II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2865 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for voter 

registration through the Internet, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

provide for voter registration through the Internet, 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 ‘‘Voter Registration 

5 Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 

7 VOTER REGISTRATION. 

8 (a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

9 REGISTRATION.—The National Voter Registration Act of 


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1 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

2 after section 6 the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 6A. INTERNET REGISTRATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

5 ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF ONLINE REGISTRA7 TION.—Each State, acting through the chief State 

8 election official, shall ensure that the following serv9 ices are available to the public at any time on the 

10 official public websites of the appropriate State and 

11 local election officials in the State, in the same man12 ner and subject to the same terms and conditions as 

13 the services provided by voter registration agencies 

14 under section 7(a): 

15 ‘‘(A) Online application for voter registra16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(B) Online assistance to applicants in ap18 plying to register to vote. 

19 ‘‘(C) Online completion and submission by 

20 applicants of the mail voter registration applica21 tion form prescribed by the Election Assistance 

22 Commission pursuant to section 9(a)(2), includ23 ing assistance with providing a signature in 

24 electronic form as required under subsection 

25 (c). 


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1 ‘‘(D) Online receipt of completed voter reg2 istration applications. 

3 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS.— 

4 A State shall accept an online voter registration applica5 tion provided by an individual under this section, and en6 sure that the individual is registered to vote in the State, 

7 if— 

8 ‘‘(1) the individual meets the same voter reg9 istration requirements applicable to individuals who 

10 register to vote by mail in accordance with section 

11 6(a)(1) using the mail voter registration application 

12 form prescribed by the Election Assistance Commis13 sion pursuant to section 9(a)(2); and 

14 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an individual who has a 

15 signature on file with the State motor vehicle au16 thority, the information provided in the application 

17 matches the records of such State motor vehicle au18 thority; and 

19 ‘‘(B) in any other case, the individual provides 

20 a signature in electronic form in accordance with 

21 subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(c) SIGNATURES IN ELECTRONIC FORM.—For pur23 poses of this section, an individual provides a signature 

24 in electronic form by— 


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1 ‘‘(1) executing a computerized mark in the sig2 nature field on an online voter registration applica3 tion; or 

4 ‘‘(2) submitting with the application an elec5 tronic copy of the individual’s handwritten signature 

6 through electronic means. 

7 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF SERVICES IN NONPARTISAN

8 MANNER.—The services made available under subsection 

9 (a) shall be provided in a manner that ensures that, con10 sistent with section 7(a)(5)— 

11 ‘‘(1) the online application does not seek to in12 fluence an applicant’s political preference or party 

13 registration; and 

14 ‘‘(2) there is no display on the website pro15 moting any political preference or party allegiance, 

16 except that nothing in this paragraph may be con17 strued to prohibit an applicant from registering to 

18 vote as a member of a political party. 

19 ‘‘(e) PROTECTION OF SECURITY OF INFORMATION.— 

20 In meeting the requirements of this section, the State shall 

21 establish appropriate technological security measures to 

22 prevent to the greatest extent practicable any unauthor23 ized access to information provided by individuals using 

24 the services made available under subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(f) NONDISCRIMINATION AMONG REGISTERED VOT2 ERS USING MAIL AND ONLINE REGISTRATION.—In car3 rying out this Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 

4 or any other Federal, State, or local law governing the 

5 treatment of registered voters in the State or the adminis6 tration of elections for public office in the State, a State 

7 shall treat a registered voter who registered to vote online 

8 in accordance with this section in the same manner as the 

9 State treats a registered voter who registered to vote by 

10 mail. 

11 ‘‘(g) ACCESSIBILITY OF ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

12 The services provided under subsection (a) shall be pro13 vided in a manner that is accessible to individuals with 

14 disabilities, including those that are blind and visually im15 paired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity 

16 for access and participation (including privacy and inde17 pendence) as for other voters.’’. 

18 (b) TREATMENT AS INDIVIDUALS REGISTERING TO

19 VOTE BY MAIL FOR PURPOSES OF FIRST-TIME VOTER

20 IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 303(b)(1)(A) 

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

22 21083(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘by mail’’ and in23 serting ‘‘by mail or online under section 6A of the Na24 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993’’. 

25 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) TIMING OF REGISTRATION.—Section 8(a)(1) 

2 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

3 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (C); 

6 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

7 subparagraph (E); and 

8 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

9 the following new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(D) in the case of online registration 

11 through the official public website of an election 

12 official under section 6A, if the valid voter reg13 istration application is submitted online not 

14 later than the lesser of 30 days, or the period 

15 provided by State law, before the date of the 

16 election (as determined by treating the date on 

17 which the application is sent electronically as 

18 the date on which it is submitted); and’’. 

