lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Economics and public finance
Date: 2013-01-22 00:00:00

U.S.A. AAA Credit Restoration Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, on the same day the President submits an annual budget proposal to Congress, to submit to Congress a message on the public debt limit. Requires the Secretary to: (1) include an estimate of the amount that the public debt limit will need to be increased, if necessary, for the next year based on estimates of federal revenues and mandatory and discretionary expenditures; and (2) publish in the Federal Register the amount of the debt limit necessary to accommodate such requirements.

Allows the proposed debt limit increase to become law unless Congress disapproves.

Sets forth an expedited process for congressional consideration of a joint resolution to disapprove of the Secretary's exercise of authority to increase the debt limit (thereby replacing the current procedure for increasing the debt limit under the congressional budget process).
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2013-01-22 00:00:00

Lines Interfere with National Elections Act of 2013 or LINE Act of 2013 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require each state to provide for the minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources (including all other physical resources) for each voting site on the day of any federal election and on any days during which the state allows early voting for a federal election in accordance with standards established under this Act.

Directs the Attorney General, to the maximum extent practicable in coordination with the Election Assistance Commission, to issue standards for a uniform and non-discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, and other resources, taking into account with respect to any voting site, among other factors, the voting age population, the needs and numbers of disabled voters, and voters with limited English proficiency.

Requires the standards, to the extent possible, to provide for a distribution of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources with the goal of: (1) ensuring an equal waiting time for all voters in the state, and (2) preventing a waiting time of over one hour at any polling place.

Requires each jurisdiction where a substantial number of voters waited more than 90 minutes to cast a vote in the federal election held on November 6, 2012, or any federal election held after that date, to comply with a state remedial plan to minimize voter waiting times.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2013-01-23 00:00:00

Louis L. Redding Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Voting Act of 2013 or FAST Voting Act of 2013 - Directs the Attorney General to award grants, on a competitive basis, to enable states to: (1) invest in practices and technology designed to expedite voting at the polls, and (2) simplify voter registration.

Requires the grant application to include a comprehensive and coherent plan for using funds to improve the applicant's performance on specified measures with respect to: (1) flexible registration opportunities, (2) early voting, (3) assistance to non-English speaking voters, and (4) other related matters. Requires each grantee to establish performance measures and targets, approved by the Attorney General, that track its progress in implementing its plan and expediting voting at the polls or simplifying voter registration, as applicable.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2013-02-13 00:00:00

Voter Integrity Protection Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make voting in a federal election (unless otherwise provided for under the federal criminal code) by an alien who is unlawfully in the United States an aggravated felony and a deportable offense.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2013-03-12 00:00:00

Same Day Registration Act - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states with a voter registration requirement to make same-day voter registration available at the polling place on the date of election itself (or on the day of voting under early voting).
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2013-07-18 00:00:00

Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to allow states to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2014-01-16 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Elections Preparedness Requires Early Planning (Elections PREP) Act - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require each state to develop contingency plans to address unexpected emergencies or natural disasters that may threaten to disrupt the administration of an election for federal office.

Requires a plan to contain: (1) alternative ways to notify the public of changes in election procedures; and (2) plans to address disruptions at every step of the voting process, including early voting.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2014-02-12 00:00:00

Lines Interfere with National Elections Act of 2014 or LINE Act of 2014 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require each jurisdiction where a substantial number of voters waited more than 30 minutes to cast a vote in the federal election held on November 6, 2012, or any federal election held after that date, to comply with a state remedial plan to minimize voter waiting times.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-03-13 00:00:00

Veteran Voting Support Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide mail voter registration application forms to each veteran who: (1) seeks to enroll in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system at the time of such enrollment, and (2) is already enrolled in such system when there is a change in the veteran's enrollment status or when there is a change in the veteran's address.

Requires the Secretary to accept completed application forms for transmittal to appropriate state election officials. Instructs that forms accepted at VA medical centers, community living centers, community-based outpatient centers, and domiciliaries be transmitted within ten days of acceptance, unless a completed form is accepted within five days before the last day for registration to vote in an election, in which case the application shall be transmitted to the appropriate state election official within five days of acceptance.

Prohibits any information relating to registering to vote, or to a declination to register to vote, under this Act from being used for any purpose other than voter registration.

Requires each Director of a VA community living center, domiciliary, or medical center to provide assistance in voting by absentee ballot to resident veterans. Requires such assistance to include: (1) providing information relating to the opportunity to request an absentee ballot; (2) making available absentee ballot applications upon request, as well as assisting in completing such applications and ballots; and (3) working with local election administration officials to ensure the proper transmission of the applications and ballots.

Directs the Secretary to permit nonpartisan organizations to provide voter registration information and assistance at facilities of the VA health care system.

Prohibits the Secretary from banning any election administration official, whether state or local, party-affiliated or non-party affiliated, or elected or appointed, from providing voting information to veterans at any VA facility.

Directs the Secretary to provide reasonable access to facilities of the VA health care system to state and local election officials for the purpose of providing nonpartisan voter registration services to individuals.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2014-04-10 00:00:00

Democracy Restoration Act of 2014 - Declares 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, at the time of the election, such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution or facility. Provides for enforcement of, and remedies for violations of, this Act.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to prohibit a state from enacting any state law that affords the right to vote in any election for federal office on terms less restrictive than those terms established by this Act. Declares that the rights and remedies established by this Act shall be in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by law and shall not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Sets forth requirements for state and federal notification of individuals of the restoration of their voting rights. Prohibits any state, local government, or other person from receiving or using any federal funds to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has in effect a program to notify each U.S. citizen incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction, upon release from such incarceration, of that individual's rights under this Act.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2014-06-26 00:00:00

Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act of 2014 - Declares that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because the individual has been convicted of a non-violent criminal offense, unless, at the time of the election, the individual is serving a sentence in a correctional facility or a term of probation.

Restores the right to vote of an individual on probation: (1) on the date the term of probation ends, if such term is less than one year; or (2) one year after the date the individual begins serving the term of probation, if such term is one year or longer.

Directs the Attorney General to determine and establish a list of the criminal offenses under federal and state law that are non-violent criminal offenses.

Provides for enforcement of, and remedies for violations of, this Act.

Sets forth requirements for state and federal notification of individuals of their voting rights pursuant to this Act.

Prohibits a state, local government, or other person from receiving or using federal grant amounts to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has in effect a program under which each incarcerated individual is notified, upon release, of his or her rights under this Act.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2014-09-18 00:00:00

Voter Registration Modernization Act - Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to require each state to make available official public websites for online voter registration.

Directs the appropriate state or local election official to ensure that information on the computerized statewide voter registration list may be updated through the official public website.

Directs the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to study best practices for implementing the requirements for Internet registration and the online updating of voter registration information.

Authorizes the provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals registered to vote who have requested to receive it.

Directs the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to make an implementation payment each year to enable each state to meet the requirements of this Act and to carry out activities to improve the administration of federal elections.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2014-07-31 00:00:00

Rural and Tribal Voter Rights Act - Directs the Election Assistance Commission to make a payment each fiscal year to each state which meets early voting location distribution plan development requirements for ensuring that eligible voters have adequate access to early voting locations.

Requires a state or local election official to provide at least one one early voting location on tribal land when requested by the tribal government.

Requires each state to, after reasonable notice and public hearings, adopt and submit to the Commission a plan which provides for the equitable distribution of early voting locations.

Requires each state to make early voting available to any eligible voter for at least 10 days before an election for federal office.

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, the Postmaster General, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Interior to permit a state to designate facilities of the respective agencies located in the state as voter registration agencies.

Requires each state to permit any eligible individual on the same day as a federal election and on any day when voting, including early voting, is permitted for a federal election to: (1) register to vote in the election, and (2) cast a vote in it.

Requires each state to provide a secure online interface available to the public on a public, government website that allows any eligible individual to register electronically to vote or to update their voter registration.

Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in an appropriate district court for declaratory or injunctive relief as necessary to carry out this Act. Allows any aggrieved person a private right of action, too.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-01-06 00:00:00

Students Voicing Opinions in Today's Elections (VOTE) Act

Directs the Election Assistance Commission to carry out a pilot program providing funds, during FY2015, to local educational agencies (LEAs) for initiatives that provide 12th graders with voter registration information.

Requires LEAs to consult with their state and local election officials in developing those initiatives.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-01-20 00:00:00

Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015

 Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to require each state to allow individuals to vote in a federal election on each day during the 15-day period ending on the second day immediately preceding the election date in the same manner as voting is allowed on election day.

Requires a state to ensure that each polling place that allows early voting in a federal election is located within reasonable walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route.

Requires the Election Assistance Commission to issue standards for the administration of early voting in a federal election.

Requires each state to provide a sufficient number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources (including physical resources) at a polling place used in a federal election to ensure: (1) a fair and equitable waiting time for all voters in the state, and (2) that no individual will be required to wait longer than one hour to cast a ballot at the polling place.

Requires each state to develop, and implement to the greatest extent practicable, a contingency plan under which it shall provide any polling place on a federal election day whose waiting times exceed one hour with additional poll workers, machines, ballots, and other equipment and supplies, including a polling place at which individuals may cast ballots before the election date.

