Protecting American Voters Act
Bill: H.R.2343 | Sponsor: Rep. Roy, Chip (R-TX)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Protecting American Voters Act
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide certain information to a state election official, upon the official's request, to verify citizenship status for the purpose of voting in federal elections.
Specifically, the agencies must provide the state election official with such information necessary to verify that an applicant for voter registration or a registrant on the official list of eligible voters is a U.S. citizen.
DHS may respond to a request by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, which is used to verify immigration status. DHS may not charge a fee for this information.
DHS must comply with any safeguards that the SSA determines are necessary to protect the confidentiality of an individual's Social Security number.
Finally, the bill requires states to remove the names of noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require the 
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Social Security 
to provide information to States upon request which will enable States 
 to verify the citizenship status of applicants for voter registration 
in elections for Federal office in the State and remove individuals who 
  are not citizens of the United States from the list of individuals 
 registered to vote in elections for Federal office in the State, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting American Voters Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING PROVISION OF INFORMATION UPON REQUEST TO ENABLE 
              STATES TO VERIFY CITIZENSHIP STATUS OF APPLICANTS FOR 
              VOTER REGISTRATION AND INDIVIDUALS ON VOTER REGISTRATION 
              LISTS.

    (a) Provision of Information Upon Request.--Section 9 of the 
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20508) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Provision of Information Upon Request to Enable States to 
Verify Citizenship Status of Applicants and Registrants.--
            ``(1) In general.--At the request of a State election 
        official, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
        Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall 
        provide the official with such information as may be necessary 
        to enable the official to verify that an applicant for voter 
        registration in elections for Federal office held in the State 
        or a registrant on the official list of eligible voters in 
        elections for Federal office held in the State is a citizen of 
        the United States.
            ``(2) Use of save system.--The Secretary of Homeland 
        Security may respond to a request received under paragraph (1) 
        by using the system for the verification of immigration status 
        under the applicable provisions of section 1137 of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-7), as established pursuant to 
        section 121(c) of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 
        1986 (Public Law 99-603).
            ``(3) Sharing of information.--The Secretary and the 
        Commissioner may share information with each other with respect 
        to an individual who is the subject of a request received under 
        paragraph (1) in order to enable the Secretary and the 
        Commissioner to respond to the request.
            ``(4) Privacy.--The Secretary shall carry out this 
        subsection in accordance with such safeguards as the 
        Commissioner determines to be necessary or appropriate to 
        protect the confidentiality of the social security account 
        number of any individual.
            ``(5) Prohibiting fees.--The Secretary may not charge a fee 
        for responding to a State's request under paragraph (1).
            ``(6) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate such 
        regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 
        subsection.''.
    (b) Clarification of Authority of State to Remove Noncitizens From 
Official List of Eligible Voters.--
            (1) In general.--Section 8(a)(4) of the National Voter 
        Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(4)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (A);
                    (B) by adding ``or'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (B); and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(C) a determination that the registrant is not a 
                citizen of the United States;''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 8(c)(2)(B)(i) of such 
        Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking 
        ``(4)(A)'' and inserting ``(4)(A) or (C)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 2022.
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