I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1546 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish a minimum 

period for early voting in elections for Federal office. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Ms. WILD (for herself, Mr. SOTO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. 

LUJA ́N, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DELGADO, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. TITUS, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish 

a minimum period for early voting in elections for Federal office. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. EARLY VOTING. 

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

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

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

8 sections 305 and 306; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

2 new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 304. EARLY VOTING. 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE OF ELEC5 TION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow indi7 viduals to vote in an election for Federal office dur8 ing an early voting period which occurs prior to the 

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

10 is allowed on such date. 

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

12 period required under this subsection with respect to 

13 an election shall consist of a period of consecutive 

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

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

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

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

18 election. 

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

20 Each polling place which allows voting during an early vot21 ing period under subsection (a) shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 4 hours 

23 on each day, except that the polling place may allow 

24 such voting for fewer than 4 hours on Sundays; and 


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

2 such voting occurs. 

3 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES NEAR PUBLIC

4 TRANSPORTATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a 

5 State shall ensure that each polling place which allows vot6 ing during an early voting period under subsection (a) is 

7 located within walking distance of a stop on a public trans8 portation route. 

9 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall issue 

11 standards for the administration of voting prior to 

12 the day scheduled for a Federal election. Such 

13 standards shall include the nondiscriminatory geo14 graphic placement of polling places at which such 

15 voting occurs. 

16 ‘‘(2) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 

17 paragraph (1) shall permit States, upon providing 

18 adequate public notice, to deviate from any require19 ment in the case of unforeseen circumstances, such 

20 as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or a change 

21 in voter turnout. 

22 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

23 with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 

24 2020.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

2 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS3 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

4 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

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

6 (2); 

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of para8 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

10 paragraph: 

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

12 respect to section 304, June 30, 2020.’’. 

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

14 of such Act, is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec16 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

17 306; and 

18 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec19 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Early voting.’’. 

Æ 


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