Requires the Commission to report to Congress biennially on the impact of this Act's early voting and waiting time provisions on the administration of elections for federal office.

Prescribes requirements for the counting of provisional ballots that will be treated as votes.

Allows civil money penalties, intervention by aggrieved parties, and private actions to address HAVA violations by a state or jurisdiction.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-02-11 00:00:00

Formerly Incarcerated Voter Registration Act of 2015

This bill amends the federal criminal code to direct the Bureau of Prisons to include among reentry planning procedures the provision to federal prisoners of information about: (1) the laws and regulations governing the right of an individual convicted of a felony who has been released from prison to vote in each state, and (2) any voter registration or application forms the prisoner will need to complete in order to vote in the state in which the prisoner will reside upon release.

The term "state" includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-02-11 00:00:00

Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015 

 Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with respect to the requirement that a federal court retain jurisdiction for an appropriate period to prevent commencement of new devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Expands the types of violations triggering the authority of a court to retain such jurisdiction to include certain violations of the Act as well as violations of any federal voting rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.

Excludes from the list of violations triggering jurisdiction retention authority any voting qualification or prerequisite which results in a denial or abridgement of the right to vote that is based on the imposition of a requirement that an individual provide a photo identification as a condition of receiving a ballot for voting in a federal, state, or local election.

Revises requirements for determining which states and political subdivisions are covered or not covered by criteria for declaratory judgments that they have not used devices to deny or abridge the right to vote.

Subjects to the requirements for making such a determination any state (and all of its political subdivisions) during a calendar if five or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 15 years, at least one of which was committed by the state itself (as opposed to a political subdivision within it).

Specifies application of such new coverage requirements to any specific political subdivision if: (1) three or more voting rights violations occurred in it during the previous 15 calendar years; or (2) one or more voting rights violations occurred in it during the previous 15 calendar years and the subdivision had persistent, extremely low minority turnout during that period.

Provides that, if a state obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a device to deny or abridge the right to vote, the requirements for a new declaratory judgment generally will not apply, unless the new coverage requirements of this Act apply to the state solely on the basis of voting rights violations occurring after the declaratory judgment was issued.

Prescribes transparency requirements, including reasonable public notice, regarding any changes to: (1) voting prerequisites, standards, or procedures; (2) polling place resources; or (3) demographics and electoral districts.

Modifies authority to assign observers, including authorizing the assignment of observers to enforce bilingual election requirements.

Revises requirements for injunctive relief, including its scope and the persons authorized to seek relief as well as the grounds for granting it.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-02-12 00:00:00

Redistricting and Voter Protection Act of 2015 

 Requires a state that enacts a congressional redistricting plan prior to the next decennial census and apportionment of Representatives to obtain a declaratory judgment or preclearance from the Attorney General that such plan does not have the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color or in contravention of the guarantees of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-02-12 00:00:00

State Sovereignty in Voting Act

 Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to permit a state to require an applicant for voter registration who uses the federal mail voter registration application form developed by the Election Assistance Commission to provide documentary evidence of citizenship as a condition of the state's acceptance of the form.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-03-19 00:00:00

Democracy Restoration Act of 2015

 Declares 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, at the time of the election, such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution or facility. Provides for enforcement of, and remedies for violations of, this Act.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to prohibit a state from enacting any state law that affords the right to vote in any election for federal office on terms less restrictive than those terms established by this Act. Declares that the rights and remedies established by this Act shall be in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by law and shall not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Sets forth requirements for state and federal notification of individuals of the restoration of their voting rights. Prohibits any state, local government, or other person from receiving or using any federal funds to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has in effect a program to notify each U.S. citizen incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction, upon release from such incarceration, of that individual's rights under this Act.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-03-23 00:00:00

Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act of 2015

 Declares that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because the individual has been convicted of a non-violent criminal offense, unless, at the time of the election, the individual is serving a sentence in a correctional facility or a term of probation.

Restores the right to vote of an individual on probation: (1) on the date the term of probation ends, if such term is less than one year; or (2) one year after the date the individual begins serving the term of probation, if such term is one year or longer.

Directs the Attorney General to determine and establish a list of the criminal offenses under federal and state law that are non-violent criminal offenses.

Provides for enforcement of, and remedies for violations of, this Act.

Sets forth requirements for state and federal notification of individuals of their voting rights pursuant to this Act.

Prohibits a state, local government, or other person from receiving or using federal grant amounts to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has in effect a program under which each incarcerated individual is notified, upon release, of his or her rights under this Act.