II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2615 

Protecting the right to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 4, 2021 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. 

WARNOCK) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

Protecting the right to vote in elections for Federal office, 

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 ‘‘Right to Vote Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. UNDUE BURDENS ON THE ABILITY TO VOTE IN 

6 ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE PROHIB7 ITED. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every citizen of legal voting age 

9 shall have the fundamental right to vote in elections for 

10 Federal office. 


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1 (b) RETROGRESSION.—A government may not dimin2 ish the ability to vote in an election for Federal office un3 less the law, rule, standard, practice, procedure, or other 

4 governmental action causing the diminishment is the least 

5 restrictive means of significantly furthering an important, 

6 particularized government interest. 

7 (c) SUBSTANTIAL IMPAIRMENT.—A government may 

8 not substantially impair the ability to vote in an election 

9 for Federal office unless the law, rule, standard, practice, 

10 procedure, or other governmental action causing the im11 pairment significantly furthers an important, particular12 ized governmental interest. A substantial impairment is a 

13 non-trivial impairment that makes it more difficult to vote 

14 than if the law, rule, standard, practice, procedure, or 

15 other governmental action had not been adopted or imple16 mented. An impairment may be substantial even if the 

17 voter or other similarly situated voters are able to vote 

18 notwithstanding the impairment. 

19 SEC. 3. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

20 (a) CIVIL ACTION.—An action challenging a violation 

21 of the rights created by this Act may be brought in the 

22 district court for the District of Columbia, or the district 

23 court for the district in which the violation took place or 

24 where any defendant resides or does business, at the selec25 tion of the plaintiff, to obtain all appropriate relief, whethVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:01 Aug 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2615.IS S2615

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1 er declaratory or injunctive, or facial or as-applied. Proc2 ess may be served in any district where a defendant re3 sides, does business, or may be found. 

4 (b) STANDARDS TO BE APPLIED.—Courts adjudi5 cating actions brought to enforce the rights created by this 

6 Act shall apply the following standards: 

7 (1) RETROGRESSION.— 

8 (A) A plaintiff establishes a prima facie 

9 case of retrogression by demonstrating by a 

10 preponderance of the evidence that a rule, 

11 standard, practice, procedure, or other govern12 mental action diminishes the ability, or other13 wise makes it more difficult, to vote. 

14 (B) Once a plaintiff establishes a prima 

15 facie case as described in subparagraph (A), the 

16 government shall be provided an opportunity to 

17 demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence 

18 that the diminishment is necessary to signifi19 cantly further an important, particularized gov20 ernmental interest. 

21 (C) If the government meets its burden 

22 under subparagraph (B), the challenged rule, 

23 standard, practice, procedure, or other govern24 mental action shall nonetheless be deemed in25 valid if the plaintiff demonstrates by a preponVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:01 Aug 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2615.IS S2615

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1 derance of the evidence that the government 

2 could adopt or implement a less-restrictive 

3 means of furthering the particular important 

4 governmental interest. 

5 (2) SUBSTANTIAL IMPAIRMENT.— 

6 (A) A plaintiff establishes a prima facie 

7 case of substantial impairment by dem8 onstrating by a preponderance of the evidence 

9 that a rule, standard, practice, procedure, or 

10 other governmental action substantially impairs 

11 the ability, or makes it substantially difficult, to 

12 vote. 

13 (B) Once a plaintiff establishes a prima 

14 facie case as described in subparagraph (A), the 

15 government shall be provided an opportunity to 

16 demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence 

17 that the impairment significantly furthers an 

18 important, particularized governmental interest. 

19 (c) DUTY TO EXPEDITE.—It shall be the duty of the 

20 court to advance on the docket and to expedite to the 

21 greatest reasonable extent the disposition of the action 

22 and appeal under this section. 

23 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re24 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘or section 40302’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘section 40302’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘, the court’’ and inserting ‘‘, or 

4 the Right to Vote Act, the court’’. 

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘covered entity’’ means the Dis8 trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

9 Rico, and each territory and possession of the 

10 United States; 

11 (2) the terms ‘‘election’’ and ‘‘Federal office’’ 

12 have the meanings given such terms in section 301 

13 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

14 U.S.C. 30101); 

15 (3) the term ‘‘government’’ includes a branch, 

16 department, agency, instrumentality, and official (or 

17 other person acting under color of law) of the 

18 United States, of any State, of any covered entity, 

19 or of any political subdivision of any state or covered 

20 entity; and 

21 (4) the term ‘‘vote’’ means all actions necessary 

22 to make a vote effective, including registration or 

23 other action required by law as a prerequisite to vot24 ing, casting a ballot, and having such ballot counted 

25 and included in the appropriate totals of votes cast 


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1 with respect to candidates for public office for which 

2 votes are received in an election. 

3 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 (a) BURDENS NOT AUTHORIZED.—Nothing in this 

5 Act may be construed to authorize a government to burden 

6 the right to vote in elections for Federal office. 

7 (b) OTHER RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.—Nothing in 

8 this Act shall be construed as indicating an intent on the 

9 part of Congress to alter any rights existing under a State 

10 constitution or the Constitution of the United States, or 

11 to limit any remedies for any other violations of Federal, 

12 State, or local law. 

13 (c) OTHER PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

14 construed as conflicting with section 1403 (‘‘Rights of 

15 Citizens’’) of H.R. 1 of the 117th Congress as passed by 

16 the House of Representatives on March 3, 2021. 

17 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

19 provision to any citizen or circumstance is held to be un20 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica21 tion of the provisions of such to any citizen or cir22 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

23 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

24 (a) RETROGRESSION.—Subsection (b) of section 2 

25 shall apply to any law, rule, standard, practice, procedure, 


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1 or other governmental action that was not in effect during 

2 the November 2020 Federal election but that will be in 

3 effect with respect to elections for Federal office occurring 

4 on or after January 1, 2022, even if such law, rule, stand5 ard, practice, procedure, or other governmental action is 

6 already in effect at the time this Act is enacted. 

7 (b) SUBSTANTIAL IMPAIRMENT.—Subsection (c) of 

8 section 2 shall apply to any law, rule, standard, practice, 

9 procedure, or other governmental action in effect with re10 spect to elections for Federal office occurring on or after 

11 January 1, 2022. 

Æ 


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