I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1667 

To establish a Vote by Mail grant program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2007 

Mrs. DAVIS of California 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 establish a Vote by Mail grant program. 

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 ‘‘Vote by Mail Act of 

5 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Supreme Court declared in Reynolds v. 

9 Sims that ‘‘[i]t has been repeatedly recognized that 


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1 all qualified voters have a constitutionally protected 

2 right to vote . . . and to have their votes counted.’’. 

3 (2) In the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, 

4 voting technology failures and procedural irregular5 ities deprived some Americans of their fundamental 

6 right to vote. 

7 (3) In 2000, faulty punch card ballots and 

8 other equipment failures prevented accurate vote 

9 counts nationwide. A report by the Caltech/MIT 

10 Voting Technology Project estimates that approxi11 mately 1,500,000 votes for president were intended 

12 to be cast but not counted in the 2000 election be13 cause of equipment failures. 

14 (4) In 2004, software errors, malfunctioning 

15 electronic voting systems, and long lines at the polls 

16 prevented accurate vote counts and prevented some 

17 people from voting. For instance, voters at Kenyon 

18 College in Gambier, Ohio waited in line for up to 12 

19 hours because there were only 2 machines available 

20 for 1,300 voters. 

21 (5) In 2006, election day problems plagued vot22 ers in a number of States as well. For instance, in 

23 Denver, Colorado, hundreds of voters were turned 

24 away when the database of registered voters crashed. 

25 In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, malfunctioning 


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1 machines and an inadequate number of provisional 

2 ballots generated long lines, causing many voters to 

3 leave without casting a vote. 

4 (6) Under the Oregon Vote by Mail system, 

5 election officials mail ballots to all registered voters 

6 at least 2 weeks before election day. Voters mark 

7 their ballots, seal the ballots in both unmarked se8 crecy envelopes and signed return envelopes, and re9 turn the ballots by mail or to secure drop boxes. 

10 Once a ballot is received, election officials scan the 

11 bar code on the ballot envelope, which brings up the 

12 voter’s signature on a computer screen. The election 

13 official compares the signature on the screen and the 

14 signature on the ballot envelope. Only if the signa15 ture on the ballot envelope is determined to be au16 thentic is the ballot forwarded on to be counted. 

17 (7) Oregon’s Vote by Mail system has deterred 

18 voter fraud because the system includes numerous 

19 security measures such as the signature authentica20 tion system. Potential misconduct is also discour21 aged by the power of the State to punish those who 

22 engage in voter fraud with up to five years in prison, 

23 $100,000 in fines, and the loss of their vote. 

24 (8) Oregon’s Vote by Mail system promotes uni25 formity and strict compliance with Federal and 


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1 State voting laws because ballot processing is cen2 tralized in county clerk’s offices, rather than at nu3 merous polling places. 

4 (9) Vote by Mail is one factor making voter 

5 turnout in Oregon consistently higher than the aver6 age national voter turnout. For example, Oregon ex7 perienced a record voting-age-eligible population 

8 turnout of 70.6 percent in the 2004 presidential 

9 election, compared to 58.4 percent nationally. Or10 egon’s turnout of registered voters for that election 

11 was 86.48 percent. 

12 (10) Women, younger voters, and homemakers 

13 also report that they vote more often using Vote by 

14 Mail. 

15 (11) Vote by Mail reduces election costs by 

16 eliminating the need to transport equipment to poll17 ing stations and to hire and train poll workers. Or18 egon has reduced its election-related costs by 30 per19 cent since implementing Vote by Mail. 

20 (12) Vote by Mail allows voters to educate 

21 themselves because they receive ballots well before 

22 election day, which provides them with ample time 

23 to research issues, study ballots, and deliberate in a 

24 way that is not possible at a polling place. 


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1 (13) Vote by Mail is accurate—at least 2 stud2 ies comparing voting technologies show that absentee 

3 voting methods, including Vote by Mail systems, re4 sult in a more accurate vote count. 

5 (14) Vote by Mail results in more up-to-date 

6 voter rolls, since election officials use forwarding in7 formation from the post office to update voter reg8 istration. 

9 (15) Vote by Mail allows voters to visually 

10 verify that their votes were cast correctly and pro11 duces a paper trail for recounts. 

12 (16) In a survey taken 5 years after Oregon im13 plemented the Vote by Mail system, more than 8 in 

14 10 Oregon voters said they preferred voting by mail 

15 to traditional voting. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means 

19 any general, special, primary, or runoff election. 

