I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7427 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish election contingency plans to enable individuals to vote in elections for Federal office 

during an emergency, to require States to make early voting and absentee 

voting available to all individuals eligible to vote in such elections, to 

encourage voter registration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2020 

Ms. LOFGREN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on 

Oversight and Reform, and the Judiciary, 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 establish 

election contingency plans to enable individuals to vote 

in elections for Federal office during an emergency, to 

require States to make early voting and absentee voting 

available to all individuals eligible to vote in such elections, to encourage 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘American Coronavirus/COVID–19 Election Safety and 

4 Security Act’’ or the ‘‘ACCESS Act’’. 

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

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Requirements for Federal election contingency plans in response to natural disasters and emergencies. 

Sec. 3. Early voting and voting by mail. 

Sec. 4. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification requirements for voting. 

Sec. 5. Voting materials postage. 

Sec. 6. Requiring transmission of blank absentee ballots under UOCAVA to 

certain voters. 

Sec. 7. Voter registration. 

Sec. 8. Accommodations for voters residing in Indian lands. 

Sec. 9. Payments by Election Assistance Commission to States to assist with 

costs of compliance. 

Sec. 10. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

Sec. 11. Additional appropriations for the Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 12. Definition. 

7 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION CONTIN8 GENCY PLANS IN RESPONSE TO NATURAL 

9 DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 

13 State and each jurisdiction in a State which is re14 sponsible for administering elections for Federal of15 fice shall establish and make publicly available a 

16 contingency plan to enable individuals to vote in 

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1 gency, public health emergency, or national emer2 gency which has been declared for reasons includ3 ing— 

4 (A) a natural disaster; or 

5 (B) an infectious disease. 

6 (2) UPDATING.—Each State and jurisdiction 

7 shall update the contingency plan established under 

8 this subsection not less frequently than every 5 

9 years. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SAFETY.—The 

11 contingency plan established under subsection (a) shall in12 clude initiatives to provide equipment and resources need13 ed to protect the health and safety of poll workers and 

14 voters when voting in person. 

15 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECRUITMENT OF

16 POLL WORKERS.—The contingency plan established 

17 under subsection (a) shall include initiatives by the chief 

18 State election official and local election officials to recruit 

19 poll workers from resilient or unaffected populations, 

20 which may include— 

21 (1) employees of other State and local govern22 ment offices; and 

23 (2) in the case in which an infectious disease 

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1 dividuals, students of secondary schools and institu2 tions of higher education in the State. 

3 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

4 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen5 eral may bring a civil action against any State or ju6 risdiction in an appropriate United States District 

7 Court for such declaratory and injunctive relief (in8 cluding a temporary restraining order, a permanent 

9 or temporary injunction, or other order) as may be 

10 necessary to carry out the requirements of this sec11 tion. 

12 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a viola14 tion of this section, any person who is aggrieved 

15 by such violation may provide written notice of 

16 the violation to the chief election official of the 

17 State involved. 

18 (B) RELIEF.—If the violation is not cor19 rected within 20 days after receipt of a notice 

20 under subparagraph (A), or within 5 days after 

21 receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 

22 within 120 days before the date of an election 

23 for Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in 

24 a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive 

25 relief with respect to the violation. 


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1 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—If the violation oc2 curred within 5 days before the date of an elec3 tion for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

4 need not provide notice to the chief election of5 ficial of the State involved under subparagraph 

6 (A) before bringing a civil action under sub7 paragraph (B). 

8 (e) DEFINITIONS.— 

9 (1) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—For 

10 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘election for Fed11 eral office’’ means a general, special, primary, or 

12 runoff election for the office of President or Vice 

13 President, or of Senator or Representative in, or 

14 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con15 gress. 

16 (2) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the 

17 term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the 

18 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 

19 Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 

20 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

21 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

22 respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Fed23 eral office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

24 election for Federal office. 


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1 SEC. 3. EARLY VOTING AND VOTING BY MAIL. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Title III of the Help America 

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

4 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 

5 ‘‘Subtitle C—Other Requirements 

6 ‘‘SEC. 321. EARLY VOTING. 

7 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING ALLOWING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE

8 OF ELECTION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow indi10 viduals to vote in an election for Federal office dur11 ing an early voting period which occurs prior to the 

12 date of the election, in the same manner as voting 

13 is allowed on such date. 

14 ‘‘(2) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—The early voting 

15 period required under this subsection with respect to 

16 an election shall consist of a period of consecutive 

17 days (including weekends) which begins on the 15th 

18 day before the date of the election (or, at the option 

19 of the State, on a day prior to the 15th day before 

20 the date of the election) and ends on the date of the 

21 election. 

22 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 Each polling place which allows voting during an early vot24 ing period under subsection (a) shall— 

25 ‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 10 hours 

26 on each day; 


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1 ‘‘(2) have uniform hours each day for which 

2 such voting occurs; and 

3 ‘‘(3) allow such voting to be held for some pe4 riod of time prior to 9:00 a.m (local time) and some 

5 period of time after 5:00 p.m. (local time). 

6 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PROXIMITY TO PUBLIC TRANSPOR8 TATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a State 

9 shall ensure that each polling place which allows vot10 ing during an early voting period under subsection 

11 (a) is located within walking distance of a stop on 

12 a public transportation route. 

13 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY IN RURAL AREAS.—The 

14 State shall ensure that polling places which allow 

15 voting during an early voting period under sub16 section (a) will be located in rural areas of the State, 

17 and shall ensure that such polling places are located 

18 in communities which will provide the greatest op19 portunity for residents of rural areas to vote during 

20 the early voting period. 

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 early voting 

13 for tabulation at least 14 days prior to the date of 

14 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 2020 and each succeeding 

22 election for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 322. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

2 MAIL. 

3 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM AVAILABILITY OF ABSENTEE VOTING

4 TO ALL VOTERS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State 

6 is eligible to cast a vote in an election for Federal 

7 office, the State may not impose any additional con8 ditions or requirements on the eligibility of the indi9 vidual to cast the vote in such election by absentee 

10 ballot by mail. 

11 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION OF VOTING BY MAIL.— 

12 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITING IDENTIFICATION RE13 QUIREMENT AS CONDITION OF OBTAINING BAL14 LOT.—A State may not require an individual to 

15 provide any form of identification as a condition 

16 of obtaining an absentee ballot, except that 

17 nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 

18 prevent a State from requiring a signature of 

19 the individual or similar affirmation as a condi20 tion of obtaining an absentee ballot. 

21 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITING REQUIREMENT TO PRO22 VIDE NOTARIZATION OR WITNESS SIGNATURE

23 AS CONDITION OF OBTAINING OR CASTING BAL24 LOT.—A State may not require notarization or 

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1 tion (other than voter attestation) as a condi2 tion of obtaining or casting an absentee ballot. 

3 ‘‘(C) DEADLINE FOR RETURNING BAL4 LOT.—A State may impose a deadline for re5 questing the absentee ballot and related voting 

6 materials from the appropriate State or local 

7 election official and for returning the ballot to 

8 the appropriate State or local election official. 

9 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION FOR ALL FUTURE ELEC10 TIONS.—At the option of an individual, a State shall 

11 treat the individual’s application to vote by absentee 

12 ballot by mail in an election for Federal office as an 

13 application to vote by absentee ballot by mail in all 

14 subsequent Federal elections held in the State. 

15 ‘‘(b) DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES

16 REQUIRING SIGNATURE VERIFICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State may not im19 pose a signature verification requirement as a 

20 condition of accepting and counting an absentee 

21 ballot submitted by any individual with respect 

22 to an election for Federal office unless the 

23 State meets the due process requirements de24 scribed in paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(B) SIGNATURE VERIFICATION REQUIRE2 MENT DESCRIBED.—In this subsection, a ‘sig3 nature verification requirement’ is a require4 ment that an election official verify the identi5 fication of an individual by comparing the indi6 vidual’s signature on the absentee ballot with 

7 the individual’s signature on the official list of 

8 registered voters in the State or another official 

9 record or other document used by the State to 

10 verify the signatures of voters. 

