II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3657 

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 

DECEMBER 5, 2012 

Mrs. BOXER 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 2012’’ or the ‘‘LINE Act of 

6 2012’’. 

7 SEC. 2. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL 

8 WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

9 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 


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•S 3657 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer2 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 subtitle: 

5 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 

6 Requirements 

7 ‘‘SEC. 321. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND 

8 POLL WORKERS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for the 

10 minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, 

11 and other election resources (including all other physical 

12 resources) for each voting site on the day of any Federal 

13 election and on any days during which such State allows 

14 early voting for a Federal election in accordance with the 

15 standards determined under section 299. 

16 ‘‘(b) VOTING SITE.—For purposes of this section and 

17 section 299, the term ‘voting site’ means a polling loca18 tion, except that in the case of any polling location which 

19 serves more than 1 precinct, such term shall mean a pre20 cinct. 

21 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re22 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

23 and after September 15, 2014.’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

25 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 15511) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in2 serting ‘‘303, and subtitle C’’. 

3 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

5 of the items relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Minimum required voting systems and poll workers.’’. 

6 (b) STANDARDS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Help America 

8 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15321 et seq.) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new 

10 subtitle: 

11 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

12 Standards 

13 ‘‘SEC. 299. STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING THE MINIMUM 

14 REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND POLL 

15 WORKERS. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2014, 

17 the Attorney General, to the maximum extent practicable 

18 in coordination with the Commission, shall issue standards 

19 regarding the minimum number of voting systems, poll 

20 workers, and other election resources (including all other 

21 physical resources) required under section 321 on the day 

22 of any Federal election and on any days during which 

23 early voting is allowed for a Federal election. 

24 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The standards described in 

2 subsection (a) shall provide for a uniform and non3 discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, 

4 and other resources, and shall take into account, 

5 among other factors, the following with respect to 

6 any voting site (as defined in section 321(b)): 

7 ‘‘(A) The voting age population. 

8 ‘‘(B) Voter turnout in past elections. 

9 ‘‘(C) The number of voters registered. 

10 ‘‘(D) The number of voters who have reg11 istered since the most recent Federal election. 

12 ‘‘(E) Census data for the population served 

13 by such voting site. 

14 ‘‘(F) The educational levels and socio-eco15 nomic factors of the population served by such 

16 voting site. 

17 ‘‘(G) The needs and numbers of disabled 

18 voters and voters with limited English pro19 ficiency. 

20 ‘‘(H) The type of voting systems used. 

21 ‘‘(2) NO FACTOR DISPOSITIVE.—The standards 

22 shall provide that any distribution of such systems 

23 shall take into account the totality of all relevant 

24 factors, and no single factor shall be dispositive 

25 under the standards. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, the 

2 standards shall provide for a distribution of voting 

3 systems, poll workers, and other election resources 

4 with the goals of— 

5 ‘‘(A) ensuring an equal waiting time for all 

6 voters in the State; and 

7 ‘‘(B) preventing a waiting time of over 1 

8 hour at any polling place. 

9 ‘‘(c) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub10 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

11 public notice, to deviate from any allocation requirements 

12 in the case of unforseen circumstances such as a natural 

13 disaster or terrorist attack.’’. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 

15 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15322) is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 

17 (6) as paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and 

18 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

19 following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in sub21 title E;’’. 

22 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

24 of the items relating to title II the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 


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‘‘Sec. 299. Standards for establishing the minimum required voting systems 

and poll workers.’’. 

1 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR JURISDICTIONS WITH SUB2 STANTIAL VOTER WAIT TIMES. 

3 (a) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE

4 WAIT TIMES.— 

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

6 of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15301 et seq.) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new title: 

8 ‘‘TITLE X—REMEDIAL PLANS 

9 FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE 

10 WAIT TIMES 

11 ‘‘SEC. 1001. REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES12 SIVE WAIT TIMES. 

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

14 Attorney General, to the maximum extent practicable in 

15 coordination with the Commission, determines that a sub16 stantial number of voters waited more than 90 minutes 

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

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

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

20 plan established under this section in accordance with sub21 section (b). 

22 ‘‘(b) STATE REMEDIAL PLANS.—The Attorney Gen23 eral, to the maximum extent practicable in coordination 

24 with the Commission, shall establish for each State or juVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:55 Dec 07, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3657.IS S3657

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1 risdiction which is required to comply with this section a 

2 State remedial plan to minimize the waiting times of vot3 ers in the State or jurisdiction. 

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

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

6 term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 8(j) of the Na7 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg– 

8 6(j)). 

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

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

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

12 maximum extent practicable in coordination with the Com13 mission, shall publish in the Federal Register a list of 

14 States and jurisdictions that are required to comply with 

15 a State remedial plan under this section. 

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

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

18 which the Attorney General publishes in the Federal Reg19 ister a list described in subsection (d), the governor of 

20 each State included on the list shall submit to the Attor21 ney General a letter certifying that the State has made 

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

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

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

25 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 15511), as amended by section 2(a)(2), is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘and subtitle C’’ and inserting ‘‘subtitle 

3 C, and title X’’. 

4 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

‘‘TITLE X—REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE 

VOTER WAIT TIMES 

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

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

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

9 this Act. 

Æ 


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