II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1397 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide for a national 

Federal write-in absentee ballot for domestic use. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KING, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

UDALL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. BENNET) 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 provide 

for a national Federal write-in absentee ballot for domestic use. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR 

4 DOMESTIC USE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer7 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 

2 Requirements 

3 ‘‘SEC. 321. USE OF NATIONAL FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSEN4 TEE BALLOT FOR DOMESTIC USE. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall permit qualified 

6 individuals to use the national Federal write-in absentee 

7 ballot prescribed by the Election Assistance Commission 

8 under section 298 to cast a vote in any election for Federal 

9 office. 

10 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

11 section: 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), the term ‘qualified individual’ means any 

14 individual who is otherwise qualified to vote in a 

15 Federal election in a State and who— 

16 ‘‘(A) resides in an area of a State with re17 spect to which an emergency has been declared 

18 by the Governor of the State (with respect to 

19 any portion of the State) due to a natural dis20 aster, including severe weather; 

21 ‘‘(B) expects to be absent from such indi22 vidual’s jurisdiction on the day of the election 

23 for Federal office due to professional or volun24 teer service in response to a natural disaster or 

25 emergency as so declared; 


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1 ‘‘(C) expects to be hospitalized on the day 

2 of the election for Federal office; or 

3 ‘‘(D)(i) has requested an absentee ballot 

4 from the State or jurisdiction where such indi5 vidual is registered to vote; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) has not received such absentee ballot 

7 before a date on which such individual can re8 turn such ballot in time to be counted in the 

9 election. 

10 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL WRITE-IN

11 BALLOT FOR ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES AND

12 OVERSEAS VOTERS.—The term ‘qualified individual’ 

13 shall not include an individual who— 

14 ‘‘(A) is an absent uniformed services voter 

15 (as defined in section 107(1) of the Uniformed 

16 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 

17 U.S.C. 20310(1))) or an overseas voter (as de18 fined in section 107(5) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

19 20310(5))); and 

20 ‘‘(B) who is entitled to vote using the Fed21 eral write-in absentee ballot developed under 

22 section 103 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20303). 

23 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION AND PROCESSING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro25 vided in this section, a national Federal write-in abVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1397.IS S1397

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1 sentee ballot to which this section applies shall be 

2 submitted and processed in the manner provided by 

3 law for absentee ballots in the State involved. 

4 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—An otherwise eligible national 

5 Federal write-in absentee ballot to which this section 

6 applies shall be counted if postmarked or signed be7 fore the close of the polls on election day and re8 ceived by the appropriate State election official on or 

9 before the day on which final vote totals are required 

10 by law to be submitted to the State for an official 

11 canvass of the election. 

12 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—The following rules shall 

13 apply with respect to national Federal write-in absentee 

14 ballots to which this section applies: 

15 ‘‘(1) In completing the ballot, the voter may 

16 designate a candidate by writing in the name of the 

17 candidate or by writing in the name of a political 

18 party (in which case the ballot shall be counted for 

19 the candidate of that political party). 

20 ‘‘(2) In the case of the offices of President and 

21 Vice President, a vote for a named candidate or a 

22 vote by writing in the name of a political party shall 

23 be counted as a vote for the electors supporting the 

24 candidate involved. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Any abbreviation, misspelling, or other 

2 minor variation in the form of the name of a can3 didate or a political party shall be disregarded in de4 termining the validity of the ballot. 

5 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BALLOT

6 FOR FAILURE TO MEET CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—A 

7 State shall not refuse to accept and process any otherwise 

8 valid Federal write-in absentee ballot submitted in any 

9 manner by a qualified individual solely on the basis of the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(1) Notarization requirements. 

12 ‘‘(2) Restrictions on paper type, including 

13 weight and size. 

14 ‘‘(3) Restrictions on envelope type, including 

15 weight and size. 

16 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re17 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

18 and after January 1, 2020.’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (A) Section 401 of the Help America Vote 

21 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 

23 subtitle C’’. 


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1 (B) The table of contents for such Act is 

2 amended by inserting after the item relating to 

3 section 312 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Use of national Federal write-in absentee ballot for domestic use.’’. 

4 (b) FORM OF NATIONAL FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSEN5 TEE BALLOT.— 

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

7 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921) is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following new subtitle: 

9 ‘‘Subtitle E—National Federal 

10 Write-In Absentee Ballot for Do11 mestic Use 

12 ‘‘SEC. 297. NATIONAL FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BAL13 LOT FOR DOMESTIC USE. 

14 ‘‘(a) FORM OF BALLOT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pre16 scribe a national Federal write-in absentee ballot 

17 (including a secrecy envelope and mailing envelope 

18 for such ballot) for use in elections for Federal office 

19 by qualified individuals (as defined in section 

20 321(b)). 

21 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—The ballot 

22 prescribed under paragraph (1) shall contain an af23 firmation, signed by the person submitting the bal24 lot, that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) such individual is a qualified indi2 vidual (as defined in section 321(b)); 

3 ‘‘(B) such individual has not and will not 

4 cast another ballot with respect to the election 

5 for which the national Federal write-in absentee 

6 ballot is cast; and 

7 ‘‘(C) acknowledging that a material 

8 misstatement of fact in completing the ballot 

9 may constitute grounds for conviction of per10 jury. 

11 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY.—The Commission shall make 

12 the Federal write-in absentee ballot available on the Inter13 net in a printable format.’’. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

15 (A) Section 202 of the Help America Vote 

16 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended by 

17 redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as para18 graphs (6) and (7), respectively, and by insert19 ing after paragraph (4) the following new para20 graph: 

21 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in sub22 title E;’’. 

23 (B) The table of contents for such Act is 

24 amended by inserting after the item related to 

25 section 296 the following: 


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‘‘Subtitle E—National Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot for Domestic Use 

‘‘Sec. 297. National Federal write-in absentee ballot for domestic use.’’. 

Æ 


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