I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8962 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit States 

from registering individuals to vote in elections for Federal office who 

do not provide documentary proof of United States citizenship, to amend 

the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require individuals to provide 

identification as a condition of voting in elections for Federal office, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2020 

Mr. NORMAN (for himself, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

BUDD, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 

TIMMONS, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. BABIN, Mr. LONG, and Mr. 

PERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on 

Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judiciary, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

prohibit States from registering individuals to vote in 

elections for Federal office who do not provide documentary proof of United States citizenship, to amend the 

Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require individuals 

to provide identification as a condition of voting in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

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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 ‘‘Securing And 

5 Verifying Elections in America Act’’ or the ‘‘SAVE Amer6 ica Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING REGISTRATION TO VOTE OF INDIVID8 UALS WHO FAIL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF 

9 UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the National Voter 

11 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub13 section (k); and 

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF INDIVIDUALS

17 NOT PROVIDING PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZEN18 SHIP.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of this Act, a State may not register an in21 dividual to vote in elections for Federal office held 

22 in the State unless, at the time the individual ap23 plies to register to vote, the individual provides docu24 mentary proof that the individual is a citizen of the 

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1 United States, which shall consist of any of the fol2 lowing (or a photocopy thereof): 

3 ‘‘(A) A certified birth certificate issued by 

4 a State or unit of local government in a State. 

5 ‘‘(B) A valid United States passport. 

6 ‘‘(C) A Consular Report of Birth Abroad 

7 issued by the Secretary of State. 

8 ‘‘(D) A Naturalization Certificate or Cer9 tificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) applies 

12 with respect to an individual who applies to register 

13 to vote under section 5, 6, or 7 (including an indi14 vidual who submits the mail voter registration appli15 cation form prescribed by the Election Assistance 

16 Commission pursuant to section 9), or who applies 

17 under any other method of voter registration avail18 able in the State.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 

21 voter registration which are submitted on or after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act. 

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1 SEC. 3. REQUIRING PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION AS A 

2 CONDITION OF VOTING IN FEDERAL ELEC3 TIONS. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE IDENTIFICATION AS

5 CONDITION OF RECEIVING BALLOT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(b) of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FOR VOT10 ERS WHO REGISTER BY MAIL’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘FOR PROVIDING IDENTIFICATION’’; and 

12 (B) by striking paragraphs (1) through (3) 

13 and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.—Not15 withstanding any other provision of law, the appro16 priate State or local election official may not provide 

17 a ballot for an election for Federal office to an indi18 vidual who desires to vote in person unless the indi19 vidual presents to the official a current and valid 

20 identification issued by the State or by a unit of 

21 local government in the State. 

22 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN

23 PERSON.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

24 law, the appropriate State or local election official 

25 may not accept any ballot for an election for Federal 

26 office provided by an individual who votes other than 

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1 in person unless the individual submits with the bal2 lot a copy of a current and valid identification issued 

3 by the State or by a unit of local government in the 

4 State. 

5 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) do 

6 not apply in the case of an individual who is unable 

7 to obtain an identification for purposes of such para8 graphs because of a reasonable impediment, as de9 termined in accordance with the law of the State in10 volved.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 303 

12 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083) is amended— 

13 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FOR VOT14 ERS WHO REGISTER BY MAIL’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘FOR PROVIDING IDENTIFICATION’’; and 

16 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘sub17 sections (a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and (b)(3)(B)(i)(II)’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(i)(II)’’. 

19 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents of such Act is amended by amending the item 

21 relating to section 303 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 303. Computerized statewide voter registration list requirements and requirements for providing identification.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section and the amend24 ments made by this section shall apply with respect 

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1 to elections for Federal office held on or after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 303(d)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

5 U.S.C. 21083(d)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDEN7 TIFICATION.—Paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of sub8 section (b) shall apply with respect to elections for 

9 Federal office held on or after the date of the enact10 ment of the SAVE America Act.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. REQUIRING APPLICANTS FOR MOTOR VEHICLE 

12 DRIVER’S LICENSES IN NEW STATE TO INDI13 CATE WHETHER STATE SERVES AS RESI14 DENCE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION PUR15 POSES. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS FOR LI17 CENSES.—Section 5(d) of the National Voter Registration 

18 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504(d)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘Any change’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘(1) Any change’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(2)(A) A State motor vehicle authority shall require 

24 each individual applying for a motor vehicle driver’s li25 cense in the State— 

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1 ‘‘(i) to attest, under penalty of perjury, whether 

2 the individual resides in another State or resided in 

3 another State prior to applying for the license, and, 

4 if so, to identify the State involved; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) to attest, under penalty of perjury, wheth6 er the individual intends for the State to serve as 

7 the individual’s residence for purposes of registering 

8 to vote in elections for Federal office. 

