I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 154 

To ensure election integrity and security by establishing consistent photo 

identification requirements for voting in elections for Federal office, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. FITZPATRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To ensure election integrity and security by establishing consistent photo identification requirements for voting in 

elections for Federal office, 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 ‘‘Securing our Elections 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Free, fair, and secure elections are nec2 essary to the prosperity of democracy in the United 

3 States and around the world. 

4 (2) The right to vote is a crucial aspect of 

5 American citizenship and must be protected from 

6 any potential interference, abuse, and fraud. 

7 (3) The passage of the Help America Vote Act 

8 of 2002 improved and standardized State and local 

9 governments’ administration of Federal elections, 

10 but lacked strong provisions to validate a voter’s 

11 identity prior to their voting. 

12 (4) In 2005, the bipartisan Commission on 

13 Federal Election Reform co-chaired by former 

14 Democratic President Jimmy Carter and former Re15 publican Secretary of State James A. Baker III re16 leased a report which explicitly recommended that 

17 States require voters to use a valid identification 

18 that includes their full legal name, date of birth, a 

19 signature, and a photo. 

20 (5) A public survey conducted by the reputable, 

21 nonpartisan Monmouth University Polling Institute 

22 in June 2021 indicated that an overwhelming 80 

23 percent of Americans support requiring voters to 

24 show a photo identification in order to vote. 


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1 (6) Valid identification is required by the States 

2 and the Federal Government for a multitude of seri3 ous purposes in public life such as driving or renting 

4 a car, boarding an airplane or train, traveling within 

5 and outside of the United States, purchasing alcohol 

6 or controlled substances, picking up prescription 

7 medication, opening a bank account or cashing a 

8 check, applying for employment or housing opportu9 nities, and much more. 

10 (7) As determined by the Congressional Re11 search Service, 161 nations worldwide—approxi12 mately 83 percent—require their citizens to present 

13 a form of identification in order to vote, including 

14 38 of the top 50 most democratic nations identified 

15 by the Democracy Index 2021. 

16 (8) More than two-thirds of the States already 

17 request or require citizens to show a form of identi18 fication in order to vote, 22 of which request or re19 quire a photo identification for the purposes of vot20 ing. 

21 SEC. 3. REQUIRING VOTERS TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTI22 FICATION. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTIFICA24 TION AS CONDITION OF CASTING BALLOT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer2 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

3 amended by inserting after section 303 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED AS

7 CONDITION OF CASTING BALLOT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.— 

9 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE IDENTI10 FICATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law and except as provided in subpara12 graph (B), the appropriate State or local elec13 tion official may not provide a ballot for an 

14 election for Federal office to an individual who 

15 desires to vote in person unless the individual 

16 presents to the official a valid photo identifica17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF PROVISIONAL BAL19 LOT.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an individual 

21 does not present the identification required 

22 under subparagraph (A), the individual 

23 shall be permitted to cast a provisional bal24 lot with respect to the election under sec25 tion 302(a), except that the appropriate 


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1 State or local election official may not 

2 make a determination under section 

3 302(a)(4) that the individual is eligible 

4 under State law to vote in the election un5 less, not later than 3 days after casting the 

6 provisional ballot, the individual presents 

7 to the official— 

8 ‘‘(I) the identification required 

9 under subparagraph (A); or 

10 ‘‘(II) an affidavit developed and 

11 made available to the individual by 

12 the State attesting that the individual 

13 does not possess the identification re14 quired under subparagraph (A) be15 cause the individual has a religious 

16 objection to being photographed. 

17 ‘‘(ii) NO EFFECT ON OTHER PROVI18 SIONAL BALLOTING RULES.—Nothing in 

19 clause (i) may be construed to apply to the 

20 casting of a provisional ballot pursuant to 

21 section 302(a) or any State law for reasons 

22 other than the failure to present the identi23 fication required under subparagraph (A). 

24 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN

25 PERSON.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

2 other provision of law and except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the appropriate State or 

4 local election official may not accept any ballot 

5 for an election for Federal office provided by an 

6 individual who votes other than in person unless 

7 the individual submits with the ballot— 

8 ‘‘(i) a copy of a valid photo identifica9 tion; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the last four digits of the individ11 ual’s Social Security number and an affi12 davit developed and made available to the 

13 individual by the State attesting that the 

14 individual is unable to obtain a copy of a 

15 valid photo identification after making rea16 sonable efforts to obtain such a copy. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR OVERSEAS MILITARY

18 VOTERS.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply 

19 with respect to a ballot provided by an absent 

20 uniformed services voter who, by reason of ac21 tive duty or service, is absent from the United 

22 States on the date of the election involved. In 

23 this subparagraph, the term ‘absent uniformed 

24 services voter’ has the meaning given such term 

25 in section 107(1) of the Uniformed and OverVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154

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1 seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

2 20310(1)), other than an individual described 

3 in section 107(1)(C) of such Act. 

