I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5294 

To remove barriers to the ability of unhoused individuals to register to 

vote and vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 25, 2023 

Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. PORTER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. 

CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. 

MULLIN, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BALINT, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. MCCLELLAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

EVANS, Mr. NICKEL, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. 

TLAIB, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. 

CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. SALINAS, Mr. 

RASKIN, and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to 

the Committees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, 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 remove barriers to the ability of unhoused individuals 

to register to vote and vote in elections for Federal 

office, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Unhoused Voter Opportunity Through Elections Act’’ or 

4 the ‘‘Unhoused VOTE Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—VOTING RIGHTS OF UNHOUSED CITIZENS 

Sec. 101. Voting rights of unhoused citizens. 

Sec. 102. Enforcement. 

Sec. 103. Relationship to Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

Sec. 104. Definitions. 

TITLE II—PROTECTIONS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR PROTECTING 

ACCESS TO VOTING AND VOTER REGISTRATION FOR 

UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

Sec. 201. Description of protections. 

Sec. 202. Special requirements for voter registration. 

Sec. 203. Inclusion of information on voter registration and voting in surveys 

conducted by recipients of HUD homeless assistance. 

TITLE III—GRANTS TO SUPPORT ACCESS TO VOTING FOR 

UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

Sec. 301. Grant program described. 

Sec. 302. Eligibility. 

Sec. 303. Definition. 

Sec. 304. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. State defined. 

Sec. 402. Effective date. 

7 TITLE I—VOTING RIGHTS OF 

8 UNHOUSED CITIZENS 

9 SEC. 101. VOTING RIGHTS OF UNHOUSED CITIZENS. 

10 No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or 

11 standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or ap12 plied by any State or political subdivision to deny or 


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1 abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to 

2 vote because that citizen resides at or in a nontraditional 

3 abode. 

4 SEC. 102. ENFORCEMENT. 

5 (a) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney 

6 General may commence in the name of the United States 

7 a civil action (including an action against a State or polit8 ical subdivision) for declaratory or injunctive relief against 

9 a violation of this title. 

10 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person who is 

11 aggrieved by an alleged violation of this title may bring 

12 a civil action in an appropriate district court for declara13 tory or injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 

14 SEC. 103. RELATIONSHIP TO VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. 

15 Nothing in this title may be construed to impair any 

16 right guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

17 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.). 

18 SEC. 104. DEFINITIONS. 

19 As used in this title, the term ‘‘nontraditional abode’’ 

20 includes— 

21 (1) a supervised publicly or privately operated 

22 shelter designed to provide temporary living accom23 modations (including welfare hotels, congregate shel24 ters, transitional housing, substance abuse treatment 

25 facilities); 


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1 (2) a public or private place not designated for, 

2 or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommoda3 tion for human beings; 

4 (3) any location in which, because an individual 

5 resides in the location, the individual is considered 

6 to be a homeless individual for purposes of section 

7 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 11302); and 

9 (4) in the case of a State in which an individual 

10 incarcerated in a prison is eligible to register to vote 

11 and vote in elections for public office, a prison. 

12 TITLE II—PROTECTIONS AND 

13 BEST PRACTICES FOR PRO14 TECTING ACCESS TO VOTING 

15 AND VOTER REGISTRATION 

16 FOR UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

17 SEC. 201. DESCRIPTION OF PROTECTIONS. 

18 (a) DESCRIPTION.—Title III of the Help America 

19 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Access to Voting for 

2 Unhoused Individuals 

3 ‘‘SEC. 321. PROMOTING USE OF DROP BOXES BY UNHOUSED 

4 INDIVIDUALS. 

5 ‘‘(a) DROP BOX ACCESSIBILITY.—If a jurisdiction re6 sponsible for the administration of an election for Federal 

7 office in a State permits individuals to drop off voted bal8 lots in the election in drop boxes, the jurisdiction shall en9 sure that the drop boxes are available for in-person use 

10 and are accessible and clearly labeled. 

11 ‘‘(b) APPLYING CRITERIA BASED ON GREATEST AC12 CESS BY UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS.—In establishing the 

13 location, number, and time of operation of the drop boxes 

14 described in subsection (a), the appropriate election offi15 cial of a jurisdiction which is subject to such subsection 

16 shall take into account the need to provide access to such 

17 drop boxes by unhoused individuals, based on consultation 

18 with persons who provide services for unhoused individuals 

19 and other relevant stakeholders. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 322. ACCEPTANCE OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTATION OF 

21 RESIDENCE AND IDENTIFICATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) RESIDENCE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ATTESTATION.—If a State imposes a re24 quirement that an individual who desires to vote in 

25 an election for Federal office in the State provide 


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1 the appropriate election official with documentation 

2 of the individual’s residence, the State shall consider 

3 the individual to meet that requirement if the indi4 vidual provides the official with a written attestation 

5 of the individual’s residence, signed under penalty of 

6 perjury. 

