tion 311 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 312. Prohibiting States from restricting curbside voting.’’. 

13 SEC. 14009. ELECTION DAY HOLIDAY. 

14 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MAN15 NER AS LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY FOR PURPOSES OF FED16 ERAL EMPLOYMENT.—For purposes of any law relating 

17 to Federal employment, the Tuesday next after the first 

18 Monday in November in 2022 and each even-numbered 

19 year thereafter shall be treated in the same manner as 

20 a legal public holiday described in section 6103 of title 

21 5, United States Code. 

22 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO TREATMENT

23 OF DAY BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that private employers in the United States should 

25 give their employees a day off on the Tuesday next after 


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1 the first Monday in November in 2022 and each even2 numbered year thereafter to enable the employees to cast 

3 votes in the elections held on that day. 

4 SEC. 14010. GAO STUDY ON VOTER TURNOUT RATES. 

5 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

6 conduct a study on voter turnout rates delineated by age 

7 in States and localities that permit voters to participate 

8 in elections before reaching the age of 18, with a focus 

9 on localities that permit voting upon reaching the age of 

10 16. 

11 SEC. 14011. STUDY ON RANKED-CHOICE VOTING. 

12 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

13 a study on the implementation and impact of ranked14 choice voting in States and localities with a focus on how 

15 to best implement a model for Federal elections nation16 wide. The study shall include the impact on voter turnout, 

17 negative campaigning, and who decides to run for office. 

18 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of enactment of this section, the Comptroller General shall 

20 transmit to Congress a report on the study conducted 

21 under subsection (a), including any recommendations on 

22 how to best implement a ranked-choice voting for Federal 

23 elections nationwide. 


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1 Subtitle B—Disaster and 

2 Emergency Contingency Plans 

3 SEC. 14101. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION CON4 TINGENCY PLANS IN RESPONSE TO NATURAL 

5 DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 

9 State and each jurisdiction in a State which is re10 sponsible for administering elections for Federal of11 fice shall establish and make publicly available a 

12 contingency plan to enable individuals to vote in 

13 elections for Federal office during a state of emer14 gency, public health emergency, or national emer15 gency which has been declared for reasons includ16 ing— 

17 (A) a natural disaster; or 

18 (B) an infectious disease. 

19 (2) UPDATING.—Each State and jurisdiction 

20 shall update the contingency plan established under 

21 this subsection not less frequently than every 5 

22 years. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SAFETY.—The 

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1 ed to protect the health and safety of poll workers and 

2 voters when voting in person. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECRUITMENT OF

4 POLL WORKERS.—The contingency plan established 

5 under subsection (a) shall include initiatives by the chief 

6 State election official and local election officials to recruit 

7 poll workers from resilient or unaffected populations, 

8 which may include— 

9 (1) employees of other State and local govern10 ment offices; and 

11 (2) in the case in which an infectious disease 

12 poses significant increased health risks to elderly in13 dividuals, students of secondary schools and institu14 tions of higher education in the State. 

15 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

16 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen17 eral may bring a civil action against any State or ju18 risdiction in an appropriate United States District 

19 Court for such declaratory and injunctive relief (in20 cluding a temporary restraining order, a permanent 

21 or temporary injunction, or other order) as may be 

22 necessary to carry out the requirements of this sec23 tion. 

24 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a viola2 tion of this section, any person who is aggrieved 

3 by such violation may provide written notice of 

4 the violation to the chief election official of the 

5 State involved. 

6 (B) RELIEF.—If the violation is not cor7 rected within 20 days after receipt of a notice 

8 under subparagraph (A), or within 5 days after 

9 receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 

10 within 120 days before the date of an election 

11 for Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in 

12 a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive 

13 relief with respect to the violation. 

14 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—If the violation oc15 curred within 5 days before the date of an elec16 tion for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

17 need not provide notice to the chief election of18 ficial of the State involved under subparagraph 

19 (A) before bringing a civil action under sub20 paragraph (B). 

21 (e) DEFINITIONS.— 

22 (1) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—For 

23 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘election for Fed24 eral office’’ means a general, special, primary, or 

25 runoff election for the office of President or Vice 


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1 President, or of Senator or Representative in, or 

2 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con3 gress. 