11 ‘‘(2) DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE

13 DISCREPANCY.—If an individual submits an ab14 sentee ballot and the appropriate State or local 

15 election official determines that a discrepancy 

16 exists between the signature on such ballot and 

17 the signature of such individual on the official 

18 list of registered voters in the State or other of19 ficial record or document used by the State to 

20 verify the signatures of voters, such election of21 ficial, prior to making a final determination as 

22 to the validity of such ballot, shall— 

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1 phone, and (if available) electronic mail 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(I) a discrepancy exists between 

4 the signature on such ballot and the 

5 signature of the individual on the offi6 cial list of registered voters in the 

7 State; and 

8 ‘‘(II) if such discrepancy is not 

9 cured prior to the expiration of the 

10 10-day period which begins on the 

11 date the official notifies the individual 

12 of the discrepancy, such ballot will not 

13 be counted; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) cure such discrepancy and count 

15 the ballot if, prior to the expiration of the 

16 10-day period described in clause (i)(II), 

17 the individual provides the official with in18 formation to cure such discrepancy, either 

19 in person, by telephone, or by electronic 

20 methods. 

21 ‘‘(B) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO PRO22 VIDE MISSING SIGNATURE.—If an individual 

23 submits an absentee ballot without a signature, 

24 the appropriate State or local election official, 


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1 prior to making a final determination as to the 

2 validity of the ballot, shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) make a good faith effort to imme4 diately notify the individual by mail, tele5 phone, and (if available) electronic mail 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(I) the ballot did not include a 

8 signature; and 

9 ‘‘(II) if the individual does not 

10 provide the missing signature prior to 

11 the expiration of the 10-day period 

12 which begins on the date the official 

13 notifies the individual that the ballot 

14 did not include a signature, such bal15 lot will not be counted; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) count the ballot if, prior to the 

17 expiration of the 10-day period described 

18 in clause (i)(II), the individual provides the 

19 official with the missing signature on a 

20 form proscribed by the State. 

21 ‘‘(C) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—An election 

22 official may not make a determination that a 

23 discrepancy exists between the signature on an 

24 absentee ballot and the signature of the indi25 vidual who submits the ballot on the official list 


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1 of registered voters in the State or other official 

2 record or other document used by the State to 

3 verify the signatures of voters unless— 

4 ‘‘(i) at least 2 election officials make 

5 the determination; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) each official who makes the de7 termination has received training in proce8 dures used to verify signatures. 

9 ‘‘(3) REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

11 days after the end of a Federal election cycle, 

12 each chief State election official shall submit to 

13 Congress a report containing the following in14 formation for the applicable Federal election 

15 cycle in the State: 

16 ‘‘(i) The number of ballots invalidated 

17 due to a discrepancy under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Description of attempts to con19 tact voters to provide notice as required by 

20 this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Description of the cure process 

22 developed by such State pursuant to this 

23 subsection, including the number of ballots 

24 determined valid as a result of such proc25 ess. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ELECTION CYCLE DE2 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the 

3 term ‘Federal election cycle’ means the period 

4 beginning on January 1 of any odd numbered 

5 year and ending on December 31 of the fol6 lowing year. 

7 ‘‘(c) METHODS AND TIMING FOR TRANSMISSION OF

8 BALLOTS AND BALLOTING MATERIALS TO VOTERS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) METHOD FOR REQUESTING BALLOT.—In 

10 addition to such other methods as the State may es11 tablish for an individual to request an absentee bal12 lot, the State shall permit an individual to submit a 

13 request for an absentee ballot online. The State shall 

14 be considered to meet the requirements of this para15 graph if the website of the appropriate State or local 

16 election official allows an absentee ballot request ap17 plication to be completed and submitted online and 

18 if the website permits the individual— 

19 ‘‘(A) to print the application so that the 

20 individual may complete the application and re21 turn it to the official; or 

22 ‘‘(B) request that a paper copy of the ap23 plication be transmitted to the individual by 

24 mail or electronic mail so that the individual 


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1 may complete the application and return it to 

2 the official. 

3 ‘‘(2) ENSURING DELIVERY PRIOR TO ELEC4 TION.—If an individual requests to vote by absentee 

5 ballot in an election for Federal office, the appro6 priate State or local election official shall ensure 

7 that the ballot and relating voting materials are re8 ceived by the individual prior to the date of the elec9 tion so long as the individual’s request is received by 

10 the official not later than 5 days (excluding Satur11 days, Sundays, and legal public holidays) before the 

12 date of the election, except that nothing in this para13 graph shall preclude a State or local jurisdiction 

14 from allowing for the acceptance and processing of 

15 ballot requests submitted or received after such re16 quired period. 

17 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

18 PERIODS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) AUTOMATIC MAILING OF ABSENTEE

20 BALLOTS TO ALL VOTERS.—If the area in which 

21 an election is held is in an area in which an 

22 emergency or disaster which is described in sub23 paragraph (A) or (B) of section 1135(g)(1) of 

24 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b– 


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1 5(g)(1)) is declared during the period described 

2 in subparagraph (C)— 

3 ‘‘(i) paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not 

4 apply with respect to the election; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) not later than 2 weeks before the 

6 date of the election, the appropriate State 

7 or local election official shall transmit by 

8 mail absentee ballots and balloting mate9 rials for the election to all individuals who 

10 are registered to vote in such election or, 

11 in the case of any State that does not reg12 ister voters, all individuals who are in the 

13 State’s central voter file (or if the State 

14 does not keep a central voter file, to all in15 dividuals who are eligible to vote in such 

16 election). 

17 ‘‘(B) AFFIRMATION.—If an individual re18 ceives an absentee ballot from a State or local 

19 election official pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

20 and returns the voted ballot to the official, the 

21 ballot shall not be counted in the election unless 

22 the individual includes with the ballot a signed 

23 affirmation that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the individual has not and will 

2 not cast another ballot with respect to the 

3 election; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) acknowledges that a material 

5 misstatement of fact in completing the bal6 lot may constitute grounds for conviction 

7 of perjury. 

8 ‘‘(C) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period de9 scribed in this subparagraph with respect to an 

10 election is the period which begins 120 days be11 fore the date of the election and ends 30 days 

12 before the date of the election. 

13 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION TO NOVEMBER 2020

14 GENERAL ELECTION.—Because of the public 

15 health emergency declared pursuant to section 

16 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 247d) resulting from the COVID–19 

18 pandemic, the special rules set forth in this 

19 paragraph shall apply with respect to the regu20 larly scheduled general election for Federal of21 fice held in November 2020 in each State. 

22 ‘‘(d) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS23 ABILITIES.—The State shall ensure that all absentee bal24 lots and related voting materials in elections for Federal 

25 office are accessible to individuals with disabilities in a 


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1 manner that provides the same opportunity for access and 

2 participation (including with privacy and independence) as 

3 for other voters. 

4 ‘‘(e) UNIFORM DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTANCE OF

5 MAILED BALLOTS.—A State may not refuse to accept or 

6 process a ballot submitted by an individual by mail with 

7 respect to an election for Federal office in the State on 

8 the grounds that the individual did not meet a deadline 

9 for returning the ballot to the appropriate State or local 

10 election official if— 

11 ‘‘(1) the ballot is postmarked, signed, or other12 wise indicated by the United States Postal Service to 

13 have been mailed on or before the date of the elec14 tion; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the ballot is received by the appropriate 

16 election official prior to the expiration of the 10-day 

17 period which begins on the date of the election. 