7 ‘‘(2) USE OF SHELTER AS RESIDENCE FOR

8 VOTING PURPOSES.—A State may not prohibit an 

9 individual who is residing in a homeless shelter from 

10 using the shelter as the individual’s residence for 

11 purposes of voting in an election for Federal office 

12 which is held in the jurisdiction in which the shelter 

13 is located. 

14 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION ISSUED BY ENTITIES OF

15 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—If a State imposes a re16 quirement that an individual who desires to vote in an 

17 election for Federal office in the State provide the appro18 priate election official with documentation of the individ19 ual’s identification, the State shall consider the individual 

20 to meet the requirement if the individual provides the offi21 cial with a document containing the individual’s name 

22 which is issued by an entity of the criminal justice system, 

23 including a correctional facility, court, probation officer, 

24 or parole officer. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 323. OUTREACH TO UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS. 

2 ‘‘(a) INFORMATION ON WEBSITES OF ELECTION OF3 FICIALS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The chief 

5 State election official shall ensure that the official 

6 public website of each election official of the State 

7 includes an accessible, clear, and separate hyperlink 

8 to simple information on how unhoused individuals 

9 may register to vote and vote in elections for Fed10 eral office held in the State. 

11 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY IN LANGUAGE OTHER THAN

12 ENGLISH.—If a State or political subdivision is re13 quired under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act 

14 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503) to provide voting mate15 rials in a language other than English, the appro16 priate election official shall ensure that the informa17 tion provided under paragraph (1) is provided in 

18 that language as well as English. 

19 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES.—Not 

21 later than 60 days prior to the deadline for reg22 istering to vote in an election for Federal office held 

23 in a State, the chief State election official shall send 

24 a notification of the deadline to each homeless shel25 ter in a jurisdiction of the State in which the elec26 tion will be held, local social services agencies which 


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1 commonly serve unhoused individuals, and other en2 tities which provide services to a significant popu3 lation of unhoused individuals in the jurisdiction. 

4 ‘‘(2) DATES OF ELECTIONS.—Not later than 30 

5 days prior to the date of an election for Federal of6 fice, the chief State election official shall send a no7 tification of the election to each homeless shelter in 

8 a jurisdiction of the State in which the election will 

9 be held, along with the other agencies and entities 

10 to whom the chief State election official sent notice 

11 of the registration deadline under paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘SEC. 324. DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION.—In con14 sultation with the United States Interagency Council on 

15 Homelessness, the Commission shall develop and regularly 

16 update recommendations for the best practices for State 

17 and local election officials to follow to protect and promote 

18 the access of unhoused individuals to voter registration 

19 and voting in elections for Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC ELEMENTS.—The Commission shall 

21 include in the best practices developed and updated under 

22 this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) methods to ensure that unhoused individ24 uals are aware of the procedures and locations for 

25 registering to vote and voting; 


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1 ‘‘(2) methods to help election officials comply 

2 with requirements for providing access to voter reg3 istration and voting for people with disabilities, in4 cluding requirements established and enforced by the 

5 Department of Justice; 

6 ‘‘(3) methods to train election officials, includ7 ing poll workers, in recognizing and responding to 

8 the challenges faced by unhoused individuals in reg9 istering to vote and voting; 

10 ‘‘(4) methods to ensure that individuals who are 

11 not eligible to register to vote, including individuals 

12 who are not citizens of the United States, and indi13 viduals who are eligible but who do not wish to reg14 ister to vote are not denied access to services pro15 vided by homeless shelters and local social services 

16 agencies which commonly serve unhoused individ17 uals; and 

18 ‘‘(5) such other practices as the Commission 

19 considers appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing and updating 

21 the best practices under this section, the Commission shall 

22 consult with individuals who have experience in being 

23 unhoused and with homeless shelters and local social serv24 ices agencies which commonly serve unhoused individuals, 

25 including shelters and agencies with experience in serving 


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1 unhoused individuals who are not citizens of the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall develop the 

4 first set of best practices under this section not later than 

5 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Unhoused 

6 VOTE Act. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 325. DEFINITIONS. 

8 ‘‘In this subtitle— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘homeless shelter’ means an 

10 emergency shelter under section 321 of the McKin11 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 11351); and 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘unhoused individual’ means a 

14 homeless individual, as defined in section 103 of 

15 such Act (42 U.S.C. 11302).’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN17 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

18 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

19 ‘‘, and subtitle C of title III.’’. 

