II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 992 

To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions 

of higher education that participate in programs under such title to 

distribute voter registration forms to students enrolled at the institution, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2021 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

to require institutions of higher education that participate in programs under such title to distribute voter 

registration forms to students enrolled at the institution, 

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 ‘‘Help Students Vote 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that political participation 

3 and civic engagement are fundamental to the health of 

4 American democracy, and that all citizens should be en5 couraged to vote, regardless of party affiliation. 

6 SEC. 3. DISTRIBUTING VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMA7 TION. 

8 Section 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)) is amended to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(23)(A) The institution will make every rea12 sonable effort to— 

13 ‘‘(i) distribute voter registration applica14 tions for elections for Federal office prescribed 

15 pursuant to section 9 of the National Voter 

16 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20508), 

17 which may include sharing a direct, guided link 

18 to such application, to each student enrolled at 

19 the institution; 

20 ‘‘(ii) provide clear guidance that each stu21 dent enrolled at the institution should— 

22 ‘‘(I) register in the State in which the 

23 student is eligible to vote in the next elec24 tion if registration is required, which may 

25 include the ability of out of State students 

26 to vote in the State in which they are enVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S992.IS S992

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1 rolled and physically in attendance, in ac2 cordance with applicable State law; and 

3 ‘‘(II) update the student’s existing 

4 voter registration if the student’s address 

5 has changed recently or since the last elec6 tion in which the student was eligible to 

7 vote; 

8 ‘‘(iii) periodically share credible, non9 partisan resources to help students determine 

10 where and how they are eligible to vote, which 

11 may include resources from State and local 

12 election officials on voter registration and vot13 ing requirements, including voter registration 

14 deadlines, residency requirements, voter identi15 fication requirements, and absentee voting op16 tions, as applicable; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) in distributing voting materials (as 

18 defined in section 203(b)(3) of the Voting 

19 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503(b)(3)) 

20 that are produced by a covered State or polit21 ical subdivision (as defined in such section), en22 sure to the greatest extent practicable that— 

23 ‘‘(I) such voting materials are pro24 vided in accordance with section 203 of 

25 such Act (52 U.S.C. 10503); and 


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1 ‘‘(II) all materials and information 

2 made available electronically under this 

3 paragraph— 

4 ‘‘(aa) are accessible to individuals 

5 with disabilities; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) conform to the accessibility 

7 standards under section 508 of the 

8 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

9 794d). 

10 ‘‘(B) The institution shall be considered in com11 pliance with the requirements of subparagraph 

12 (A)— 

13 ‘‘(i) if, with respect to each student en14 rolled who is not exclusively enrolled in distance 

15 education at the institution, the institution— 

16 ‘‘(I)(aa) distributes voter registration 

17 applications to such students not less than 

18 twice in a calendar year, and distributes 

19 such voter registration applications not less 

20 than 30 days in advance of the deadline 

21 for registering to vote within the State for 

22 the next scheduled Federal or State pri23 mary election and not less than 30 days in 

24 advance of the deadline for registering to 

25 vote within the State for the next schedVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S992.IS S992

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1 uled Federal or State general or special 

2 election; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) electronically transmits a mes4 sage to such students containing a voter 

5 registration application (or the message 

6 contains an Internet address where such a 

7 voter registration application can be 

8 accessed or downloaded) acceptable for use 

9 in the State in which the institution is lo10 cated to each such student, and such elec11 tronic message is devoted exclusively to 

12 voter registration, not less than twice in a 

13 calendar year, and transmits such a mes14 sage not less than 30 days in advance of 

15 the deadline for registering to vote within 

16 the State for the next scheduled Federal or 

17 State primary election and not less than 

18 30 days in advance of the deadline for reg19 istering to vote within the State for the 

20 next scheduled Federal or State general or 

21 special election; 

22 ‘‘(II) during a period that the institution 

23 requires or encourages students to remain off24 campus due to a national, State, or local public 

25 health or other emergency, additionally— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) requests that the State in which 

2 the institution is located provide the insti3 tution with absentee ballot applications, as 

4 applicable, or share the official State 

5 website or online portal through which eli6 gible voters can directly request an absen7 tee ballot; 

8 ‘‘(bb) distributes to each such student 

9 an absentee ballot application, requested 

10 from the State under item (aa) and re11 ceived in accordance with section 303(d) of 

12 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

13 U.S.C. 21083(d)) or the official State 

14 website or online portal through which eli15 gible voters can directly request an absen16 tee ballot, with instructions that the form, 

