Title: American Right to Vote Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
American Right to Vote Act
This bill generally prohibits states from imposing additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility of individuals to cast ballots by mail in federal elections. It also requires the U.S. Postal Service to categorize, handle, and deliver election mail as first-class mail.


[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8081 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8081

  To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit States from 
 imposing any additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility 
    of individuals to cast votes in elections for Federal office by 
            absentee ballot by mail, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 21, 2020

   Mr. Rush introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
Oversight and Reform, 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 amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit States from 
 imposing any additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility 
    of individuals to cast votes in elections for Federal office by 
            absentee ballot by mail, 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 ``American Right to Vote Act''.

SEC. 2. UNIFORM AVAILABILITY OF ABSENTEE VOTING TO ALL VOTERS.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 
U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 303A. UNIFORM AVAILABILITY OF ABSENTEE VOTING TO ALL VOTERS.

    ``(a) In General.--If an individual in a State is eligible to cast 
a vote in an election for Federal office, the State may not impose any 
additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility of the 
individual to cast the vote in such election by absentee ballot by 
mail, except that the State may impose a deadline for requesting the 
absentee ballot and related voting materials from the appropriate State 
or local election official and for returning the ballot to the 
appropriate State or local election official.
    ``(b) Permitting Voters To Designate Other Person To Return 
Ballot.--The State--
            ``(1) shall permit a voter to designate any person to 
        return a voted and sealed absentee ballot to the post office, a 
        ballot drop-off location, tribally designated building, or 
        election office so long as the person designated to return the 
        ballot does not receive any form of compensation based on the 
        number of ballots that the person has returned and no 
        individual, group, or organization provides compensation on 
        this basis; and
            ``(2) may not put any limit on how many voted and sealed 
        absentee ballots any designated person can return to the post 
        office, a ballot drop off location, tribally designated 
        building, or election office.
    ``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to affect the authority of States to conduct elections for 
Federal office through the use of polling places at which individuals 
cast ballots.
    ``(d) No Effect on Ballots Submitted by Absent Military and 
Overseas Voters.--Nothing in this section may be construed to affect 
the treatment of any ballot submitted by an individual who is entitled 
to vote by absentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 
Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.).
    ``(e) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to the 
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2020 and each succeeding election for Federal office.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 401 of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ``and 303'' and 
inserting ``303, and 303A''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 303A. Uniform availability of absentee voting to all voters.''.

SEC. 3. ELECTION MAIL.

    (a) Treatment of Ballots as First-Class Mail.--Any ballot in an 
election for public office sent in the United States mails shall be 
categorized, handled, and delivered as first-class mail by the United 
States Postal Service.
    (b) Policy on Postmarks.--It shall be the policy of the United 
States Postal Service to postmark, which shall include any imprinted 
indicia from the Postal Service that indicates the date of receipt, all 
election mail processed by the Postal Service.
    (c) Same-Day Processing.--The United States Postal Service shall 
ensure, to the maximum extent practical, that election mail is 
processed and cleared from any postal facility or post office on the 
same day it is received at such a facility or post office.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002 TO COMMONWEALTH OF 
              THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.

    (a) Application to Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.--
Section 901 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is 
amended by striking ``and the United States Virgin Islands'' and 
inserting ``the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Such Act is further amended as follows:
            (1) The second sentence of section 213(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 
        20943(a)(2)) is amended by striking ``and American Samoa'' and 
        inserting ``American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands''.
            (2) Section 252(c)(2) (52 U.S.C. 21002(c)(2)) is amended by 
        striking ``or the United States Virgin Islands'' and inserting 
        ``the United States Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands''.
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