4 (2) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the 

5 term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the 

6 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 

7 Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 

8 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

9 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

10 respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Fed11 eral office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

12 election for Federal office. 

13 Subtitle C—Improvements in Oper14 ation of Election Assistance 

15 Commission 

16 SEC. 14201. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

17 COMMISSION. 

18 Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

19 (52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 

21 2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 

22 2021 and each succeeding fiscal year’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘(but not to exceed $10,000,000 

24 for each such year)’’. 


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1 SEC. 14202. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST2 GENERAL ELECTION SURVEYS. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Help America 

4 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), as amended 

5 by section 14003(a), is further amended by inserting after 

6 section 303A the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 303B. REQUIRING PARTICIPATION IN POST-GENERAL 

8 ELECTION SURVEYS. 

9 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each State shall furnish to the 

10 Commission such information as the Commission may re11 quest for purposes of conducting any post-election survey 

12 of the States with respect to the administration of a regu13 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

14 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

15 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

16 Federal office held in November 2022 and any succeeding 

17 election.’’. 

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

19 of such Act, as amended by section 14003(c), is further 

20 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

21 303A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303B. Requiring participation in post-general election surveys.’’. 


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1 SEC. 14203. REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STAND2 ARDS AND TECHNOLOGY ON USE OF FUNDS 

3 TRANSFERRED FROM ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

4 COMMISSION. 

5 (a) REQUIRING REPORTS ON USE FUNDS AS CONDI6 TION OF RECEIPT.—Section 231 of the Help America 

7 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON USE OF FUNDS TRANSFERRED

10 FROM COMMISSION.—To the extent that funds are trans11 ferred from the Commission to the Director of the Na12 tional Institute of Standards and Technology for purposes 

13 of carrying out this section during any fiscal year, the Di14 rector may not use such funds unless the Director certifies 

15 at the time of transfer that the Director will submit a re16 port to the Commission not later than 90 days after the 

17 end of the fiscal year detailing how the Director used such 

18 funds during the year.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2022 

21 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

22 SEC. 14204. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS 

23 OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 

24 (a) ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

25 AND CYBERSECURITY.—Not later than December 31, 

26 2021, the Election Assistance Commission shall carry out 


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1 an assessment of the security and effectiveness of the 

2 Commission’s information technology systems, including 

3 the cybersecurity of such systems. 

4 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT

5 PROCEDURES.— 

6 (1) REVIEW OF PROCEDURES.—The Election 

7 Assistance Commission shall carry out a review of 

8 the effectiveness and efficiency of the State-based 

9 administrative complaint procedures established and 

10 maintained under section 402 of the Help America 

11 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21112) for the inves12 tigation and resolution of allegations of violations of 

13 title III of such Act. 

14 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STREAMLINE PRO15 CEDURES.—Not later than December 31, 2021, the 

16 Commission shall submit to Congress a report on 

17 the review carried out under paragraph (1), and 

18 shall include in the report such recommendations as 

19 the Commission considers appropriate to streamline 

20 and improve the procedures which are the subject of 

21 the review. 


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1 SEC. 14205. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSIST2 ANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERN3 MENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Help America 

5 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20925) is amended by strik6 ing subsection (e). 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

8 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contracts entered 

9 into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 Subtitle D—Miscellaneous 

12 Provisions 

13 SEC. 14301. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ELECTION ADMINIS14 TRATION LAWS TO TERRITORIES OF THE 

15 UNITED STATES. 

16 (a) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF

17 1993.—Section 3(4) of the National Voter Registration 

18 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20502(4)) is amended by striking 

19 ‘‘States and the District of Columbia’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

21 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States 

22 Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

23 Mariana Islands’’. 

24 (b) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.— 

25 (1) COVERAGE OF COMMONWEALTH OF THE

26 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.—Section 901 of the 


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1 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141) 

2 is amended by striking ‘‘and the United States Vir3 gin Islands’’ and inserting ‘‘the United States Virgin 

4 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

5 Mariana Islands’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO HELP

7 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Such Act is further 

8 amended as follows: 

9 (A) The second sentence of section 

10 213(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 20943(a)(2)) is amended 

11 by striking ‘‘and American Samoa’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘American Samoa, and the Commonwealth 

13 of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 

14 (B) Section 252(c)(2) (52 U.S.C. 

