Voters’ Access to Water Act
Bill: S.1539 | Sponsor: Sen. Ossoff, Jon (D-GA)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Voters' Access to Water Act
This bill prohibits states from restricting the donation of food or nonalcoholic beverages to individuals who are outside of the entrance of a polling place for a federal election if such items are distributed without regard to electoral participation or political preference. However, states may prohibit individuals who are distributing these items from engaging in political or electioneering activity.

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure access to water 
  and food for voters waiting in line at polling stations in Federal 
                               elections.

    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 ``Voters' Access to Water Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING RESTRICTIONS ON DONATIONS OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES AT 
              POLLING STATIONS.

    (a) Findings and Purpose.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) States have a legitimate interest in prohibiting 
        electioneering at or near polling places, and each State has 
        some form of restriction on political activities near polling 
        places when voting is taking place.
            (2) In recent elections, voters have waited in unacceptably 
        long lines to cast their ballot. During the 2018 midterm 
        election, more than 3,000,000 voters were made to wait longer 
        than the acceptable threshold for wait times set by the 
        Presidential Commission on Election Administration, including 
        many well-documented cases where voters were made to wait for 
        several hours. A disproportionate number of those who had to 
        wait long periods were Black or Latino voters, who were more 
        likely than White voters to wait in the longest lines on 
        Election Day.
            (3) Allowing volunteers to donate food and water to all 
        people waiting in line at a polling place, regardless of the 
        voters' political preference and without engaging in 
        electioneering activities or partisan advocacy, helps ensure 
        Americans who face long lines at their polling place can still 
        exercise their Constitutional right to vote, without risk of 
        dehydration, inadequate food, discomfort, and risks to health.
    (b) Requirement.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as sections 305 
        and 306, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 303 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 304. PROHIBITING STATES FROM RESTRICTING DONATIONS OF FOOD AND 
              BEVERAGES AT POLLING STATIONS.

    ``(a) Prohibition.--Subject to the exception in subsection (b), a 
State may not impose any restriction on the donation of food and 
nonalcoholic beverages to persons outside of the entrance to the 
building where a polling place for a Federal election is located, 
provided that such food and nonalcoholic beverages are distributed 
without regard to the electoral participation or political preferences 
of the recipients.
    ``(b) Exception.--A State may require persons distributing food and 
nonalcoholic beverages outside the entrance to the building where a 
polling place for a Federal election is located to refrain from 
political or electioneering activity.
    ``(c) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to 
elections for Federal office occurring on and after January 1, 2022.''.
    (c) Timing of Issuance.--Section 311(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
21101(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) in the case of the recommendations with respect to 
        section 304, January 1, 2022.''.
    (d) Clerical Amendments.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 304 and 
        305 as relating to sections 305 and 306, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
        following new item:

``Sec. 304. Prohibiting States from restricting donations of food and 
                            beverages at polling stations.''.
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