I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 198 
To require a national nonbinding referendum at the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office in 2020 to advise Congress on term 
limits for Members of Congress, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2019 
Mr. NORMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To require a national nonbinding referendum at the regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office in 2020 
to advise Congress on term limits for Members of Con-
gress, 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 Oppor-
tunity To Inform Congress Effectively on Term Limits 
Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘V.O.I.C.E. on Term Limits Act of 
2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the right of citizens of the United States to 
vote is a fundamental right; 
(2) the right of citizens of the United States to 
have an effective voice in the decision-making proc-
esses of the Congress is grounded in the right to pe-
tition and is a fundamental part of American democ-
racy; 
(3) Congress should provide an opportunity for 
citizens to express their views on important public 
issues; 
(4) there is an increasing public sentiment and 
demand for limiting the terms of Members of Con-
gress; and 
(5) voters in 15 States have already voted and 
approved State laws to limit the terms of their state 
legislators, and voters in other States have expressed 
their interest in having term limits for Members of 
Congress. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to give the citizens of every State the oppor-
tunity to express their opinion on whether or not the 
terms of Members of Congress should be limited; 
and 
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(2) to conduct a national nonbinding ref-
erendum on term limits at the 2020 general election, 
thereby having an opportunity to study the feasi-
bility of conducting national nonbinding referenda 
on other important issues in the future. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL NONBINDING REFERENDUM ON TERM 
LIMITS. 
(a) NONBINDING REFERENDUM REQUIRED.—The 
chief election official of each State, in the regularly sched-
uled general election for Federal office in 2020, shall place 
on the ballot in each congressional district in the State 
a nonbinding referendum consisting of the following: 
(1) The title ‘‘National Advisory Referendum 
on Term Limits’’. 
(2) The advisory question ‘‘Should Congress ap-
prove a constitutional amendment to limit the num-
ber of terms that a Member of the United States 
House of Representatives and United States Senator 
can serve in office?’’. 
(3) The options of answering ‘‘Yes’’ or ‘‘No’’. 
(b) 
PROCEDURES
FOR
NONBINDING
REF-
ERENDUM.—Each chief election official of a State shall 
ensure that the nonbinding referendum is conducted in the 
same manner as an election for Federal office in such 
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State, including with respect to the printing, preparation, 
tabulation, and certification of ballots. 
(c) RESULTS OF NONBINDING REFERENDUM.—The 
chief election official of each State shall— 
(1) tabulate the results of the nonbinding ref-
erendum for each congressional district in the State 
and on a statewide basis; and 
(2) certify and transmit such results to Con-
gress in the same manner and at the same time of 
the certification of election of Members of the House 
of Representatives and Senate for the regularly 
scheduled 2020 general election. 
(d) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 
(1) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Not 
later than 90 days after the date of the regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office in 2020, 
the chief election official of each State shall submit 
to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate comments with re-
spect to recommended changes or other improve-
ments related to the conduct of the nonbinding ref-
erendum, for consideration in conducting national 
nonbinding referenda on other issues in future gen-
eral elections for Federal office. 
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(2) COMMITTEES ON THE JUDICIARY OF THE 
HOUSE
AND
SENATE.—Not later than 6 months 
after the date of the regularly scheduled general 
election for Federal office in 2020, the Committees 
on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 
and the Senate shall prepare and report to the 
House and Senate, respectively, recommendations 
with respect to the response of Congress to the re-
sults of the nonbinding referendum. 
(e) REIMBURSEMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 
Commission shall reimburse an eligible State for the 
reasonable costs incurred by the State to conduct 
the nonbinding referendum. 
(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for reimburse-
ment under paragraph (1), a State shall submit to 
the Election Assistance Commission an application 
at such time, in such form, and containing such in-
formation as the Commission may require. 
(f) APPLICABILITY OF RELATED FEDERAL LAWS TO 
NONBINDING REFERENDUM.—All Federal laws which 
apply to an election for Federal office shall apply to the 
nonbinding referendum. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) 
CONGRESSIONAL
DISTRICT.—The 
term 
‘‘congressional district’’ includes the district of a 
Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 
(2) NONBINDING
REFERENDUM.—The term 
‘‘nonbinding referendum’’ means the referendum re-
quired by section 4(a) of this Act. 
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Is-
lands of the United States. 
Æ 
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