I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3957 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to provide 
for same day registration. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2009 
Mr. ELLISON (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 
WALZ, and Mr. MEEK of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 
States to provide for same day registration. 
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 ‘‘Same Day Registration 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 
sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 
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(2) by inserting after section 303 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 304. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Notwithstanding section 
8(a)(1)(D) of the National Voter Registration Act of 
1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6), each State shall permit 
any eligible individual on the day of a Federal elec-
tion and on any day when voting, including early 
voting, is permitted for a Federal election— 
‘‘(A) to register to vote in such election at 
the polling place using a form that meets the 
requirements under section 9(b) of the National 
Voter Registration Act of 1993; and 
‘‘(B) to cast a vote in such election. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The requirements under 
paragraph (1) shall not apply to a State in which, 
under a State law in effect continuously on and after 
the date of the enactment of this section, there is no 
voter registration requirement for individuals in the 
State with respect to elections for Federal office. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means, with respect 
to any election for Federal office, an individual who is oth-
erwise qualified to vote in that election. 
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‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re-
quired to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) 
for the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of-
fice occurring in November 2010 and for any subsequent 
election for Federal office.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) 
is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting 
‘‘303, and 304’’. 
(2) The table of contents of such Act is amend-
ed— 
(A) by redesignating the items relating to 
sections 304 and 305 as relating to sections 
305 and 306, respectively; and 
(B) by inserting after the item relating to 
section 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 304. Same day registration.’’. 
Æ 
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