II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 212 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in 

elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to vote. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 21, 2015 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. NELSON) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure 

that voters in elections for Federal office do not wait 

in long lines in order to vote. 

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 ‘‘Lines Interfere with 

5 National Elections Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘LINE Act of 

6 2015’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Excessive wait times at the election polls 

2 create an obstacle to an eligible citizen’s funda3 mental right to vote. 

4 (2) The Presidential Commission on Election 

5 Administration found that, on the date of the 2012 

6 Federal election, over 5,000,000 voters experienced 

7 wait times exceeding one hour, and an additional 

8 5,000,000 waited between a half hour and an hour. 

9 (3) The Presidential Commission on Election 

10 Administration found that several million eligible 

11 voters stand in line for an unacceptably long time in 

12 order to cast a vote in a Federal election, year after 

13 year. 

14 (4) The Presidential Commission on Election 

15 Administration found that excessive wait times are 

16 avoidable if the jurisdiction has undergone proper 

17 planning and develops systems to inform the respon18 sible authorities when a breakdown occurs. 

19 (5) The Presidential Commission on Election 

20 Administration concluded that, as a general rule, no 

21 voter should have to wait more than half an hour in 

22 order to have an opportunity to vote. 

23 (6) The Presidential Commission on Election 

24 Administration offered several recommendations and 

25 best practices that could directly reduce voter lines. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to imple2 ment the Presidential Commission on Election Adminis3 tration’s recommendations aimed at reducing long lines at 

4 the election polls. 

5 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR JURISDICTIONS WITH SUB6 STANTIAL VOTER WAIT TIMES. 

7 (a) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE

8 WAIT TIMES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Help America Vote Act 

10 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following new title: 

12 ‘‘TITLE X—REMEDIAL PLANS 

13 FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE 

14 WAIT TIMES 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1001. REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES16 SIVE WAIT TIMES. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each jurisdiction for which the 

18 Attorney General, to the maximum extent practicable in 

19 coordination with the Commission, determines that a sub20 stantial number of voters waited more than 30 minutes 

21 to cast a vote in the election for Federal office held on 

22 November 6, 2012, or any election for Federal office held 

23 on or after such date, shall comply with a State remedial 

24 plan established under this section in accordance with sub25 section (b). 


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1 ‘‘(b) STATE REMEDIAL PLANS.—The Attorney Gen2 eral, to the maximum extent practicable in coordination 

3 with the Commission, shall establish for each State or ju4 risdiction which is required to comply with this section a 

5 State remedial plan to minimize the waiting times of indi6 viduals voting in the State or jurisdiction in any election 

7 for Federal office. 

8 ‘‘(c) JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes of this 

9 section, the term ‘jurisdiction’ has the meaning given the 

10 term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 8(j) of the Na11 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

12 20507(j)). 

13 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—Not later than 

14 March 1 of the year following the year in which an election 

15 for Federal office is held, the Attorney General, to the 

16 maximum extent practicable in coordination with the Com17 mission, shall publish in the Federal Register a list of 

18 States and jurisdictions that are required to comply with 

19 a State remedial plan under this section. 

20 ‘‘(e) STATE REMEDIAL PLAN CERTIFICATION.—Not 

21 later than September 1 of the year following the year in 

22 which the Attorney General publishes in the Federal Reg23 ister a list described in subsection (d), the governor of 

24 each State included on the list shall submit to the Attor25 ney General a letter certifying that the State has made 


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1 a good faith effort to comply with the State remedial plan 

2 established for the State under this section.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

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

5 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 403’’ and in6 serting ‘‘403, and the requirements of title X’’. 

7 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con8 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

‘‘TITLE X—REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE 

WAIT TIMES 

‘‘Sec. 1001. Remedial plans for States with excessive wait times.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of 

12 this Act. 

Æ 


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