I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1559
To require that general Federal elections be held over the 48-hour period
that begins with the first Saturday in November, to prohibit States
from preventing citizens who are registered to vote from voting in Federal
elections and from carrying out certain law enforcement activities which
have the effect of intimidating individuals from voting, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 24, 2001
Mr. HILLIARD (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mrs. JONES of
Ohio, Mr. FILNER, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WYNN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms.
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. LEE, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN,
and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the
Committee on the Judiciary, 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 require that general Federal elections be held over the
48-hour period that begins with the first Saturday in
November, to prohibit States from preventing citizens
who are registered to vote from voting in Federal elec-
tions and from carrying out certain law enforcement
activities which have the effect of intimidating individuals
from voting, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Voter Anti-
Intimidation and Anti-Fraud Election Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. HOLDING GENERAL ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OF-
FICE OVER THE 48-HOUR PERIOD BEGINNING
WITH THE FIRST SATURDAY IN NOVEMBER.
(a) ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI-
DENT.—Section 1 of title 3, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘on the Tuesday next after the first
Monday in November’’ and inserting ‘‘on the first Satur-
day in November and the next day’’.
(b) ELECTION OF SENATORS AND MEMBERS OF THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Section 25 of the Re-
vised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 7) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘The Tuesday next after the 1st
Monday in November’’ and inserting ‘‘The first Sat-
urday in November and the next day’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘is established as the day’’ and
inserting ‘‘are established as the days’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring
after January 2002.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STATES FROM PREVENTING REG-
ISTERED CITIZENS FROM VOTING IN FED-
ERAL ELECTIONS.
No State may prohibit any individual from voting in
an election for Federal office if the individual—
(1) is a citizen of the United States;
(2) is registered to vote with respect to the elec-
tion in the jurisdiction for which the individual seeks
to cast a ballot; and
(3) is not incarcerated for the entire period dur-
ing which polls for the election are open in the
State.
SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT AC-
TIVITIES AS INTERFERENCE WITH ELECTION.
Section 595 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)
Whoever’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘This section’’ and inserting
‘‘(c) This section’’; and
(3) by inserting after the first paragraph the
following:
‘‘(b) For purposes of subsection (a), if a law enforce-
ment officer of a State or local government carries out
any of the following activities on the date of an election
for Federal office, the officer shall be considered to be
using official authority for the purpose of interfering with
the nomination or election of a candidate described in such
subsection:
‘‘(1) Attendance at any polling place for any
reason other than voting, responding to a request
from an official conducting the election at the poll-
ing place, or responding to a threat of violence or
harm directed at any person or property at the poll-
ing place.
‘‘(2) The arrest of any individual on the
grounds that the individual has any outstanding
misdemeanor warrants.
‘‘(3) The establishment of any traffic roadblock
unless a felony has been committed within the pre-
vious 24 hours (or is in the process of being com-
mitted) and the roadblock is necessary to prevent
the alleged felon from escaping.’’.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the
amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to
elections occurring after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
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