‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO PRIMARY ELECTIONS OC-
CURRING PRIOR TO PERIOD.—In the case of any 
election for Federal office held in a State during the 
30-day period which begins on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act— 
‘‘(A) the State may operate polling places 
for the casting of ballots in the election; and 
‘‘(B) the State shall make a good-faith ef-
fort to conduct the election through the use of 
mail-in absentee ballots in accordance with the 
requirements of section 322. 
‘‘SEC. 322. REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF MAIL-IN ABSENTEE 
BALLOTS. 
‘‘(a) AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
OF BALLOTS
BY 
ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State or 
local election official shall transmit an absentee bal-
lot for an election for Federal office held during the 
period described in section 321(b) to each individual 
who is registered to vote in the election, or, in the 
case of any State that does not register voters, to 
every individual who is eligible to vote in the elec-
tion. 
‘‘(2) LOCATION
TO
WHICH
BALLOTS
ARE 
TRANSMITTED.—The official shall transmit the bal-
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lot to an individual under this subsection to the 
mailing address which is on file for the individual on 
the list of registered voters in the election (or, in the 
case of any State that does not register voters, the 
mailing address for the individual on the official 
record or other document used by the State to verify 
the eligibility of the individual to vote in the elec-
tion), except that the official shall transmit the bal-
lot to an alternative mailing address provided to the 
official by the individual (by telephone, by mail, or 
by an online method), so long as the individual pro-
vides the alternative mailing address to the official 
not later than the date that is 2 weeks before the 
date of the election involved or such alternative date 
as the State may establish, whichever is closer to the 
date of the election. 
‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR TRANSMISSION.—The offi-
cial shall transmit the ballot to an individual under 
this section not later than 3 weeks before the date 
of the election. 
‘‘(b) NO EXCUSE REQUIRED TO VOTE BY ABSENTEE 
BALLOT.—If an individual in the State is eligible to cast 
a vote in an election for Federal office, the State may not 
impose any additional conditions or requirements on the 
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eligibility of the individual to cast the vote in such election 
by an absentee ballot transmitted under this section. 
‘‘(c) DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR SIGNATURE 
VERIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE DIS-
CREPANCY.—If an individual submits an absentee 
ballot in an election for Federal office during the pe-
riod described in section 321(b) and the appropriate 
State or local election official determines that a dis-
crepancy exists between the signature on such ballot 
and the signature of such individual on the official 
list of registered voters in the State (or, in the case 
of any State that does not register voters, on the of-
ficial record or other document used by the State to 
verify the eligibility of the individual to vote in the 
election), such election official, prior to making a 
final determination as to the validity of such ballot, 
shall make a good faith effort to immediately notify 
such individual by mail, telephone, and (if available) 
electronic mail that— 
‘‘(A) a discrepancy exists between the sig-
nature on such ballot and the signature of such 
individual on the official list of registered voters 
in the State (or, in the case of any State that 
does not register voters, on the official record 
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or other document used by the State to verify 
the eligibility of the individual to vote in the 
election); 
‘‘(B) such individual may provide the offi-
cial with information to cure such discrepancy, 
either in person, by telephone, or by electronic 
methods; and 
‘‘(C) if such discrepancy is not cured prior 
to the expiration of the 7-day period which be-
gins on the date of the election, such ballot will 
not be counted. 
‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE MISSING SIG-
NATURE.—If an individual submits an absentee bal-
lot without a signature, the State shall notify the in-
dividual and give the individual an opportunity to 
provide the missing signature on a form proscribed 
by the State. 
‘‘(3) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—An election offi-
cial may not make a determination that a discrep-
ancy exists between the signature on an absentee 
ballot and the signature of the individual who sub-
mits the ballot on the official list of registered voters 
in the State (or, in the case of any State that does 
not register voters, on the official record or other 
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document used by the State to verify the eligibility 
of the individual to vote in the election), unless— 
‘‘(A) at least 2 election officials make the 
determination; and 
‘‘(B) each official who makes the deter-
mination has received training in procedures 
used to verify signatures. 
‘‘(d) PAYMENT
OF POSTAGE
ON RETURN ENVE-
LOPES.— 
‘‘(1) PROVISION OF RETURN ENVELOPE.—The 
appropriate State or local election official shall pro-
vide a self-sealing return envelope with each absen-
tee ballot transmitted under this section. 
‘‘(2) PREPAYMENT
OF
POSTAGE.—Consistent 
with regulations of the United States Postal Service, 
the State or the unit of local government responsible 
for the administration of the election involved shall 
prepay the postage on any envelope provided under 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE
FOR CERTAIN VOTERS.—In the 
case of an individual with a disability or a serious illness 
or a language minority individual, the State shall permit 
the individual to receive assistance from a person of the 
individual’s choosing to complete and submit the ballot 
transmitted under this section. 
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‘‘SEC. 323. PAYMENTS TO ASSIST WITH COSTS OF COMPLI-
ANCE. 
‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS.—The Commis-
sion shall make a payment to each eligible State to assist 
with the costs incurred in complying with the requirements 
of this subtitle, including costs attributable to postage, 
equipment such as high-speed ballot scanners and auto-
mated mail sorting systems, election personnel to process 
absentee ballots and related materials, online voter reg-
istration systems, public education campaigns, and soft-
ware to track absentee ballots. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of the 
payment made to a State under this section shall be deter-
mined by the Commission on the basis of the information 
provided by the State in its application under subsection 
(c), except that the amount may not exceed the sum of— 
‘‘(1) the average of the costs incurred by the 
State in administering the 3 most recent regularly 
scheduled general elections for Federal office held in 
the State; and 
‘‘(2) if a regularly scheduled primary election 
for Federal office is held in the State during the pe-
riod described in section 321(b), the average of the 
costs incurred by the State in administering the 3 
most recent regularly scheduled primary elections for 
Federal office held in the State. 
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‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 
payment under this section if the State submits an appli-
cation for the payment to the Commission at such time 
and in such manner and containing such information as 
the Commission shall require. 
‘‘(d) PASS-THROUGH OF FUNDS TO LOCAL JURIS-
DICTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State receives a pay-
ment under this section for costs that include costs 
incurred by a local jurisdiction or Tribal government 
within the State, the State shall pass through to 
such local jurisdiction or Tribal government a por-
tion of such payment that is equal to the amount of 
the costs incurred by such local jurisdiction or Trib-
al government. 
‘‘(2) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘Tribal Government’ means the 
recognized governing body of an Indian tribe (as de-
fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 
and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this section. 
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‘‘SEC. 324. COVERAGE OF NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 
‘‘In this subtitle, the term ‘State’ includes the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 
(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 
subtitle C of title III’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 
relating to title III the following: 
‘‘Subtitle C—Special Rules for Elections Held in 2020 
‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring elections to be conducted solely through use of mail-in ab-
sentee ballots. 
‘‘Sec. 322. Requirements for use of mail-in absentee ballots. 
‘‘Sec. 323. Payments to assist with costs of compliance. 
‘‘Sec. 324. Coverage of Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 
Æ 
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