I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2854 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit an individual 
who is subject to a requirement to present identification as a condition 
of voting in an election for Federal office to meet such requirement 
by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual’s 
identification, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 8, 2017 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. SMITH of Wash-
ington, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BISHOP of 
Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, 
Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GENE 
GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HECK, Mr. HIMES, Ms. JACKSON 
LEE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KILMER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, 
Mr. PETERS, Mr. POCAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SPEIER, 
Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. 
TITUS, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILSON of Flor-
ida, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KIND, Mr. ELLISON, 
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. O’ROURKE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Mr. TONKO, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. LAWSON of Flor-
ida, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. 
TED LIEU of California, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. KEATING, Ms. LEE, Mr. KEN-
NEDY, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. LEWIS of 
Georgia, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on House Administration 
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A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit 
an individual who is subject to a requirement to present 
identification as a condition of voting in an election 
for Federal office to meet such requirement by pre-
senting a sworn written statement attesting to the indi-
vidual’s identification, 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 ‘‘America Votes Act of 
2017’’. 
SEC. 2. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT 
TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 
FOR VOTING. 
(a) PERMITTING USE OF STATEMENT.—Title III of 
the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE-
MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) USE OF STATEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-
section (c), if a State has in effect a requirement 
that an individual present identification as a condi-
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tion of receiving and casting a ballot in an election 
for Federal office, the State shall permit the indi-
vidual to meet the requirement— 
‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de-
sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro-
priate State or local election official with a 
sworn written statement, signed by the indi-
vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 
individual’s identification and attesting that the 
individual is registered to vote in the election; 
or 
‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de-
sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 
ballot the statement described in subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(2) PROVIDING PRE-PRINTED COPY OF STATE-
MENT.—A State which is subject to paragraph (1) 
shall— 
‘‘(A) prepare a pre-printed version of the 
statement described in paragraph (1)(A) which 
includes a blank space for an individual to pro-
vide a name and signature; 
‘‘(B) make copies of the pre-printed 
version available at polling places for election 
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officials to distribute to individuals who desire 
to vote in person; and 
‘‘(C) include a copy of the pre-printed 
version with each blank absentee or other ballot 
transmitted to an individual who desires to vote 
by mail. 
‘‘(b) REQUIRING USE
OF REGULAR BALLOT.—A 
State may not require an individual who presents or sub-
mits a sworn written statement in accordance with sub-
section (a)(1) to cast a provisional ballot in the election 
under section 302. 
‘‘(c) EXCEPTION
FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REG-
ISTERING BY MAIL.—Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply 
with respect to any individual described in paragraph (1) 
of section 303(b) who is required to meet the requirements 
of paragraph (2) of such section.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN-
FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 
is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 
303A’’. 
(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. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification 
requirements.’’. 
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SEC. 3. REQUIRING STATES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION ON 
USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT IN 
VOTING INFORMATION MATERIAL POSTED AT 
POLLING PLACES. 
Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (E); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(G) in the case of a State that has in ef-
fect a requirement that an individual present 
identification as a condition of receiving and 
casting a ballot in an election for Federal office, 
information on how an individual may meet 
such requirement by presenting a sworn written 
statement in accordance with section 303A.’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to elections occurring on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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