I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5291 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in 

elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to vote, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 25, 2023 

Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 

PORTER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. 

MULLIN, Ms. BROWN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, 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. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 

and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) 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 ensure 

that voters in elections for Federal office do not wait 

in long lines in order to vote, 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, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 5291 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘People Over Long 

3 Lines Act’’ or the ‘‘POLL Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The right to vote for all Americans is fun7 damental and rules for voting and election adminis8 tration should protect the right to vote and promote 

9 voter participation. 

10 (2) It is the responsibility of the State and Fed11 eral governments to ensure that every eligible citizen 

12 is able to register to vote and to cast a ballot. 

13 (3) There continues to be an alarming move14 ment to erect barriers to make it more difficult for 

15 Americans to participate in our Nation’s democratic 

16 process. The Nation has witnessed unprecedented ef17 forts to turn back the clock and erect barriers to 

18 voting for communities of color, which have faced 

19 historic and continuing discrimination, as well as 

20 disabled, young, elderly, and low-income Americans. 

21 (4) One way voting in communities of color has 

22 been suppressed is through long waits at polling lo23 cations. Studies have shown a number of contrib24 uting factors, including the drastic reduction of early 

25 voting days, poor allocation of resources to certain 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 5291 IH

1 communities, cuts to election funding, and a reduc2 tion of polling locations. 

3 (5) A 2019 study led by economist Keith Chen 

4 of the University of California, Los Angeles, 

5 matched anonymous location data from 10,000,000 

6 smart phones to 93,000 polling places to create the 

7 most extensive map to date of voter wait times 

8 across the United States. The results showed one 

9 very clear disparity: voters in predominantly Black 

10 neighborhoods waited 29 percent longer, on average, 

11 than those in White neighborhoods. They were also 

12 about 74 percent more likely to wait for more than 

13 half an hour. 

14 (6) Waiting in long lines discourages people 

15 from voting, undermines confidence in the electoral 

16 system, and imposes economic costs on voters. 

17 (7) Long lines are estimated to have deterred 

18 between 500,000 and 700,000 people from casting 

19 their ballot in 2012. 

20 (8) These problems led to the creation of the bi21 partisan Presidential Commission on Election Ad22 ministration, which issued a 2014 report that set 

23 forth a standard: ‘‘No citizen should have to wait 

24 more than 30 minutes to vote.’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 5291 IH

1 (9) Despite the work of the Presidential Com2 mission on Election Administration, long lines con3 tinue, particularly in communities of color where ra4 cial discrimination in voting is a clear and persistent 

5 problem. 

6 (10) In the Arizona 2016 Presidential primary, 

7 in one Maricopa County polling place for mostly 

8 Latino voters, some waited for 4 hours or more in 

9 the 80-degree heat to cast their ballots. For the 

10 2016 general election, 3 people collapsed while wait11 ing to vote in an hours-long line in Georgia, and a 

12 line to vote in Ohio was a half-mile long. 

13 (11) According to a nationwide study, in 2016, 

14 roughly 3 percent of people standing in line at vot15 ing locations left before they could vote as a result 

16 of long lines. 

17 (12) The disenfranchisement that long lines 

18 create for voters is not limited to that one election. 

19 Research suggests that for each hour would-be vot20 ers wait, their probability of voting in the next elec21 tion drops by 1 percentage point. 

22 (13) Congress has the authority under article I, 

23 section 4 of the Constitution of the United States to 

24 enact laws governing the time, place, and manner of 

25 Federal elections. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 5291 IH

1 (14) Congress also has authority under section 

2 2 of the 15th Amendment to enforce the right of 

3 citizens of the United States to vote, which shall not 

4 be denied or abridged by the United States, by legis5 lation. 

6 SEC. 3. PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING 

7 TIMES. 

8 (a) STATE PLANS REQUIRED.—Title III of the Help 

9 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

12 sections 305 and 306; and 

13 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

14 new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 304. UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING TIMES. 

16 ‘‘(a) STATE PLANS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days be18 fore each election for Federal office, each State shall 

19 make public (including through the website of the 

20 State on which election information is normally pub21 lished) and submit to the Commission a written plan 

22 which meets the public notice and comment require23 ments of paragraph (2) and describes the measures 

24 it is implementing to ensure, to the greatest extent 

25 possible, an equitable waiting time for all voters in 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 5291 IH

1 the State, including for voters with disabilities, and 

2 a waiting time of less than 30 minutes at any polling 

3 place in the election. 

