I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 12 
To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting for individuals 
with disabilities, protect the ability of individuals to exercise the right 
to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2013 
Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. HOYER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. 
BECERRA, Mr. BERA of California, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP 
of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 
BRALEY of Iowa, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, 
Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CAR-
SON of Indiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTRO 
of Texas, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE, 
Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
COURTNEY, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 
DELANEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, 
Mr. DOYLE, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. ESTY, Mr. 
FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL of 
Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. AL GREEN of 
Texas, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. 
HAHN, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 
HIMES, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, 
Mr. KEATING, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. LAN-
GEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. 
LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, Ms. 
MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. MAFFEI, Mrs. CAROLYN 
B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 
MENG, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE, 
Mr. MORAN, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. 
PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. PIERLUISI, Ms. 
PINGREE of Maine, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, Mr. PRICE of North Caro-
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lina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. RUP-
PERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. LINDA 
T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. 
SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. DAVID 
SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SEWELL 
of Alabama, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of 
Washington, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON 
of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. TIERNEY, Ms. TITUS, 
Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 
WATERS, Mr. WATT, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 
and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on the Judiciary, Science, Space, and Technology, Veterans’ Affairs, 
Oversight and Government Reform, and Education and the Workforce, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting 
for individuals with disabilities, protect the ability of 
individuals to exercise the right to vote 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Voter Empowerment Act of 2013’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—VOTER REGISTRATION MODERNIZATION 
Sec. 100. Short title. 
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Subtitle A—Promoting Internet Registration 
Sec. 101. Requiring availability of Internet for voter registration. 
Sec. 102. Use of Internet to update registration information. 
Sec. 103. Provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals reg-
istered to vote. 
Sec. 104. Clarification of requirement regarding necessary information to show 
eligibility to vote. 
Sec. 105. Effective date. 
Subtitle B—Automated Registration of Certain Individuals 
Sec. 111. Automated voter registration. 
Sec. 112. List maintenance, privacy, and security. 
Sec. 113. Promoting accuracy of statewide voter registration lists. 
Sec. 114. Definitions. 
Sec. 115. Effective date. 
Subtitle C—Other Initiatives To Promote Voter Registration 
Sec. 121. Same day registration. 
Sec. 122. Acceptance of voter registration applications from individuals under 
18 years of age. 
Sec. 123. Annual reports on voter registration statistics. 
Subtitle D—Availability of HAVA Requirements Payments 
Sec. 131. Availability of requirements payments under HAVA to cover costs of 
compliance with new requirements. 
Subtitle E—Prohibiting Interference With Voter Registration 
Sec. 141. Prohibiting hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registra-
tion. 
Sec. 142. Establishment of best practices. 
TITLE II—ACCESS TO VOTING FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH 
DISABILITIES 
Sec. 201. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and 
voting for individuals with disabilities. 
Sec. 202. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register to 
vote and vote privately and independently at residences. 
Sec. 203. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting ac-
cess for individuals with disabilities. 
TITLE III—PROHIBITING VOTER CAGING 
Sec. 301. Voter caging and other questionable challenges prohibited. 
Sec. 302. Development and adoption of best practices for preventing voter cag-
ing. 
Sec. 303. Severability. 
TITLE IV—PROHIBITING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES 
Sec. 401. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. 
Sec. 402. Modification of penalty for voter intimidation. 
Sec. 403. Sentencing guidelines. 
Sec. 404. Reporting violations; corrective action. 
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