4 ‘‘(b) PROVIDING CERTAIN ASSISTANCE TO INDIVID5 UALS UNABLE TO PAY COSTS OF OBTAINING IDENTI6 FICATION OR OTHERWISE UNABLE TO OBTAIN IDENTI7 FICATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION WITHOUT

9 CHARGE TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—If an individual 

10 presents a State official at the appropriate State 

11 agency or department designated by the State with 

12 an affidavit developed and made available to the in13 dividual by the State attesting that the individual is 

14 unable to pay the costs associated with obtaining a 

15 valid photo identification under this section, or at16 testing that the individual is otherwise unable to ob17 tain a valid photo identification under this section 

18 after making reasonable efforts to obtain such an 

19 identification, the official shall provide the individual 

20 with a valid photo identification under this sub21 section without charge to the individual. 

22 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC ACCESS TO DIGITAL IMAGING DE23 VICES.—With respect to each State, the appropriate 

24 State or local government official of the State shall 

25 ensure, to the extent practicable, public access to a 


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1 digital imaging device, which shall include a printer, 

2 copier, image scanner, or multifunction machine, at 

3 State and local government buildings in the State, 

4 including courts, libraries, and police stations, for 

5 the purpose of allowing individuals to use such a de6 vice at no cost to the individual to make a copy of 

7 a valid photo identification. 

8 ‘‘(c) VALID PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS DESCRIBED.— 

9 For purposes of this section, a ‘valid photo identification’ 

10 means, with respect to an individual who seeks to vote in 

11 a State, any of the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) A valid State-issued motor vehicle driver’s 

13 license that includes a photo of the individual and an 

14 expiration date. 

15 ‘‘(2) A valid State-issued identification card 

16 that includes a photo of the individual and an expi17 ration date. 

18 ‘‘(3) A valid United States passport for the in19 dividual. 

20 ‘‘(4) A valid military identification for the indi21 vidual. 

22 ‘‘(5) Any other form of government-issued iden23 tification that the State may specify as a valid photo 

24 identification for purposes of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE2 MENT TO APPLICANTS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall ensure 

4 that, at the time an individual applies to register to 

5 vote in elections for Federal office in the State, the 

6 appropriate State or local election official notifies 

7 the individual of the photo identification require8 ments of this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS APPLY10 ING TO REGISTER TO VOTE ONLINE.—Each State 

11 shall ensure that, in the case of an individual who 

12 applies to register to vote in elections for Federal of13 fice in the State online, the online voter registration 

14 system notifies the individual of the photo identifica15 tion requirements of this section before the indi16 vidual completes the online registration process. 

17 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF STATES WITH CERTAIN PHOTO

18 IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS IN EFFECT AS OF DATE

19 OF ENACTMENT.—If, as of the date of the enactment of 

20 this section, a State has in effect a law that satisfies or 

21 exceeds the requirements of this section for an individual 

22 to provide a photo identification as a condition of casting 

23 a ballot in elections for Federal office held in the State 

24 and the law remains in effect on and after the effective 


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1 date of this section, the State shall be considered to meet 

2 the requirements of this section if— 

3 ‘‘(1) the State submits a request to the Attor4 ney General and provides such information as the 

5 Attorney General may consider necessary to deter6 mine that the State has in effect such a law and 

7 that the law remains in effect; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the Attorney General— 

9 ‘‘(A) approves the request; or 

10 ‘‘(B) fails to issue a determination with re11 spect to the request during the 180-day period 

12 that begins on the date the State submits such 

13 request. 

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

15 with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2024 

16 or any succeeding year.’’. 

17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con18 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 

19 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Photo identification requirements.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO VOL21 UNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS22 SION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)) 

23 is amended— 

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

25 (2); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

4 paragraph: 

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

6 respect to section 303A, October 1, 2023.’’. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN8 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

10 303A’’. 

11 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO RE12 PEAL OF EXISTING PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE13 MENTS FOR CERTAIN VOTERS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of such Act (52 

15 U.S.C. 21083) is amended— 

16 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND RE17 QUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER

18 BY MAIL’’; 

19 (B) in the heading of subsection (b), by 

20 striking ‘‘FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER BY

21 MAIL’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR MAIL-IN REGISTRA22 TION FORMS’’; 

23 (C) in subsection (b), by striking para24 graphs (1) through (3) and redesignating paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154

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1 graphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (1) and (2), 

2 respectively; and 

3 (D) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘sub4 sections (a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and (b)(3)(B)(i)(II)’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(i)(II)’’. 

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con7 tents of such Act is amended by amending the item 

8 relating to section 303 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 303. Computerized statewide voter registration list requirements.’’. 

9 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend10 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to 

11 elections for Federal office held in 2024 or any succeeding 

12 year. 

Æ 


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