15 21002(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘or the 

16 United States Virgin Islands’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘the United States Virgin Islands, or the Com18 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 

19 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

20 CONSULTATION OF HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDA21 TION WITH LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Section 

22 90102(c) of title 36, United States Code, is amend23 ed by striking ‘‘and the United States Virgin Is24 lands’’ and inserting ‘‘the United States Virgin IsVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00264 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar2 iana Islands’’. 

3 SEC. 14302. DEFINITION OF ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OF4 FICE. 

5 (a) DEFINITION.—Title IX of the Help America Vote 

6 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141 et seq.) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 907. ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE DEFINED. 

9 ‘‘For purposes of titles I through III, the term ‘elec10 tion for Federal office’ means a general, special, primary, 

11 or runoff election for the office of President or Vice Presi12 dent, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 

13 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.’’. 

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

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

16 relating to title IX the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 907. Election for Federal office defined.’’. 

17 SEC. 14303. AUTHORIZING PAYMENTS TO VOTING ACCESSI18 BILITY PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYS19 TEMS SERVING THE AMERICAN INDIAN CON20 SORTIUM. 

21 (a) RECIPIENTS DEFINED.—Section 291 of the Help 

22 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21061) is amend23 ed— 

24 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub25 section (d); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) AMERICAN INDIAN CONSORTIUM ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 A system serving the American Indian Consortium for 

5 which funds have been reserved under section 

6 509(c)(1)(B) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

7 794e(c)(1)(B)) shall be eligible for payments under sub8 section (a) in the same manner as a protection and advo9 cacy system of a State.’’. 

10 (b) GRANT MINIMUMS FOR AMERICAN INDIAN CON11 SORTIUM.—Section 291(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

12 21061(b)) is amended— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘(c)(1)(B),’’ after ‘‘as set forth 

14 in subsections’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘subsections (c)(3)(B) and 

16 (c)(4)(B) of that section shall be not less than 

17 $70,000 and $35,000, respectively’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘subsection (c)(3)(B) shall not be less than $70,000, 

19 and the amount of the grants to systems referred to 

20 in subsections (c)(1)(B) and (c)(4)(B) shall not be 

21 less than $35,000’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall take effect at the start of the first fiscal 

24 year following the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 14304. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL VOTER PROTEC2 TION LAWS TO TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED 

3 STATES. 

4 (a) INTIMIDATION OF VOTERS.—Section 594 of title 

5 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Delegate 

6 from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commis7 sioner,’’ and inserting ‘‘or Delegate or Resident Commis8 sioner to the Congress’’. 

9 (b) INTERFERENCE BY GOVERNMENT EMPLOY10 EES.—Section 595 of title 18, United States Code, is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘Delegate from the District of Co12 lumbia, or Resident Commissioner,’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

13 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress’’. 

14 (c) VOTING BY NONCITIZENS.—Section 611(a) of 

15 title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Del16 egate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commis17 sioner,’’ and inserting ‘‘or Delegate or Resident Commis18 sioner to the Congress’’. 

19 SEC. 14305. PLACEMENT OF STATUES OF CITIZENS OF TER20 RITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN STAT21 UARY HALL. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1814 of the Revised Stat23 utes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 2131) is amended by 

24 adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘For pur25 poses of this section, the term ‘State’ includes American 

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1 iana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 

2 United States Virgin Islands, and the term ‘citizen’ in3 cludes a national of the United States, as defined in sec4 tion 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

5 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)).’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO PRO7 CEDURES FOR REPLACEMENT OF STATUES.—Section 311 

8 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 

9 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(f) For purposes of this section, the term ‘State’ in12 cludes American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

13 Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

14 Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.’’. 

15 SEC. 14306. NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided, 

17 nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize or re18 quire conduct prohibited under any of the following laws, 

19 or to supersede, restrict, or limit the application of such 

20 laws: 

21 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

22 10301 et seq.). 

23 (2) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 

24 Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 20101 et seq.). 


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1 (3) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab2 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

3 (4) The National Voter Registration Act of 

4 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

5 (5) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

6 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

7 (6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

8 701 et seq.). 

9 (b) NO EFFECT ON PRECLEARANCE OR OTHER RE10 QUIREMENTS UNDER VOTING RIGHTS ACT.—The ap11 proval by any person of a payment or grant application 

12 under this Act, or any other action taken by any person 

13 under this Act, shall not be considered to have any effect 

14 on requirements for preclearance under section 5 of the 

15 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10304) or any other 

16 requirements of such Act. 