18 ‘‘(f) ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF RETURNING BAL19 LOTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to permitting 

21 an individual to whom a ballot in an election was 

22 provided under this section to return the ballot to an 

23 election official by mail, the State shall permit the 

24 individual to cast the ballot by delivering the ballot 


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1 at such times and to such locations as the State may 

2 establish, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) permitting the individual to deliver 

4 the ballot to a polling place on any date on 

5 which voting in the election is held at the poll6 ing place; and 

7 ‘‘(B) permitting the individual to deliver 

8 the ballot to a designated ballot drop-off loca9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) PERMITTING VOTERS TO DESIGNATE

11 OTHER PERSON TO RETURN BALLOT.—The State— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall permit a voter to designate any 

13 person to return a voted and sealed absentee 

14 ballot to the post office, a ballot drop-off loca15 tion, tribally designated building, or election of16 fice so long as the person designated to return 

17 the ballot does not receive any form of com18 pensation based on the number of ballots that 

19 the person has returned and no individual, 

20 group, or organization provides compensation 

21 on this basis; and 

22 ‘‘(B) may not put any limit on how many 

23 voted and sealed absentee ballots any des24 ignated person can return to the post office, a 


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1 ballot drop off location, tribally designated 

2 building, or election office. 

3 ‘‘(g) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING REQUIRE4 MENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall begin proc6 essing and scanning ballots cast by mail for tabula7 tion at least 14 days prior to the date of the election 

8 involved. 

9 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

10 shall be construed to permit a State to tabulate bal11 lots in an election before the closing of the polls on 

12 the date of the election. 

13 ‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 

15 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 

16 polling places at which individuals cast ballots. 

17 ‘‘(i) NO EFFECT ON BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY AB18 SENT MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTERS.—Nothing in 

19 this section may be construed to affect the treatment of 

20 any ballot submitted by an individual who is entitled to 

21 vote by absentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas 

22 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

24 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 


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1 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

2 election for Federal office. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 323. ABSENTEE BALLOT TRACKING PROGRAM. 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each State shall carry out a 

5 program to track and confirm the receipt of absentee bal6 lots in an election for Federal office under which the State 

7 or local election official responsible for the receipt of voted 

8 absentee ballots in the election carries out procedures to 

9 track and confirm the receipt of such ballots, and makes 

10 information on the receipt of such ballots available to the 

11 individual who cast the ballot, by means of online access 

12 using the Internet site of the official’s office. 

13 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION ON WHETHER VOTE WAS

14 COUNTED.—The information referred to under subsection 

15 (a) with respect to the receipt of an absentee ballot shall 

16 include information regarding whether the vote cast on the 

17 ballot was counted, and, in the case of a vote which was 

18 not counted, the reasons therefor. 

19 ‘‘(c) USE OF TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER BY

20 OFFICIALS WITHOUT INTERNET SITE.—A program estab21 lished by a State or local election official whose office does 

22 not have an Internet site may meet the requirements of 

23 subsection (a) if the official has established a toll-free tele24 phone number that may be used by an individual who cast 

25 an absentee ballot to obtain the information on the receipt 


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1 of the voted absentee ballot as provided under such sub2 section. 

3 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

4 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

5 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

6 election for Federal office. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 324. RULES FOR COUNTING PROVISIONAL BALLOTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) STATEWIDE COUNTING OF PROVISIONAL BAL9 LOTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

11 302(a)(4), notwithstanding the precinct or polling 

12 place at which a provisional ballot is cast within the 

13 State, the appropriate election official shall count 

14 each vote on such ballot for each election in which 

15 the individual who cast such ballot is eligible to vote. 

16 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

17 apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general 

18 election for Federal office held in November 2020 

19 and each succeeding election for Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(b) UNIFORM AND NONDISCRIMINATORY STAND21 ARDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the re23 quirements of section 302, each State shall establish 

24 uniform and nondiscriminatory standards for the 


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1 issuance, handling, and counting of provisional bal2 lots. 

3 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

4 apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general 

5 election for Federal office held in November 2020 

6 and each succeeding election for Federal office. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 325. COVERAGE OF COMMONWEALTH OF NORTHERN 

8 MARIANA ISLANDS. 

9 ‘‘In this subtitle, the term ‘State’ includes the Com10 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 326. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPANDING 

12 ABILITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO VOTE. 

13 ‘‘The requirements of this subtitle are minimum re14 quirements, and nothing in this subtitle may be construed 

15 to prevent a State from establishing standards which pro16 mote the ability of individuals to vote in elections for Fed17 eral office, so long as such standards are not inconsistent 

18 with the requirements of this subtitle or other Federal 

19 laws.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

21 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS22 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

23 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

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

25 (2); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

6 respect to subtitle C, June 30, 2020.’’. 

7 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 (1) COVERAGE UNDER EXISTING ENFORCE9 MENT PROVISIONS.—Section 401 of such Act (52 

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

11 and inserting ‘‘303, and subtitle C of title III’’. 

12 (2) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC13 TION.—Title IV of such (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF 

17 CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sub19 title C of title III, section 402 shall not apply and any 

20 person who is aggrieved by such violation may provide 

21 written notice of the violation to the chief election official 

22 of the State involved. 

23 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—If the violation is not corrected within 

24 20 days after receipt of a notice under subsection (a), or 

25 within 5 days after receipt of the notice if the violation 


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1 occurred within 120 days before the date of an election 

2 for Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in a civil ac3 tion, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with respect 

4 to the violation. 

5 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—If the violation occurred within 

6 5 days before the date of an election for Federal office, 

7 the aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief 

8 election official of the State involved under subsection (a) 

9 before bringing a civil action under subsection (b).’’. 

10 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 of such Act is amended— 

12 (1) by adding at the end of the items relating 

13 to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Other Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Early voting. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Absentee ballot tracking program. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Rules for counting provisional ballots. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Coverage of Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Minimum requirements for expanding ability of individuals to vote.’’; 

14 and 

15 (2) by adding at the end of the items relating 

16 to title IV the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for violations of certain requirements.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT 

2 TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 

3 FOR VOTING. 

4 (a) PERMITTING USE OF STATEMENT.—Subtitle C of 

5 title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added 

6 by section 3(a), is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating sections 325 and 326 as 

8 sections 326 and 327; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 324 the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 325. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE12 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE13 MENTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) USE OF STATEMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub16 section (c), if a State has in effect a requirement 

17 that an individual present identification as a condi18 tion of casting a ballot in an election for Federal of19 fice, the State shall permit the individual to meet 

20 the requirement— 

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de22 sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro23 priate State or local election official with a 

24 sworn written statement, signed by the indi25 vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 


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1 individual’s identity and attesting that the indi2 vidual is eligible to vote in the election; or 

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de4 sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 

5 ballot the statement described in subparagraph 

6 (A). 

7 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF PRE-PRINTED VERSION

8 OF STATEMENT BY COMMISSION.—The Commission 

9 shall develop a pre-printed version of the statement 

10 described in paragraph (1)(A) which includes a 

11 blank space for an individual to provide a name and 

12 signature for use by election officials in States which 

13 are subject to paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(3) PROVIDING PRE-PRINTED COPY OF STATE15 MENT.—A State which is subject to paragraph (1) 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) make copies of the pre-printed 

18 version of the statement described in paragraph 

19 (1)(A) which is prepared by the Commission 

20 available at polling places for election officials 

21 to distribute to individuals who desire to vote in 

22 person; and 

23 ‘‘(B) include a copy of such pre-printed 

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1 tee or other ballot transmitted to an individual 

2 who desires to vote by mail. 

3 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING USE OF BALLOT IN SAME MANNER

4 AS INDIVIDUALS PRESENTING IDENTIFICATION.—An in5 dividual who presents or submits a sworn written state6 ment in accordance with subsection (a)(1) shall be per7 mitted to cast a ballot in the election in the same manner 

8 as an individual who presents identification. 

9 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REG10 ISTERING BY MAIL.—Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply 

11 with respect to any individual described in paragraph (1) 

12 of section 303(b) who is required to meet the requirements 

13 of paragraph (2) of such section.’’. 

14 (b) REQUIRING STATES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION

15 ON USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT IN VOTING IN16 FORMATION MATERIAL POSTED AT POLLING PLACES.— 

17 Section 302(b)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)), 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara20 graph (E); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub22 paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(G) in the case of a State that has in ef2 fect a requirement that an individual present 

3 identification as a condition of casting a ballot 

4 in an election for Federal office, information on 

5 how an individual may meet such requirement 

6 by presenting a sworn written statement in ac7 cordance with section 303A.’’. 

