I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 237 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 

to vote by mail in Federal elections, to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for automatic voter registration, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. LIEU, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. 

SCHRADER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

MOULTON, Mr. SWALWELL, and Ms. CHU) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in 

addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, 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 amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow 

all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections, 

to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

to provide for automatic voter registration, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vote at Home Act of 

3 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the 

7 United States because voters in some States have 

8 the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 

9 other States do not. 

10 (2) Many voters often have work, family, or 

11 other commitments that make getting to polls and 

12 waiting in line on the date of an election difficult or 

13 impossible. Many citizens with disabilities are phys14 ically unable to vote due to long lines, inadequate 

15 parking, no curb cuts, steep ramps, and large 

16 crowds. In 2012, 30 percent of voters with disabil17 ities had difficulty voting, and in 2016, nearly two18 thirds of the 137 polling places inspected on Elec19 tion Day had at least one impediment to people with 

20 disabilities. Under current State laws, many of these 

21 voters are not permitted to vote by mail. 

22 (3) In 2020, despite a global pandemic, the 

23 general election saw record high turnout as a result 

24 of increased vote by mail options, which allowed vot25 ers to cast a ballot and stay safe at the same time. 


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1 (4) 34 States and the District of Columbia cur2 rently allow universal absentee voting (also known as 

3 ‘‘no-excuse’’ absentee voting), which permits any 

4 voter to request a mail-in ballot without providing a 

5 reason for the request. No State which has imple6 mented no-excuse absentee voting has repealed it. 

7 (5) 5 States currently hold elections entirely by 

8 mail. At least 22 States currently allow some elec9 tions to be conducted by mail, especially in large and 

10 rural jurisdictions where voting by mail is especially 

11 convenient. Polling stations in rural jurisdictions 

12 tend to have higher costs per voter, smaller staffs, 

13 and limited resources. Transportation is often a cru14 cial barrier for rural voters. 

15 (6) In 2020, in order to provide greater accessi16 bility and to protect the public health, 30 States 

17 adopted or changed their laws for the general elec18 tion to allow voters to cast their ballots from home. 

19 These changes included removing strict excuse re20 quirements or allowing COVID-19 concerns to be a 

21 valid excuse to vote absentee, allowing ballot drop 

22 boxes, offering prepaid postage on election mail and 

23 proactively sending all active registered voters appli24 cations to request an absentee ballot, with some even 

25 skipping that step and sending the actual ballots. 


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1 (7) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 

2 consider their choices, which is especially important 

3 as many ballots contain greater numbers of ques4 tions about complex issues than in the past due to 

5 the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 

6 process in many States. 

7 (8) Voting by mail is cost effective. After the 

8 State of Oregon adopted vote by mail for all voters 

9 in 1996, the cost to administer an election in the 

10 State dropped by nearly 30 percent over the next 

11 few elections, from $3.07 per voter to $2.21 per 

12 voter. After Colorado implemented all-mail balloting 

13 in 2013, voting administration costs decreased by an 

14 average of 40 percent. The cost of conducting vote15 by-mail elections is generally one-third to one-half 

16 less than conducting polling place elections. Voting 

17 by mail also saves a substantial amount by getting 

18 rid of the temporary labor costs of hiring poll work19 ers. In addition to that cost, many jurisdictions have 

20 been facing difficulty in obtaining sufficient numbers 

21 of poll workers. 

22 (9) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 

23 mail can reduce waiting times for those voters who 

24 choose to vote at the polls. In 2016, voters in Ari25 zona reported waiting in line from 1 to 5 hours to 


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1 vote; in New York, voters reported that stations ran 

2 out of ballots and did not have staff during all of 

3 the hours scheduled for voting. 

4 (10) Voting by mail is preferable to many vot5 ers as an alternative to going to the polls. In 2018, 

6 25.3 percent of ballots in the United States were 

7 cast by mail, up from 10 percent in 2000. Voting by 

8 mail has become increasingly popular with voters 

9 who want to be certain that they are able to vote no 

10 matter what comes up on Election Day, as it re11 duces the physical obstacles and eases the time con12 straints connected with the act of voting. 

13 (11) Despite attempts to claim that voting by 

14 mail is susceptible to fraud, it is not. Strategies such 

15 as the tracking systems for ballots and Postal Serv16 ice cooperation in preventing ballots from being de17 livered to names not recognized as receiving mail at 

18 an address nearly eliminate the potential for fraud 

19 in vote by mail elections. Evidence of undue influ20 ence or voter coercion after vote-by-mail implementa21 tion in Oregon has been nonexistent to minimal. 

