IB 

Union Calendar No. 397 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4844 

[Report No. 109–666] 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require any individual who desires to register or re-register to vote in an election for 

Federal office to provide the appropriate State election official with 

proof that the individual is a citizen of the United States to prevent 

fraud in Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2006 

Mr. HYDE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. MILLER of Florida, 

Mr. FEENEY, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 

DOOLITTLE, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. 

EHLERS, and Mr. SOUDER

SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 2, 2006] 

A BILL 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

require any individual who desires to register or reregister to vote in an election for Federal office to proVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:50 Sep 19, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4844.RH H4844

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vide the appropriate State election official with proof 

that the individual is a citizen of the United States 

to prevent fraud in Federal elections, 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 ‘‘Federal Election Integ5 rity Act of 2006’’ . 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRING VOTERS TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTI7 FICATION. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTIFICA9 TION AS CONDITION OF RECEIVING BALLOT.—Section 

10 303(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

11 15483(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FOR VOTERS

13 WHO REGISTER BY MAIL’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR PRO14 VIDING PHOTO IDENTIFICATION’’; and 

15 (2) by striking paragraphs (1) through (3) and 

16 inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE IDENTI19 FICATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

20 of law and except as provided in subparagraph 

21 (B), the appropriate State or local election offi22 cial may not provide a ballot for an election for 


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1 Federal office to an individual who desires to 

2 vote in person unless the individual presents to 

3 the official— 

4 ‘‘(i) a government-issued, current, and 

5 valid photo identification; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of the regularly sched7 uled general election for Federal office held 

8 in November 2010 and each subsequent elec9 tion for Federal office, a government-issued, 

10 current, and valid photo identification for 

11 which the individual was required to pro12 vide proof of United States citizenship as a 

13 condition for the issuance of the identifica14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF PROVISIONAL BAL16 LOT.—If an individual does not present the iden17 tification required under subparagraph (A), the 

18 individual shall be permitted to cast a provi19 sional ballot with respect to the election under 

20 section 302(a), except that the appropriate State 

21 or local election official may not make a deter22 mination under section 302(a)(4) that the indi23 vidual is eligible under State law to vote in the 

24 election unless the individual presents the identi25 fication required under subparagraph (A) to the 


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1 official not later than 48 hours after casting the 

2 provisional ballot. 

3 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN PER4 SON.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law and except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), the appropriate State or local 

8 election official may not accept any ballot for an 

9 election for Federal office provided by an indi10 vidual who votes other than in person unless the 

11 individual submits with the ballot— 

12 ‘‘(i) a copy of a government-issued, 

13 current, and valid photo identification; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of the regularly sched15 uled general election for Federal office held 

16 in November 2010 and each subsequent elec17 tion for Federal office, a copy of a govern18 ment-issued, current, and valid photo iden19 tification for which the individual was re20 quired to provide proof of United States 

21 citizenship as a condition for the issuance 

22 of the identification. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR OVERSEAS MILITARY

24 VOTERS.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply 

25 with respect to a ballot provided by an absent 


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1 uniformed services voter who, by reason of active 

2 duty or service, is absent from the United States 

3 on the date of the election involved. In this sub4 paragraph, the term ‘absent uniformed services 

5 voter’ has the meaning given such term in sec6 tion 107(1) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi7 zens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff— 

8 6(1)), other than an individual described in sec9 tion 107(1)(C) of such Act. 

10 ‘‘(3) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR IDENTIFICA11 TIONS.—For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2)— 

12 ‘‘(A) an identification is ‘government13 issued’ if it is issued by the Federal Government 

14 or by the government of a State; and 

15 ‘‘(B) an identification is one for which an 

16 individual was required to provide proof of 

17 United States citizenship as a condition for 

18 issuance if the identification displays an official 

19 marking or other indication that the individual 

20 is a United States citizen.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 303 of such 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 15483) is amended— 

23 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FOR VOTERS

24 WHO REGISTER BY MAIL’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR

25 PROVIDING PHOTO IDENTIFICATION’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsections 

2 (a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and (b)(3)(B)(i)(II)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(i)(II)’’. 

