186 
‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY
OF PRIVATE RIGHT
OF AC-
TION.—Any person who is authorized to file a complaint 
under subsection (b)(1) (including any individual who 
seeks to enforce the individual’s right to a voter-verified 
paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal-
lot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right 
under subtitles A or C of title III) may file an action under 
section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 
(42 U.S.C. 1983) to enforce the uniform and nondiscrim-
inatory election technology and administration require-
ments under subtitle A of title III, or the requirements 
of subtitle C of title III. 
‘‘(d) NO EFFECT ON STATE PROCEDURES.—Nothing 
in this section may be construed to affect the availability 
of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re-
quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 
under this subsection.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring 
with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2014 
or any succeeding year. 
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187 
TITLE XII—FEDERAL ELECTION 
INTEGRITY 
SEC. 1201. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY 
CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
OFFICIALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 319 the following new section: 
‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION 
ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS 
‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 
for a chief State election administration official to take 
an active part in political management or in a political 
campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 
over which such official has supervisory authority. 
‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF-
FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of-
ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 
for the administration of Federal elections under State 
law. 
‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR 
IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po-
litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 
‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com-
mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 
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188 
‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 
for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 
result of an election for Federal office; 
‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 
contribution from any person on behalf of a can-
didate for Federal office; and 
‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 
under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 
title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 
to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 
prohibition on running for public office). 
‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR CAMPAIGNS OF OFFICIAL OR 
IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 
to a chief State election administration official with 
respect to an election for Federal office in which the 
official or an immediate family member of the offi-
cial is a candidate. 
‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 
In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem-
ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 
mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 
wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 
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189 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 
Federal office held after December 2012. 
TITLE 
XIII—OTHER 
ELECTION 
ADMINISTRATION 
IMPROVE-
MENTS 
SEC. 1301. TREATMENT OF UNIVERSITIES AS VOTER REG-
ISTRATION AGENCIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the National Voter 
Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–5(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (A); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) each institution of higher education 
(as defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) in the 
State that receives Federal funds.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ‘‘or, in 
the case of an institution of higher education, with 
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190 
each registration of a student for enrollment in a 
course of study’’ after ‘‘assistance,’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 
1965.—Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by striking para-
graph (23). 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 
or after January 1, 2014. 
SEC. 1302. MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 
VOTERS 
AFFECTED 
BY 
POLLING 
PLACE 
CHANGES. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 302 of the Help Amer-
ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482), as amended by 
section 701(a), is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (g); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(f) MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 
VOTERS AFFECTED BY POLLING PLACE CHANGES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State assigns an indi-
vidual who is a registered voter in a State to a poll-
ing place with respect to an election for Federal of-
fice which is not the same polling place to which the 
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191 
individual was previously assigned with respect to 
the most recent election for Federal office in the 
State in which the individual was eligible to vote— 
‘‘(A) the State shall notify the individual of 
the location of the polling place not later than 
7 days before the date of the election; or 
‘‘(B) if the State makes such an assign-
ment fewer than 7 days before the date of the 
election and the individual appears on the date 
of the election at the polling place to which the 
individual was previously assigned, the State 
shall make every reasonable effort to enable the 
individual to vote on the date of the election. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 
apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2013.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(f) of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 15482(f)), as redesignated by sub-
section (a) and as amended by section 701(b), is amended 
by striking ‘‘(d)(2) and (e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(2), 
(e)(2), and (f)(2)’’. 
SEC. 1303. VOTER INFORMATION RESPONSE SYSTEMS AND 
HOTLINE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF SYSTEMS 
AND SERVICES.— 
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192 
(1) STATE-BASED
RESPONSE
SYSTEMS.—The 
Attorney General shall coordinate the establishment 
of a State-based response system for responding to 
questions and complaints from individuals voting or 
seeking to vote, or registering to vote or seeking to 
register to vote, in elections for Federal office. Such 
system shall provide— 
(A) State-specific, same-day, and imme-
diate assistance to such individuals, including 
information on how to register to vote, the loca-
tion and hours of operation of polling places, 
and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 
(B) State-specific, same-day, and imme-
diate assistance to individuals encountering 
problems with registering to vote or voting, in-
cluding individuals encountering intimidation or 
deceptive practices. 
(2) HOTLINE.—The Attorney General, in con-
sultation with State election officials, shall establish 
and operate a toll-free telephone service, using a 
telephone number that is accessible throughout the 
United States and that uses easily identifiable nu-
merals, through which individuals throughout the 
United States— 
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193 
(A) may connect directly to the State- 
based response system described in paragraph 
(1) with respect to the State involved; 
(B) may obtain information on voting in 
elections for Federal office, including informa-
tion on how to register to vote in such elections, 
the locations and hours of operation of polling 
places, and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 
(C) may report information to the Attor-
ney General on problems encountered in reg-
istering to vote or voting, including incidences 
of voter intimidation or suppression. 
(3) COLLABORATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL 
ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 
(A) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION FROM 
STATES.—The Attorney General shall coordi-
nate the collection of information on State and 
local election laws and policies, including infor-
mation on the Statewide computerized voter 
registration lists maintained under title III of 
the Help America Vote Act of 2002, so that in-
dividuals who contact the free telephone service 
established under paragraph (2) on the date of 
an election for Federal office may receive an 
immediate response on that day. 
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194 
(B) FORWARDING
QUESTIONS
AND
COM-
PLAINTS TO STATES.—If an individual contacts 
the free telephone service established under 
paragraph (2) on the date of an election for 
Federal office with a question or complaint with 
respect to a particular State or jurisdiction 
within a State, the Attorney General shall for-
ward the question or complaint immediately to 
the appropriate election official of the State or 
jurisdiction so that the official may answer the 
question or remedy the complaint on that date. 
(b) USE OF SERVICE BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS-
ABILITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY.—The Attorney General shall 
design and operate the telephone service established under 
this section in a manner that ensures that individuals with 
disabilities and individuals with limited proficiency in the 
English language are fully able to use the service. 
(c) VOTER HOTLINE TASK FORCE.— 
(1) APPOINTMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
The Attorney General shall appoint individuals (in 
such number as the Attorney General considers ap-
propriate but in no event fewer than 3) to serve on 
a Voter Hotline Task Force to provide ongoing anal-
ysis and assessment of the operation of the tele-
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195 
phone service established under this section, and 
shall give special consideration in making appoint-
ments to the Task Force to individuals who rep-
resent civil rights organizations. At least one mem-
ber of the Task Force shall be a representative of 
an organization promoting voting rights or civil 
rights which has experience in the operation of simi-
lar telephone services or in protecting the rights of 
individuals to vote, especially individuals who are 
members or racial minorities or of communities who 
have been adversely affected by efforts to suppress 
voting rights. 
(2) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual shall be eligi-
ble to serve on the Task Force under this subsection 
if the individual meets such criteria as the Attorney 
General may establish, except that an individual may 
not serve on the task force if the individual has been 
convicted of any criminal offense relating to voter in-
timidation or voter suppression. 
(3) TERM
OF
SERVICE.—An individual ap-
pointed to the Task Force shall serve a single term 
of 2 years, except that the initial terms of the mem-
bers first appointed to the Task Force shall be stag-
gered so that there are at least 3 individuals serving 
on the Task Force during each year. A vacancy in 
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196 
the membership of the Task Force shall be filled in 
the same manner as the original appointment. 
(4) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem-
bers of the Task Force shall serve without pay, but 
shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in 
lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable 
provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 
5, United States Code. 
(d) BI-ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than March 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Attorney 
General shall submit a report to Congress on the operation 
of the telephone service established under this section dur-
ing the previous 2 years, and shall include in the report— 
(1) an enumeration of the number and type of 
calls that were received by the service; 
(2) a compilation and description of the reports 
made to the service by individuals citing instances of 
voter intimidation or suppression; 
(3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 
service in making information available to all house-
holds in the United States with telephone service; 
(4) any recommendations developed by the 
Task Force established under subsection (c) with re-
spect to how voting systems may be maintained or 
upgraded to better accommodate voters and better 
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