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

9 of such Act, as amended by section 3, is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec11 tions 325 and 326 as relating to sections 326 and 

12 327; and 

13 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec14 tion 324 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 325. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification requirements.’’. 

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

16 this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 

17 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. VOTING MATERIALS POSTAGE. 

19 (a) PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE ON RETURN ENVE20 LOPES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the 

22 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 

23 3(a) and as amended by section 4(a), is further 

24 amended— 


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1 (A) by redesignating sections 326 and 327 

2 as sections 327 and 328; and 

3 (B) by inserting after section 325 the fol4 lowing new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 326. PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE ON RETURN ENVE6 LOPES FOR VOTING MATERIALS. 

7 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF RETURN ENVELOPES.—The ap8 propriate State or local election official shall provide a 

9 self-sealing return envelope with— 

10 ‘‘(1) any voter registration application form 

11 transmitted to a registrant by mail; 

12 ‘‘(2) any application for an absentee ballot 

13 transmitted to an applicant by mail; and 

14 ‘‘(3) any blank absentee ballot transmitted to a 

15 voter by mail. 

16 ‘‘(b) PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE.—Consistent with 

17 regulations of the United States Postal Service, the State 

18 or the unit of local government responsible for the admin19 istration of the election involved shall prepay the postage 

20 on any envelope provided under subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON BALLOTS OR BALLOTING MATE22 RIALS TRANSMITTED TO ABSENT MILITARY AND OVER23 SEAS VOTERS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 

24 to affect the treatment of any ballot or balloting materials 

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1 sentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

2 Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.).’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents of such Act, as amended by section 4(c), is 

5 amended— 

6 (A) by redesignating the items relating to 

7 sections 326 and 327 as relating to sections 

8 327 and 328; and 

9 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

10 section 325 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 326. Prepayment of postage on return envelopes for voting materials.’’. 

11 (b) ROLE OF UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.— 

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

13 United States Code, is amended by adding after sec14 tion 3406 the following: 

15 ‘‘§ 3407. Voting materials 

16 ‘‘(a) Any voter registration application, absentee bal17 lot application, or absentee ballot with respect to any elec18 tion for Federal office shall be carried expeditiously, with 

19 postage on the return envelope prepaid by the State or 

20 unit of local government responsible for the administration 

21 of the election. 

22 ‘‘(b) As used in this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any ballot 

24 transmitted by a voter by mail in an election for 


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1 Federal office, but does not include any ballot cov2 ered by section 3406; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 

4 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 

5 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 

6 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com7 missioner to, the Congress. 

8 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section may be construed to af9 fect the treatment of any ballot or balloting materials 

10 transmitted to an individual who is entitled to vote by ab11 sentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

12 Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.).’’. 

13 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions for chapter 34 of such title is amended by in15 serting after the item relating to section 3406 the 

16 following: 

‘‘3407. Voting materials.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. REQUIRING TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE 

18 BALLOTS UNDER UOCAVA TO CERTAIN VOT19 ERS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Uniformed and Overseas 

21 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.) 

22 is amended by inserting after section 103B the following 

23 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 103C. TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE BALLOTS 

2 TO CERTAIN OTHER VOTERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Subject to the 

5 provisions of this section, each State shall transmit 

6 blank absentee ballots electronically to qualified indi7 viduals who request such ballots in the same manner 

8 and under the same terms and conditions under 

9 which the State transmits such ballots electronically 

10 to absent uniformed services voters and overseas vot11 ers under the provisions of section 102(f), except 

12 that no such marked ballots shall be returned elec13 tronically. 

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any blank absentee bal15 lot transmitted to a qualified individual under this 

16 section— 

17 ‘‘(A) must comply with the language re18 quirements under section 203 of the Voting 

19 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503); and 

20 ‘‘(B) must comply with the disability re21 quirements under section 508 of the Rehabilita22 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

23 ‘‘(3) AFFIRMATION.—The State may not trans24 mit a ballot to a qualified individual under this sec25 tion unless the individual provides the State with a 

26 signed affirmation in electronic form that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the individual is a qualified individual 

2 (as defined in subsection (b)); 

3 ‘‘(B) the individual has not and will not 

4 cast another ballot with respect to the election; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(C) acknowledges that a material mis7 statement of fact in completing the ballot may 

8 constitute grounds for conviction of perjury. 

9 ‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION REGARDING FREE POST10 AGE.—An absentee ballot obtained by a qualified in11 dividual under this section shall be considered bal12 loting materials as defined in section 107 for pur13 poses of section 3406 of title 39, United States 

14 Code. 

15 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BAL16 LOT FOR FAILURE TO MEET CERTAIN REQUIRE17 MENTS.—A State shall not refuse to accept and 

18 process any otherwise valid blank absentee ballot 

19 which was transmitted to a qualified individual 

20 under this section and used by the individual to vote 

21 in the election solely on the basis of the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) Notarization or witness signature re23 quirements. 

24 ‘‘(B) Restrictions on paper type, including 

25 weight and size. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Restrictions on envelope type, includ2 ing weight and size. 

3 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, except as 

5 provided in paragraph (2), the term ‘qualified indi6 vidual’ means any individual who is otherwise quali7 fied to vote in an election for Federal office and who 

8 meets any of the following requirements: 

9 ‘‘(A) The individual— 

10 ‘‘(i) has previously requested an ab11 sentee ballot from the State or jurisdiction 

12 in which such individual is registered to 

13 vote; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) has not received such absentee 

15 ballot at least 2 days before the date of the 

16 election. 

17 ‘‘(B) The individual— 

18 ‘‘(i) resides in an area of a State with 

19 respect to which an emergency or public 

20 health emergency has been declared by the 

21 chief executive of the State or of the area 

22 involved within 5 days of the date of the 

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1 cluding severe weather, or an infectious 

2 disease; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) has not previously requested an 

4 absentee ballot. 

5 ‘‘(C) The individual expects to be absent 

6 from such individual’s jurisdiction on the date 

7 of the election due to professional or volunteer 

8 service in response to a natural disaster or 

9 emergency as described in subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(D) The individual is hospitalized or ex11 pects to be hospitalized on the date of the elec12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(E) The individual is an individual with a 

14 disability (as defined in section 3 of the Ameri15 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

16 12102)) and resides in a State which does not 

17 offer voters the ability to use secure and acces18 sible remote ballot marking. For purposes of 

19 this subparagraph, a State shall permit an indi20 vidual to self-certify that the individual is an in21 dividual with a disability. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION OF ABSENT UNIFORMED SERV23 ICES AND OVERSEAS VOTERS.—The term ‘qualified 

24 individual’ shall not include an absent uniformed 

25 services voter or an overseas voter. 


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1 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

2 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common3 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

4 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

5 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

6 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

7 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

8 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

9 election for Federal office.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 102(a) of 

11 such Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(a)) is amended— 

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

13 (10); 

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of para15 graph (11) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(12) meet the requirements of section 103C 

19 with respect to the provision of blank absentee bal20 lots for the use of qualified individuals described in 

21 such section.’’. 

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

23 of such Act is amended by inserting the following after 

24 section 103: 

‘‘Sec. 103A. Procedures for collection and delivery of marked absentee ballots 

of absent overseas uniformed services voters. 


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‘‘Sec. 103B. Federal voting assistance program improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 103C. Transmission of blank absentee ballots to certain other voters.’’. 

1 SEC. 7. VOTER REGISTRATION. 

2 (a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

3 VOTER REGISTRATION.— 

4 (1) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET

5 FOR REGISTRATION.—The National Voter Registra6 tion Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is 

7 amended by inserting after section 6 the following 

8 new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 6A. INTERNET REGISTRATION. 

10 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

11 ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF ONLINE REGISTRATION

13 AND CORRECTION OF EXISTING REGISTRATION IN14 FORMATION.—Each State, acting through the chief 

15 State election official, shall ensure that the following 

16 services are available to the public at any time on 

17 the official public websites of the appropriate State 

18 and local election officials in the State, in the same 

19 manner and subject to the same terms and condi20 tions as the services provided by voter registration 

21 agencies under section 7(a): 

22 ‘‘(A) Online application for voter registra23 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Online assistance to applicants in ap2 plying to register to vote. 

