I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3552 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to clarify the treatment 
of provisional ballots cast in elections for Federal office, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 
Mr. HOLT 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 clarify 
the treatment of provisional ballots cast in elections for 
Federal office, 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 ‘‘Provisional Ballot 
Fairness in Counting Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. UNIFORM STANDARD FOR TREATMENT OF PROVI-
SIONAL BALLOTS CAST AT INCORRECT POLL-
ING PLACES. 
Section 302(a)(4) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)(4)) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(4) The provisional ballot of an individual who 
is a registered voter in a jurisdiction in a State and 
who is eligible to vote in an election for Federal of-
fice in the State shall be counted as a vote in such 
an election if the appropriate State or local election 
official to whom the ballot or voter information is 
transmitted under paragraph (3)— 
‘‘(A) in the case of an election for electors 
for President or for the office of a Senator, de-
termines that the individual is registered to vote 
in the State in which the provisional ballot is 
cast; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of an election for the of-
fice of a Member of the House of Representa-
tives (including a Delegate or Resident Com-
missioner to the Congress), determines that the 
individual is registered to vote in the Congres-
sional district in which the provisional ballot is 
cast.’’. 
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SEC. 3. MINIMUM CONTENTS OF PROVISIONAL BALLOTS. 
Section 302(a)(1) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)(1)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The provisional ballot 
shall include (at a minimum) all information required for 
the individual to cast a vote in each election for Federal 
office held at the polling place.’’. 
SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF VOTERS WHO VOTE AFTER CLOS-
ING OF POLLING PLACES. 
Section 302(c) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(42 U.S.C. 15482(c)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) EQUAL TREATMENT OF VOTERS WHO VOTE 
AFTER THE POLLS CLOSE.—Any individual who votes in 
an election for Federal office as a result of a Federal or 
State court order or any other order extending the time 
established for closing the polls by a State law in effect 
10 days before the date of that election shall cast the indi-
vidual’s ballot for the election in the same manner, and 
under the same terms and conditions, as any individual 
who votes in the election during the regular hours for the 
operation of polling places in the State, including the 
terms and conditions applicable to individuals permitted 
to cast provisional ballots under this section.’’. 
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SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF BALLOTS AFTER CASTING. 
(a) RESPONSIBILITY OF ELECTION OFFICIAL TO NO-
TIFY INDIVIDUAL OF DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY OF 
BALLOT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 302(a)(5) of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 
15482(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(5)(A) Not later than 24 hours after deter-
mining whether or not the vote of an individual who 
casts a provisional ballot in an election will be count-
ed in that election under this Act, the appropriate 
State or local election official shall notify the indi-
vidual of the determination and (if the determination 
is made that the vote will not be counted) the rea-
sons for the determination and the individual’s right 
to challenge the determination under the procedures 
established under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) Each State shall establish procedures, in-
cluding a free access system (such as a toll-free tele-
phone number or an Internet website), under which 
an individual who casts a provisional ballot in an 
election and who is notified by the appropriate State 
or local election official that the provisional ballot 
cast by the individual will not be counted as a vote 
in the election may challenge the determination prior 
to the final tabulation of ballots in the election. 
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‘‘(C) In carrying out subparagraph (B), each 
State shall ensure that, in each jurisdiction of the 
State, an appropriate State or local election official 
operates open office hours for at least 8 hours on 
the day after the date of the election, during which 
a voter who cast a provisional ballot in the election 
may contact the official and challenge the deter-
mination under the procedures established under 
subparagraph (B).’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
302(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)) is amend-
ed in the matter following paragraph (5) by striking 
‘‘The appropriate State or local official’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘paragraph (5)(B).’’. 
(b) PROHIBITING INITIATION OF RECOUNT OR CER-
TIFICATION OF RESULTS PRIOR TO REVIEW OF PROVI-
SIONAL BALLOTS CAST; STANDARDS FOR DETERMINA-
TION OF ACCEPTANCE OF PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.—Sec-
tion 302(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)) is amended 
by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new para-
graphs: 
‘‘(6) The chief State election official may not 
make any determination regarding the applicability 
of any requirement under State law to conduct a re-
count of the results of any election for Federal office 
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in the State, or certify the results of any election for 
Federal office in the State, until all of the votes cast 
by provisional ballot cast in the election which are 
to be counted pursuant to this Act have been count-
ed. 
‘‘(7) In making a determination as to whether 
a vote cast by an individual by provisional ballot will 
be counted in an election, the chief State election of-
ficial shall review not only the official Statewide list 
of registered voters but any other information which 
was submitted by the individual in the process of ap-
plying to register to vote.’’. 
(c) TREATMENT OF REJECTED PROVISIONAL BAL-
LOT AS APPLICATION FOR VOTER REGISTRATION.—Sec-
tion 302(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)), as amended 
by subsection (b), is amended by inserting after paragraph 
(7) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) If a provisional ballot cast by an individual 
in an election for Federal office is rejected on the 
ground that the individual is not registered to vote 
in the election, the ballot shall be treated (for pur-
poses of this Act, the National Voter Registration 
Act of 1993, and applicable State law) as an appli-
cation by the individual for voter registration in the 
appropriate registrar’s jurisdiction with respect to 
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the next election for Federal office held in the juris-
diction, under the same terms and conditions appli-
cable to applications for voter registration under this 
Act, including section 303(b)(4) (relating to the 
treatment of incomplete forms).’’. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Section 302(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(42 U.S.C. 15482(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re-
quired to comply with the requirements of this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2004. 
‘‘(2) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE FOR CERTAIN 
PROVISIONS.—To the extent that any provision of 
this section was amended by the Provisional Ballot 
Fairness in Counting Act of 2009, such provision 
shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office held in November 
2010 and each succeeding election for Federal of-
fice.’’. 
Æ 
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