II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3301 

To establish an Online Voter Registration grant program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2010 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To establish an Online Voter Registration 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 ‘‘Online Voter Registra5 tion Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Americans have become increasingly com9 fortable with using the Internet for a wide range of 

10 purposes, including gathering information, pur11 chasing items, performing financial transactions, 


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1 and obtaining information and services from the 

2 Government. 

3 (2) In 2008, 74 percent of adults in the United 

4 States reported using the Internet, according to the 

5 Pew Internet and American Life Project. Of those 

6 adults, 89 percent reported using the Internet to 

7 find information, 71 percent made purchases over 

8 the Internet, 70 percent read news online, 56 per9 cent looked up campaign or political information, 55 

10 percent utilized online banking, and 59 percent vis11 ited Government Internet Web sites. 

12 (3) The Internet is well-suited to allow individ13 uals to provide and update personal information. 

14 Completing such tasks online saves time, reduces 

15 paper, increases efficiency, and lowers costs. 

16 (4) Many States already allow citizens to access 

17 Government services online, including renewing driv18 er’s licenses and registering cars. 

19 (5) Two States, Arizona and Washington, have 

20 already implemented online voter registration sys21 tems, and a number of other States are in the proc22 ess of adopting online voter registration systems. 

23 (6) Although 2008 was the first election cycle 

24 that the online voter registration system was in 

25 place in Washington State, in the month prior to the 


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1 general election, voter use of the online voter reg2 istration system exceeded that of mail-in registration 

3 cards by more than 20 percent. 

4 (7) Younger adults who are registering to vote 

5 for the first time are the most adept Internet users 

6 and expect to be able to accomplish most tasks on7 line. In 2008, 87 percent of adults age 18 to 29 

8 used the Internet. In Washington State, voters age 

9 18 to 24 had the highest rate of use of its online 

10 voter registration system. 

11 (8) During the 2008 election cycle, Washington 

12 State processed about 130,000 online voter registra13 tion transactions. 

14 (9) Implementing an online voter registration 

15 requires an initial investment to purchase the needed 

16 technology and to input existing voter information 

17 into the registration database. Washington State, for 

18 example, spent $278,000 to establish its online voter 

19 registration system. 

20 (10) Once in place, online voter registration 

21 systems allow the processing of new voter registra22 tions, changes of address or party, and requests for 

23 absentee ballots. 

24 (11) Washington State reports that it costs ap25 proximately 25 cents to process paper voter registraVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:20 May 05, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3301.IS S3301

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1 tion cards and 43 cents to process those submitted 

2 via the department of motor vehicles in compliance 

3 with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

4 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). Voters must also pay 

5 postage costs for registration cards sent through the 

6 mail. Once in place, the online voter registration sys7 tem requires no processing by staff in order to com8 plete a transaction, and therefore has no per trans9 action cost. For the 2008 general election, the online 

10 voter registration system saved Washington State 

11 $32,500, and saved consumers $54,600 in postage 

12 costs, which resulted in total savings to the State 

13 and consumers of over $87,000. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

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

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

18 (2) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘‘partici19 pating State’’ means a State receiving a grant under 

20 the Online Voter Registration grant program under 

21 section 4. 

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

23 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

24 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or pos25 session of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Election Assistance 

3 Commission shall establish an Online Voter Registration 

4 grant program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘pro5 gram’’). 

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

7 make grants to participating States solely for the imple8 mentation of online voter registration systems. 

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

10 grants made under this section be used to reimburse a 

11 State for costs incurred in implementing online voter reg12 istration systems at the State or local government level 

13 if such costs were incurred prior to October 1, 2009. 

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

15 the program under this section shall submit an application 

16 to the Election Assistance Commission containing such in17 formation, and at such time, as the Election Assistance 

18 Commission may specify. 

19 (e) AMOUNT AND AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

20 GRANTS; DURATION OF PROGRAM.— 

21 (1) AMOUNT OF IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of an im23 plementation grant made to a participating 

24 State shall be $150,000. 

25 (B) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

26 AFTER APPROPRIATION.—An implementation 


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1 grant made to a participating State under this 

2 section shall be available to the State without 

3 fiscal year limitation. 

4 (2) AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

5 GRANTS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assist7 ance Commission shall award implementation 

8 grants during each year in which the program 

9 is conducted. 

10 (B) ONE GRANT PER STATE.—The Elec11 tion Assistance Commission shall not award 

12 more than 1 implementation grant to any par13 ticipating State under this section over the du14 ration of the program. 

15 (3) DURATION.—The program shall be con16 ducted for a period of 5 years. 

17 (f) REQUIREMENTS.—A participating State shall es18 tablish and implement an online voter registration system 

19 which individuals may use to register to vote, update voter 

20 registration information, and request an absentee ballot 

21 in the State. 

22 (g) BEST PRACTICES, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND

23 REPORTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

25 Commission shall— 


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1 (A) develop, periodically issue, and, as ap2 propriate, update best practices for imple3 menting online voter registration systems; 

4 (B) provide technical assistance to partici5 pating States for the purpose of implementing 

6 online voter registration systems; and 

7 (C) submit to the appropriate committees 

8 of Congress— 

9 (i) annual reports on the implementa10 tion of such online voter registration sys11 tems by participating States during each 

12 year in which the program is conducted; 

13 and 

14 (ii) upon completion of the program 

15 conducted under this section, a final report 

16 on the program, together with rec17 ommendations for such legislation or ad18 ministrative action as the Election Assist19 ance Commission determines to be appro20 priate. 

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

22 and updating best practices, developing materials to 

23 provide technical assistance to participating States, 

24 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; and 

4 (B) voting rights groups, voter protection 

5 groups, groups representing the disabled, and 

6 other civil rights or community organizations. 

7 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 (1) GRANTS.—There are authorized to be ap9 propriated to award grants under this section, for 

10 each of fiscal years 2010 through 2016, $1,800,000, 

11 to remain available without fiscal year limitation 

12 until expended. 

13 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—There are authorized to 

14 be appropriated to administer the program under 

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

16 2010 through 2016, to remain available without fis17 cal year limitation until expended. 

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

19 may be construed to authorize or require conduct prohib20 ited under any of the following laws, or to supersede, re21 strict, or limit the application of such laws: 

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

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

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

25 1973 et seq.). 


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1 (3) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 

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

3 (4) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab4 sentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.). 

5 (5) The National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). 

7 (6) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

8 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

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

10 701 et seq.). 

Æ 


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