3 ‘‘(C) Online completion and submission by 

4 applicants of the mail voter registration applica5 tion form prescribed by the Election Assistance 

6 Commission pursuant to section 9(a)(2), includ7 ing assistance with providing a signature as re8 quired under subsection (c). 

9 ‘‘(D) Online receipt of completed voter reg10 istration applications. 

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

12 A State shall accept an online voter registration applica13 tion provided by an individual under this section, and en14 sure that the individual is registered to vote in the State, 

15 if— 

16 ‘‘(1) the individual meets the same voter reg17 istration requirements applicable to individuals who 

18 register to vote by mail in accordance with section 

19 6(a)(1) using the mail voter registration application 

20 form prescribed by the Election Assistance Commis21 sion pursuant to section 9(a)(2); and 

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

23 subsection (c) to provide a signature in electronic 

24 form (but only in the case of applications submitted 


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1 during or after the second year in which this section 

2 is in effect in the State). 

3 ‘‘(c) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec5 tion, an individual meets the requirements of this 

6 subsection as follows: 

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

8 a signature on file with a State agency, includ9 ing the State motor vehicle authority, that is 

10 required to provide voter registration services 

11 under this Act or any other law, the individual 

12 consents to the transfer of that electronic signa13 ture. 

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

15 the individual submits with the application an 

16 electronic copy of the individual’s handwritten 

17 signature through electronic means. 

18 ‘‘(C) If subparagraph (A) and subpara19 graph (B) do not apply, the individual executes 

20 a computerized mark in the signature field on 

21 an online voter registration application, in ac22 cordance with reasonable security measures es23 tablished by the State, but only if the State ac24 cepts such mark from the individual. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNABLE TO

2 MEET REQUIREMENT.—If an individual is unable to 

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

4 shall— 

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

6 other elements of the online voter registration 

7 application; 

8 ‘‘(B) permit the individual to provide a sig9 nature at the time the individual requests a bal10 lot in an election (whether the individual re11 quests the ballot at a polling place or requests 

12 the ballot by mail); and 

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

14 described in subparagraph (A) and subpara15 graph (B), ensure that the individual is reg16 istered to vote in the State. 

17 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—The State shall ensure that in18 dividuals applying to register to vote online are noti19 fied of the requirements of paragraph (1) and of the 

20 treatment of individuals unable to meet such re21 quirements, as described in paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(d) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 

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

24 online submission of a completed voter registration 

25 application by an individual under this section, the 


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1 appropriate State or local election official shall send 

2 the individual a notice confirming the State’s receipt 

3 of the application and providing instructions on how 

4 the individual may check the status of the applica5 tion. 

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

7 7 days after the appropriate State or local election 

8 official has approved or rejected an application sub9 mitted by an individual under this section, the offi10 cial shall send the individual a notice of the disposi11 tion of the application. 

12 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.—The appro13 priate State or local election official shall send the 

14 notices required under this subsection by regular 

15 mail and— 

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

17 provided the official with an electronic mail ad18 dress, by electronic mail; and 

19 ‘‘(B) at the option of an individual, by text 

20 message. 

21 ‘‘(e) PROVISION OF SERVICES IN NONPARTISAN

22 MANNER.—The services made available under subsection 

23 (a) shall be provided in a manner that ensures that, con24 sistent with section 7(a)(5)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the online application does not seek to in2 fluence an applicant’s political preference or party 

3 registration; and 

4 ‘‘(2) there is no display on the website pro5 moting any political preference or party allegiance, 

6 except that nothing in this paragraph may be con7 strued to prohibit an applicant from registering to 

8 vote as a member of a political party. 

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

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

11 establish appropriate technological security measures to 

12 prevent to the greatest extent practicable any unauthor13 ized access to information provided by individuals using 

14 the services made available under subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(g) ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICES.—A State shall en16 sure that the services made available under this section 

17 are made available to individuals with disabilities to the 

18 same extent as services are made available to all other in19 dividuals. 

20 ‘‘(h) USE OF ADDITIONAL TELEPHONE-BASED SYS21 TEM.—A State shall make the services made available on22 line under subsection (a) available through the use of an 

23 automated telephone-based system, subject to the same 

24 terms and conditions applicable under this section to the 

25 services made available online, in addition to making the 


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1 services available online in accordance with the require2 ments of this section. 

3 ‘‘(i) NONDISCRIMINATION AMONG REGISTERED VOT4 ERS USING MAIL AND ONLINE REGISTRATION.—In car5 rying out this Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 

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

7 treatment of registered voters in the State or the adminis8 tration of elections for public office in the State, a State 

9 shall treat a registered voter who registered to vote online 

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

11 State treats a registered voter who registered to vote by 

12 mail.’’. 

13 (2) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS

14 USING ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

15 (A) TREATMENT AS INDIVIDUALS REG16 ISTERING TO VOTE BY MAIL FOR PURPOSES OF

17 FIRST-TIME VOTER IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE18 MENTS.—Section 303(b)(1)(A) of the Help 

19 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

20 21083(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘by 

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

22 section 6A of the National Voter Registration 

23 Act of 1993’’. 

24 (B) REQUIRING SIGNATURE FOR FIRST25 TIME VOTERS IN JURISDICTION.—Section 


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1 303(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)) is 

2 amended— 

3 (i) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

4 paragraph (6); and 

5 (ii) by inserting after paragraph (4) 

6 the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(5) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRST8 TIME VOTERS USING ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

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

10 uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, require 

11 an individual to meet the requirements of sub12 paragraph (B) if— 

13 ‘‘(i) the individual registered to vote 

14 in the State online under section 6A of the 

15 National Voter Registration Act of 1993; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the individual has not previously 

18 voted in an election for Federal office in 

19 the State. 

20 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An individual 

21 meets the requirements of this subparagraph 

22 if— 

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

24 votes in person, the individual provides the 


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1 appropriate State or local election official 

2 with a handwritten signature; or 

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

4 votes by mail, the individual submits with 

5 the ballot a handwritten signature. 

6 ‘‘(C) INAPPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph 

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

8 who is— 

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

10 under the Uniformed and Overseas Citi11 zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

12 20302 et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(ii) provided the right to vote other14 wise than in person under section 

15 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Voting Accessibility 

16 for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (52 

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

18 ‘‘(iii) entitled to vote otherwise than 

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

20 (C) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING

21 TO EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(2)(A) of 

22 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(2)(A)) is amend23 ed by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex24 cept as provided in subsection (b)(5), each 

25 State’’. 


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1 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (A) TIMING OF REGISTRATION.—Section 

3 8(a)(1) of the National Voter Registration Act 

4 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) is amended— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

6 subparagraph (C); 

7 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

8 (D) as subparagraph (E); and 

9 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

10 (C) the following new subparagraph: 

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

12 through the official public website of an election 

13 official under section 6A, if the valid voter reg14 istration application is submitted online not 

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

16 provided by State law, before the date of the 

17 election (as determined by treating the date on 

18 which the application is sent electronically as 

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

20 (B) INFORMING APPLICANTS OF ELIGI21 BILITY REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES.—Sec22 tion 8(a)(5) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

23 20507(a)(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘and 7’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘6A, and 7’’. 


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1 (b) USE OF INTERNET TO UPDATE REGISTRATION

2 INFORMATION.— 

3 (1) UPDATES TO INFORMATION CONTAINED ON

4 COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION

5 LIST.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a) of the 

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

8 21083(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(6) USE OF INTERNET BY REGISTERED VOT11 ERS TO UPDATE INFORMATION.— 

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

13 or local election official shall ensure that any 

14 registered voter on the computerized list may at 

15 any time update the voter’s registration infor16 mation, including the voter’s address and elec17 tronic mail address, online through the official 

18 public website of the election official responsible 

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

20 voter attests to the contents of the update by 

21 providing a signature in electronic form in the 

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

23 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. 

24 ‘‘(B) PROCESSING OF UPDATED INFORMA25 TION BY ELECTION OFFICIALS.—If a registered 


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1 voter updates registration information under 

2 subparagraph (A), the appropriate State or 

3 local election official shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) revise any information on the 

5 computerized list to reflect the update 

6 made by the voter; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) if the updated registration infor8 mation affects the voter’s eligibility to vote 

9 in an election for Federal office, ensure 

10 that the information is processed with re11 spect to the election if the voter updates 

12 the information not later than the lesser of 

13 7 days, or the period provided by State 

14 law, before the date of the election. 

15 ‘‘(C) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT.— 

17 Upon the online submission of updated 

18 registration information by an individual 

19 under this paragraph, the appropriate 

20 State or local election official shall send 

21 the individual a notice confirming the 

22 State’s receipt of the updated information 

23 and providing instructions on how the indi24 vidual may check the status of the update. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF DISPOSITION.—Not 

2 later than 7 days after the appropriate 

3 State or local election official has accepted 

4 or rejected updated information submitted 

5 by an individual under this paragraph, the 

6 official shall send the individual a notice of 

7 the disposition of the update. 

8 ‘‘(iii) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.— 

9 The appropriate State or local election offi10 cial shall send the notices required under 

11 this subparagraph by regular mail and— 

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

13 who has requested that the State pro14 vide voter registration and voting in15 formation through electronic mail, by 

16 electronic mail; and 

17 ‘‘(II) at the option of an indi18 vidual, by text message.’’. 

19 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING

20 TO EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(1)(A) of 

21 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(1)(A)) is amend22 ed by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B),’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘subparagraph (B) and subsection (a)(6),’’. 

24 (2) ABILITY OF REGISTRANT TO USE ONLINE

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1 DENCE.—Section 8(d)(2)(A) of the National Voter 

2 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

3 20507(d)(2)(A)) is amended— 

4 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting after 

5 ‘‘return the card’’ the following: ‘‘or update the 

6 registrant’s information on the computerized 

7 Statewide voter registration list using the online 

8 method provided under section 303(a)(6) of the 

9 Help America Vote Act of 2002’’; and 

10 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

11 ‘‘returned,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘re12 turned or if the registrant does not update the 

13 registrant’s information on the computerized 

14 Statewide voter registration list using such on15 line method,’’. 

16 (c) SAME DAY REGISTRATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the 

18 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 

19 3(a) and as amended by sections 4(a) and 5(a), is 

20 further amended— 

21 (A) by redesignating sections 327 and 328 

22 as sections 328 and 329; and 

23 (B) by inserting after section 326 the fol24 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 327. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

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

4 any eligible individual on the day of a Federal elec5 tion and on any day when voting, including early 

6 voting, is permitted for a Federal election— 

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

8 the polling place using a form that meets the 

9 requirements under section 9(b) of the National 

10 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (or, if the indi11 vidual is already registered to vote, to revise 

12 any of the individual’s voter registration infor13 mation); and 

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

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

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

17 under a State law in effect continuously on and after 

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

19 voter registration requirement for individuals in the 

20 State with respect to elections for Federal office. 

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

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

23 to any election for Federal office, an individual who is oth24 erwise qualified to vote in that election. 

25 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re26 quired to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) 


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1 for the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of2 fice occurring in November 2020 and for any subsequent 

3 election for Federal office.’’. 

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents of such Act, as added by section 3 and as 

6 amended by sections 4 and 5, is further amended— 

7 (A) by redesignating the items relating to 

8 sections 327 and 328 as relating to sections 

9 328 and 329; and 

10 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

11 section 326 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 327. Same day registration.’’. 

12 (d) PROHIBITING STATE FROM REQUIRING APPLI13 CANTS TO PROVIDE MORE THAN LAST 4 DIGITS OF SO14 CIAL SECURITY NUMBER.— 

15 (1) FORM INCLUDED WITH APPLICATION FOR

16 MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER’S LICENSE.—Section 

17 5(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the National Voter Registration Act 

18 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504(c)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended 

19 by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting 

20 the following: ‘‘, and to the extent that the applica21 tion requires the applicant to provide a Social Secu22 rity number, may not require the applicant to pro23 vide more than the last 4 digits of such number;’’. 

24 (2) NATIONAL MAIL VOTER REGISTRATION

25 FORM.—Section 9(b)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 20508(b)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon 

2 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and to the 

3 extent that the form requires the applicant to pro4 vide a Social Security number, the form may not re5 quire the applicant to provide more than the last 4 

6 digits of such number;’’. 

7 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by this subsection shall apply with respect to the 

9 regularly scheduled general election for Federal of10 fice held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

11 election for Federal office. 

12 SEC. 8. ACCOMMODATIONS FOR VOTERS RESIDING IN IN13 DIAN LANDS. 

14 (a) ACCOMMODATIONS DESCRIBED.— 

15 (1) DESIGNATION OF BALLOT PICKUP AND COL16 LECTION LOCATIONS.—Given the widespread lack of 

17 residential mail delivery in Indian Country, an In18 dian Tribe may designate buildings as ballot pickup 

19 and collection locations with respect to an election 

20 for Federal office at no cost to the Indian Tribe. An 

21 Indian Tribe may designate one building per pre22 cinct located within Indian lands. The applicable 

23 State or political subdivision shall collect ballots 

24 from those locations. The applicable State or polit25 ical subdivision shall provide the Indian Tribe with 


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1 accurate precinct maps for all precincts located with2 in Indian lands 60 days before the election. 

3 (2) PROVISION OF MAIL-IN AND ABSENTEE

4 BALLOTS.—The State or political subdivision shall 

5 provide mail-in and absentee ballots with respect to 

6 an election for Federal office to each individual who 

7 is registered to vote in the election who resides on 

8 Indian lands in the State or political subdivision in9 volved without requiring a residential address or a 

10 mail-in or absentee ballot request. 

11 (3) USE OF DESIGNATED BUILDING AS RESI12 DENTIAL AND MAILING ADDRESS.—The address of a 

13 designated building that is a ballot pickup and col14 lection location with respect to an election for Fed15 eral office may serve as the residential address and 

16 mailing address for voters living on Indian lands if 

17 the tribally designated building is in the same pre18 cinct as that voter. If there is no tribally designated 

19 building within a voter’s precinct, the voter may use 

20 another tribally designated building within the In21 dian lands where the voter is located. Voters using 

22 a tribally designated building outside of the voter’s 

23 precinct may use the tribally designated building as 

24 a mailing address and may separately designate the 

25 voter’s appropriate precinct through a description of 


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1 the voter’s address, as specified in section 

2 9428.4(a)(2) of title 11, Code of Federal Regula3 tions. 

4 (4) LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.—In the case of 

5 a State or political subdivision that is a covered 

6 State or political subdivision under section 203 of 

7 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503), 

8 that State or political subdivision shall provide ab9 sentee or mail-in voting materials with respect to an 

10 election for Federal office in the language of the ap11 plicable minority group as well as in the English lan12 guage, bilingual election voting assistance, and writ13 ten translations of all voting materials in the lan14 guage of the applicable minority group, as required 

15 by section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

16 U.S.C. 10503), as amended by subsection (b). 

17 (5) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section 

18 alters the ability of an individual voter residing on 

19 Indian lands to request a ballot in a manner avail20 able to all other voters in the State. 

21 (6) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (A) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.— 

23 The term ‘‘election for Federal office’’ means a 

24 general, special, primary or runoff election for 

25 the office of President or Vice President, or of 


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1 Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 

2 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 

3 (B) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the 

4 meaning given the term in section 4 of the In5 dian Self-Determination and Education Assist6 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

7 (C) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian 

8 lands’’ includes— 

9 (i) any Indian country of an Indian 

10 Tribe, as defined under section 1151 of 

11 title 18, United States Code; 

12 (ii) any land in Alaska owned, pursu13 ant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle14 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by an 

15 Indian Tribe that is a Native village (as 

16 defined in section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

17 1602)) or by a Village Corporation that is 

18 associated with an Indian Tribe (as de19 fined in section 3 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

20 1602)); 

21 (iii) any land on which the seat of the 

22 Tribal Government is located; and 

23 (iv) any land that is part or all of a 

24 Tribal designated statistical area associ25 ated with an Indian Tribe, or is part or all 


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1 of an Alaska Native village statistical area 

2 associated with an Indian Tribe, as defined 

3 by the Census Bureau for the purposes of 

4 the most recent decennial census. 

5 (D) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian 

6 Tribe’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian 

7 tribe’’ in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter8 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 

9 U.S.C. 5304). 

10 (E) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘Tribal Government’’ means the recognized 

12 governing body of an Indian Tribe. 

13 (7) ENFORCEMENT.— 

14 (A) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney 

15 General may bring a civil action in an appro16 priate district court for such declaratory or in17 junctive relief as is necessary to carry out this 

18 subsection. 

19 (B) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

20 (i) A person or Tribal Government 

21 who is aggrieved by a violation of this sub22 section may provide written notice of the 

23 violation to the chief election official of the 

24 State involved. 


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1 (ii) An aggrieved person or Tribal 

2 Government may bring a civil action in an 

3 appropriate district court for declaratory 

4 or injunctive relief with respect to a viola5 tion of this subsection, if— 

6 (I) that person or Tribal Govern7 ment provides the notice described in 

8 clause (i); and 

9 (II)(aa) in the case of a violation 

10 that occurs more than 120 days be11 fore the date of an election for Fed12 eral office, the violation remains and 

13 90 days or more have passed since the 

14 date on which the chief election offi15 cial of the State receives the notice 

16 under clause (i); or 

17 (bb) in the case of a violation 

18 that occurs 120 days or less before 

19 the date of an election for Federal of20 fice, the violation remains and 20 

21 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). 


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1 (iii) In the case of a violation of this 

2 section that occurs 30 days or less before 

3 the date of an election for Federal office, 

4 an aggrieved person or Tribal Government 

5 may bring a civil action in an appropriate 

6 district court for declaratory or injunctive 

7 relief with respect to the violation without 

8 providing notice to the chief election offi9 cial of the State under clause (i). 

10 (b) BILINGUAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

11 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b)(3)(C), by striking ‘‘1990’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘2010’’; and 

15 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF VOTING MATERIALS IN THE LAN18 GUAGE OF A MINORITY GROUP.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any State or po20 litical subdivision subject to the prohibition of sub21 section (b) of this section provides any registration 

22 or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or 

23 other materials or information relating to the elec24 toral process, including ballots, it shall provide them 


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1 in the language of the applicable minority group as 

2 well as in the English language. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(i) In the case of a minority group 

6 that is not American Indian or Alaska Na7 tive and the language of that minority 

8 group is oral or unwritten, the State or po9 litical subdivision shall only be required to 

10 furnish, in the covered language, oral in11 structions, assistance, translation of voting 

12 materials, or other information relating to 

13 registration and voting. 

14 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a minority group 

15 that is American Indian or Alaska Native, 

16 the State or political subdivision shall only 

17 be required to furnish in the covered lan18 guage oral instructions, assistance, or 

19 other information relating to registration 

20 and voting, including all voting materials, 

21 if the Tribal Government of that minority 

22 group has certified that the language of 

23 the applicable American Indian or Alaska 

24 Native language is presently unwritten or 


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1 the Tribal Government does not want writ2 ten translations in the minority language. 

3 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION

4 WORKERS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the 

5 State or political division may be required to provide 

6 written translations of voting materials, with the 

7 consent of any applicable Indian Tribe, to election 

8 workers to ensure that the translations from English 

9 to the language of a minority group are complete, 

10 accurate, and uniform.’’. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend12 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to the 

13 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held 

14 in November 2020 and each succeeding election for Fed15 eral office. 

16 SEC. 9. PAYMENTS BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

17 TO STATES TO ASSIST WITH COSTS OF COM18 PLIANCE. 

19 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

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

21 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO ASSIST WITH COSTS OF 

2 COMPLIANCE WITH ACCESS ACT 

3 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO ASSIST WITH COSTS OF COMPLI4 ANCE WITH ACCESS ACT. 

5 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF PAYMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

7 make a payment to each eligible State to assist the 

8 State with the costs of complying with the American 

9 Coronavirus/COVID–19 Election Safety and Secu10 rity Act and the amendments made by such Act, in11 cluding the provisions of such Act and such amend12 ments which require States to pre-pay the postage 

13 on absentee ballots and balloting materials. 

14 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS.—For 

15 purposes of this part, the costs incurred by a State 

16 in carrying out a campaign to educate the public 

17 about the requirements of the American Coronavi18 rus/COVID–19 Election Safety and Security Act 

19 and the amendments made by such Act shall be in20 cluded as the costs of complying with such Act and 

21 such amendments. 

22 ‘‘(b) PRIMARY ELECTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—In addition to 

24 any payments under subsection (a), the Commission 

25 shall make a payment to each eligible State to assist 

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1 ing to comply with the American Coronavirus/ 

2 COVID–19 Election Safety and Security Act and 

3 the amendments made by such Act with respect to 

4 primary elections for Federal office held in the State 

5 in 2020. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE PARTY-RUN PRIMARIES.—In addi7 tion to any payments under paragraph (1), the Com8 mission shall make payments to each eligible polit9 ical party of the State for costs incurred by such 

10 parties to send absentee ballots and return envelopes 

11 with prepaid postage to eligible voters participating 

12 in such primaries during 2020. 

13 ‘‘(c) PASS-THROUGH OF FUNDS TO LOCAL JURISDIC14 TIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State receives a pay16 ment under this part for costs that include costs in17 curred by a local jurisdiction or Tribal government 

18 within the State, the State shall pass through to 

19 such local jurisdiction or Tribal government a por20 tion of such payment that is equal to the amount of 

21 the costs incurred by such local jurisdiction or Trib22 al government. 

23 ‘‘(2) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED.—In this 

24 subsection, the term ‘Tribal Government’ means the 

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1 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

2 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 ‘‘(d) SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS.—As soon as prac4 ticable after the date of the enactment of this part and 

5 not less frequently than once each calendar year there6 after, the Commission shall make payments under this 

7 part. 

8 ‘‘(e) COVERAGE OF COMMONWEALTH OF NORTHERN

9 MARIANA ISLANDS.—In this part, the term ‘State’ in10 cludes the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is11 lands. 

12 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION.—No funds may be provided to a 

13 State under this part for costs attributable to the elec14 tronic return of marked ballots by any voter. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 297A. AMOUNT OF PAYMENT. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 

17 297C, the amount of a payment made to an eligible State 

18 for a year under this part shall be determined by the Com19 mission. 

20 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AFTER

21 APPROPRIATION.—A payment made to an eligible State 

22 or eligible unit of local government under this part shall 

23 be available without fiscal year limitation. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 297B. REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY. 

2 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—Except as provided in section 

3 297C, each State that desires to receive a payment under 

4 this part for a fiscal year, and each political party of a 

5 State that desires to receive a payment under section 

6 297(b)(2), shall submit an application for the payment to 

7 the Commission at such time and in such manner and con8 taining such information as the Commission shall require. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each application 

10 submitted under subsection (a) shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) describe the activities for which assistance 

12 under this part is sought; and 

13 ‘‘(2) provide such additional information and 

14 certifications as the Commission determines to be es15 sential to ensure compliance with the requirements 

16 of this part. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 297C. SPECIAL RULES FOR PAYMENTS FOR ELEC18 TIONS SUBJECT TO EMERGENCY RULES. 

19 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF ESTIMATED COSTS.—If the spe20 cial rules in the case of an emergency period under section 

21 322(c)(3) apply to an election, not later than the applica22 ble deadline under subsection (c), the State shall submit 

23 to the Commission a request for a payment under this 

24 part, and shall include in the request the State’s estimate 

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1 tion of the election which are attributable to the applica2 tion of such special rules to the election. 

