I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2499 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to meet 
standards for the location and operation of polling places used in elec-
tions for Federal office, including a standard requiring States to ensure 
that no individual waits for longer than one hour to cast a vote at 
a polling place, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2017 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. LEE, Mr. RICH-
MOND, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 
CASTOR of Florida, Mr. POLIS, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. MCNER-
NEY, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SWALWELL
of California, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
GARAMENDI, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 
ELLISON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
GALLEGO, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. SE-
WELL of Alabama, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) 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 require 
States to meet standards for the location and operation 
of polling places used in elections for Federal office, 
including a standard requiring States to ensure that 
no individual waits for longer than one hour to cast 
a vote at a polling place, and for other purposes. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:39 May 23, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H2499.IH
H2499
rfrederick on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS
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 ‘‘Voting Access Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIRING STATES TO MEET STANDARDS FOR LO-
CATION 
AND 
OPERATION 
OF 
POLLING 
PLACES USED IN ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL 
OFFICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer-
ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 303 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR LOCATION 
AND OPERATION OF POLLING PLACES. 
‘‘(a) COMPLIANCE.—Each State shall comply with 
the standards established by the Commission under this 
section for the location and operation of polling places 
used in elections for Federal office. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) STANDARDS DESCRIBED.—In consultation 
with the chief State election officials of the States, 
the Commission shall establish national standards 
for the location and operation of polling places used 
in elections for Federal office (other than sites used 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:39 May 23, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2499.IH
H2499
rfrederick on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS
as polling places on dates other than the date of the 
election), including the following: 
‘‘(A) A requirement that no individual 
shall be required to wait for longer than one 
hour in order to cast a vote at a polling place. 
‘‘(B) Standards for determining the num-
ber of polling places within a jurisdiction on the 
basis of the voting age population of the juris-
diction, taking into consideration factors which 
include the linguistic preferences of voters in 
the jurisdiction, the availability of same-day 
voter registration in the jurisdiction, and other 
relevant factors. 
‘‘(C) Standards for the nondiscriminatory 
placement and location of polling places within 
a jurisdiction, including standards to ensure 
that polling places are accessible to voters with 
disabilities and voters using public transpor-
tation. 
‘‘(D) Standards for ensuring that each 
polling place has sufficient resources, including 
voting systems, ballots, and election officials, to 
meet the requirement described in subpara-
graph (A). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:39 May 23, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2499.IH
H2499
rfrederick on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS
‘‘(E) Standards for ensuring that voters 
are given timely, accurate, and current informa-
tion in clear and concise language regarding 
ballot information and the location of polling 
places. 
‘‘(F) Best practices for preventing viola-
tions of laws prohibiting the intimidation or 
harassment of voters at polling places. 
‘‘(2) PROCESS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF STAND-
ARDS.—The establishment of the standards under 
this section shall be carried out by the Commission 
in a manner that provides for each of the following: 
‘‘(A) Publication of notice of the proposed 
standards in the Federal Register. 
‘‘(B) An opportunity for public comment 
on the proposed standards. 
‘‘(C) Publication of the final standards in 
the Federal Register. 
‘‘(c) DEADLINE; EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Commis-
sion shall establish the standards under this section not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
section, and each State shall comply with the standards 
with respect to all elections for Federal office held on or 
after the expiration of the 180-day period which begins 
on the date the Commission establishes the standards.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:39 May 23, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2499.IH
H2499
rfrederick on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 303A. Compliance with standards for location and operation of polling 
places.’’. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in-
serting ‘‘303, and 303A’’. 
(c) FUNDING.—Section 257(a) of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) For the first fiscal year during which 
States are subject to the requirements of section 
303A (relating to standards established by the Com-
mission for the location and operation of polling 
places), such sums as are necessary for requirements 
of payments to enable the States to meet the re-
quirements of such section.’’. 
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT ON MISIDENTIFICATION OF IN-
DIVIDUAL POLITICAL PARTY REGISTRATION. 
(a) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commission 
shall conduct a study of instances of the misidentification 
by election officials of the political party registration of 
individuals attempting to vote in primary elections for 
Federal office, including an analysis of the frequency of 
such misidentification among various jurisdictions. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:39 May 23, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2499.IH
H2499
rfrederick on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit 
to Congress a report on the study conducted under sub-
section (a), and shall include in the report such rec-
ommendations as the Commission considers appropriate to 
prevent and respond to the misidentification of an individ-
ual’s political party registration, including recommenda-
tions to permit individuals to correct their political party 
registration at the polling place on the date of voting. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:39 May 23, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2499.IH
H2499
rfrederick on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS