I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 97 
To provide incentives for States to invest in practices and technology that 
are designed to expedite voting at the polls and to simplify voter registration. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2013 
Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in 
addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide incentives for States to invest in practices and 
technology that are designed to expedite voting at the 
polls and to simplify voter 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 ‘‘Fair, Accurate, Secure, 
and Timely Voting Act’’ or the ‘‘FAST Voting Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO INVEST IN PRACTICES 
AND TECHNOLOGY THAT ARE DESIGNED TO 
EXPEDITE VOTING AT THE POLLS AND SIM-
PLIFY VOTER REGISTRATION. 
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 
to— 
(1) provide incentives for States to invest in 
practices and technology that are designed to expe-
dite voting at the polls; and 
(2) provide incentives for States to simplify 
voter registration. 
(b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From the amount 
made available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 
the Attorney General may reserve not more than 10 per-
cent of such amount to carry out activities related to— 
(1) technical assistance; and 
(2) outreach and dissemination. 
(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—From the amounts made 
available under subsection (h) for a fiscal year and 
not reserved under subsection (b), the Attorney Gen-
eral shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to 
States in accordance with subsection (d)(2), to en-
able the States to carry out the purposes of this sec-
tion. 
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(2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—A State may not re-
ceive more than 1 grant under this section per grant 
period. 
(3) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this sec-
tion shall be awarded for a period of not more 
than 4 years. 
(B) CONTINUATION OF GRANTS.—A State 
that is awarded a grant under this section shall 
not receive grant funds under this section for 
the second or any subsequent year of the grant 
unless the State demonstrates to the Attorney 
General, at such time and in such manner as 
determined by the Attorney General, that the 
State is— 
(i) making progress in implementing 
the plan under subsection (d)(1)(C) at a 
rate that the Attorney General determines 
will result in the State fully implementing 
such plan during the remainder of the 
grant period; or 
(ii) making progress against the per-
formance measures set forth in subsection 
(e) at a rate that the Attorney General de-
termines will result in the State reaching 
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its targets and achieving the objectives of 
the grant during the remainder of the 
grant period. 
(d) APPLICATIONS.— 
(1) APPLICATIONS.—Each State that desires to 
receive a grant under this section shall submit an 
application to the Attorney General at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as 
the Attorney General may reasonably require. At a 
minimum, each such application shall include— 
(A) documentation of the applicant’s 
record, as applicable— 
(i) in providing various voter registra-
tion opportunities; 
(ii) in providing early voting; 
(iii) in providing absentee voting; 
(iv) in providing assistance to voters 
who do not speak English as a primary 
language; 
(v) in providing assistance to voters 
with disabilities; 
(vi) in providing effective access to 
voting for members of the armed services; 
(vii) in providing formal training of 
election officials; 
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(viii) in auditing or otherwise docu-
menting waiting times at polling stations; 
(ix) in allocating polling locations, 
equipment, and staff to match population 
distribution; 
(x) in responding to voting irregular-
ities and concerns raised at polling sta-
tions; 
(xi) in creating and adhering to con-
tingency voting plans in the event of a nat-
ural or other disaster; and 
(xii) with respect to any other per-
formance measure described in subsection 
(e) that is not included in clauses (i) 
through (xi); 
(B) evidence of conditions of innovation 
and reform that the applicant has established 
and the applicant’s proposed plan for imple-
menting additional conditions for innovation 
and reform, including— 
(i) a description of how the applicant 
has identified and eliminated ineffective 
practices in the past and the applicant’s 
plan for doing so in the future; 
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(ii) a description of how the applicant 
has identified and promoted effective prac-
tices in the past and the applicant’s plan 
for doing so in the future; and 
(iii) steps the applicant has taken and 
will take to eliminate statutory, regulatory, 
procedural, or other barriers and to facili-
