I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2104 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit local jurisdictions 
within a State to conduct early voting in elections for Federal office 
held in such jurisdictions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2005 
Ms. NORTON 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 permit 
local jurisdictions within a State to conduct early voting 
in elections for Federal office held in such jurisdictions, 
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. PROVIDING AUTHORITY TO LOCAL JURISDIC-
TIONS TO CONDUCT EARLY VOTING IN ELEC-
TIONS. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is
amended by inserting after section 303 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. AUTHORITY OF LOCAL JURISDICTIONS TO CON-
DUCT EARLY VOTING. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision 
of State law, a jurisdiction which is located within a State 
and which is responsible for administering an election for 
Federal office may permit individuals to cast ballots in 
the election prior to the date of the election in the same 
manner in which ballots are cast on the date of the elec-
tion, during such period prior to the date of the election 
as the jurisdiction may establish. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re-
quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 
and after January 1, 2006.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN-
FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) 
is amended by striking ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subtitle A of title III’’ . 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 303A. Authority of local jurisdictions to conduct early voting.’’.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING ACCEPTANCE OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS 
WITHOUT SUFFICIENT POSTAGE. 
(a) REQUIRING ELECTION OFFICIAL
TO ACCEPT 
BALLOTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.), as amended 
by section 1(a), is amended by inserting after section 
303A the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 303B. REQUIRING ACCEPTANCE OF ABSENTEE BAL-
LOTS WITHOUT SUFFICIENT POSTAGE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State or local election official 
may not refuse any mail matter consisting of an absentee 
ballot sent by a voter to a State or local election official 
on the grounds that the matter does not include sufficient 
postage. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re-
quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 
and after January 1, 2006.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act, as amended by section 1(c), is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 303A the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 303B. Requiring acceptance of absentee ballots without sufficient post-
age.’’.
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PROVISIONAL BALLOTS CAST AT 
INCORRECT POLLING PLACE. 
(a) REQUIRING BALLOTS CAST AT INCORRECT POLL-
ING PLACES BY ELIGIBLE VOTERS TO BE COUNTED.— 
Section 302(a)(4) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(42 U.S.C. 15482(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘eligible 
under State law to vote,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘eli-
gible under State law to vote in that election at the polling 
place at which the ballot is cast or at any other polling 
place in the State,’’. 
(b) NOTIFYING INDIVIDUALS OF OPTION TO CAST 
BALLOTS
AT
CORRECT
POLLING
PLACE.—Section 
302(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)(1)) is amend-
ed by striking the period at the end and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, and in the case of an individual whose name 
does not appear on the official list of eligible voters for 
the polling place, shall provide the individual with the loca-
tion of the polling place at which the individual’s name 
does appear on the official list of eligible voters and notify 
the individual in writing that the individual may cast a 
ballot at that polling place instead of a provisional ballot 
under this subsection.’’ 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to elections held dur-
ing 2006 and any succeeding year. 
Æ