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

5 such Act is amended by amending the item relating to sec6 tion 303 to read as follows: 

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

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section and the amend9 ments made by this section shall apply with respect 

10 to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

11 office held in November 2008 and each subsequent 

12 election for Federal office. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 303(d)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15483(d)(2)) is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTI17 FICATION.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) 

18 shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled 

19 general election for Federal office held in November 

20 2008 and each subsequent election for Federal office.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. MAKING PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS AVAILABLE. 

22 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO MAKE IDENTIFICATION

23 AVAILABLE.—Section 303(b) of the Help America Vote Act 


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1 of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(b)), as amended by section 

2 2(a)(2), is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 

4 paragraphs (5) and (6); and 

5 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol6 lowing new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) MAKING PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS AVAIL8 ABLE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During fiscal year 

10 2008 and each succeeding fiscal year, each State 

11 shall establish a program to provide photo iden12 tifications which may be used to meet the re13 quirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) by indi14 viduals who desire to vote in elections held in the 

15 State but who do not otherwise possess a govern16 ment-issued photo identification. 

17 ‘‘(B) IDENTIFICATIONS PROVIDED AT NO

18 COST TO INDIGENT INDIVIDUALS.—If a State 

19 charges an individual a fee for providing a photo 

20 identification under the program established 

21 under subparagraph (A)— 

22 ‘‘(i) the fee charged may not exceed the 

23 reasonable cost to the State of providing the 

24 identification to the individual; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the State may not charge a fee to 

2 any individual who provides an attestation 

3 that the individual is unable to afford the 

4 fee. 

5 ‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATIONS NOT TO BE USED

6 FOR OTHER PURPOSES.—Any photo identifica7 tion provided under the program established 

8 under subparagraph (A) may not serve as a gov9 ernment-issued photo identification for purposes 

10 of any program or function of a State or local 

11 government other than the administration of 

12 elections.’’. 

13 (b) PAYMENTS TO STATES TO COVER COSTS.—Subtitle 

14 D of title II of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15321 et seq.) is amend15 ed by adding at the end the following new part: 

16 ‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO COVER COSTS OF PRO17 VIDING PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS TO INDI18 GENT INDIVIDUALS 

19 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO COVER COSTS TO STATES OF PRO20 VIDING PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS FOR VOT21 ING TO INDIGENT INDIVIDUALS. 

22 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—The Commission shall 

23 make payments to States to cover the costs incurred in pro24 viding photo identifications under the program established 

25 under section 303(b)(4) to individuals who are unable to 


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1 afford the fee that would otherwise be charged under the 

2 program. 

3 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of the pay4 ment made to a State under this part for any year shall 

5 be equal to the amount of fees which would have been col6 lected by the State during the year under the program es7 tablished under section 303(b)(4) but for the application of 

8 section 303(b)(4)(B)(ii), as determined on the basis of infor9 mation furnished to the Commission by the State at such 

10 time and in such form as the Commission may require. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 297A. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for payments 

13 under this part such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

14 year 2008 and each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

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

16 such Act is amended by adding at the end of the item relat17 ing to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO COVER COSTS OF PROVIDING PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS

TO INDIGENT INDIVIDUALS

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to cover costs to States of providing photo identifications for 

voting to indigent individuals. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend19 ments made by this section shall take effect October 1, 2007. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the 

Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require each individual who desires to vote in an election for Federal office to provide the appropriate election official with a govVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:50 Sep 19, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4844.RH H4844

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ernment-issued photo identification, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 397 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4844 

[Report No. 109

–666] 

A BILL 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 

Federal elections, and for other purposes. a citizen of the United States to prevent fraud in election official with proof that the individual is Federal office to provide the appropriate State register or re-register to vote in an election for 1993 to require any individual who desires to 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:50 Sep 19, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4844.RH H4844

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