Count the Vote Act

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to enhance enforcement of the Act, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Count the Vote Act 2. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002 (a) Complaints; availability of private right of action Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21111 (1) by striking The Attorney General (a) In General.— (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections: (b) Filing of Complaints by Aggrieved Persons (1) In general A person who is aggrieved by a violation of title III which has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur may file a written, signed, notarized complaint with the Attorney General describing the violation and requesting the Attorney General to take appropriate action under this section. The Attorney General shall immediately provide a copy of a complaint filed under the previous sentence to the entity responsible for administering the State-based administrative complaint procedures described in section 402(a) for the State involved. (2) Response by Attorney General The Attorney General shall respond to each complaint filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with procedures established by the Attorney General that require responses and determinations to be made within the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a State under the State-based administrative complaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). The Attorney General shall immediately provide a copy of the response made under the previous sentence to the entity responsible for administering the State-based administrative complaint procedures described in section 402(a) for the State involved. (c) Availability of private right of action Any person who is authorized to file a complaint under subsection (b)(1) (including any individual who seeks to enforce the individual’s right to a voter-verified paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper ballot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right under title III) may file an action under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States ( 42 U.S.C. 1983 (d) No effect on State procedures Nothing in this section may be construed to affect the availability of the State-based administrative complaint procedures required under section 402 to any person filing a complaint under this subsection. . (b) Effective date The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to violations occurring with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2020 or any succeeding year.

Summary: Count the Vote Act This bill authorizes an individual to file a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for certain violations made by a state with respect to federal elections, such as for violations of required voting system standards or failure to provide provisional ballots. Currently, individuals may file such a complaint through a state-based administrative procedure. Further, DOJ must immediately provide (1) a copy of the complaint to the entity responsible for administering the state-based administrative complaint procedure for the state involved in such complaint, and (2) a copy of the response to such entity. The bill also permits such an individual, including an individual who seeks to enforce their right to a voter-verified ballot, to file a civil action for deprivation of rights.