II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1950 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for online 

voter registration and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

provide for online 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, 

3 SECTION 1. FEDERAL ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION AP4 PLICATION FORM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Voter Registration 

6 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by in7 serting after section 6 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 6A. ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Election Assistance Com10 mission shall, in consultation with chief election officers 


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1 of the States, develop an online voter registration platform 

2 which— 

3 ‘‘(1) contains an online version of the mail voter 

4 registration application form prescribed under sec5 tion 9(a)(2) (in this section referred to as the ‘online 

6 voter registration application form’) that— 

7 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of section 

8 9(b) and section 303(a)(4) of the Help America 

9 Vote Act of 2002; and 

10 ‘‘(B) allows for the applicant to provide— 

11 ‘‘(i) an identification number which 

12 the State or jurisdiction in which the appli13 cant is registering may use to identify an 

14 existing signature of the applicant on file 

15 with such State or jurisdiction; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) an electronic signature in such 

17 form or by such method as is acceptable by 

18 the State or jurisdiction to which the appli19 cant is registering; and 

20 ‘‘(2)(A) requires an applicant to indicate wheth21 er the applicant is currently registered to vote in any 

22 other jurisdiction (and, if so, to provide information 

23 identifying such other jurisdiction; and 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of an applicant who is reg25 istered to vote in another jurisdiction, treats submisVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:57 Aug 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1950.IS S1950

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1 sion and acceptance of such application in a new ju2 risdiction as a request under section 8(a)(3)(A) to 

3 cancel registration in such other jurisdiction. 

4 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS5 SION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF COMPLETED APPLICA7 TIONS AND CANCELLATION REQUESTS.—The Elec8 tion Assistance Commission shall automatically for9 ward completed online voter registration application 

10 forms and cancellation requests pursuant to sub11 section (a)(2)(B) to the appropriate chief State elec12 tion officials and, acting through such officials, to 

13 appropriate State and local election officials in the 

14 State. 

15 ‘‘(2) REGISTRATION THROUGH STATE-BASED

16 PLATFORMS.—If the Election Assistance Commis17 sion confirms a certification of the chief election offi18 cial of a State that the State has developed a plat19 form that meets the requirements of subsection (a), 

20 the Election Assistance Commission shall automati21 cally connect applicants for registration in that State 

22 to such State platform in lieu of the platform devel23 oped under subsection (a). 

24 ‘‘(c) ACCEPTANCE OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS.— 

25 A State shall accept an online voter registration applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:57 Aug 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1950.IS S1950

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1 tion form transmitted under subsection (b), and ensure 

2 that the individual is registered to vote in the State, if 

3 the individual meets the same voter registration require4 ments applicable to individuals who register to vote by 

5 mail in accordance with section 6(a)(1) using the mail 

6 voter registration application form prescribed by the Elec7 tion Assistance Commission pursuant to section 9(a)(2). 

8 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES IF NO EXISTING ELECTRONIC

9 SIGNATURE.—If a State does not accept an electronic sig10 nature for an individual registering online and there is in11 sufficient information to identify an existing signature of 

12 the applicant on file with the State or jurisdiction, the 

13 State shall allow the individual to finalize the individual’s 

14 registration by providing a signature at the poll prior to 

15 voting for the first time in such jurisdiction after accept16 ance of the online voter registration application form. 

17 ‘‘(e) FIRST-TIME VOTERS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

19 State may by law require a person to vote in person 

20 if— 

21 ‘‘(A) the person registered to vote in a ju22 risdiction online under this section; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the person has not previously voted in 

24 that jurisdiction. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 

2 apply in the case of a person— 

3 ‘‘(A) who is entitled to vote by absentee 

4 ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citi5 zens Absentee Voting Act; 

6 ‘‘(B) who is provided the right to vote oth7 erwise than in person under section 

8 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Voting Accessibility for the 

9 Elderly and Handicapped Act; 

10 ‘‘(C) who has provided sufficient informa11 tion for the purposes of identifying an existing 

12 signature of the applicant on file with such 

13 State or jurisdiction; or 

14 ‘‘(D) who is entitled to vote otherwise than 

15 in person under any other Federal law. 

16 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO STATES WITH ALL-MAIL

17 VOTING.—Nothing in this subsection shall be con18 strued to prevent a State from conducting elections 

19 entirely by mail-in ballot.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (1) STATE PROCEDURES.—Section 4(a) of the 

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

23 20503(a)) is amended— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para25 graph (2); 


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1 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

2 paragraph (4); and 

3 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

4 following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) by online application pursuant to section 

6 6A; and’’. 

7 (2) TIMING OF REGISTRATION.—Section 8(a)(1) 

8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

9 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub11 paragraph (C); 

12 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

13 subparagraph (E); and 

14 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

15 the following new subparagraph: 

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

17 under section 6A, if the valid voter registration 

18 application is submitted not later than the less19 er of 20 days, or the period provided by State 

20 law, before the date of the election (as deter21 mined by treating the date on which the appli22 cation is completed online as the date on which 

23 it is submitted); and’’. 

24 (3) INFORMING APPLICANTS OF ELIGIBILITY

25 REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES.—Section 8(a)(5) 


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1 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(5)) is amended by 

2 striking ‘‘and 7’’ and inserting ‘‘6A, and 7’’. 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY OF ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

4 Section 4(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20503(b)) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new flush sentence: 

6 ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, subsection 

7 (a)(3) and sections 6A and 8(a)(1)(D) shall continue to 

8 apply to any State described in paragraph (2).’’. 

9 (d) APPLICATION OF FIRST TIME VOTER REQUIRE10 MENTS UNDER HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(b)(1)(A) of the 

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

13 21083(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or by on14 line application’’ after ‘‘by mail’’. 

15 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 303(b)3) of such 

16 Act is amended— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or 

18 who registers to vote by online application 

19 under section 6A of such Act’’ before ‘‘and sub20 mits’’, and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting 

22 ‘‘or who registers to vote by online application 

23 under section 6A of such Act’’ before ‘‘and sub24 mits’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION AP2 PLICATION IN USPS ONLINE CHANGE OF AD3 DRESS PROCESS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Postmaster General shall en5 sure that the United States Postal Service Online Change 

6 of Address process— 

7 (1) incorporates the online voter registration 

8 platform developed under section 6A of the National 

9 Voter Registration Act of 1993, as added by section 

10 1; and 

11 (2) allows individuals to register to vote during 

12 the process. 

13 (b) TRANSMISSION OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS.— 

14 The Postmaster General shall coordinate with the Election 

15 Assistance Commission to ensure that applications and re16 quests for cancellation through the platform under para17 graph (1) are forwarded in accordance with section 

18 6A(b)(1) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

19 as added by section 1. 

20 SEC. 3. VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE. 

21 Section 8(a)(1) of the National Voter Registration 

22 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) is amended by strik23 ing ‘‘30 days’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘28 

24 days’’. 

Æ 


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