I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1637 

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

to designate public high schools as voter registration agencies, to direct 

such schools to conduct voter registration drives for students attending 

such schools, to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to 

reimburse such schools for the costs of conducting such voter registration 

drives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, 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 

require States to designate public high schools as voter 

registration agencies, to direct such schools to conduct 

voter registration drives for students attending such 

schools, to direct the Secretary of Education to make 

grants to reimburse such schools for the costs of conducting such voter registration drives, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High School Voter Em3 powerment Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS AS VOTER 

5 REGISTRATION AGENCIES. 

6 (a) REQUIRING DESIGNATION BY STATES.—Section 

7 7(a)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

8 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara10 graph (A); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub12 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(C) all public high schools (as defined in sec16 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 7801)) in the State.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO OP19 TIONAL DESIGNATION OF OTHER PUBLIC SCHOOLS.— 

20 Section 7(a)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

21 20506(a)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘public 

22 schools,’’ and inserting ‘‘public elementary schools (as de23 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

24 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7801)),’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REQUIRING SCHOOLS TO CONDUCT VOTER REG2 ISTRATION DRIVES FOR STUDENTS. 

3 (a) VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES.—Section 7 of the 

4 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

5 20506) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 subsection: 

7 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES.—A voter 

9 registration agency that is a public high school shall, 

10 at least once during each academic year, conduct a 

11 voter registration drive, and set as a goal for that 

12 year the registration of all students in the school 

13 who are— 

14 ‘‘(A) enrolled in a class in American Gov15 ernment or Economics; 

16 ‘‘(B) at least 17 years old as of April 10 

17 of that year; and 

18 ‘‘(C) are eligible to register to vote in elec19 tions for Federal office held in the State. 

20 ‘‘(2) USE OF VOTING MACHINES FOR STUDENT

21 ELECTIONS.—At the request of a public high school 

22 which is operating a high school voter registration 

23 program under paragraph (1), the appropriate elec24 tion official of the State may enter into an agree25 ment under which the official provides the school 

26 with voting machines and related equipment and 


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1 supplies for use in a student council or similar elec2 tion held at the school, under such terms and condi3 tions as the school and official may determine.’’. 

4 (b) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS TO COVER COSTS OF

5 VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec7 retary of Education (hereafter referred to as the 

8 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish and operate a program 

9 under which the Secretary shall make a payment 

10 during a year to an eligible public high school to re11 imburse the school for the reasonable costs incurred 

12 by the school in carrying out a voter registration 

13 drive under section 7(e) of the National Voter Reg14 istration Act of 1993 (as added by subsection (a)) 

15 during that year. 

16 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A public high school is eligi17 ble to receive a payment under the program under 

18 this subsection with respect to a voter registration 

19 drive if the school submits to the Secretary, at such 

20 time and in such form as the Secretary may require, 

21 an application containing— 

22 (A) a statement of the reasonable costs in23 curred by the school in carrying out the voter 

24 registration drive, including the information 


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1 used by the school to determine the amount of 

2 such costs; 

3 (B) a description of the activities con4 ducted under the drive, including the number of 

5 students registered; and 

6 (C) such other information and assurances 

7 as the Secretary may require. 

8 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated for pay10 ments under this subsection such sums as may be 

11 necessary for fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 

12 fiscal year. 

13 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

15 take effect upon the expiration of the 90-day period which 

16 begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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