17 (c) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF STATES TO PRO18 VIDE GREATER OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOTING.—Nothing 

19 in this Act or the amendments made by this Act may be 

20 construed to prohibit any State from enacting any law 

21 which provides greater opportunities for individuals to reg22 ister to vote and to vote in elections for Federal office than 

23 are provided by this Act and the amendments made by 

24 this Act. 


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1 SEC. 14307. CLARIFICATION OF EXEMPTION FOR STATES 

2 WITHOUT VOTER REGISTRATION. 

3 To the extent that any provision of this Act or any 

4 amendment made by this Act imposes a requirement on 

5 a State relating to registering individuals to vote in elec6 tions for Federal office, such provision shall not apply in 

7 the case of any State in which, under law that is in effect 

8 continuously on and after the date of the enactment of 

9 this Act, there is no voter registration requirement for any 

10 voter in the State with respect to an election for Federal 

11 office. 

12 Subtitle E—Voter Notice 

13 SEC. 14401. PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS IN EVENT OF 

14 CHANGES IN ELECTIONS IN RESPONSE TO 

15 EMERGENCIES. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTION OFFICIALS TO

17 CONDUCT CAMPAIGNS.—Section 302 of the Help America 

18 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082), as amended by sec19 tion 7001(a) and section 14001(a), is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub21 section (h); and 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol23 lowing new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(g) PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS IN EVENT OF

25 CHANGES IN ELECTIONS IN RESPONSE TO EMER26 GENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—If the administration of 

2 an election for Federal office, including the methods 

3 of voting or registering to vote in the election, is 

4 changed in response to an emergency affecting pub5 lic health and safety, the appropriate State or local 

6 election official shall conduct a public education 

7 campaign through at least one direct mailing to each 

8 individual who is registered to vote in the election, 

9 and through additional direct mailings, newspaper 

10 advertisements, broadcasting (including through tel11 evision, radio, satellite, and the Internet), and social 

12 media, to notify individuals who are eligible to vote 

13 or to register to vote in the election of the changes. 

14 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY AND METHODS OF PROVIDING

15 INFORMATION.—The election official shall carry out 

16 the public education campaign under this subsection 

17 at such frequency, and using such methods, as will 

18 have the greatest likelihood of providing timely 

19 knowledge of the change in the administration of the 

20 election to those individuals who will be most ad21 versely affected by the change. 

22 ‘‘(3) LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.—In the case 

23 of a State or political subdivision that is a covered 

24 State or political subdivision under section 203 of 

25 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), 


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1 the appropriate election official shall ensure that the 

2 information disseminated under a public education 

3 campaign conducted under this subsection is pro4 vided in the language of the applicable minority 

5 group as well as in the English language, as re6 quired by section 203 of such Act. 

7 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

8 apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general 

9 election for Federal office held in November 2020 

10 and each succeeding election for Federal office.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EF12 FECTIVE DATE.—Section 302(h) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

13 21082(h)), as redesignated by subsection (a) and as 

14 amended by section 7001(b) and section 14001(b), is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘and (f)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)(4), 

16 and (g)(4)’’. 

17 SEC. 14402. REQUIREMENTS FOR WEBSITES OF ELECTION 

18 OFFICIALS. 

19 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

20 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

21 as amended by section 1201(a), section 2001(a), section 

22 8001(a), section 9001(a), section 9002(a), section 

23 9003(a), section 14006(a), section 14007(a), and 

24 14008(a), is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 313 and 314 as 

2 sections 314 and 315; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 312 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 313. REQUIREMENTS FOR WEBSITES OF ELECTION 

6 OFFICIALS. 

7 ‘‘(a) ACCESSIBILITY.—Each State and local election 

8 official shall ensure that the official public website of the 

9 official is fully accessible for individuals with disabilities, 

10 including the blind and visually impaired, in a manner 

11 that provides the same opportunity for access and partici12 pation as the website provides for other individuals. 

13 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING OPERATION IN CASE OF EMER14 GENCIES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

17 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

18 shall establish and regularly update best prac19 tices for ensuring the continuing operation of 

20 the official public websites of State and local 

21 election officials during emergencies affecting 

22 public health and safety. 