19 (2) INFORMING APPLICANTS OF ELIGIBILITY

20 REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES.—Section 8(a)(5) 

21 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(5)) is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘and 7’’ and inserting ‘‘6A, and 7’’. 

23 SEC. 3. USE OF INTERNET TO UPDATE REGISTRATION IN24 FORMATION. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) UPDATES TO INFORMATION CONTAINED ON

2 COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION

3 LIST.—Section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act 

4 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(6) USE OF INTERNET BY REGISTERED VOT7 ERS TO UPDATE INFORMATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State 

9 or local election official shall ensure that any 

10 registered voter on the computerized list may at 

11 any time update the voter’s registration infor12 mation, including the voter’s address and elec13 tronic mail address, online through the official 

14 public website of the election official responsible 

15 for the maintenance of the list, so long as the 

16 voter attests to the contents of the update by 

17 providing a signature in electronic form in the 

18 same manner required under section 6A(c) of 

19 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. 

20 ‘‘(B) PROCESSING OF UPDATED INFORMA21 TION BY ELECTION OFFICIALS.—If a registered 

22 voter updates registration information under 

23 subparagraph (A), the appropriate State or 

24 local election official shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) revise any information on the 

2 computerized list to reflect the update 

3 made by the voter; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) if the updated registration infor5 mation affects the voter’s eligibility to vote 

6 in an election for Federal office, ensure 

7 that the information is processed with re8 spect to the election if the voter updates 

9 the information not later than the lesser of 

10 30 days, or the period provided by State 

11 law, before the date of the election.’’. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

13 EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(1)(A) of such 

14 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(1)(A)) is amended by 

15 striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub16 paragraph (B) and subsection (a)(6)’’. 

17 (b) ABILITY OF REGISTRANT TO USE ONLINE UP18 DATE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON RESIDENCE.—Sec19 tion 8(d)(2)(A) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

20 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(d)(2)(A)) is amended— 

21 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting after ‘‘re22 turn the card’’ the following: ‘‘or update the reg23 istrant’s information on the computerized Statewide 

24 voter registration list using the online method proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Oct 02, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2865.IS S2865

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1 vided under section 303(a)(6) of the Help America 

2 Vote Act of 2002’’; and 

3 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘re4 turned,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘returned or if 

5 the registrant does not update the registrant’s infor6 mation on the computerized Statewide voter reg7 istration list using such online method,’’. 

8 SEC. 4. STUDY ON BEST PRACTICES FOR INTERNET REG9 ISTRATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In11 stitute of Standards and Technology shall conduct an on12 going study on best practices for implementing the re13 quirements for Internet registration under section 6A of 

14 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (as added 

15 by section 2) and the requirement to permit voters to up16 date voter registration information online under section 

17 303(a)(6) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added 

18 by section 3) in a fully accessible manner. 

19 (b) REPORT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 months 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di22 rector of the National Institute of Standards and 

23 Technology shall make publicly available a report on 

24 the study conducted under subsection (a). 


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1 (2) QUADRENNIAL UPDATE.—The Director of 

2 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

3 shall review and update the report made under para4 graph (1). 

5 (c) USE OF BEST PRACTICES IN EAC VOLUNTARY

6 GUIDANCE.—Subsection (a) of section 311 of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21101(a)) is amend8 ed by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Such 

9 voluntary guidance shall utilize the best practices devel10 oped by the Director of the National Institute of Stand11 ards and Technology under section 4 of the Voter Reg12 istration Modernization Act for the use of the Internet in 

13 voter registration.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. PROVISION OF ELECTION INFORMATION BY ELEC15 TRONIC MAIL TO INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED 

16 TO VOTE. 

17 (a) INCLUDING OPTION ON VOTER REGISTRATION

18 APPLICATION TO PROVIDE E-MAIL ADDRESS AND RE19 CEIVE INFORMATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the National 

21 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

22 20508(b)) is amended— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para24 graph (3); 


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1 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

2 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(5) shall include a space for the applicant to 

6 provide (at the applicant’s option) an electronic mail 

7 address, together with a statement that, if the appli8 cant so requests, instead of using regular mail the 

9 appropriate State and local election officials shall 

10 provide to the applicant, through electronic mail sent 

11 to that address, the same voting information (as de12 fined in section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote 

13 Act of 2002) which the officials would provide to the 

14 applicant through regular mail.’’. 

