I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1719 
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 to promote the use of the Internet by State and 
local election officials in carrying out voter registration activities, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 25, 2009 
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and 
the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote the 
use of the Internet by State and local election officials 
in carrying out voter registration activities, 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 Registration 
Modernization Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 
VOTER REGISTRATION. 
(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY
OF INTERNET
FOR 
REGISTRATION.—The National Voter Registration Act of 
1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 7 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 7A. INTERNET REGISTRATION. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 
ONLINE REGISTRATION.—Each State shall ensure that 
the following services are available to the public on the 
official public website of the appropriate election officials 
in the State: 
‘‘(1) Online access to, and distribution in elec-
tronic form of, mail voter registration application 
forms in accordance with paragraph (6). 
‘‘(2) Online assistance to applicants in com-
pleting voter registration application forms. 
‘‘(3) Online completion and submission by ap-
plicants of online versions of voter registration appli-
cation forms. 
‘‘(4) Online acceptance of completed voter reg-
istration application forms. 
‘‘(b) PROVISION
OF SERVICES
IN NONPARTISAN 
MANNER.—The services made available under subsection 
(a) shall be provided in a manner that ensures that— 
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‘‘(1) no person shall seek to influence an appli-
cant’s political preference or party registration; 
‘‘(2) there is no display on the website of any 
political preference or party allegiance; and 
‘‘(3) there is no statement or any other feature 
on the website the purpose or effect of which is to 
discourage the applicant from registering to vote. 
‘‘(c) PROTECTION OF SECURITY OF INFORMATION.— 
In meeting the requirements of this section, the State shall 
establish appropriate technological security measures to 
prevent unauthorized access to information provided by in-
dividuals using the services made available under sub-
section (a). 
‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 
section shall apply with respect to elections for Federal 
office occurring in 2016 and each succeeding year.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) TIMING OF REGISTRATION.—Section 8(a)(1) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(a)(1)) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (C); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
subparagraph (E); and 
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(C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) in the case of online registration 
through the official public website of an election 
official under section 7A, if the valid voter reg-
istration form is submitted online not later than 
the lesser of 15 days, or the period provided by 
State law, before the date of the election; and’’. 
(2) INFORMING
APPLICANTS
OF
ELIGIBILITY 
REQUIREMENTS
AND
PENALTIES.—Section 8(a)(5) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(a)(5)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘and 7’’ and inserting ‘‘7, and 7A’’. 
SEC. 3. USE OF INTERNET TO UPDATE REGISTRATION IN-
FORMATION. 
(a) UPDATES TO INFORMATION CONTAINED ON COM-
PUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a) of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(6) USE OF INTERNET BY REGISTERED VOT-
ERS TO UPDATE INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State 
or local election official shall ensure that any le-
gally registered voter to whom a unique identi-
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fier has been assigned under the computerized 
list may update the voter’s registration informa-
tion, including the voter’s address and elec-
tronic mail address, online through the official 
public website of the election official responsible 
for the maintenance of the list, at any time as 
well as at any location at which under State law 
the voter may update the information in person. 
‘‘(B) PROCESSING OF UPDATED INFORMA-
TION BY ELECTION OFFICIALS.—If a registered 
voter updates registration information under 
subparagraph (A), the appropriate State or 
local election official shall— 
‘‘(i) revise any information on the 
computerized list to reflect the update 
made by the voter; and 
‘‘(ii) if requested by the voter, confirm 
the receipt of the update by electronic mail 
sent to the voter. 
‘‘(C) PREVENTION OF UNAUTHORIZED RE-
VISIONS AND FRAUD.—In meeting the require-
ments of this paragraph, the appropriate State 
or local election official shall establish appro-
priate technological security measures to pre-
vent unauthorized persons from updating a reg-
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istered voter’s registration information and to 
prevent the entry of fraudulent data. 
‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This paragraph 
shall take effect on January 1, 2012.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—Section 303(d)(1)(A) of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 15483(d)(1)(A)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
paragraph (B) and subsection (a)(6)’’. 
(b) EFFECT ON VOTER REMOVAL PROGRAM UNDER 
NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993.— 
(1) USE
OF
ONLINE
UPDATE
TO
CONFIRM 
CHANGE OF RESIDENCE.—Section 8(d)(1)(A) of the 
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
1973gg–6(d)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting after 
‘‘in writing’’ the following: ‘‘or by updating informa-
tion on the computerized Statewide voter registra-
tion list using the online method provided under sec-
tion 303(a)(6) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002’’. 
(2) PROHIBITING
REMOVAL
OF
REGISTERED 
VOTERS
INCLUDED
ON
COMPUTERIZED
LIST
FOR 
FAILURE TO VOTE OR APPEAR TO VOTE.—Section 8 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6) is amended— 
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(A) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting after 
‘‘eligible voters’’ the following: ‘‘(other than an 
individual to whom a unique identifier has been 
assigned under the computerized Statewide 
voter registration list under section 303(a) of 
the Help America Vote Act of 2002)’’; and 
(B) in subsection (d)(1)(B)(i), by striking 
‘‘has failed’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘in the 
case of a registrant to whom a unique identifier 
has not been assigned under the computerized 
Statewide voter registration list under section 
303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 
has failed’’. 
(3) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
PROCEDURES TO ENSURE ABILITY TO VOTE FOL-
LOWING
FAILURE
TO
NOTIFY
REGISTRAR
OF 
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—Section 8(e) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 1973gg–6(e)) is amended in the heading by 
striking ‘‘FAILURE TO RETURN CARD’’ and inserting 
‘‘FAILURE TO NOTIFY REGISTRAR OF CHANGE OF 
ADDRESS’’. 
(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall take effect on January 1, 
2012. 
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SEC. 4. PROVISION OF ELECTION INFORMATION BY ELEC-
TRONIC MAIL TO INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED 
TO VOTER. 
(a) INCLUDING OPTION ON VOTER REGISTRATION 
FORM TO PROVIDE E–MAIL ADDRESS AND RECEIVE IN-
FORMATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the National 
Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg– 
7(b)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (3); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) shall include a space for the applicant to 
provide an electronic mail address, together with a 
statement that, unless the applicant requests other-
wise, the applicant shall (if eligible to register to 
vote) receive voter registration and voting informa-
tion from the appropriate State or local election offi-
cial through electronic mail sent to that address.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall take effect January 1, 2012. 
(b) REQUIRING PROVISION
OF INFORMATION
BY 
ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Section 302(b) of the Help Amer-
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