4 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE COMMENT REQUIRE5 MENT.—The public notice and comment require6 ments of this paragraph are met if— 

7 ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days prior to the 

8 submission of the plan to the Commission, the 

9 State made a preliminary version of the plan 

10 available for public inspection and comment; 

11 ‘‘(B) the State publishes notice that the 

12 preliminary version of the plan is so available; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(C) the State took the public comments 

15 made regarding the preliminary version of the 

16 plan into account in preparing the plan which 

17 was submitted to the Commission under para18 graph (1). 

19 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT20 ING TIMES.—Each State shall ensure that no person vot21 ing in an election for Federal office shall wait for more 

22 than 30 minutes at any polling place for purposes of cast23 ing a vote in such election. 

24 ‘‘(c) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES25 SIVE VOTER WAIT TIMES.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF VOTER WAIT TIMES.—After 

2 each election for Federal office, the Commission 

3 shall review voter waiting times for each jurisdiction 

4 for which voting in such election took place and 

5 make publicly available a report on its findings. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE REMEDIAL PLANS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REMEDIAL PLANS.—Notwithstanding 

8 section 209, each jurisdiction for which the 

9 Commission, after the review conducted under 

10 paragraph (1), determines that a substantial 

11 number of voters, including voters with disabil12 ities, waited more than 60 minutes to cast a 

13 vote, or in which there were substantial viola14 tions of the standards established under section 

15 299, shall comply with a State remedial plan 

16 established by the Attorney General to provide 

17 for the effective allocation of resources to ad18 minister elections for Federal office held in the 

19 State and to reduce the waiting time of voters. 

20 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—Each remedial plan 

21 established by the Attorney General shall pro22 vide for coordination between the Commission, 

23 the Attorney General, and the State involved to 

24 monitor the compliance of the State with the 

25 remedial plan during the period leading up to 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 5291 IH

1 the election and on the date of the election and 

2 to respond to serious delays in the ability of 

3 voters, including voters with disabilities, to cast 

4 their ballots at polling places. 

5 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—A jurisdiction shall 

6 not be required to comply with a State remedial 

7 plan required under subparagraph (A) if the 

8 Commission determines that the voter waiting 

9 times were less than 60 minutes for 2 consecu10 tive regularly scheduled general elections for 

11 Federal office. 

12 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes of 

13 this subsection, the term ‘jurisdiction’ has the mean14 ing given the term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 

15 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(j)). 

17 ‘‘(4) STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

19 Attorney General shall establish standards for con20 ducting the review under paragraph (1) and for es21 tablishing remedial plans under paragraph (2)(A). 

22 ‘‘(5) ROLE OF OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND

23 COMMISSION.—The Attorney General shall carry out 

24 this section acting through the Office of Civil Rights 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•HR 5291 IH

1 of the Department of Justice and in consultation 

2 with the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(6) APPROPRIATIONS.—In addition to other 

4 amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Com5 mission, there are authorized to be appropriated for 

6 each of the fiscal years 2023 through 2032, 

7 $5,000,000 for each such year for the Commission 

8 to carry out this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(d) EMERGENCY BALLOTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a failure of 

11 voting equipment or other circumstance at a polling 

12 place that causes an unreasonable delay, any indi13 vidual who is waiting at the polling place to cast a 

14 ballot in an election for Federal office at the time 

15 of the failure shall be advised immediately of the in16 dividual’s right to use an emergency paper ballot, 

17 and upon request shall be provided with such an 

18 emergency paper ballot for the election and the sup19 plies necessary to mark the ballot. 

20 ‘‘(2) BALLOT REQUIREMENTS.—Any emergency 

21 paper ballot provided under paragraph (1) shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) include the names of each candidate 

23 for each Federal office for which voting occurs 

24 at such polling place; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(B) be available in each language for 

2 which other ballots provided at the polling place 

3 are available. 

4 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF BALLOT.—Any emergency 

5 paper ballot which is cast by an individual under 

6 this subsection shall be counted in the same manner 

7 as a regular ballot, unless the individual casting the 

8 ballot would have otherwise been required to cast a 

9 provisional ballot in the absence of the delay, in 

10 which case that ballot shall be treated in the same 

11 manner as a provisional ballot.’’. 

