I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1573 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote access to voter 

registration and voting for individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2019 

Ms. SCANLON (for herself and Mr. SARBANES) 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 promote 

access to voter registration and voting for individuals 

with disabilities, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disability Voting 

5 Rights Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES TO PROMOTE ACCESS 

2 TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING FOR 

3 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

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 

9 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 304. ACCESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

12 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

13 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT OF APPLICATIONS AND BAL14 LOTS.—Each State shall— 

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

16 absentee registration procedures and to vote by ab17 sentee ballot in elections for Federal office; 

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

19 election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter 

20 registration application and absentee ballot applica21 tion from an individual with a disability if the appli22 cation is received by the appropriate State election 

23 official not less than 30 days before the election; 

24 ‘‘(3) in addition to any other method of reg25 istering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot in 

26 the State, establish procedures— 


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1 ‘‘(A) for individuals with disabilities to re2 quest by mail and electronically voter registra3 tion applications and absentee ballot applica4 tions with respect to elections for Federal office 

5 in accordance with subsection (c); 

6 ‘‘(B) for States to send by mail and elec7 tronically (in accordance with the preferred 

8 method of transmission designated by the indi9 vidual under subparagraph (C)) voter registra10 tion applications and absentee ballot applica11 tions requested under subparagraph (A) in ac12 cordance with subsection (c); and 

13 ‘‘(C) by which such an individual can des14 ignate whether the individual prefers that such 

15 voter registration application or absentee ballot 

16 application be transmitted by mail or electroni17 cally; 

18 ‘‘(4) in addition to any other method of trans19 mitting blank absentee ballots in the State, establish 

20 procedures for transmitting by mail and electroni21 cally blank absentee ballots to individuals with dis22 abilities with respect to elections for Federal office 

23 in accordance with subsection (d); 

24 ‘‘(5) transmit a validly requested absentee bal25 lot to an individual with a disability— 


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

2 in the case in which the request is received at 

3 least 45 days before an election for Federal of4 fice, not later than 45 days before the election; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case in which the request is re7 ceived less than 45 days before an election for 

8 Federal office— 

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

10 ‘‘(ii) if practicable and as determined 

11 appropriate by the State, in a manner that 

12 expedites the transmission of such absen13 tee ballot; and 

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

15 runoff election for Federal office, establish a written 

16 plan that provides absentee ballots are made avail17 able to individuals with disabilities in a manner that 

18 gives them sufficient time to vote in the runoff elec19 tion. 

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

21 PROVIDE INFORMATION ON REGISTRATION AND ABSEN22 TEE BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR ALL DISABLED VOTERS

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

24 which shall be responsible for providing information re25 garding voter registration procedures and absentee ballot 


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1 procedures to be used by individuals with disabilities with 

2 respect to elections for Federal office to all individuals 

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

4 any jurisdiction in the State. 

5 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COM6 MUNICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO

7 REQUEST AND FOR STATES TO SEND VOTER REGISTRA8 TION APPLICATIONS AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA9 TIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES RELATED TO VOTING

10 INFORMATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall, in addi12 tion to the designation of a single State office under 

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

14 electronic communication— 

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

16 who wish to register to vote or vote in any ju17 risdiction in the State to request voter registra18 tion applications and absentee ballot applica19 tions under subsection (a)(3); 

20 ‘‘(B) for use by States to send voter reg21 istration applications and absentee ballot appli22 cations requested under such subsection; and 

23 ‘‘(C) for the purpose of providing related 

24 voting, balloting, and election information to in25 dividuals with disabilities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION REGARDING PROVISION OF

2 MULTIPLE MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA3 TION.—A State may, in addition to the means of 

4 electronic communication so designated, provide 

5 multiple means of electronic communication to indi6 viduals with disabilities, including a means of elec7 tronic communication for the appropriate jurisdic8 tion of the State. 

9 ‘‘(3) INCLUSION OF DESIGNATED MEANS OF

10 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION WITH INFORMA11 TIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT AC12 COMPANY BALLOTING MATERIALS.—Each State shall 

13 include a means of electronic communication so des14 ignated with all informational and instructional ma15 terials that accompany balloting materials sent by 

16 the State to individuals with disabilities. 