23 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.—The Director shall first 

24 establish the best practices required under this 

25 paragraph as soon as practicable after the date 


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1 of the enactment of this section, but in no case 

2 later than August 15, 2021. 

3 ‘‘(2) REQUIRING WEBSITES TO MEET BEST

4 PRACTICES.—Each State and local election official 

5 shall ensure that the official public website of the of6 ficial is in compliance with the best practices estab7 lished by the Director of the National Institute of 

8 Standards and Technology under paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

10 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

11 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

12 election for Federal office.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO ADOP14 TION OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION ASSIST15 ANCE COMMISSION.—Section 321(b) of such Act (52 

16 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as redesignated and amended by sec17 tion 2001(b) and section 8001(b), is amended— 

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

19 (4); 

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(6) in the case of the recommendations with 

25 respect to section 304, as soon as practicable after 


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1 the date of the enactment of this paragraph, but in 

2 no case later than August 15, 2021.’’. 

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

4 of such Act, as amended by section 1201(c), section 

5 2001(c), section 8001(c), section 9001(b), section 

6 9002(c), section 9003(a), section 14006(c), section 

7 14007(b), and section 14008(b), is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec9 tions 313 and 314 as relating to sections 314 and 

10 315; and 

11 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec12 tion 312 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 313. Requirements for websites of election officials.’’. 

13 SEC. 14403. PAYMENTS BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS14 SION TO STATES FOR COSTS OF COMPLI15 ANCE. 

16 (a) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS.—Title IX of the 

17 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141 et seq.) 

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

19 ‘‘SEC. 907. PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF COMPLIANCE WITH 

20 CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO PUB21 LIC NOTIFICATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF PAYMENTS.— 

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1 pects to incur in meeting the requirements of section 

2 302(g) (relating to public education campaigns in 

3 event of changes in elections in response to emer4 gencies) and section 313 (relating to requirements 

5 for the websites of election officials). 

6 ‘‘(2) SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS.—As soon as 

7 practicable after the date of the enactment of this 

8 section, and not less frequently than once each cal9 endar year thereafter, the Commission shall make 

10 payments under this section. 

11 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF PAYMENTS.—The 

12 chief State election official of the State shall receive 

13 the payment made to a State under this section, and 

14 may use the payment for the purposes set forth in 

15 this section without intervening action by the legisla16 ture of the State. 

17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

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

19 made to an eligible State for a year under this sec20 tion shall be determined by the Commission on the 

21 basis of the information provided by the State in its 

22 application under subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

24 AFTER APPROPRIATION.—A payment made to an eliVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00276 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358

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1 gible State under this section shall be available with2 out fiscal year limitation. 

3 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—Each State that desires to 

5 receive a payment under this section for a fiscal year 

6 shall submit an application for the payment to the 

7 Commission at such time and in such manner and 

8 containing such information as the Commission shall 

9 require. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each appli11 cation submitted under paragraph (1) shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) describe the activities for which as13 sistance under this section is sought; and 

14 ‘‘(B) provide an estimate of the costs the 

15 State has incurred or expects to incur in car16 rying out the provisions described in subsection 

17 (a), together with such additional information 

18 and certifications as the Commission deter19 mines to be essential to ensure compliance with 

20 the requirements of this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated for payments under this 

23 section such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

24 fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 

25 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 

2 the 6 months after the end of each fiscal year for 

3 which an eligible State received a payment under 

4 this section, the State shall submit a report to the 

5 Commission on the activities conducted with the 

6 funds provided during the year. 

7 ‘‘(2) REPORTS BY COMMISSION TO COMMIT8 TEES.—With respect to each fiscal year for which 

9 the Commission makes payments under this section, 

10 the Commission shall submit a report on the activi11 ties carried out under this part to the Committee on 

12 House Administration of the House of Representa13 tives and the Committee on Rules and Administra14 tion of the Senate.’’. 

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

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

17 relating to title IX the following: 

‘‘Sec. 907. Payments for costs of compliance with certain requirements relating 

to public notification.’’. 

18 TITLE XV—SEVERABILITY 

19 SEC. 15001. SEVERABILITY. 

20 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

21 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

22 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu23 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

24 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 


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1 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

2 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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