3 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT.—Not later than 7 days after receiv4 ing a request from the State under subsection (a), the 

5 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

6 amount equal to the estimate provided by the State in the 

7 request. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE DEADLINE.—The applicable dead9 line under this paragraph with respect to an election is— 

10 ‘‘(1) with respect to the regularly scheduled 

11 general election for Federal office held in November 

12 2020, 15 days after the date of the enactment of 

13 this part; and 

14 ‘‘(2) with respect to any other election, 15 days 

15 after the emergency or disaster described in section 

16 322(c)(3) is declared. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 297D. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for pay19 ments under this part— 

20 ‘‘(1) in the case of payments made under sec21 tion 297C, such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

22 year 2020 and each succeeding fiscal year; and 

23 ‘‘(2) in the case of any other payments, such 

24 sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 297E. REPORTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 6 

3 months after the end of each fiscal year for which an eligi4 ble State received a payment under this part, the State 

5 shall submit a report to the Commission on the activities 

6 conducted with the funds provided during the year. 

7 ‘‘(b) REPORTS BY COMMISSION TO COMMITTEES.— 

8 With respect to each fiscal year for which the Commission 

9 makes payments under this part, the Commission shall 

10 submit a report on the activities carried out under this 

11 part to the Committee on House Administration of the 

12 House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules 

13 and Administration of the Senate.’’. 

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 subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO ASSIST WITH COSTS OF COMPLIANCE WITH

ACCESS ACT

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to assist with costs of compliance with Access Act. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Amount of payment. 

‘‘Sec. 297B. Requirements for eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 297C. Special rules for payments for elections subject to emergency rules. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Authorization of appropriations. 

‘‘Sec. 297E. Reports.’’. 

17 SEC. 10. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIM18 ITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

19 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

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


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1 21001 et seq.), as amended by section 9(a), is further 

2 amended by adding at the end the following new part: 

3 ‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK4 LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

5 ‘‘SEC. 298. GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AU6 DITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—The Commission 

8 shall make a grant to each eligible State to conduct risk9 limiting audits as described in subsection (b) with respect 

10 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of11 fice held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 

12 for Federal office. 

13 ‘‘(b) RISK-LIMITING AUDITS DESCRIBED.—In this 

14 part, a ‘risk-limiting audit’ is a post-election process— 

15 ‘‘(1) which is conducted in accordance with 

16 rules and procedures established by the chief State 

17 election official of the State which meet the require18 ments of subsection (c); and 

19 ‘‘(2) under which, if the reported outcome of 

20 the election is incorrect, there is at least a predeter21 mined percentage chance that the audit will replace 

22 the incorrect outcome with the correct outcome as 

23 determined by a full, hand-to-eye tabulation of all 

24 votes validly cast in that election that ascertains 


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1 voter intent manually and directly from voter2 verifiable paper records. 

3 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR RULES AND PROCE4 DURES.—The rules and procedures established for con5 ducting a risk-limiting audit shall include the following 

6 elements: 

7 ‘‘(1) Rules for ensuring the security of ballots 

8 and documenting that prescribed procedures were 

9 followed. 

10 ‘‘(2) Rules and procedures for ensuring the ac11 curacy of ballot manifests produced by election agen12 cies. 

13 ‘‘(3) Rules and procedures for governing the 

14 format of ballot manifests, cast vote records, and 

15 other data involved in the audit. 

16 ‘‘(4) Methods to ensure that any cast vote 

17 records used in the audit are those used by the vot18 ing system to tally the election results sent to the 

19 chief State election official and made public. 

20 ‘‘(5) Procedures for the random selection of 

21 ballots to be inspected manually during each audit. 

22 ‘‘(6) Rules for the calculations and other meth23 ods to be used in the audit and to determine wheth24 er and when the audit of an election is complete. 


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1 ‘‘(7) Procedures and requirements for testing 

2 any software used to conduct risk-limiting audits. 

3 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this part, the following defi4 nitions apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘ballot manifest’ means a record 

6 maintained by each election agency that meets each 

7 of the following requirements: 

8 ‘‘(A) The record is created without reliance 

9 on any part of the voting system used to tab10 ulate votes. 

11 ‘‘(B) The record functions as a sampling 

12 frame for conducting a risk-limiting audit. 

13 ‘‘(C) The record contains the following in14 formation with respect to the ballots cast and 

15 counted in the election: 

16 ‘‘(i) The total number of ballots cast 

17 and counted by the agency (including 

18 undervotes, overvotes, and other invalid 

19 votes). 

20 ‘‘(ii) The total number of ballots cast 

21 in each election administered by the agency 

22 (including undervotes, overvotes, and other 

23 invalid votes). 

24 ‘‘(iii) A precise description of the 

25 manner in which the ballots are physically 


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1 stored, including the total number of phys2 ical groups of ballots, the numbering sys3 tem for each group, a unique label for each 

4 group, and the number of ballots in each 

5 such group. 

6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘incorrect outcome’ means an 

7 outcome that differs from the outcome that would be 

8 determined by a full tabulation of all votes validly 

9 cast in the election, determining voter intent manu10 ally, directly from voter-verifiable paper records. 

11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘outcome’ means the winner of 

12 an election, whether a candidate or a position. 

13 ‘‘(4) The term ‘reported outcome’ means the 

14 outcome of an election which is determined accord15 ing to the canvass and which will become the official, 

16 certified outcome unless it is revised by an audit, re17 count, or other legal process. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 298A. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

19 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

20 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

21 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica22 tion containing— 

23 ‘‘(1) a certification that, not later than 5 years 

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1 limiting audits of the results of elections for Federal 

2 office held in the State as described in section 298; 

3 ‘‘(2) a certification that, not later than one year 

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

5 chief State election official of the State has estab6 lished or will establish the rules and procedures for 

7 conducting the audits which meet the requirements 

8 of section 298(c); 

9 ‘‘(3) a certification that the audit shall be com10 pleted not later than the date on which the State 

11 certifies the results of the election; 

12 ‘‘(4) a certification that, after completing the 

13 audit, the State shall publish a report on the results 

14 of the audit, together with such information as nec15 essary to confirm that the audit was conducted prop16 erly; 

17 ‘‘(5) a certification that, if a risk-limiting audit 

18 conducted under this part leads to a full manual 

19 tally of an election, State law requires that the State 

20 or election agency shall use the results of the full 

21 manual tally as the official results of the election; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(6) such other information and assurances as 

24 the Commission may require. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 298B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

3 under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, to re4 main available until expended.’’. 

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

6 of such Act, as amended by section 9(b), is further amend7 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to subtitle 

8 D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS

OF ELECTIONS

‘‘Sec. 298. Grants for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 298A. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 298B. Authorization of appropriations. 

9 (c) GAO ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF AUDITS.— 

10 (1) ANALYSIS.—Not later than 6 months after 

11 the first election for Federal office is held after 

12 grants are first awarded to States for conducting 

13 risk-limiting audits under part 8 of subtitle D of 

14 title II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as 

15 added by subsection (a)) for conducting risk-limiting 

16 audits of elections for Federal office, the Comp17 troller General of the United States shall conduct an 

18 analysis of the extent to which such audits have im19 proved the administration of such elections and the 

20 security of election infrastructure in the States re21 ceiving such grants. 


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1 (2) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

2 United States shall submit a report on the analysis 

3 conducted under subsection (a) to the appropriate 

4 congressional committees. 

5 SEC. 11. ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE ELEC6 TION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any funds other8 wise appropriated to the Election Assistance Commission 

9 for fiscal year 2020, there is authorized to be appropriated 

10 $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 in order for the Commis11 sion to provide additional assistance and resources to 

12 States for improving the administration of elections. 

13 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro14 priated pursuant to the authorization under this sub15 section shall remain available without fiscal year limita16 tion. 

17 SEC. 12. DEFINITION. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OF19 FICE.—Title IX of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

20 (52 U.S.C. 21141 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 907. ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE DEFINED. 

23 ‘‘For purposes of titles I through III, the term ‘elec24 tion for Federal office’ means a general, special, primary, 

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1 dent, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 

2 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.’’. 

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

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

5 relating to title IX the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 907. Election for Federal office defined.’’. 

Æ 


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