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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1559

To require that general Federal elections be held over the 48-hour period

that begins with the first Saturday in November, to prohibit States

from preventing citizens who are registered to vote from voting in Federal

elections and from carrying out certain law enforcement activities which

have the effect of intimidating individuals from voting, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 24, 2001

Mr. HILLIARD (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mrs. JONES of

Ohio, Mr. FILNER, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WYNN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms.

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. LEE, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN,

and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the

Committee on 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 require that general Federal elections be held over the

48-hour period that begins with the first Saturday in

November, to prohibit States from preventing citizens

who are registered to vote from voting in Federal elections and from carrying out certain law enforcement

activities which have the effect of intimidating individuals

from voting, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘National Voter Anti5 Intimidation and Anti-Fraud Election Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. HOLDING GENERAL ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OF7 FICE OVER THE 48-HOUR PERIOD BEGINNING

8 WITH THE FIRST SATURDAY IN NOVEMBER.

9 (a) ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI10 DENT.—Section 1 of title 3, United States Code, is

11 amended by striking ‘‘on the Tuesday next after the first

12 Monday in November’’ and inserting ‘‘on the first Satur13 day in November and the next day’’.

14 (b) ELECTION OF SENATORS AND MEMBERS OF THE

15 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Section 25 of the Re16 vised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 7) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘The Tuesday next after the 1st

18 Monday in November’’ and inserting ‘‘The first Sat19 urday in November and the next day’’; and

20 (2) by striking ‘‘is established as the day’’ and

21 inserting ‘‘are established as the days’’.

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

23 this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring

24 after January 2002.
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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STATES FROM PREVENTING REG2 ISTERED CITIZENS FROM VOTING IN FED3 ERAL ELECTIONS.

4 No State may prohibit any individual from voting in

5 an election for Federal office if the individual—

6 (1) is a citizen of the United States;

7 (2) is registered to vote with respect to the elec8 tion in the jurisdiction for which the individual seeks

9 to cast a ballot; and

10 (3) is not incarcerated for the entire period dur11 ing which polls for the election are open in the

12 State.

13 SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT AC14 TIVITIES AS INTERFERENCE WITH ELECTION.

15 Section 595 of title 18, United States Code, is

16 amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)

18 Whoever’’;

19 (2) by striking ‘‘This section’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘(c) This section’’; and

21 (3) by inserting after the first paragraph the

22 following:

23 ‘‘(b) For purposes of subsection (a), if a law enforce24 ment officer of a State or local government carries out

25 any of the following activities on the date of an election

26 for Federal office, the officer shall be considered to be
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1 using official authority for the purpose of interfering with

2 the nomination or election of a candidate described in such

3 subsection:

4 ‘‘(1) Attendance at any polling place for any

5 reason other than voting, responding to a request

6 from an official conducting the election at the poll7 ing place, or responding to a threat of violence or

8 harm directed at any person or property at the poll9 ing place.

10 ‘‘(2) The arrest of any individual on the

11 grounds that the individual has any outstanding

12 misdemeanor warrants.

13 ‘‘(3) The establishment of any traffic roadblock

14 unless a felony has been committed within the pre15 vious 24 hours (or is in the process of being com16 mitted) and the roadblock is necessary to prevent

17 the alleged felon from escaping.’’.

18 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

19 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the

20 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to

21 elections occurring after the date of the enactment of this

22 Act.

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