15 (2) PROHIBITING USE FOR PURPOSES UNRE16 LATED TO OFFICIAL DUTIES OF ELECTION OFFI17 CIALS.—Section 9 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20508) is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new 

19 subsection: 

20 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING USE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL AD21 DRESSES FOR OTHER THAN OFFICIAL PURPOSES.—The 

22 chief State election official shall ensure that any electronic 

23 mail address provided by an applicant under subsection 

24 (b)(5) is used only for purposes of carrying out official 

25 duties of election officials and is not transmitted by any 


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1 State or local election official (or any agent of such an 

2 official, including a contractor) to any person who does 

3 not require the address to carry out such official duties 

4 and who is not under the direct supervision and control 

5 of a State or local election official.’’. 

6 (b) REQUIRING PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY

7 ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Section 302(b) of the Help Amer8 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(3) PROVISION OF OTHER INFORMATION BY

11 ELECTRONIC MAIL.—If an individual who is a reg12 istered voter has provided the State or local election 

13 official with an electronic mail address for the pur14 pose of receiving voting information (as described in 

15 section 9(b)(5) of the National Voter Registration 

16 Act of 1993), the appropriate State or local election 

17 official, through electronic mail transmitted not later 

18 than 30 days before the date of the election involved, 

19 shall provide the individual with information on how 

20 to obtain the following information by electronic 

21 means: 

22 ‘‘(A) The name and address of the polling 

23 place at which the individual is assigned to vote 

24 in the election. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The hours of operation for the polling 

2 place. 

3 ‘‘(C) A description of any identification or 

4 other information the individual may be re5 quired to present at the polling place.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT REGARDING 

7 NECESSARY INFORMATION TO SHOW ELIGI8 BILITY TO VOTE. 

9 Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

10 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub12 section (k); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol14 lowing new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(j) REQUIREMENT FOR STATE TO REGISTER APPLI16 CANTS PROVIDING NECESSARY INFORMATION TO SHOW

17 ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE.—For purposes meeting the re18 quirement of subsection (a)(1) that an eligible applicant 

19 is registered to vote in an election for Federal office within 

20 the deadlines required under such subsection, the State 

21 shall consider an applicant to have provided a ‘valid voter 

22 registration form’ if— 

23 ‘‘(1) the applicant has accurately completed the 

24 application form and attested to the statement re25 quired by section 9(b)(2); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) in the case of an applicant who registers 

2 to vote online in accordance with section 6A, the ap3 plicant provides a signature in accordance with sub4 section (c) of such section.’’. 

5 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION PAYMENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis7 sion shall make an implementation payment each year in 

8 an amount determined under subsection (c) to each State. 

9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), a State receiving a payment under sub12 section (a) shall use the payment only to meet the 

13 requirements of this Act. 

14 (2) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—A State may use im15 plementation payments to carry out other activities 

16 to improve the administration of elections for Fed17 eral office if the State certifies to the Commission 

18 that— 

19 (A) the State has implemented the require20 ments of this Act; and 

21 (B) the amount expended with respect to 

22 such other activities does not exceed the an 

23 amount equal to the minimum payment amount 

24 applicable to the State under subsection (c)(3). 


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1 (3) LIMITATION.—Rules similar to the rules of 

2 section 251(f) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

3 (52 U.S.C. 21001(f)) shall apply for purposes of this 

4 section. 

5 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

7 the amount of an implementation payment made to 

8 a State for any year shall be equal to— 

9 (A) the total amount appropriated for im10 plementation payments for the year pursuant to 

11 the authorization under subsection (d); and 

12 (B) the State allocation percentage for the 

13 State. 

14 (2) STATE ALLOCATION PERCENTAGE.—The 

15 term ‘‘State allocation percentage’’ has the same 

16 meaning as given such term under section 252(b) of 

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

18 21002(b)). 

19 (3) MINIMUM AMOUNT OF PAYMENT; OTHER

20 RULES.—Rules similar to the rules of subsections 

21 (c), (d), and (e) of section 252 of such Act (52 

22 U.S.C. 21002) shall apply for purposes of this sub23 section. 

24 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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

2 appropriated for implementation payments under 

3 this section $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2015. 

4 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 

5 pursuant to the authority of paragraph (1) shall re6 main available without fiscal year limitation until ex7 pended. 

8 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than April 1, 2017, each 

9 State which received an implementation payment under 

10 this section shall submit a report to the Commission on 

11 the activities conducted with funds provided under this 

12 section. 

13 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

15 (b), the amendments made by this Act (other than the 

16 amendments made by section 5) shall take effect January 

17 1, 2016. 

18 (b) WAIVER.—If a State certifies to the Election As19 sistance Commission not later than January 1, 2016, that 

20 the State will not meet the deadline referred to in sub21 section (a) for good cause and includes in the certification 

22 the reasons for the failure to meet such deadline, sub23 section (a) shall apply to the State as if the reference in 


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1 such subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2016’’ were a reference 

2 to ‘‘January 1, 2018’’. 

Æ 


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