I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1439 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 

to vote by mail in Federal elections, to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for automatic voter registration, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, 

Mr. MULLIN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CASE, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. TAKANO, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, 

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 amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow 

all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections, 

to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

to provide for automatic voter registration, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vote at Home Act of 

3 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the 

7 United States because voters in some States have 

8 the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 

9 other States do not. 

10 (2) Many voters often have work, family, or 

11 other commitments that make getting to polls and 

12 waiting in line on the date of an election difficult or 

13 impossible. Many citizens with disabilities are phys14 ically unable to vote due to long lines, inadequate 

15 parking, no curb cuts, steep ramps, and large 

16 crowds. In 2012, 30 percent of voters with disabil17 ities had difficulty voting, and in 2016, nearly two18 thirds of the 137 polling places inspected on Elec19 tion Day had at least one impediment to people with 

20 disabilities. However, with expanded access to mail21 in ballots, people with disabilities made large gains 

22 in 2020 with a historic voter turnout surge. 

23 (3) In 2020, despite a global pandemic, the 

24 general election saw record high turnout as a result 

25 of increased vote by mail options, which allowed vot26 ers to cast a ballot and stay safe at the same time. 


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1 (4) 34 States and the District of Columbia cur2 rently allow universal absentee voting (also known as 

3 ‘‘no-excuse’’ absentee voting), which permits any 

4 voter to request a mail-in ballot without providing a 

5 reason for the request. No State which has imple6 mented no-excuse absentee voting has repealed it. 

7 (5) 5 States currently hold elections entirely by 

8 mail. 8 States proactively send all registered voters 

9 a ballot to be submitted by mail or dropped off at 

10 a designated location. At least 22 States currently 

11 allow some elections to be conducted by mail, espe12 cially in large and rural jurisdictions where voting by 

13 mail is especially convenient. Polling stations in 

14 rural jurisdictions tend to have higher costs per 

15 voter, smaller staffs, and limited resources. Trans16 portation is often a crucial barrier for rural voters. 

17 (6) In 2020, in order to provide greater accessi18 bility and to protect the public health, 30 States 

19 adopted or changed their laws for the general elec20 tion to allow voters to cast their ballots from home. 

21 These changes included removing strict excuse re22 quirements or allowing COVID–19 concerns to be a 

23 valid excuse to vote absentee, allowing ballot drop 

24 boxes, offering prepaid postage on election mail and 

25 proactively sending all active registered voters appliVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Mar 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1439.IH H1439

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1 cations to request an absentee ballot, with some even 

2 skipping that step and sending the actual ballots. 

3 (7) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 

4 consider their choices, which is especially important 

5 as many ballots contain greater numbers of ques6 tions about complex issues than in the past due to 

7 the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 

8 process in many States. 

9 (8) Voting by mail is cost effective. After the 

10 State of Oregon adopted vote by mail for all voters 

11 in 1996, the cost to administer an election in the 

12 State dropped by nearly 30 percent over the next 

13 few elections, from $3.07 per voter to $2.21 per 

14 voter. After Colorado implemented all-mail balloting 

15 in 2013, voting administration costs decreased by an 

16 average of 40 percent. The cost of conducting vote17 by-mail elections is generally one-third to one-half 

18 less than conducting polling place elections. Voting 

19 by mail also saves a substantial amount by getting 

20 rid of the temporary labor costs of hiring poll work21 ers. In addition to that cost, many jurisdictions have 

22 been facing difficulty in obtaining sufficient numbers 

23 of poll workers. 

24 (9) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 

25 mail can reduce waiting times for those voters who 


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1 choose to vote at the polls. In 2016, voters in Ari2 zona reported waiting in line from 1 to 5 hours to 

3 vote; in New York, voters reported that stations ran 

4 out of ballots and did not have staff during all of 

5 the hours scheduled for voting. 

6 (10) Voting by mail is preferable to many vot7 ers as an alternative to going to the polls. In 2020, 

8 43.2 percent of ballots in the United States were 

9 cast by mail, up from 10 percent in 2000. Voting by 

10 mail has become increasingly popular with voters 

11 who want to be certain that they are able to vote no 

12 matter what comes up on Election Day, as it re13 duces the physical obstacles and eases the time con14 straints connected with the act of voting. 

15 (11) Despite attempts to claim that voting by 

16 mail is susceptible to fraud, it is not. Strategies such 

17 as the tracking systems for ballots and Postal Serv18 ice cooperation in preventing ballots from being de19 livered to names not recognized as receiving mail at 

20 an address nearly eliminate the potential for fraud 

21 in vote by mail elections. Evidence of undue influ22 ence or voter coercion after vote-by-mail implementa23 tion in Oregon has been nonexistent to minimal. 

24 (12) Many of the reasons which voters in many 

25 States are required to provide in order to vote by 


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1 mail require the revelation of personal information 

2 about health, travel plans, or religious activities, 

3 which violate voters’ privacy while doing nothing to 

4 prevent voter fraud. 

5 (13) State laws which require voters to obtain 

6 a notary signature to vote by mail only add cost and 

7 inconvenience to voters without increasing security. 

8 (14) Many voters choose to cast ballots early 

9 when they have the option (over 50 percent in Ari10 zona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Geor11 gia, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North 

12 Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and 

13 Washington). Approximately 70 percent of voters in 

14 the 2020 election cast their ballot before Election 

15 Day. In Oregon, 7 years after vote-by-mail election 

16 implementation, over 80 percent of voters favored 

17 the vote-by-mail system. 

18 (15) Vote-by-mail typically increases turnout in 

19 all elections, but can be particularly effective in in20 creasing voter participation in special elections and 

21 primary elections. Oregon, Washington, and Colo22 rado, 3 of the 5 States with entirely vote by mail 

23 systems, continue to have consistently high voter 

24 turnout rates. In 2020, the Presidential election 

25 turnout was about 7 percentage points higher than 


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1 in 2016, and turnout rates increased in every State 

2 compared with 2016. In the 10 States where it rose 

3 the most, 7 conducted their vote entirely or mostly 

4 by mail, with 6 of those States having recently 

5 adopted all-mail voting, either permanently (Utah 

6 and Hawaii) or for the 2020 elections only. 

7 (16) A crucial component of a modern voting 

8 system is making it easy, affordable, and accessible 

9 to register to vote. Twenty-two states and the Dis10 trict of Columbia have enacted automatic voter reg11 istration policies, with Oregon and California becom12 ing the first to automatically register their citizens 

13 to vote when they apply for a driver’s license. Auto14 matic, permanent voter registration has the potential 

15 to increase participation, protect election integrity, 

16 and reduce registration costs. 

17 SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 

18 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

19 (a) VOTING BY MAIL IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

21 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 

22 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 

23 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

2 MAIL. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli4 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 

5 State may not impose any additional conditions or require6 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 

7 in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 

8 State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and re9 lated voting materials from the appropriate State or local 

10 election official and for returning the ballot to the appro11 priate State or local election official. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF BALLOT MATERIALS.—Not later 

13 than 2 weeks before the date of any election for Federal 

14 office, each State shall mail ballots to individuals who are 

15 registered to vote in such election. 

16 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS17 ABILITIES.—All ballots provided under this section shall 

18 be accessible to individuals with disabilities in a manner 

19 that provides the same opportunity for access and partici20 pation (including for privacy and independence) as for 

21 other voters. 

22 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec23 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 

24 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 

25 polling places at which individuals cast ballots. 


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1 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 

2 to comply with the requirements of this section with re3 spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 

4 with 2024.’’. 

5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

6 ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 

7 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘303, and 303A’’. 

9 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents for such Act is amended by inserting after the 

11 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 

12 (b) FREE POSTAGE FOR VOTING BY MAIL.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘§ 3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elec17 tions 

18 ‘‘Blank ballots mailed pursuant to section 303A(b) 

19 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 which are mailed 

20 by a State or local election official (individually or in bulk) 

21 to a voter, and voted ballots which are mailed by a voter 

22 to an election official, shall be carried expeditiously and 

23 free of postage.’’. 

24 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND25 MENTS.— 


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1 (A) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of 

2 sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

‘‘3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elections.’’. 

5 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA6 TIONS.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, United 

7 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘3403 

8 through 3406’’ and inserting ‘‘3403 through 

9 3407’’. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH 

11 STATE MOTOR VEHICLE AUTHORITIES. 

12 (a) AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION.—Section 5 

13 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

14 20504) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 5. VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH MOTOR VEHICLE 

16 AUTHORITY. 

17 ‘‘(a) SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION FOR VOTER REG18 ISTRATION AND APPLICATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLE

19 DRIVER’S LICENSE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION TO ELEC21 TION OFFICIALS.—Each State’s motor vehicle au22 thority, upon receiving any of the identifying infor23 mation described in paragraph (2) with respect to 

24 any applicable individual, shall securely transmit the 


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1 identifying information to the appropriate State elec2 tion official. 

3 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION DESCRIBED.— 

4 The identifying information described in this para5 graph with respect to any individual is as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) The individual’s legal name. 

7 ‘‘(B) The individual’s age. 

8 ‘‘(C) The individual’s residence. 

9 ‘‘(D) The individual’s citizenship status. 

10 ‘‘(E) The individual’s electronic signature. 

11 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF OFFICIALS RECEIVING INFORMA12 TION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving the identi14 fying information with respect to an applicable indi15 vidual under subsection (a), the appropriate State 

16 election official shall determine— 

17 ‘‘(A) whether such individual is eligible to 

18 vote in an election for Federal office; and 

19 ‘‘(B) whether such individual is currently 

20 registered to vote in elections for Federal office 

21 at the address provided in such identifying in22 formation. 

23 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO INDIVIDUALS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE UNREGISTERED INDIVID25 UALS.—In the case of an applicable individual 


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1 who is eligible to vote in an election for Federal 

2 office and who is not currently registered to 

3 vote, the appropriate State election official shall 

4 issue a notification to the individual con5 taining— 

6 ‘‘(i) a statement that, unless the indi7 vidual notifies the election official prior to 

8 the expiration of the 21-calendar day pe9 riod which begins on the date the official 

10 issued the notification that the individual 

11 declines to be registered to vote in elections 

12 for Federal office held in the State, the in13 dividual’s records and signature will con14 stitute a completed registration for the in15 dividual; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) a description of the process by 

17 which the individual may decline to be reg18 istered to vote in elections for Federal of19 fice in the State. 

20 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED

21 AT A DIFFERENT ADDRESS.—In the case of an 

22 applicable individual who is eligible to vote in 

23 an election for Federal office and who is reg24 istered to vote in such election at a different 

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1 fying information, the appropriate State elec2 tion official shall issue a notification to the indi3 vidual containing— 

4 ‘‘(i) a statement that, unless the indi5 vidual notifies the election official prior to 

6 the expiration of the 21-calendar day pe7 riod which begins on the date the official 

8 issued the notification that the address 

9 provided in the identifying information 

10 should not be used for voter registration 

11 purposes, the address provided in the iden12 tifying information shall be used as the in13 dividual’s address for voter registration 

14 purposes; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) a description of the process by 

16 which the individual may decline a change 

17 of address for voter registration purposes. 

18 ‘‘(c) AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDI19 VIDUALS; AUTOMATIC CHANGE OF ADDRESS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Upon the expiration of 

21 the 21-calendar day period which begins on the date 

22 the appropriate State election official issues a notifi23 cation to an individual under subsection (b)(2)(A), 

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1 istered to vote in elections for Federal office held in 

2 the State unless— 

3 ‘‘(A) the official later determines that the 

4 individual does not meet the eligibility require5 ments for registering to vote in such elections; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(B) prior to the expiration of such 21-cal8 endar day period, the individual notifies the of9 ficial that the individual declines to be reg10 istered to vote in such elections. 

11 ‘‘(2) CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—Upon the expira12 tion of the 21-calendar day period which begins on 

13 the date the appropriate State election official issues 

14 a notification to an individual under subsection 

15 (b)(2)(B), the official shall ensure that the indi16 vidual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 

17 office at the address provided in the identifying in18 formation unless— 

19 ‘‘(A) the official later determines that the 

20 individual does not meet the eligibility require21 ments for registering to vote in such elections; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(B) prior to the expiration of such 21-cal24 endar day period, the individual notifies the ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Mar 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1439.IH H1439

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1 ficial that the individual declines a change of 

2 address for voter registration purposes. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

4 section, the term ‘applicable individual’ means any indi5 vidual who seeks assistance from, receives benefits from, 

6 or receives service or assistance from a State motor vehicle 

7 authority that issues motor vehicle driver’s licenses.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO TIM9 ING OF REGISTRATION PRIOR TO ELECTIONS.—Section 

10 8(a)(1)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)(A)) is 

11 amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) in the case of registration through a 

13 motor vehicle authority under section 5, if the 

14 identifying information with respect to the indi15 vidual is transmitted by the authority to the ap16 propriate State election official under section 

17 5(a)(1) not later than the lesser of 30 days, or 

18 the period provided by State law, before the 

19 date of the election;’’. 

20 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

21 4(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20503(a)(1)) is amended 

22 to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(1) through the State motor vehicle authority 

24 pursuant to section 5;’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

3 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

Æ 


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