9 ‘‘(B) If pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) an indi10 vidual indicates to the State motor vehicle authority that 

11 the individual intends for the State to serve as the individ12 ual’s residence for purposes of registering to vote in elec13 tions for Federal office, the authority shall notify the 

14 motor vehicle authority of the State identified by the indi15 vidual pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i), who shall notify 

16 the chief State election official of such State that the indi17 vidual no longer intends for that State to serve as the indi18 vidual’s residence for purposes of registering to vote in 

19 elections for Federal office.’’. 

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

21 subsection (a) shall take effect with respect to elections 

22 occurring in 2021 or any succeeding year. 

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1 SEC. 5. PRE-ELECTION MAINTENANCE OF OFFICIAL VOTER 

2 REGISTRATION LIST. 

3 (a) REQUIRING STATE TO CERTIFY COMPLETION OF

4 PROGRAM TO REMOVE INELIGIBLE VOTERS PRIOR TO

5 DATE OF ELECTION.—Section 8(c)(2)(A) of the National 

6 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

7 20507(c)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘A State shall 

8 complete’’ and all that follows through ‘‘eligible voters.’’ 

9 and inserting the following: ‘‘Not later than 90 days prior 

10 to the date of an election for Federal office, each State 

11 shall certify to the Election Assistance Commission that 

12 the State has completed a program to remove the names 

13 of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters 

14 with respect to the election.’’. 

15 (b) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO STATE BY

16 UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

17 ADMINISTRATION.—Section 8(c)(2) of such Act (52 

18 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub20 paragraph (C); and 

21 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol22 lowing new subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(B) Not later than 180 days before the date of each 

24 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office— 

25 ‘‘(i) the Postmaster General shall transmit to 

26 the chief State election official of a State change-ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8962.IH H8962
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1 address information on individuals who, since the 

2 previous regularly scheduled general election for 

3 Federal office, are no longer residents of the State; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the Director of the Social Security Admin6 istration shall transmit to the chief State election of7 ficial information on individuals from the State who 

8 have died since the previous regularly scheduled gen9 eral election for Federal office’’. 

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

11 this section shall apply with respect to the regularly sched12 uled general election for Federal office held in November 

13 2022 and each succeeding election for Federal office. 

14 SEC. 6. VOTING SYSTEMS RESEARCH BY NATIONAL INSTI15 TUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY. 

16 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

17 and Technology, in collaboration with the National Science 

18 Foundation as appropriate, shall carry out a program of 

19 research on voting systems, including— 

20 (1) the cybersecurity of different components of 

21 such systems; 

22 (2) end-to-end verifiable systems; 

23 (3) the timely counting, verification, and certifi24 cation of results; 

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1 (4) the accessibility and usability of different 

2 components of such systems; 

3 (5) voter privacy and data protection; 

4 (6) methods for auditing elections; 

5 (7) the interoperability of system technologies; 

6 (8) means for providing voters with the ability 

7 to easily check whether a ballot sent by mail has 

8 been dispatched to the voter and whether the voter’s 

9 marked ballot has been received and accepted by the 

10 appropriate election official; 

11 (9) the reliability of various approaches to voter 

12 authentication; 

13 (10) accessibility and transparency for poll 

14 watchers; 

15 (11) methods for authenticating and updating 

16 voter registration lists; and 

17 (12) such other areas of research as the Direc18 tor of the National Institute of Standards and Tech19 nology determines to be appropriate and related to 

20 the security and integrity of elections for Federal of21 fice. 

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1 SEC. 7. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR FRAUDULENT TRANS2 MISSION OF BALLOTS BY MAIL IN FEDERAL 

3 ELECTIONS. 

4 (a) PENALTIES FOR MAIL FRAUD.—Section 1341 of 

5 title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘20 

6 years’’ and inserting ‘‘20 years (or, in the case of a matter 

7 or thing consisting of a ballot in an election for Federal 

8 office which is placed or deposited for purposes of exe9 cuting a scheme or artifice involving multiple ballots, 30 

10 years)’’. 

