I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 640 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow individuals to vote 

in an election for Federal office during an early voting period which 

occurs prior to the date of the election, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2021 

Mr. BROWN 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 allow 

individuals to vote in an election for Federal office during 

an early voting period which occurs prior to the date 

of the election, 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 ‘‘Expanding Access to 

5 Early Voting Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EARLY VOTING. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

3 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) 

4 is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

6 sections 305 and 306; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

8 new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 304. EARLY VOTING. 

10 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE OF ELEC11 TION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow indi13 viduals to vote in an election for Federal office dur14 ing an early voting period which occurs prior to the 

15 date of the election, in the same manner as voting 

16 is allowed on such date. 

17 ‘‘(2) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—The early voting 

18 period required under this subsection with respect to 

19 an election shall consist of a period of consecutive 

20 days (including weekends) which begins on the 15th 

21 day before the date of the election (or, at the option 

22 of the State, on a day prior to the 15th day before 

23 the date of the election) and ends on the date of the 

24 election. 


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1 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 Each polling place which allows voting during an early vot3 ing period under subsection (a) shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 10 hours 

5 on each day; 

6 ‘‘(2) have uniform hours each day for which 

7 such voting occurs; and 

8 ‘‘(3) allow such voting to be held for some pe9 riod of time prior to 9:00 a.m (local time) and some 

10 period of time after 5:00 p.m. (local time). 

11 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) PROXIMITY TO PUBLIC TRANSPOR13 TATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a State 

14 shall ensure that each polling place which allows vot15 ing during an early voting period under subsection 

16 (a) is located within walking distance of a stop on 

17 a public transportation route. 

18 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY IN RURAL AREAS.—The 

19 State shall ensure that polling places which allow 

20 voting during an early voting period under sub21 section (a) will be located in rural areas of the State, 

22 and shall ensure that such polling places are located 

23 in communities which will provide the greatest op24 portunity for residents of rural areas to vote during 

25 the early voting period. 


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1 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall issue 

3 standards for the administration of voting prior to 

4 the day scheduled for a Federal election. Such 

5 standards shall include the nondiscriminatory geo6 graphic placement of polling places at which such 

7 voting occurs. 

8 ‘‘(2) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 

9 paragraph (1) shall permit States, upon providing 

10 adequate public notice, to deviate from any require11 ment in the case of unforeseen circumstances such 

12 as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or a change 

13 in voter turnout. 

14 ‘‘(e) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING REQUIRE15 MENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall begin proc17 essing and scanning ballots cast during early voting 

18 for tabulation at least 14 days prior to the date of 

19 the election involved. 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

21 shall be construed to permit a State to tabulate bal22 lots in an election before the closing of the polls on 

23 the date of the election. 

24 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

25 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 


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1 Federal office held in November 2022 and each succeeding 

2 election for Federal office.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

4 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS5 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

6 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

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

8 (2); 

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para10 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

12 paragraph: 

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

14 respect to section 304, June 30, 2022.’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN16 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

18 304’’. 

19 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 of such Act, is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec22 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

23 306; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec2 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Early voting.’’. 

Æ 


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