17 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI18 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis19 ability does not designate a preference under sub20 section (a)(3)(C), the State shall transmit the voter 

21 registration application or absentee ballot application 

22 by any delivery method allowable in accordance with 

23 applicable State law, or if there is no applicable 

24 State law, by mail. 


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1 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE BALLOTS

2 BY MAIL AND ELECTRONICALLY.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 

4 procedures— 

5 ‘‘(A) to securely transmit blank absentee 

6 ballots by mail and electronically (in accordance 

7 with the preferred method of transmission des8 ignated by the individual with a disability under 

9 subparagraph (B)) to individuals with disabil10 ities for an election for Federal office; and 

11 ‘‘(B) by which the individual with a dis12 ability can designate whether the individual pre13 fers that such blank absentee ballot be trans14 mitted by mail or electronically. 

15 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI16 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis17 ability does not designate a preference under para18 graph (1)(B), the State shall transmit the ballot by 

19 any delivery method allowable in accordance with ap20 plicable State law, or if there is no applicable State 

21 law, by mail. 

22 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF METHODS TO TRACK DE23 LIVERY TO AND RETURN OF BALLOT BY INDIVIDUAL

24 REQUESTING BALLOT.—Under the procedures estab25 lished under paragraph (1), the State shall apply 


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1 such methods as the State considers appropriate, 

2 such as assigning a unique identifier to the ballot, 

3 to ensure that if an individual with a disability re4 quests the State to transmit a blank absentee ballot 

5 to the individual in accordance with this subsection, 

6 the voted absentee ballot which is returned by the 

7 individual is the same blank absentee ballot which 

8 the State transmitted to the individual. 

9 ‘‘(e) HARDSHIP EXEMPTION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the chief State election 

11 official determines that the State is unable to meet 

12 the requirement under subsection (a)(5)(A) with re13 spect to an election for Federal office due to an 

14 undue hardship described in paragraph (2)(B), the 

15 chief State election official shall request that the At16 torney General grant a waiver to the State of the 

17 application of such subsection. Such request shall in18 clude— 

19 ‘‘(A) a recognition that the purpose of 

20 such subsection is to individuals with disabil21 ities enough time to vote in an election for Fed22 eral office; 

23 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the hardship that 

24 indicates why the State is unable to transmit 


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1 such individuals an absentee ballot in accord2 ance with such subsection; 

3 ‘‘(C) the number of days prior to the elec4 tion for Federal office that the State requires 

5 absentee ballots be transmitted to such individ6 uals; and 

7 ‘‘(D) a comprehensive plan to ensure that 

8 such individuals are able to receive absentee 

9 ballots which they have requested and submit 

10 marked absentee ballots to the appropriate 

11 State election official in time to have that ballot 

12 counted in the election for Federal office, which 

13 includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) the steps the State will undertake 

15 to ensure that such individuals have time 

16 to receive, mark, and submit their ballots 

17 in time to have those ballots counted in the 

18 election; 

19 ‘‘(ii) why the plan provides such indi20 viduals sufficient time to vote as a sub21 stitute for the requirements under such 

22 subsection; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the underlying factual informa24 tion which explains how the plan provides 


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1 such sufficient time to vote as a substitute 

2 for such requirements. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF WAIVER REQUEST.—The 

4 Attorney General shall approve a waiver request 

5 under paragraph (1) if the Attorney General deter6 mines each of the following requirements are met: 

7 ‘‘(A) The comprehensive plan under sub8 paragraph (D) of such paragraph provides indi9 viduals with disabilities sufficient time to re10 ceive absentee ballots they have requested and 

11 submit marked absentee ballots to the appro12 priate State election official in time to have that 

13 ballot counted in the election for Federal office. 

14 ‘‘(B) One or more of the following issues 

15 creates an undue hardship for the State: 

16 ‘‘(i) The State’s primary election date 

17 prohibits the State from complying with 

18 subsection (a)(5)(A). 

19 ‘‘(ii) The State has suffered a delay in 

20 generating ballots due to a legal contest. 

21 ‘‘(iii) The State Constitution prohibits 

22 the State from complying with such sub23 section. 

24 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF WAIVER.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

2 under subparagraph (B), a State that requests 

3 a waiver under paragraph (1) shall submit to 

4 the Attorney General the written waiver request 

5 not later than 90 days before the election for 

6 Federal office with respect to which the request 

7 is submitted. The Attorney General shall ap8 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

9 65 days before such election. 

10 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a State requests a 

11 waiver under paragraph (1) as the result of an 

12 undue hardship described in paragraph 

13 (2)(B)(ii), the State shall submit to the Attor14 ney General the written waiver request as soon 

15 as practicable. The Attorney General shall ap16 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

17 5 business days after the date on which the re18 quest is received. 

19 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF WAIVER.—A waiver ap20 proved under paragraph (2) shall only apply with re21 spect to the election for Federal office for which the 

22 request was submitted. For each subsequent election 

23 for Federal office, the Attorney General shall only 

24 approve a waiver if the State has submitted a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1573.IH H1573

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1 quest under paragraph (1) with respect to such elec2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion may be construed to allow the marking or casting of 

5 ballots over the internet. 

6 ‘‘(g) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY DEFINED.— 

7 In this section, an ‘individual with a disability’ means an 

8 individual with an impairment that substantially limits 

9 any major life activities and who is otherwise qualified to 

10 vote in elections for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

12 with respect to elections for Federal office held on or after 

13 January 1, 2020.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

15 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS16 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

17 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

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

19 (2); 

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

23 paragraph: 

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

25 respect to section 304, January 1, 2020.’’. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN2 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

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

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

6 of such Act is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec8 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

9 306; and 

10 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec11 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. EXPANSION AND REAUTHORIZATION OF GRANT 

13 PROGRAM TO ASSURE VOTING ACCESS FOR 

14 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

15 (a) PURPOSES OF PAYMENTS.—Section 261(b) of the 

16 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21021(b)) is 

17 amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) making absentee voting and voting at 

20 home accessible to individuals with the full range of 

21 disabilities (including impairments involving vision, 

22 hearing, mobility, or dexterity) through the imple23 mentation of accessible absentee voting systems that 

24 work in conjunction with assistive technologies for 


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1 which individuals have access at their homes, inde2 pendent living centers, or other facilities; 

3 ‘‘(2) making polling places, including the path 

4 of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each 

5 polling facility, accessible to individuals with disabil6 ities, including the blind and visually impaired, in a 

7 manner that provides the same opportunity for ac8 cess and participation (including privacy and inde9 pendence) as for other voters; and 

10 ‘‘(3) providing solutions to problems of access 

11 to voting and elections for individuals with disabil12 ities that are universally designed and provide the 

13 same opportunities for individuals with and without 

14 disabilities.’’. 

15 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 264(a) of such Act 

16 (52 U.S.C. 21024(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 

19 fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary to carry 

20 out this part.’’. 

21 (c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 

22 264 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21024) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Any 

24 amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub25 section (b), any amounts’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(c) RETURN AND TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR OBLIGATION AND EXPEND5 ITURE.—In the case of any amounts appropriated 

6 pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) for a 

7 payment to a State or unit of local government for 

8 fiscal year 2020 or any succeeding fiscal year, any 

9 portion of such amounts which have not been obli10 gated or expended by the State or unit of local gov11 ernment prior to the expiration of the 4-year period 

12 which begins on the date the State or unit of local 

13 government first received the amounts shall be 

14 transferred to the Commission. 

15 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION OF TRANSFERRED

16 AMOUNTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

18 use the amounts transferred under paragraph 

19 (1) to make payments on a pro rata basis to 

20 each covered payment recipient described in 

21 subparagraph (B), which may obligate and ex22 pend such payment for the purposes described 

23 in section 261(b) during the 1-year period 

24 which begins on the date of receipt. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COVERED PAYMENT RECIPIENTS DE2 SCRIBED.—In subparagraph (A), a ‘covered 

3 payment recipient’ is a State or unit of local 

4 government with respect to which— 

5 ‘‘(i) amounts were appropriated pur6 suant to the authority of subsection (a); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) no amounts were transferred to 

9 the Commission under paragraph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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