11 (b) PENALTIES FOR USE OF FICTITIOUS NAME OR

12 ADDRESS ON BALLOT.—Section 1343 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘five years’’ and in14 serting ‘‘five years (or, in the case of mail matter con15 sisting of a ballot in an election for Federal office which 

16 is transmitted for purposes of executing a scheme or arti17 fice involving multiple ballots, 10 years)’’. 

18 (c) PENALTIES FOR TRANSMISSION OF FRAUDULENT

19 BALLOTS.—Section 12 of the National Voter Registration 

20 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20511) is amended by striking 

21 ‘‘five years’’ and inserting ‘‘five years (or, in the case of 

22 activity described in paragraph (2)(B) which involves the 

23 transmission of multiple ballots by mail, 10 years)’’. 

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1 SEC. 8. REPORTING SYSTEM FOR INCIDENTS OF FRAUD IN 

2 FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

3 (a) REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Attorney General 

4 shall establish a system through which persons may report 

5 incidents of fraud in elections for Federal office, including 

6 through a toll-free hotline and a confidential online portal. 

7 (b) DEADLINE.—The Attorney General shall estab8 lish the system under subsection (a) not later than 30 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 9. SEPARATE TREATMENT OF PROVISIONAL AND 

11 MAIL-IN BALLOTS. 

12 (a) PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.—Section 302(a)(4) of 

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

14 21082(a)(4)) is amended by striking the period at the end 

15 and inserting the following: ‘‘, except that the ballot shall 

16 be separated and held apart from the ballots cast at the 

17 polling place which were not provisional ballots.’’. 

18 (b) MAIL-IN BALLOTS.—Section 302 of such Act (52 

19 U.S.C. 21082) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub21 section (e); and 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol23 lowing new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) SEPARATION FROM BALLOTS CAST AT

26 POLLING PLACE.—The appropriate election official 

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1 shall ensure that ballots in an election which are 

2 cast by mail are separated and held apart from, and 

3 tabulated separately from, ballots in the election 

4 which are cast at a polling place. 

5 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

6 apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general 

7 election for Federal office held in November 2022 

8 and each succeeding election for Federal office.’’. 

9 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EF10 FECTIVE DATE.—Section 302(e) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

11 21082(e)), as redesignated by subsection (b)(1), is amend12 ed by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro13 vided in subsection (d)(2), each State’’. 

14 SEC. 10. CONDITIONS ON PROVISION AND ACCEPTANCE OF 

15 BALLOTS BY MAIL. 

16 (a) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—Title III of the Help 

17 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

20 sections 305 and 306; and 

21 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 

22 new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 304. CONDITIONS ON PROVISION AND ACCEPTANCE 

24 OF BALLOTS BY MAIL. 

25 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION OF ABSENCE.— 

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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An election official may not 

2 provide an absentee ballot to an individual in an 

3 election for Federal office unless— 

4 ‘‘(A) the individual attests that the indi5 vidual will be absent on the date of the election 

6 from the jurisdiction in which the individual is 

7 registered to vote in person; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the individual will be unable to cast 

9 a ballot in the election in person because of a 

10 reasonable impediment, as determined in ac11 cordance with the law of the State involved. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR ABSENT MILITARY VOT13 ERS.—Paragraph (1) does not apply with respect to 

14 an individual who is an absent uniformed services 

15 voter, as defined in section 107(1) of the Uniformed 

16 and Overseas Absentee Voter Act (52 U.S.C. 

17 20310(1)), who is entitled to vote by absentee ballot 

18 under such Act. 

19 ‘‘(b) SIGNATURE.—The appropriate election official 

20 may not accept a voted ballot transmitted by mail unless 

21 the ballot includes the voter’s signature and— 

22 ‘‘(1) the signature on the ballot matches a sig23 nature of the voter under the records of the State; 

24 or 

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1 ‘‘(2) a witness observed the voter signing the 

2 ballot or the voter’s signature on the ballot is nota3 rized.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN5 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 

7 304’’. 

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

9 of such Act is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec11 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

12 306; and 

13 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec14 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Conditions on provision and acceptance of ballots by mail.’’. 

Æ