Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-108
Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14]
Introduced: 2011-01-05 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Civil actions and liability
Commemorative events and holidays
Computers and information technology
Congressional elections
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Department of Justice
Election Assistance Commission
Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
Employee leave
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Law enforcement administration and funding
State and local government operations
U.S. Sentencing Commission
Voting rights

Summary:
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: 
Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2011 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 with respect to: (1) use of a national federal write-in absentee ballot; (2) verified ballots; (3) preservation of voting records; (4) requirements for counting provisional ballots; (5) minimum required voting systems and poll workers in polling places; (6) standards for establishing the minimum required voting systems and poll workers; (7) election day registration; (8) removal from voter registration list; (9) early voting; (10) voting systems and voter registration; (11) Internet registration; (12) voter identification; (13) election administration requirements; (14) required use of publicly available open source software in voting machines; (15) standards for conducting recounts; and (16) standards for prohibiting conflicts of interest of entities involved in manufacture, distribution, or other activities relating to voting machines. 
 
Amends the Revised Statutes to prohibit false statements, including those about public endorsements, intended to mislead voters in federal elections. Creates a private right of action for preventive relief against such false statements. Authorizes the Attorney General to communicate to the public corrections to materially false information if state or local election officials have not taken prompt and adequate steps to do so.
 
Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) increase the penalty for voter intimidation; and (2) prohibit voter caging and challenges based on certain evidence. Defines &quot;voter caging document&quot; as: (1) a nonforwardable document that is returned to the sender or a third party as undelivered or undeliverable despite an attempt to deliver it to the address of a registered voter or applicant; or (2) any document with instructions to an addressee that the document be returned to a sender or third party but is not so returned, despite an attempt to deliver it to the address of a registered voter, unless at least two federal election cycles have passed since the date of the attempted delivery.
 
States that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense, unless such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution or facility at the time of the election. 
 
Treats election day in the same manner as a legal public holiday for purposes of federal employment. 
 
Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress and the President on the impact of such treatment on voter participation.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that private employers in the United States should give their employees a day off on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2012 and each even-numbered year thereafter to enable them to cast votes in the elections held on that day.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and Labor Policy     .
action_date: 2011-01-24
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, 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.
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, 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.
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, 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.
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E4)
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-01-05
text: Introduced in House