I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1438 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to allow 

same day registration for Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Ms. HAALAND (for herself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. COOPER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. 

EVANS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. HIMES, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. ROUDA, 

Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mrs. CRAIG, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. DEAN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mrs. DINGELL, and Ms. OMAR) 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 require 

States to allow same day registration for Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 

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

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

6 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

7 sections 305 and 306; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

2 new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 304. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Notwithstanding section 

6 8(a)(1)(D) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

7 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)(D)), each State shall 

8 permit any eligible individual on the day of a Fed9 eral election and on any day when voting, including 

10 early voting, is permitted for a Federal election— 

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

12 the polling place using a form that meets the 

13 requirements under section 9(b) of the National 

14 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (or, if the indi15 vidual is already registered to vote, to revise 

16 any of the individual’s voter registration infor17 mation); and 

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

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

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

21 under a State law in effect continuously on and after 

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

23 voter registration requirement for individuals in the 

24 State with respect to elections for Federal office. 


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

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

3 to any election for Federal office, an individual who is oth4 erwise qualified to vote in that election. 

5 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re6 quired to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) 

7 for the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of8 fice occurring in November 2020 and for any subsequent 

9 election for Federal office.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN11 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

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

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

15 of such Act is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec17 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

18 306; and 

19 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec20 tion 303 the following new item: 

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

Æ 


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