22 (12) Many of the reasons which voters in many 

23 States are required to provide in order to vote by 

24 mail require the revelation of personal information 

25 about health, travel plans, or religious activities, 


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1 which violate voters’ privacy while doing nothing to 

2 prevent voter fraud. 

3 (13) State laws which require voters to obtain 

4 a notary signature to vote by mail only add cost and 

5 inconvenience to voters without increasing security. 

6 (14) Many voters choose to cast ballots early 

7 when they have the option (over 50 percent in Ari8 zona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Geor9 gia, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North 

10 Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and 

11 Washington). More than 40 percent of voters in the 

12 2016 election cast their ballot before Election Day. 

13 In Oregon, 7 years after vote-by-mail election imple14 mentation, over 80 percent of voters favored the 

15 vote-by-mail system. 

16 (15) Vote-by-mail typically increases turnout in 

17 all elections, but can be particularly effective in in18 creasing voter participation in special elections and 

19 primary elections. Oregon, Washington, and Colo20 rado, 3 of the 5 States with entirely vote by mail 

21 systems, continue to have consistently high voter 

22 turnout rates. In the 2016 Presidential election, 

23 while the percentage of registered voters who cast a 

24 ballot nationally was 68.1 percent, Oregon’s was 


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1 80.3 percent, Washington’s was 78.76 percent, and 

2 Colorado’s was 74.3 percent. 

3 (16) A crucial component of a modern voting 

4 system is making it easy, affordable, and accessible 

5 to register to vote. Twenty states and the District of 

6 Columbia have enacted automatic voter registration 

7 policies, with Oregon and California becoming the 

8 first to automatically register their citizens to vote 

9 when they apply for a driver’s license. Automatic, 

10 permanent voter registration has the potential to in11 crease participation, protect election integrity, and 

12 reduce registration costs. 

13 SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 

14 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

15 (a) VOTING BY MAIL IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

17 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 

18 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 

19 the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

21 MAIL. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli23 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 

24 State may not impose any additional conditions or require25 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 


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1 in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 

2 State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and re3 lated voting materials from the appropriate State or local 

4 election official and for returning the ballot to the appro5 priate State or local election official. 

6 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF BALLOT MATERIALS.—Not later 

7 than 2 weeks before the date of any election for Federal 

8 office, each State shall mail ballots to individuals who are 

9 registered to vote in such election. 

10 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS11 ABILITIES.—All ballots provided under this section shall 

12 be accessible to individuals with disabilities in a manner 

13 that provides the same opportunity for access and partici14 pation (including for privacy and independence) as for 

15 other voters. 

16 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 

18 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 

19 polling places at which individuals cast ballots. 

20 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 

21 to comply with the requirements of this section with re22 spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 

23 with 2022.’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

25 ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 


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1 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘303, and 303A’’. 

3 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents for such Act is amended by inserting after the 

5 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 

6 (b) FREE POSTAGE FOR VOTING BY MAIL.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 

8 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elec11 tions 

12 ‘‘Blank ballots mailed pursuant to section 303A(b) 

13 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 which are mailed 

14 by a State or local election official (individually or in bulk) 

15 to a voter, and voted ballots which are mailed by a voter 

16 to an election official, shall be carried expeditiously and 

17 free of postage.’’. 

18 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND19 MENTS.— 

20 (A) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of 

21 sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 

22 States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

‘‘3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elections.’’. 


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1 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA2 TIONS.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, United 

3 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘3403 

4 through 3406’’ and inserting ‘‘3403 through 

5 3407’’. 

6 SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH 

7 STATE MOTOR VEHICLE AUTHORITIES. 

8 (a) AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION.—Section 5 

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

10 20504) is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 5. VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH MOTOR VEHICLE 

12 AUTHORITY. 

13 ‘‘(a) SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION FOR VOTER REG14 ISTRATION AND APPLICATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLE

15 DRIVER’S LICENSE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION TO ELEC17 TION OFFICIALS.—Each State’s motor vehicle au18 thority, upon receiving any of the identifying infor19 mation described in paragraph (2) with respect to 

20 any applicable individual, shall securely transmit the 

21 identifying information to the appropriate State elec22 tion official. 