17 website, or online portal should be used 

18 only by students eligible to vote in the 

19 State; 

20 ‘‘(cc) notifies students of applicable 

21 deadlines for requesting and submitting an 

22 absentee ballot, as well as additional op23 tions for early and in-person voting, and 

24 voting on Election Day, as applicable; and 


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1 ‘‘(dd) shares credible, nonpartisan re2 sources to help students who are registered 

3 in another State to apply for absentee bal4 lots in such State, which may include re5 sources from State and local election offi6 cials; and 

7 ‘‘(III) ensures that an appropriate staff 

8 person or office has been designated as a ‘Cam9 pus Vote Coordinator’ to ensure compliance in 

10 accordance with this clause at the institution 

11 and who shall— 

12 ‘‘(aa) be publicly designated as the 

13 ‘Campus Vote Coordinator’, along with the 

14 Coordinator’s contact information, on the 

15 institution’s website; and 

16 ‘‘(bb) upon request, provide to stu17 dents residency requirements for voting, 

18 including the ability of out of State stu19 dents to vote in the State in which they 

20 are enrolled and physically in attendance, 

21 in accordance with applicable State law; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) if, with respect to each student enrolled 

24 exclusively in distance education or correspondence 

25 programs, the institution— 


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1 ‘‘(I) transmits a message devoted exclu2 sively to voter registration referring such stu3 dents to a centralized voter registration website 

4 or platform that provides applicable voter reg5 istration application and voting information for 

6 all States, provided that such platform is hosted 

7 by a government affiliated website; 

8 ‘‘(II) transmits such message not less than 

9 twice in a calendar year; and 

10 ‘‘(III) maintains information on the insti11 tution’s website containing credible, nonpartisan 

12 resources to help students determine where and 

13 how they are eligible to vote, or a link to such 

14 resources. 

15 ‘‘(C) The institution may also include voter registra16 tion applications within materials or information distrib17 uted to newly enrolled, or returning, students at the begin18 ning of a term, consistent with the requirements of sub19 paragraph (B). 

20 ‘‘(D) In this paragraph— 

21 ‘‘(i) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any ballot 

22 cast by any means other than in person and for 

23 which the State requires an application; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘distance education’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 103, except such 


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1 term shall not include distance education that is pro2 vided due to a decision of an institution to require 

3 or encourage students of the institution to remain 

4 off-campus due to a national, State, or local public 

5 health or other emergency; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘Federal office’ has the meaning 

7 given the term in section 301(3) of the Federal Elec8 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(3)); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘voter registration application’ 

11 has the meaning of the term ‘mail voter registration 

12 form’ as described in section 9(b) of the National 

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

14 20508(b)).’’. 

15 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

16 The Secretary of Education shall award grants to in17 stitutions of higher education that greatly exceed the min18 imum requirements under section 487(a)(23) of the High19 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)), in20 cluding as demonstrated by— 

21 (1) sponsoring large on-campus voter mobiliza22 tion efforts; 

23 (2) engaging the surrounding community in 

24 nonpartisan voter registration and get out the vote 

25 efforts; 


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1 (3) creating a website with centralized informa2 tion about voter registration and election dates; 

3 (4) inviting candidates to speak on campus; and 

4 (5) offering rides to the polls to increase voter 

5 education, registration, and mobilization. 

6 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

7 (a) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

9 shall submit a written warning to an institution of 

10 higher education that violates a requirement of sec11 tion 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)) that includes a direc13 tion to correct the violation not later than 60 days 

14 after the date the warning was received. 

15 (2) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—If an institution of 

16 higher education does not correct a violation in ac17 cordance with a direction from the Secretary of Edu18 cation as described in paragraph (1), the Attorney 

19 General of the United States may authorize the ap20 propriate State law enforcement officer or the chief 

21 elections official of a State to commence a civil ac22 tion in accordance with subsection (b). 

23 (b) CIVIL ACTIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State law enforcement of25 ficer or chief elections official of a State may comVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S992.IS S992

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1 mence a civil action in accordance with subsection 

2 (a) in the appropriate district court of the United 

3 States against the institution that engages in a pat4 tern or practice of violating section 487(a)(23) of 

5 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1094(a)(23)). 