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

21 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

22 relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Access to Voting for Unhoused Individuals 

‘‘Sec. 321. Promoting use of drop boxes by unhoused individuals. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Acceptance of certain documentation of residence and identification. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Outreach to unhoused individuals. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Development of best practices. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Definitions.’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTER REGISTRA2 TION. 

3 (a) TREATMENT OF SHELTERS AS VOTER REGISTRA4 TION AGENCIES.—Section 7(a)(2) of the National Voter 

5 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (A); 

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub10 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) all emergency shelters in the State under 

14 section 321 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist15 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11351).’’. 

16 (b) PERMITTING APPLICANTS TO MARK LOCATION

17 OF RESIDENCE ON FEDERAL VOTER REGISTRATION AP18 PLICATION FORMS AND ALTERNATIVE FORMS USED BY

19 STATES.—Section 9(b) of the National Voter Registration 

20 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20508(b)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (3); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

26 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(5) include a drawing of an intersection on 

2 which the applicant may mark by hand the location 

3 of the applicant’s residence, including by writing in 

4 the names of the crossroads on the drawing and in5 dicating any nearby landmarks.’’. 

6 (c) PERMITTING UNHOUSED APPLICANTS TO USE

7 UNSHELTERED STREET LOCATION AS ADDRESS.—Sec8 tion 8(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

10 (5); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(7) permit an applicant who is an unhoused 

16 individual (defined for purposes of this paragraph as 

17 a homeless individual under section 103 of the 

18 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 11302)) to use an unsheltered street location 

20 as the individual’s place of residence for purposes of 

21 the application.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON VOTER REG2 ISTRATION AND VOTING IN SURVEYS CON3 DUCTED BY RECIPIENTS OF HUD HOMELESS 

4 ASSISTANCE. 

5 Section 402(f)(3) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

6 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360a(f)(3)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (C); 

9 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub10 paragraph (E); and 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol12 lowing new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(D) collects information on the extent to 

14 which individuals experiencing homelessness are 

15 able to register to vote and vote in elections for 

16 Federal office; and’’. 

17 TITLE III—GRANTS TO SUPPORT 

18 ACCESS TO VOTING FOR 

19 UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS 

20 SEC. 301. GRANT PROGRAM DESCRIBED. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis22 sion shall make grants to eligible States and units of local 

23 government for programs and activities, such as operating 

24 mobile voting centers and providing direct outreach to 

25 unhoused individuals, to support the access of unhoused 


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1 individuals to registering to vote and voting in elections 

2 for Federal office. 

3 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR GRANTS TO PRIVATE ENTI4 TIES.—A State or unit of local government which receives 

5 a grant under this title may use the funds provided by 

6 the grant to enter into contracts with private entities with 

7 experience in providing assistance to unhoused individuals 

8 to provide services to such individuals which will assist 

9 them in registering to vote and voting in elections for Fed10 eral office. 

11 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or unit of local govern13 ment is eligible to receive a grant under this title if the 

14 State or unit submits to the Election Assistance Commis15 sion, at such time and in such form as the Commission 

16 may require, such information and assurances as the Com17 mission may require, including assurances that the State 

18 or political subdivision has a plan to engage stakeholders 

19 with a demonstrated experience of serving unhoused indi20 viduals. 

21 (b) SPECIAL CONDITION REGARDING PROTECTION

22 OF DOCUMENTS.—In order to be eligible to receive a grant 

23 under this title, a State or unit of local government shall 

24 include with the information and assurances required 

25 under subsection (a) specific information and assurances 


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1 that if funds provided by the grant are used to produce 

2 documents for the use of unhoused individuals, including 

3 under a contract with a private entity as described in sec4 tion 301(b), the documents will be produced in a manner 

5 which ensures that they will remain readable and usable 

6 even if they are subject to extended exposure to the ele7 ments. 

8 SEC. 303. DEFINITION. 

9 In this title, the term ‘‘unhoused individual’’ means 

10 a homeless individual, as defined in section 103 of the 

11 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 11302). 

13 SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this title such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

16 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

17 TITLE IV—GENERAL 

18 PROVISIONS 

19 SEC. 401. STATE DEFINED. 

20 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the sev21 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

22 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

23 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

24 Northern Mariana Islands. 


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1 SEC. 402. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

3 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 

4 elections for Federal office beginning 6 months after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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