tate the full implementation of the pro-
posed plan under this subparagraph; 
(C) a comprehensive and coherent plan for 
using funds under this section, and other Fed-
eral, State, and local funds, to improve the ap-
plicant’s performance on the measures de-
scribed in subsection (e), consistent with cri-
teria set forth by the Attorney General, includ-
ing how the applicant will, if applicable— 
(i) provide flexible registration oppor-
tunities, including online and same-day 
registration and registration updating; 
(ii) provide early voting, at a min-
imum of 9 of the 10 calendar days pre-
ceding an election, at sufficient and flexible 
hours; 
(iii) provide absentee voting, including 
no-excuse absentee voting; 
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(iv) provide assistance to voters who 
do not speak English as a primary lan-
guage; 
(v) provide assistance to voters with 
disabilities, including visual impairment; 
(vi) provide effective access to voting 
for members of the armed services; 
(vii) provide formal training of elec-
tion officials, including State and county 
administrators and volunteers; 
(viii) audit and reduce waiting times 
at polling stations; 
(ix) allocate polling locations, equip-
ment, and staff to match population dis-
tribution; 
(x) respond to any reports of voting 
irregularities or concerns raised at the poll-
ing station; 
(xi) create contingency voting plans in 
the event of a natural or other disaster; 
and 
(xii) improve the wait times at the 
persistently poorest performing polling sta-
tions within the jurisdiction of the appli-
cant; 
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(D) evidence of collaboration between the 
State, local election officials, and other stake-
holders, in developing the plan described in sub-
paragraph (C), including evidence of the com-
mitment and capacity to implement the plan; 
(E) the applicant’s annual performance 
measures and targets, consistent with the re-
quirements of subsection (e); and 
(F) a description of the applicant’s plan to 
conduct a rigorous evaluation of the effective-
ness of activities carried out with funds under 
this section. 
(2) CRITERIA
FOR
EVALUATING
APPLICA-
TIONS.— 
(A) AWARD BASIS.—The Attorney General 
shall award grants under this section on a com-
petitive basis, based on the quality of the appli-
cations submitted under paragraph (1), includ-
ing— 
(i) each applicant’s record in the 
areas described in paragraph (1)(A); 
(ii) each applicant’s record of, and 
commitment to, establishing conditions for 
innovation and reform, as described in 
paragraph (1)(B); 
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(iii) the quality and likelihood of suc-
cess of each applicant’s plan described in 
paragraph (1)(C) in showing improvement 
in the areas described in paragraph (1)(A), 
including each applicant’s capacity to im-
plement the plan and evidence of collabora-
tion as described in paragraph (1)(D); and 
(iv) each applicant’s evaluation plan 
as described in paragraph (1)(F). 
(B) EXPLANATION.—The Attorney General 
shall publish an explanation of how the applica-
tion review process under this paragraph will 
ensure an equitable and objective evaluation 
based on the criteria described in subparagraph 
(A). 
(e) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—Each State receiv-
ing a grant under this section shall establish performance 
measures and targets, approved by the Attorney General, 
for the programs and activities carried out under this sec-
tion. These measures shall, at a minimum, track the 
State’s progress— 
(1) in implementing its plan described in sub-
section (d)(1)(C); 
(2) in expediting voting at the polls or simpli-
fying voter registration, as applicable; and 
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(3) on any other measures identified by the At-
torney General. 
(f) USES OF FUNDS.—Each State that receives a 
grant under this section shall use the grant funds for any 
purpose included in the State’s plan under subsection 
(d)(1)(C). 
(g) REPORTING.—A State that receives a grant under 
this section shall submit to the Attorney General, at such 
time and in such manner as the Attorney General may 
require, an annual report including— 
(1) data on the State’s progress in achieving 
the targets for the performance measures established 
under subsection (e); 
(2) a description of the challenges the State has 
faced in implementing its program and how it has 
addressed or plans to address those challenges; and 
(3) findings from the evaluation plan as de-
scribed in subsection (d)(1)(F). 
(h) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the District of 
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 
Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 
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(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this section. 
Æ 
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