12 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 

13 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNREASON16 ABLE VOTER WAITING TIME. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sec18 tion 304(b), section 402 shall not apply and any person 

19 who is aggrieved by such violation may commence a civil 

20 action in any appropriate district court of the United 

21 States for relief. 

22 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—In any civil action commenced under 

23 subsection (a): 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds a viola2 tion of section 304(b), the court shall assess a civil 

3 penalty equal to the sum of— 

4 ‘‘(A) $50; plus 

5 ‘‘(B) an additional $50 for each additional 

6 hour the person waited at the polling place to 

7 cast a vote; plus 

8 ‘‘(C) reasonable attorney fees, including 

9 litigation expenses, and costs. 

10 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the court determines 

11 that the violation was due to an intentional action 

12 to suppress votes or was made with reckless dis13 regard of the requirements of section 304— 

14 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1)(A) shall be applied by 

15 substituting ‘$650’ for ‘$50’; and 

16 ‘‘(B) paragraph (1(B) shall be applied by 

17 substituting ‘$150’ for ‘$50’.’’. 

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 of such 

19 Act (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

21 paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and 

22 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol23 lowing new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in section 

25 304(c);’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
12 

•HR 5291 IH

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

2 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec4 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

5 306, and by inserting after the item relating to sec6 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Unreasonable voter waiting times.’’; 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec9 tion 402 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for unreasonable voter waiting time.’’. 

10 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 

12 or after the expiration of the 180-day period which begins 

13 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL 

15 WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

16 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer18 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new 

20 subtitle: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
13 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 

2 Requirements 

3 ‘‘SEC. 321. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND 

4 POLL WORKERS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for the 

6 minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, 

7 and other election resources (including all other physical 

8 resources) for each voting site on the day of any Federal 

9 election and on any days during which such State allows 

10 early voting for a Federal election in accordance with the 

11 standards determined under section 299. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section and 

13 section 299— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘voting site’ means a polling loca15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘voting system’ means the total 

17 combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or 

18 electronic equipment (including the software, 

19 firmware, and documentation required to program, 

20 control, and support the equipment) that is used at 

21 a voting site— 

22 ‘‘(A) to check the official list of eligible 

23 voters for purposes of confirming that an indi24 vidual is eligible to cast a vote at the site; 

25 ‘‘(B) to cast and count votes; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
14 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(C) to maintain and produce any audit 

2 trail information. 

3 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re4 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

5 and after January 1, 2025.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

7 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

8 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in9 serting ‘‘303, and subtitle C’’. 

10 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con11 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

12 of the items relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Minimum required voting systems and poll workers.’’. 

13 (b) STANDARDS.— 

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

15 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following new 

17 subtitle: 

18 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

19 Standards 

20 ‘‘SEC. 299. STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING THE MINIMUM 

21 REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND POLL 

22 WORKERS. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

24 the date of the enactment of the POLL Act, the Attorney 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
15 

•HR 5291 IH

1 General, acting through the Office of Civil Rights of the 

2 Department of Justice and in consultation with the Com3 mission, shall issue standards regarding the minimum 

4 number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election 

5 resources (including all other physical resources) required 

6 under section 321 on the day of any Federal election and 

7 on any days during which early voting is allowed for a 

8 Federal election. 

9 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The standards described in 

11 subsection (a) shall provide for a uniform and non12 discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, 

13 and other resources, and shall take into account, 

14 among other factors, the following with respect to 

15 any voting site (as defined in section 321(b)): 

16 ‘‘(A) The voting-age population. 

17 ‘‘(B) Voter turnout in past elections. 

18 ‘‘(C) The number of voters registered. 

19 ‘‘(D) The number of voters who have reg20 istered since the most recent Federal election. 

21 ‘‘(E) Census data for the population served 

22 by such voting site. 

23 ‘‘(F) The educational levels and socio-eco24 nomic factors of the population served by such 

25 voting site. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
16 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(G) The needs and numbers of disabled 

2 voters and voters with limited English pro3 ficiency. 

4 ‘‘(H) The type of voting systems used. 

5 ‘‘(2) NO FACTOR DISPOSITIVE.—The standards 

6 shall provide that any distribution of such systems 

7 shall take into account the totality of all relevant 

8 factors, including the effects of State laws on the 

9 availability of such systems and resources for use by 

10 local election officials, and no single factor shall be 

11 dispositive under the standards. 

12 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, the 

13 standards shall provide for a distribution of voting 

14 systems, poll workers, and other election resources, 

15 with the goals of— 

16 ‘‘(A) ensuring an equal waiting time for all 

17 voters in the State; and 

18 ‘‘(B) preventing a waiting time of over 30 

19 minutes at any polling place. 