20 (2) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘‘partici21 pating State’’ means a State receiving a grant under 

22 the Vote by Mail grant program under section 4. 

23 (3) RESIDUAL VOTE RATE.—The term ‘‘resid24 ual vote rate’’ means the sum of all votes that can25 not be counted in an election (overvotes, undervotes, 


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1 and otherwise spoiled ballots) divided by the total 

2 number of votes cast. 

3 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 

4 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

5 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or pos6 session of the United States. 

7 (5) VOTING SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘voting sys8 tem’’ has the meaning given such term under section 

9 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

10 U.S.C. 15481(b)). 

11 SEC. 4. VOTE BY MAIL GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 270 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 

14 Commission shall establish a Vote by Mail grant program 

15 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’). 

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is to 

17 make implementation grants to participating States solely 

18 for the implementation of procedures for the conduct of 

19 all elections by mail at the State or local government level. 

20 (c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—In no case may 

21 grants made under this section be used to reimburse a 

22 State for costs incurred in implementing mail-in voting for 

23 elections at the State or local government level if such 

24 costs were incurred prior to the date of enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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1 (d) APPLICATION.—A State seeking to participate in 

2 the program under this section shall submit an application 

3 to the Election Assistance Commission containing such in4 formation, and at such time, as the Election Assistance 

5 Commission may specify. 

6 (e) AMOUNT AND AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

7 GRANTS; DURATION OF PROGRAM.— 

8 (1) AMOUNT OF IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), the amount of an implementation 

11 grant made to a participating State shall be, in 

12 the case of a State that certifies that it will im13 plement all elections by mail in accordance with 

14 the requirements of subsection (f), with respect 

15 to— 

16 (i) the entire State, $2,000,000; or 

17 (ii) any single unit or multiple units 

18 of local government within the State, 

19 $1,000,000. 

20 (B) EXCESS FUNDS.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that 

22 there are excess funds in either of the first 

23 2 years of the program, such funds may be 

24 used to award implementation grants to 

25 participating States in subsequent years. 


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1 (ii) EXCESS FUNDS DEFINED.—For 

2 purposes of clause (i), the term ‘‘excess 

3 funds’’ means any amounts appropriated 

4 pursuant to the authorization under sub5 section (h)(1) with respect to a fiscal year 

6 that are not awarded to a participating 

7 State under an implementation grant dur8 ing such fiscal year. 

9 (C) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

10 AFTER APPROPRIATION.—An implementation 

11 grant made to a participating State under this 

12 section shall be available to the State without 

13 fiscal year limitation. 

14 (2) AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

15 GRANTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assist17 ance Commission shall award implementation 

18 grants during each year in which the program 

19 is conducted. 

20 (B) ONE GRANT PER STATE.—The Elec21 tion Assistance Commission shall not award 

22 more than 1 implementation grant to any par23 ticipating State under this section over the du24 ration of the program. 


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1 (3) DURATION.—The program shall be con2 ducted for a period of 3 years. 

3 (f) REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) REQUIRED PROCEDURES.—A participating 

5 State shall establish and implement procedures for 

6 conducting all elections by mail in the area with re7 spect to which it receives an implementation grant 

8 to conduct such elections, including the following: 

9 (A) A process for recording electronically 

10 each voter’s registration information and signa11 ture. 

12 (B) A process for mailing ballots to all eli13 gible voters. 

14 (C) The designation of places for the de15 posit of ballots cast in an election. 

16 (D) A process for ensuring the secrecy and 

17 integrity of ballots cast in the election. 

18 (E) Procedures and penalties for pre19 venting election fraud and ballot tampering, in20 cluding procedures for the verification of the 

21 signature of the voter accompanying the ballot 

22 through comparison of such signature with the 

23 signature of the voter maintained by the State 

24 in accordance with subparagraph (A). 


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1 (F) Procedures for verifying that a ballot 

2 has been received by the appropriate authority. 

3 (G) Procedures for obtaining a replace4 ment ballot in the case of a ballot which is de5 stroyed, spoiled, lost, or not received by the 

6 voter. 

7 (H) A plan for training election workers in 

8 signature verification techniques. 

9 (I) Plans and procedures to ensure that 

10 voters who are blind, visually-impaired, or oth11 erwise disabled have the opportunity to partici12 pate in elections conducted by mail and to en13 sure compliance with the Help America Vote 

14 Act of 2002. Such plans and procedures shall 

15 be developed in consultation with disabled and 

16 other civil rights organizations, voting rights 

17 groups, State election officials, voter protection 

18 groups, and other interested community organi19 zations. 

20 (J) Plans and procedures to ensure the 

21 translation of ballots and voting materials in 

22 accordance with section 203 of the Voting 

23 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a)). 

24 (g) BEST PRACTICES, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND

25 REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

2 Commission shall— 

3 (A) develop, periodically issue, and, as ap4 propriate, update best practices for conducting 

5 elections by mail; 

6 (B) provide technical assistance to partici7 pating States for the purpose of implementing 

8 procedures for conducting elections by mail; and 

9 (C) submit to the appropriate committees 

10 of Congress— 

11 (i) annual reports on the implementa12 tion of such procedures by participating 

13 States during each year in which the pro14 gram is conducted; and 

15 (ii) upon completion of the program 

16 conducted under this section, a final report 

17 on the program, together with rec18 ommendations for such legislation or ad19 ministrative action as the Election Assist20 ance Commission determines to be appro21 priate. 

22 (2) CONSULTATION.—In developing, issuing, 

23 and updating best practices, developing materials to 

24 provide technical assistance to participating States, 

25 and developing the annual and final reports under 


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1 paragraph (1), the Election Assistance Commission 

2 shall consult with interested parties, including— 

3 (A) State and local election officials; 

4 (B) the United States Postal Service; 

5 (C) the Postal Regulatory Commission es6 tablished under section 501 of title 39, United 

7 States Code; and 

8 (D) voting rights groups, voter protection 

9 groups, groups representing the disabled, and 

10 other civil rights or community organizations. 

11 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) GRANTS.—There are authorized to be ap13 propriated to award grants under this section, for 

14 each of fiscal years 2007 through 2009, $6,000,000, 

15 to remain available without fiscal year limitation 

16 until expended. 

17 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—There are authorized to 

18 be appropriated to administer the program under 

19 this section, $200,000 for the period of fiscal years 

20 2007 through 2009, to remain available without fis21 cal year limitation until expended. 

22 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

23 may be construed to authorize or require conduct prohib24 ited under any of the following laws, or to supersede, re25 strict, or limit the application of such laws: 


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1 (1) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

2 U.S.C. 15301 et seq.). 

3 (2) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

4 1973 et seq.). 

5 (3) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 

6 Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.). 

7 (4) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab8 sentee Voting Act(42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.). 

9 (5) The National Voter Registration Act of 

10 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). 

11 (6) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

12 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

13 (7) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

14 701 et seq.). 

15 SEC. 5. STUDY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF MAIL-IN VOTING 

16 FOR ELECTIONS. 

17 (a) STUDY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

19 the United States (in this section referred to as the 

20 ‘‘Comptroller General’’) shall conduct a study evalu21 ating the benefits of broader implementation of mail22 in voting in elections, taking into consideration the 

23 annual reports submitted by the Election Assistance 

24 Commission under section 4(g)(1)(C)(i) before No25 vember 1, 2009. 


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1 (2) SPECIFIC ISSUES STUDIED.—The study 

2 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include a com3 parison of traditional voting methods and mail-in 

4 voting with respect to— 

5 (A) the likelihood of voter fraud and mis6 conduct; 

7 (B) the accuracy of voter rolls; 

8 (C) the accuracy of election results; 

9 (D) voter participation in urban and rural 

10 communities and by minorities, language mi11 norities (as defined in section 203 of the Voting 

12 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a)), 

13 and individuals with disabilities and by individ14 uals who are homeless or who frequently change 

15 their official residences; 

16 (E) public confidence in the election sys17 tem; 

18 (F) the residual vote rate, including such 

19 rate based on voter age, education, income, 

20 race, or ethnicity or whether a voter lives in an 

21 urban or rural community, is disabled, or is a 

22 language minority (as so defined); and 

23 (G) cost savings. 


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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study 

2 under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall 

3 consult with interested parties, including— 

4 (A) State and local election officials; 

5 (B) the United States Postal Service; 

6 (C) the Postal Regulatory Commission es7 tablished under section 501 of title 39, United 

8 States Code; and 

9 (D) voting rights groups, voter protection 

10 groups, groups representing the disabled, and 

11 other civil rights or community organizations. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than November 1, 2009, the 

13 Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to the ap14 propriate committees of Congress a report on the study 

15 conducted under subsection (a), together with such rec16 ommendations for legislation or administrative action as 

17 the Comptroller General determines to be appropriate. 

Æ 


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