7 (2) RELIEF.—In a civil action commenced 

8 under paragraph (1), the court may— 

9 (A) grant any appropriate equitable or de10 claratory relief with respect to the violation of 

11 section 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act 

12 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)); 

13 (B) award all other appropriate relief to 

14 any person or group aggrieved by the violation; 

15 (C) to vindicate the public interest, assess 

16 a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding the 

17 amount listed in section 487(c)(3)(B) of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1094(c)(3)(B)) for any violation; and 

20 (D) take into account the number of days 

21 in which the infraction occurred. 

22 (3) INTERVENTION.—Upon timely application, 

23 a person aggrieved by a violation of section 

24 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)) with respect to which a civil acVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S992.IS S992

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1 tion is commenced under this subsection may inter2 vene in such action, and may obtain such appro3 priate relief as the person could obtain in a civil ac4 tion under subsection (c) with respect to such viola5 tion, along with costs and reasonable attorneys fees. 

6 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person or group ag8 grieved by a violation of section 487(a)(23) of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 1094(a)(23)) may commence a civil action in any 

11 appropriate district court of the United States 

12 against the institution that engages in such viola13 tion. 

14 (2) RELIEF.—In a civil action commenced 

15 under paragraph (1), the court may— 

16 (A) grant any appropriate equitable or de17 claratory relief with respect to the violation of 

18 section 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act 

19 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)); 

20 (B) award any other appropriate relief to 

21 the person or group aggrieved by the violation, 

22 including the costs of the action, such as rea23 sonable attorneys fees; 

24 (C) to vindicate the public interest, assess 

25 a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding the 


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1 amount listed in section 487(c)(3)(B) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 1094(c)(3)(B)) for any violation; and 

4 (D) take into account the number of days 

5 in which the infraction occurred. 

6 (3) REPORTING.—Not later than 60 days be7 fore the date a person or group aggrieved by a viola8 tion of section 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(23)) commences a 

10 civil action under paragraph (1), the person or 

11 group shall report the violation to the Department 

12 of Education, a Federal or State law enforcement 

13 agency, and the institution purported to have com14 mitted the violation via an affidavit detailing the al15 leged violation. 

16 (4) PRESERVATION OF REMEDIES.—Nothing in 

17 this section shall be construed to preclude or limit 

18 any remedy otherwise available under other law, in19 cluding consequential and punitive damages. 

20 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO HELP AMERICA 

21 VOTE ACT. 

22 Section 303 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

23 (52 U.S.C. 21083) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; PRO2 VISION OF FORMS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH3 ER EDUCATION’’ after ‘‘BY MAIL’’; 

4 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub5 section (e); 

6 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA9 TION FORMS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU10 CATION.—Each State shall provide the voter registration 

11 and absentee ballot application forms or access to elec12 tronic versions of such forms to each institution of higher 

13 education for the purposes described in section 487(a)(23) 

14 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

15 1094(a)(23)).’’; and 

16 (4) in subsection (e), as redesignated by para17 graph (2), by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE VOTER REG20 ISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION

21 FORMS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

22 Each State and jurisdiction shall be required to 

23 comply with the requirements of subsection (d) no 

24 later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 

25 the Help Students Vote Act.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. GRANTS FOR FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAMS. 

2 Section 443(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087–53(b)(2)) is amended to read as 

4 follows: 

5 ‘‘(2) provide that funds granted an institution 

6 of higher education, pursuant to this section, may be 

7 used only to make payments to students partici8 pating in work-study programs, except that— 

9 ‘‘(A) for fiscal year 2022 and succeeding 

10 fiscal years, an institution shall use at least 25 

11 percent of the total amount of funds granted to 

12 such institution under this section for such fis13 cal year to compensate students employed in 

14 community service and civic engagement activi15 ties, such as voter registration, non-partisan 

16 voter engagement, and voter participation work, 

17 and shall ensure that not less than 1 tutoring 

18 or family literacy project (as described in sub19 section (d)) is included in meeting the require20 ment of this subparagraph, except that the Sec21 retary may waive this subparagraph if the Sec22 retary determines that enforcing this subpara23 graph would cause hardship for students at the 

24 institution; and 

25 ‘‘(B) an institution may use a portion of 

26 the sums granted to it to meet administrative 


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1 expenses in accordance with section 489 of this 

2 Act, may use a portion of the sums granted to 

3 it to meet the cost of a job location and devel4 opment program in accordance with section 446 

5 of this part, and may transfer funds in accord6 ance with the provisions of section 488 of this 

7 Act;’’. 

Æ 


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