I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1667 
To establish a Vote by Mail grant program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 23, 2007 
Mrs. DAVIS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a Vote by Mail grant program. 
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 ‘‘Vote by Mail Act of 
2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The Supreme Court declared in Reynolds v. 
Sims that ‘‘[i]t has been repeatedly recognized that 
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all qualified voters have a constitutionally protected 
right to vote . . . and to have their votes counted.’’. 
(2) In the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, 
voting technology failures and procedural irregular-
ities deprived some Americans of their fundamental 
right to vote. 
(3) In 2000, faulty punch card ballots and 
other equipment failures prevented accurate vote 
counts nationwide. A report by the Caltech/MIT 
Voting Technology Project estimates that approxi-
mately 1,500,000 votes for president were intended 
to be cast but not counted in the 2000 election be-
cause of equipment failures. 
(4) In 2004, software errors, malfunctioning 
electronic voting systems, and long lines at the polls 
prevented accurate vote counts and prevented some 
people from voting. For instance, voters at Kenyon 
College in Gambier, Ohio waited in line for up to 12 
hours because there were only 2 machines available 
for 1,300 voters. 
(5) In 2006, election day problems plagued vot-
ers in a number of States as well. For instance, in 
Denver, Colorado, hundreds of voters were turned 
away when the database of registered voters crashed. 
In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, malfunctioning 
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machines and an inadequate number of provisional 
ballots generated long lines, causing many voters to 
leave without casting a vote. 
(6) Under the Oregon Vote by Mail system, 
election officials mail ballots to all registered voters 
at least 2 weeks before election day. Voters mark 
their ballots, seal the ballots in both unmarked se-
crecy envelopes and signed return envelopes, and re-
turn the ballots by mail or to secure drop boxes. 
Once a ballot is received, election officials scan the 
bar code on the ballot envelope, which brings up the 
voter’s signature on a computer screen. The election 
official compares the signature on the screen and the 
signature on the ballot envelope. Only if the signa-
ture on the ballot envelope is determined to be au-
thentic is the ballot forwarded on to be counted. 
(7) Oregon’s Vote by Mail system has deterred 
voter fraud because the system includes numerous 
security measures such as the signature authentica-
tion system. Potential misconduct is also discour-
aged by the power of the State to punish those who 
engage in voter fraud with up to five years in prison, 
$100,000 in fines, and the loss of their vote. 
(8) Oregon’s Vote by Mail system promotes uni-
formity and strict compliance with Federal and 
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State voting laws because ballot processing is cen-
tralized in county clerk’s offices, rather than at nu-
merous polling places. 
(9) Vote by Mail is one factor making voter 
turnout in Oregon consistently higher than the aver-
age national voter turnout. For example, Oregon ex-
perienced a record voting-age-eligible population 
turnout of 70.6 percent in the 2004 presidential 
election, compared to 58.4 percent nationally. Or-
egon’s turnout of registered voters for that election 
was 86.48 percent. 
(10) Women, younger voters, and homemakers 
also report that they vote more often using Vote by 
Mail. 
(11) Vote by Mail reduces election costs by 
eliminating the need to transport equipment to poll-
ing stations and to hire and train poll workers. Or-
egon has reduced its election-related costs by 30 per-
cent since implementing Vote by Mail. 
(12) Vote by Mail allows voters to educate 
themselves because they receive ballots well before 
election day, which provides them with ample time 
to research issues, study ballots, and deliberate in a 
way that is not possible at a polling place. 
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(13) Vote by Mail is accurate—at least 2 stud-
ies comparing voting technologies show that absentee 
voting methods, including Vote by Mail systems, re-
sult in a more accurate vote count. 
(14) Vote by Mail results in more up-to-date 
voter rolls, since election officials use forwarding in-
formation from the post office to update voter reg-
istration. 
(15) Vote by Mail allows voters to visually 
verify that their votes were cast correctly and pro-
duces a paper trail for recounts. 
(16) In a survey taken 5 years after Oregon im-
plemented the Vote by Mail system, more than 8 in 
10 Oregon voters said they preferred voting by mail 
to traditional voting. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means 
any general, special, primary, or runoff election. 
(2) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘‘partici-
pating State’’ means a State receiving a grant under 
the Vote by Mail grant program under section 4. 
(3) RESIDUAL VOTE RATE.—The term ‘‘resid-
ual vote rate’’ means the sum of all votes that can-
not be counted in an election (overvotes, undervotes, 
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and otherwise spoiled ballots) divided by the total 
number of votes cast. 
(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 
of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or pos-
session of the United States. 
(5) VOTING SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘voting sys-
tem’’ has the meaning given such term under section 
301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 
U.S.C. 15481(b)). 
SEC. 4. VOTE BY MAIL GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 270 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 
Commission shall establish a Vote by Mail grant program 
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’). 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is to 
make implementation grants to participating States solely 
for the implementation of procedures for the conduct of 
all elections by mail at the State or local government level. 
(c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—In no case may 
grants made under this section be used to reimburse a 
State for costs incurred in implementing mail-in voting for 
elections at the State or local government level if such 
costs were incurred prior to the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
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(d) APPLICATION.—A State seeking to participate in 
the program under this section shall submit an application 
to the Election Assistance Commission containing such in-
formation, and at such time, as the Election Assistance 
Commission may specify. 
(e) AMOUNT AND AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION 
GRANTS; DURATION OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) AMOUNT OF IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the amount of an implementation 
grant made to a participating State shall be, in 
the case of a State that certifies that it will im-
plement all elections by mail in accordance with 
the requirements of subsection (f), with respect 
to— 
(i) the entire State, $2,000,000; or 
(ii) any single unit or multiple units 
of local government within the State, 
$1,000,000. 
(B) EXCESS FUNDS.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that 
there are excess funds in either of the first 
2 years of the program, such funds may be 
used to award implementation grants to 
participating States in subsequent years. 
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(ii) EXCESS
FUNDS
DEFINED.—For 
purposes of clause (i), the term ‘‘excess 
funds’’ means any amounts appropriated 
pursuant to the authorization under sub-
section (h)(1) with respect to a fiscal year 
that are not awarded to a participating 
State under an implementation grant dur-
ing such fiscal year. 
(C) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS 
AFTER
APPROPRIATION.—An implementation 
grant made to a participating State under this 
section shall be available to the State without 
fiscal year limitation. 
(2) 
AWARDING
OF
IMPLEMENTATION 
GRANTS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Election Assist-
ance Commission shall award implementation 
grants during each year in which the program 
is conducted. 
(B) ONE GRANT PER STATE.—The Elec-
tion Assistance Commission shall not award 
more than 1 implementation grant to any par-
ticipating State under this section over the du-
ration of the program. 
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