23 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION DESCRIBED.— 

24 The identifying information described in this para25 graph with respect to any individual is as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The individual’s legal name. 

2 ‘‘(B) The individual’s age. 

3 ‘‘(C) The individual’s residence. 

4 ‘‘(D) The individual’s citizenship status. 

5 ‘‘(E) The individual’s electronic signature. 

6 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF OFFICIALS RECEIVING INFORMA7 TION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving the identi9 fying information with respect to an applicable indi10 vidual under subsection (a), the appropriate State 

11 election official shall determine— 

12 ‘‘(A) whether such individual is eligible to 

13 vote in an election for Federal office; and 

14 ‘‘(B) whether such individual is currently 

15 registered to vote in elections for Federal office 

16 at the address provided in such identifying in17 formation. 

18 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO INDIVIDUALS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE UNREGISTERED INDIVID20 UALS.—In the case of an applicable individual 

21 who is eligible to vote in an election for Federal 

22 office and who is not currently registered to 

23 vote, the appropriate State election official shall 

24 issue a notification to the individual con25 taining— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a statement that, unless the indi2 vidual notifies the election official prior to 

3 the expiration of the 21-calendar day pe4 riod which begins on the date the official 

5 issued the notification that the individual 

6 declines to be registered to vote in elections 

7 for Federal office held in the State, the in8 dividual’s records and signature will con9 stitute a completed registration for the in10 dividual; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a description of the process by 

12 which the individual may decline to be reg13 istered to vote in elections for Federal of14 fice in the State. 

15 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED

16 AT A DIFFERENT ADDRESS.—In the case of an 

17 applicable individual who is eligible to vote in 

18 an election for Federal office and who is reg19 istered to vote in such election at a different 

20 address than the address provided in the identi21 fying information, the appropriate State elec22 tion official shall issue a notification to the indi23 vidual containing— 

24 ‘‘(i) a statement that, unless the indi25 vidual notifies the election official prior to 


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1 the expiration of the 21-calendar day pe2 riod which begins on the date the official 

3 issued the notification that the address 

4 provided in the identifying information 

5 should not be used for voter registration 

6 purposes, the address provided in the iden7 tifying information shall be used as the in8 dividual’s address for voter registration 

9 purposes; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) a description of the process by 

11 which the individual may decline a change 

12 of address for voter registration purposes. 

13 ‘‘(c) AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDI14 VIDUALS; AUTOMATIC CHANGE OF ADDRESS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Upon the expiration of 

16 the 21-calendar day period which begins on the date 

17 the appropriate State election official issues a notifi18 cation to an individual under subsection (b)(2)(A), 

19 the official shall ensure that the individual is reg20 istered to vote in elections for Federal office held in 

21 the State unless— 

22 ‘‘(A) the official later determines that the 

23 individual does not meet the eligibility require24 ments for registering to vote in such elections; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(B) prior to the expiration of such 21-cal2 endar day period, the individual notifies the of3 ficial that the individual declines to be reg4 istered to vote in such elections. 

5 ‘‘(2) CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—Upon the expira6 tion of the 21-calendar day period which begins on 

7 the date the appropriate State election official issues 

8 a notification to an individual under subsection 

9 (b)(2)(B), the official shall ensure that the indi10 vidual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 

11 office at the address provided in the identifying in12 formation unless— 

13 ‘‘(A) the official later determines that the 

14 individual does not meet the eligibility require15 ments for registering to vote in such elections; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(B) prior to the expiration of such 21-cal18 endar day period, the individual notifies the of19 ficial that the individual declines a change of 

20 address for voter registration purposes. 

21 ‘‘(d) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

22 section, the term ‘applicable individual’ means any indi23 vidual who seeks assistance from, receives benefits from, 

24 or receives service or assistance from a State motor vehicle 

25 authority that issues motor vehicle driver’s licenses.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO TIM2 ING OF REGISTRATION PRIOR TO ELECTIONS.—Section 

3 8(a)(1)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)(A)) is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) in the case of registration through a 

6 motor vehicle authority under section 5, if the 

7 identifying information with respect to the indi8 vidual is transmitted by the authority to the ap9 propriate State election official under section 

10 5(a)(1) not later than the lesser of 30 days, or 

11 the period provided by State law, before the 

12 date of the election;’’. 

13 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 4(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20503(a)(1)) is amended 

15 to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) through the State motor vehicle authority 

17 pursuant to section 5;’’. 

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

19 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

20 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 

Æ 


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