I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3557 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to permit 
individuals to register to vote at polling places on the date of an election, 
to cast ballots at designated polling places prior to the date of an 
election, and to obtain absentee ballots for an election for any reason, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2005 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Government Reform and Education and the Workforce, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 
States to permit individuals to register to vote at polling 
places on the date of an election, to cast ballots at 
designated polling places prior to the date of an election, 
and to obtain absentee ballots for an election for any 
reason, 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 ‘‘Voter Outreach and 
Turnout Expansion Act of 2005’’. 
TITLE I—EXPANSION OF ELEC-
TION 
ADMINISTRATION 
RE-
QUIREMENTS 
SEC. 101. SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(d) PERMITTING VOTER REGISTRATION ON DATE 
OF ELECTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At each polling place in a 
State at which ballots are cast in an election for 
Federal office, an individual may register to vote on 
the date of the election, and may cast a vote at the 
polling place in the election, if the individual— 
‘‘(A) completes an application for voter 
registration in accordance with the require-
ments of this Act and other applicable law; and 
‘‘(B) executes a written affirmation before 
an election official at the polling place stating 
that the individual is eligible to register to vote
in the jurisdiction in which the individual de-
sires to vote and has not already voted in the 
election. 
‘‘(2) TRANSMITTAL
OF
COMPLETED
APPLICA-
TIONS TO STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL.—An appro-
priate official at a polling place shall transmit any 
voter registration application accepted under this 
subsection to the appropriate State election official 
at the time the official at the polling place transmits 
the ballots cast at the polling place to the official. 
‘‘(3) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS FILING VOTER 
REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS AFTER DEADLINE.—If 
an individual’s application for voter registration 
prior to the date of an election is received by the ap-
propriate election official after the deadline for re-
ceipt of applications with respect to the election 
under State law, the official shall transmit a notice 
to the individual stating that the application was re-
ceived after the deadline and that the individual may 
register to vote at the polling place on the date of 
the election in accordance with this subsection. 
‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS UNDER NATIONAL VOTER 
REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993.—In carrying out this 
subsection, a polling place in a State shall meet the 
requirements applicable to a voter registration agen-
cy designated by the State under section 7(a)(2) of 
the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 
U.S.C. 1973gg–5(a)(2)), except that clauses (i), (ii), 
and (iii) of section 7(a)(6)(B) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 1973gg–5(a)(6)(B)) shall not apply with re-
spect to any of the voter registration forms distrib-
uted by the polling place pursuant to this sub-
section.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION IN VOTING INFORMATION REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
14582(b)(2)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ‘‘and the 
right to register to vote at the polling place on the 
date of an election and vote in that election’’ after 
‘‘provisional ballot’’; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and 
(F) as subparagraphs (F) and (G); and 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) instructions for individuals reg-
istering to vote at the polling place under sec-
tion 303(d);’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(e) of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 15483(e)), as redesignated by subsection (a),
is amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT FOR VOTER REGISTRATION 
ON DATE OF ELECTION.—Each State and jurisdic-
tion shall be required to comply with the require-
ments of subsection (d) on and after January 1, 
2006.’’. 
SEC. 102. PERMITTING VOTERS TO CAST BALLOTS PRIOR 
TO ELECTION; PERMITTING VOTERS TO OB-
TAIN ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR ANY REASON. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Help America Vote Act of 
2002 is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 
sections 305 and 306; and 
(2) by inserting after section 303 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 304. PROMOTING EARLY AND ABSENTEE VOTING. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING
JURISDICTIONS
TO
ESTABLISH 
EARLY VOTING SITES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each jurisdiction in a 
State which administers an election for Federal of-
fice shall designate early voting sites within the ju-
risdiction to serve as polling places for the election 
prior to the date of the election, and shall permit 
any individual who is registered to vote in the elec-