II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2818

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure the same requirements that apply to voters who register by mail also apply to voters 

who do not register in person with an officer or employee of a State 

or local government entity, and to provide for increased penalties for 

fraudulent registration in cases involving 10 or more violations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2004

Mr. DOMENICI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure 

the same requirements that apply to voters who register 

by mail also apply to voters who do not register in 

person with an officer or employee of a State or local 

government entity, and to provide for increased penalties 

for fraudulent registration in cases involving 10 or more 

violations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 
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•S 2818 IS 

1 (1) The right to vote is a fundamental and in2 controvertible right under the Constitution. 

3 (2) There is a need for Congress to encourage 

4 and enable every eligible American to vote by re5 affirming that the right to vote is a fundamental 

6 right under the Constitution. 

7 (3) There is a need for Congress to encourage 

8 and enable every eligible American to vote by re9 affirming that the United States is a democratic 

10 government ‘‘of the people, by the people, and for 

11 the people’’ in which every vote counts. 

12 (4) There is a need for Congress to encourage 

13 and enable every eligible American to vote by elimi14 nating procedural obstacles to voting. 

15 (5) There is a need to counter discrimination in 

16 voting by removing barriers to the exercise of the 

17 constitutionally protected right to vote. 

18 (6) There is a need to ensure that voter reg19 istration processes fairly incorporate every eligible 

20 American seeking to exercise the right to vote. 

21 (7) Participation in the electoral process is a 

22 fundamental civic responsibility in which all eligible 

23 Americans should be encouraged to actively partici24 pate. 
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1 (8) There is a need to ensure that every eligible 

2 American seeking to exercise the right to vote has 

3 access to the electoral process through a uniform 

4 system of voter registration that includes each vot5 er’s personal registration with an appropriate State 

6 or local government election entity. 

7 (9) Congress has authority under section 4 of 

8 Article I of the Constitution of the United States, 

9 section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Con10 stitution of the United States, and section 2 of the 

11 Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 

12 United States to enact legislation to address the 

13 equal protection violations that may be caused by 

14 unfair voting systems. 

15 (10) Congress has an obligation to ensure that 

16 the States and localities improve election administra17 tion and to ensure the integrity of full participation 

18 of all Americans in the democratic election process. 

19 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS WHO DO NOT REG20 ISTER IN PERSON WITH AN OFFICER OR EM21 PLOYEE OF A STATE OR LOCAL GOVERN22 MENT ENTITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (1) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO VOT25 ERS NOT REGISTERING IN PERSON.—Section 
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1 303(b)(1)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

2 (42 U.S.C. 15483(b)(1)(A)) is amended to read as 

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘(A) the individual— 

5 ‘‘(i) registered to vote in a jurisdiction 

6 by mail; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) did not register to vote in a ju8 risdiction in person with an officer or em9 ployee of a State or local government enti10 ty; and’’. 

11 (2) MEANING OF IN PERSON.—Paragraph (1) 

12 of section 303(b) of such Act is amended by insert13 ing at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘For purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii), an individual 

15 shall not be considered to have registered in person 

16 if the registration is made by a person other than 

17 the person whose name appears on the voter reg18 istration form.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading for 

20 subsection (b) of section 303 of such Act is amended by 

21 inserting ‘‘AND WHO DO NOT REGISTER IN PERSON’’ 

22 after ‘‘MAIL’’. 

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

24 this section shall take effect as if included in section 303 

25 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. 
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1 SEC. 3. INCREASED PENALTIES RELATING TO FRAUDU2 LENT VOTER REGISTRATION IN CASES IN3 VOLVING 10 OR MORE VIOLATIONS. 

4 (a) FALSE INFORMATION IN REGISTERING OR VOT5 ING.—Subsection (c) of section 11 of the Voting Rights 

6 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973i(c)) is amended by inserting 

7 at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of any person who 

8 is found to have been in violation of this section with re9 spect to 10 or more voter registrations, this section shall 

10 be applied by substituting ‘$20,000’ for ‘$10,000’ and by 

11 substituting ‘ten years’ for ‘five years’ with respect to each 

12 such violation.’’. 

13 (b) PENALTY UNDER NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRA14 TION ACT OF 1993.—Section 12 of the National Voter 

15 Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–10) is 

16 amended by inserting at the end the following: ‘‘In the 

17 case of any person who is found to have been in violation 

18 of paragraph (2)(A) with respect to 10 or more registra19 tion applications, such person shall be fined not less 

20 $500,000 ($1,000,000 in the case of an organization) or 

21 shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both, and 

22 any such fine shall be paid into the general fund of the 

23 Treasury as provided in the preceding sentence.’’. 
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to violations occurring after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act.

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