20 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING ELECTRONIC

21 POLL BOOKS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), 

22 and (3), in the case of any voting site that uses an 

23 electronic poll book, the standards described in sub24 section (a) shall require at least 1 paper poll book 

25 (containing all of the information necessary to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:42 Aug 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5291.IH H5291

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
17 

•HR 5291 IH

1 firm that an individual is eligible to cast a vote at 

2 the site) for each such electronic poll book used at 

3 such voting site. 

4 ‘‘(c) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub5 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

6 public notice, to deviate from any allocation requirements 

7 in the case of unforeseen circumstances such as a natural 

8 disaster or terrorist attack.’’. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 

10 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20922), as amended by sec11 tion 3(c), is amended— 

12 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), 

13 and (6) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respec14 tively; and 

15 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

16 following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in sub18 title E;’’. 

19 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

21 of the items relating to title II the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 

‘‘Sec. 299. Standards for establishing the minimum required voting systems 

and poll workers.’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
18 

•HR 5291 IH

1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF 

2 STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OFFI3 CIALS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

5 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

6 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION

9 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

10 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

11 for a chief State election administration official to take 

12 an active part in political management or in a political 

13 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 

14 over which such official has supervisory authority. 

15 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF16 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of17 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 

18 for the administration of Federal elections under State 

19 law. 

20 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR

21 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po22 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 

23 ‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com24 mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
19 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 

2 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 

3 result of an election for Federal office; 

4 ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 

5 contribution from any person on behalf of a can6 didate for Federal office; and 

7 ‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 

8 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 

9 title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 

10 to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 

11 prohibition on running for public office). 

12 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION IN CASE OF RECUSAL FROM AD13 MINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS INVOLVING ELECTION OF14 FICIAL OR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 

16 to a chief State election administration official with 

17 respect to an election for Federal office in which 

18 such official or an immediate family member of the 

19 official is a candidate, but only if— 

20 ‘‘(A) such official recuses himself or herself 

21 from all of the official’s responsibilities for the 

22 administration of such election; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the official who assumes responsi24 bility for supervising the administration of the 

25 election does not report directly to such official. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
20 

•HR 5291 IH

1 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 

2 In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem3 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 

4 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

5 wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 

8 Federal office held after January 1, 2025. 

9 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS TO STATES TO PREVENT UNREASON10 ABLE WAIT TIMES AND PROMOTE WELL-RUN 

11 ELECTIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

13 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘PART VII—PAYMENTS FOR PREVENTING 

16 UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT TIMES 

17 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a 

19 payment to each eligible State. Such payments shall be 

20 made not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this part. 

22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For purposes of this section, 

23 a State is an eligible State if such State has filed with 

24 the Commission a State plan covering the fiscal year in 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
21 

•HR 5291 IH

1 which the State describes how it intends to use the funds 

2 provided under this section. 

3 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible State shall use the 

4 payment received under this part to meet the requirements 

5 of sections 304 and 321. 

6 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of payment 

8 made to a State under this section shall be the min9 imum payment amount described in paragraph (2) 

10 plus the voting age population proportion amount 

11 described in paragraph (3). 

12 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The min13 imum payment amount described in this paragraph 

14 is— 

15 ‘‘(A) in the case of any of the several 

16 States or the District of Columbia, one-half of 

17 1 percent of the aggregate amount made avail18 able for payments under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Commonwealth of 

20 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the 

21 United States Virgin Islands, one-tenth of 1 

22 percent of such aggregate amount. 

23 ‘‘(3) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

24 AMOUNT.—The voting age population proportion 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
22 

•HR 5291 IH

1 amount described in this paragraph is the product 

2 of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the aggregate amount made available 

4 for payments under this section minus the total 

5 of all of the minimum payment amounts deter6 mined under paragraph (2); and 

7 ‘‘(B) the voting age population proportion 

8 for the State (as defined in paragraph (4)). 

9 ‘‘(4) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

10 DEFINED.—The term ‘voting age population propor11 tion’ means, with respect to a State, the amount 

12 equal to the quotient of— 

13 ‘‘(A) the voting age population of the State 

14 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen15 sus); and 

16 ‘‘(B) the total voting age population of all 

17 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

18 census). 

19 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

21 appropriated for payments under this section 

22 $500,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro24 priated pursuant to the authority of paragraph (1) 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
23 

•HR 5291 IH

1 shall remain available without fiscal year limitation 

2 until expended.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

5 to section 296 the following: 

‘‘PART VII—PAYMENTS FOR PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT

TIMES

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to States.’’. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB