I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4972

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to permit certain 

individuals who are under the minimum legal voting age to complete 

voter registration application forms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2004

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 

FROST, Mr. OWENS, Mr. HINCHEY, and Mr. DEUTSCH) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to 

permit certain individuals who are under the minimum 

legal voting age to complete voter registration application 

forms, 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 ‘‘Gateway to Democracy 

5 Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) The right of citizens of the United States 

2 to vote is a fundamental right. 

3 (2) It is the responsibility of the Federal, State, 

4 and local governments to ensure that voter registra5 tion laws and procedures enhance the participation 

6 of eligible citizens as voters. 

7 (3) Young adults often fail to participate in the 

8 first election for which they are eligible to vote. 

9 (4) Young adults are consistently the age group 

10 with the lowest voter turnout. According to the Bu11 reau of the Census, in the 2000 general election only 

12 45.4% of 18 to 24 year olds were registered to vote 

13 and only 32.3% voted. The statistics for the 1998 

14 general election were even more dismal, as 39.2% of 

15 such individuals were registered and a mere 16.6% 

16 actually went to the polls. 

17 (5) One of the reasons for the failure of young 

18 adults to vote is that most States require registra19 tion prior to the election itself, so that it is too late 

20 to establish voter eligibility on Election Day. 

21 (6) The National Voter Registration Act of 

22 1993 established that the simultaneous application 

23 for voter registration with the application for a 

24 motor vehicle driver’s license provides the govern-
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1 ment with an effective mechanism for increasing ac2 cess to voter registration. 

3 (7) While many States allow individuals to get 

4 their license before they meet the age requirement 

5 for voter registration, few States allow registration 

6 at that time if the potential voter has not yet 

7 reached the minimum voting age. 

8 (8) In order to remove this barrier, increase the 

9 effectiveness of the National Voter Registration Act 

10 of 1993, and ensure that the maximum number of 

11 young adults is given the opportunity to register to 

12 vote, a procedure should be established to allow 

13 young adults who do not yet meet the voting age re14 quirement to nevertheless register to vote at the 

15 time they apply for their driver’s licenses. 

16 (9) Hawaii, Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Maine, 

17 Missouri, and Texas have already implemented suc18 cessful pre-registration programs which allow indi19 viduals to register to vote prior to meeting all of the 

20 eligibility requirements for registration. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act—

22 (1) to increase the effectiveness of the National 

23 Voter Registration Act of 1993; 

24 (2) to expand the categories of individuals who 

25 are given the opportunity to register to vote under 
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1 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to in2 clude young adults who do not yet meet the min3 imum age requirement to vote; and 

4 (3) to encourage civic engagement by young 

5 adults. 

6 SEC. 3. PERMITTING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS UNDER MIN7 IMUM LEGAL VOTING AGE TO COMPLETE 

8 VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORMS. 

9 (a) FORMS PROVIDED WITH APPLICATIONS FOR

10 MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER’S LICENSE.—Section 

11 5(c)(2)(C)(ii) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

12 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–3(c)(2)(C)(ii)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘requirement’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘re14 quirement (or, in the case of an applicant who is under 

15 the minimum legal voting age, an attestation that the ap16 plicant will reach such age prior to voting)’’. 

17 (b) FORMS PROVIDED BY OTHER DESIGNATED

18 VOTER REGISTRATION AGENCIES.—Section 

19 7(a)(6)(A)(i)(II) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–

20 5(a)(6)(A)(i)(II)) is amended by striking ‘‘requirement’’ 

21 and inserting the following: ‘‘requirement (or, in the case 

22 of an applicant who is under the minimum legal voting 

23 age, an attestation that the applicant will reach such age 

24 prior to voting)’’. 

25 (c) MAIL VOTER REGISTRATION FORM.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b)(2)(B) of such 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7(b)(2)(B)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘requirement’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘requirement (or, in the case of an applicant who is 

5 under the minimum legal voting age, an attestation 

6 that the applicant will reach such age prior to vot7 ing)’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT REGARDING

9 CHECK-OFF BOX FOR AGE.—Section 303(b)(4)(A)(ii) 

10 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

11 15483(b)(4)(A)(ii)) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(ii) The question ‘If you are under 

13 the minimum legal voting age, will you cer14 tify that you understand that this applica15 tion will not become effective and you will 

16 not be able to vote in any election prior to 

17 reaching that age?’ and boxes for the ap18 plicant to check to indicate whether or not 

19 the applicant will so certify.’’. 

20 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING MINIMUM

21 AGE FOR SUBMISSION OF FORMS.—Section 8 of the Na22 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–

23 6) is amended—

24 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub25 section (k); and 
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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(j) MINIMUM AGE FOR SUBMISSION OF FORMS.—

4 Nothing in this Act may be construed to require a State 

5 to accept any voter registration application form from an 

6 individual who, at the time of submitting the form, has 

7 not attained the age at which the individual may apply 

8 for a motor vehicle driver’s license in the State.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE AND AVAILABILITY OF INFORMA10 TION ON INDIVIDUALS UNDER MINIMUM 

11 LEGAL VOTING AGE. 

12 Section 303(a)(1)(A) of the Help America Vote Act 

13 of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)(1)(A)) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following new clause: 

15 ‘‘(ix) In addition to the information 

16 on legally registered voters which is main17 tained on the list, the State shall maintain 

18 information on those individuals in the 

19 State who have completed applications for 

20 voter registration prior to reaching the 

21 minimum legal voting age, and shall make 

22 the information available to election offi23 cials in the State.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to applications to register to vote in elections oc4 curring in a State after the date on which the State is 

5 required to comply with the requirements of section 

6 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (relating 

7 to the implementation of a computerized Statewide voter 

8 registration list).

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