I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1835

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 

to vote by mail in Federal elections. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2005

Mrs. DAVIS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow 

all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections.

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 ‘‘Universal Right to 

5 Vote by Mail Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the 

9 United States because voters in some States have 
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1 the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 

2 other States do not. 

3 (2) Many voters often have work, family, or 

4 other commitments that make getting to polls on the 

5 date of an election difficult or impossible. 

6 (3) Allowing voters to vote by mail can lead to 

7 increased voter participation. 

8 (4) Voting by mail is more convenient for many 

9 voters. 

10 (5) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 

11 consider their choices. 

12 (6) Studies show that an overwhelming majority 

13 of voters prefer voting by mail as an alternative to 

14 going to the polls. 

15 (7) No evidence exists suggesting the potential 

16 for fraud in absentee balloting is greater than the 

17 potential for fraud by any other method of voting. 

18 (8) 25 States currently allow universal absentee 

19 voting, which permits any voter to request a mail20 in ballot without providing a reason for the request. 

21 SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 

22 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 

24 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is 
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1 amended by inserting after section 303 the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

4 MAIL. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli6 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 

7 State may not impose any additional conditions or require8 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 

9 in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 

10 State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and re11 lated voting materials from the appropriate State or local 

12 election official and for returning the ballot to the appro13 priate State or local election official. 

14 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 

15 to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) with re16 spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 

17 with 2006.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN19 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) 

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

21 303A’’. 

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

23 for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat24 ing to section 303 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’.

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