I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2547 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to allow 

an individual to cure a mismatched signature on a mail-in or provisional 

ballot, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2019 

Mr. DEUTCH (for himself and Mr. HASTINGS) 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 require 

States to allow an individual to cure a mismatched signature on a mail-in or provisional ballot, 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 ‘‘Protecting American 

5 Votes Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2547 IH

1 (1) to protect the due process rights of Amer2 ican voters; 

3 (2) to preserve free and fair elections; and 

4 (3) to prevent the disenfranchisement of eligible 

5 voters. 

6 SEC. 3. NOTICE AND CURE PROCESS REQUIRED FOR MIS7 MATCHED SIGNATURES ON MAIL-IN AND 

8 PROVISIONAL BALLOTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

10 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

12 sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

14 new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 304. SIGNATURE MISMATCH ON BALLOT SUBMITTED 

16 BY MAIL OR PROVISIONAL BALLOT. 

17 ‘‘(a) COVERED STATE DEFINED.—In this section, 

18 the term ‘covered State’ means a State in which, under 

19 State law, a ballot submitted by mail or a provisional bal20 lot is not counted as a vote in an election for Federal office 

21 unless the State verifies the signature of the individual 

22 who submitted such ballot by comparing the signature on 

23 the envelope containing such ballot or a document accom24 panying such ballot and the signature of such individual 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2547 IH

1 on the official list of registered voters in the State or other 

2 official record, or other document. 

3 ‘‘(b) NOTICE REQUIRED.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual submits a 

5 ballot by mail or a provisional ballot in an election 

6 for Federal office in a covered State, and the appro7 priate State or local election official determines that 

8 a discrepancy exists between the signature on the 

9 envelope containing such ballot or a document ac10 companying such ballot used to verify the signature 

11 and the signature of such individual on the official 

12 list of registered voters in the State or other official 

13 record, or other document used by the State to 

14 verify the signatures of voters, such election official, 

15 prior to making a final determination as to the va16 lidity of such ballot, shall make a good faith effort 

17 to immediately notify such individual that— 

18 ‘‘(A) a discrepancy exists between the sig19 nature on the envelope containing such ballot or 

20 a document accompanying such ballot used to 

21 verify the signature and the signature of such 

22 individual on the official list of registered voters 

23 in the State or other official record, or other 

24 document used by the State to verify the signa25 tures of voters; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2547 IH

1 ‘‘(B) such individual may provide informa2 tion to cure such discrepancy in accordance 

3 with the procedures established pursuant to 

4 subsection (c)(1)(A); and 

5 ‘‘(C) if such discrepancy is not cured, such 

6 ballot will not be counted. 

7 ‘‘(2) FORM OF NOTICE.—An election official 

8 shall provide the notice required by paragraph (1)— 

9 ‘‘(A) by regular mail; and 

10 ‘‘(B) by phone, electronic mail, or text 

11 message. 

12 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON OTHER NOTICE REQUIRE13 MENTS RELATED TO PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.—In the 

14 case of an individual who submits a provisional bal15 lot, the requirements of this subsection shall be in 

16 addition to the requirements applicable to such an 

17 individual under section 302(a). 

18 ‘‘(c) OPPORTUNITY TO CURE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES.—A 

20 covered State shall, in a uniform and nondiscrim21 inatory manner, establish procedures— 

22 ‘‘(A) to allow an individual to whom notice 

23 is provided under subsection (b)— 

24 ‘‘(i) to provide information to cure the 

25 discrepancy described in subsection (b)(1) 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2547 IH

1 by a date that is not less than 10 calendar 

2 days following the date on which the notice 

3 required under subsection (a) is given; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) if such information is rejected, to 

5 appeal the rejection; and 

6 ‘‘(B) prior to the date of final certification 

7 of ballots in the election by such State, to pro8 vide such individual a final determination as to 

9 the validity of the ballot. 

10 ‘‘(2) COUNTING OF VOTE.—If the appropriate 

11 State or local election official to whom information 

12 is provided under the procedures established pursu13 ant to paragraph (1)(A) determines that the indi14 vidual has a valid ballot, such ballot shall be counted 

15 as a vote in that election in accordance with State 

16 law. 

17 ‘‘(d) TRAINING REQUIRED.—A covered State shall 

18 prohibit an election official from participating in the 

19 counting of ballots submitted by mail or provisional ballots 

20 unless such official has completed formal signature match21 ing training (as determined appropriate by the covered 

22 State). 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

25 after the end of a Federal election cycle, each chief 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2547 IH

1 State election official in a covered State shall submit 

2 to Congress a report containing the following infor3 mation for the applicable Federal election cycle in 

4 the State: 

5 ‘‘(A) The number of ballots invalidated due 

6 to a discrepancy under this section. 

7 ‘‘(B) Description of attempts to contact 

8 voters to provide notice as required by this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(C) Description of the cure process devel11 oped by such State pursuant to this section, in12 cluding the number of ballots determined valid 

13 as a result of such process. 

14 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.— 

15 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘Federal 

16 election cycle’ means the period beginning on Janu17 ary 1 of any odd numbered year and ending on De18 cember 31 of the following year.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO VOL20 UNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS21 SION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2547 IH

1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

3 respect to section 304, 1 year after the date of en4 actment of the Protecting American Votes Act.’’. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN6 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

8 304’’. 

9 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

10 of such Act is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec12 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

13 306, respectively; and 

14 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec15 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Signature mismatch on ballot submitted by mail or provisional ballot.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 The amendments by made this Act shall apply with 

18 respect to elections for Federal office held in 2020 or any 

19 succeeding year. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS