lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2007-11-14 00:00:00

Overseas Voting Education and Reform, Safeguarding Every American's Vote Act, or OVERSEAS Vote Act - Amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) to prohibit a state from refusing to accept or process any otherwise valid absentee ballot submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter on the grounds that the envelope in which the ballot is submitted is not notarized or witnessed by a notary public or other official authorized to administer oaths. Repeals the requirement to apply for state absentee ballot as a condition for use of a federal write-in absentee ballot. Permits voters to request absentee ballots in all subsequent elections. Directs the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to establish and operate a program of grants to eligible nonpartisan organizations for activities to: (1) assist overseas civilian voters in voting in federal elections; and (2) increase turnout by providing them with information in advance of an election on how to cast absentee ballots. Requires the head of each office of the federal government with employees whose designated post of duty is outside the United States to notify them of the rights provided by UOCAVA to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters. Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that each passport issued after enactment of this Act describes such rights. Extends application of UOCAVA to certain individuals who have never resided in the United States.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2008-04-01 00:00:00

Military Voting Protection Act of 2008 - Amends the Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to direct the Secretary of Defense (the Presidential designee) to establish procedures for collecting absentee ballots of military overseas voters in elections for federal office, and for delivering such ballots to the appropriate state election officials. Requires the Secretary to: (1) ensure that such ballots are delivered prior to the time established for the closing of the polls on the date of the election; (2) carry out delivery requirements through a contract with a private provider of air transportation, which shall include a mechanism for ballot tracking; and (3) take steps to ensure that such voters are able to cast their votes in a private and independent manner, and that vote contents remain secret until tabulated by the state election officials.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2008-05-06 00:00:00

American Elections Act of 2008 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require, except as provided for under this Act, that all ballots and balloting material used in federal elections be only in the English language. Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the requirement that certain jurisdictions provide ballots and other voting materials in languages other than English. Restricts such requirement to certain political subdivisions with populations of American Indians or Alaska Natives.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2008-08-01 00:00:00

Ex-Offenders Voting Rights Act of 2008 - 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. Requires the chief correctional officer of each state to inform convicted felons within 30 days after their release of their right to vote in elections for federal office and the date of the next election in which they are eligible to vote. Provides for enforcement and remedies for violations of this Act. Specifies that: (1) nothing in this Act shall be 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; and (2) 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.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Date: 2008-09-24 00:00:00

Protecting Voters in Foreclosure Act of 2008 - Amends the Help America Vote Act to consider any individual who resides in a household located in a jurisdiction in which a federal election is held, and which is subject to foreclosure proceedings at the time of the election, to reside in that same jurisdiction for purposes of determining the individual's eligibility to vote in the election. Requires such an individual to be permitted to cast a nonprovisional ballot in the election. Applies this requirement also with respect to an individual who resided in a household which was: (1) located in such a jurisdiction; and (2) subject to foreclosure proceedings at any time during the three-year period ending on the date of the election.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2008-09-26 00:00:00

Democracy Restoration Act of 2008 - 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 and remedies for violations of this Act. Specifies that: (1) nothing in this Act shall be 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; and (2) 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. Prohibits any state, unit of local government, or other person from receiving or using any federal grant amounts to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has a program to notify each U.S. citizen incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction, on release from such incarceration, of that individual's rights under this Act.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2007-01-04 00:00:00

Amends the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 to change the short title to the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2007 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit any person who is otherwise qualified to vote in a federal election in a state to use the national federal write-in absentee ballot prescribed by the Election Assistance Commission to cast a vote in such an election.Directs the Commission to prescribe a national federal write-in absentee ballot for use in elections for federal office. Requires the voting system to provide for an independent means of voter verification, allowing each voter to verify the ballot before it is cast and counted.Requires the state to: (1) count such ballot if the individual who cast it is otherwise eligible to vote; and (2) provide for the minimum required number of voting systems and poll workers for each polling place on the day of any federal election, and on any days during which such state allows early voting. Directs the Commission to issue standards regarding the minimum number of voting systems and poll workers.Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require each state, with certain exceptions, to permit any individual on the day of a federal election to: (1) register to vote at the polling place; and (2) cast a vote in such election.Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require: (1) the Commission to develop an election day registration form for elections for federal office; (2) each state to provide public notice of all names which have been removed from the voter registration list since the later of the most recent federal election or the day of the most recent previous public notice; (3) each state to allow individuals to vote in a federal election at least 15 days before the day scheduled for it in the same manner as voting on such day (early voting); (4) each polling place which allows early voting to allow it for at least a uniform four hours each day; and (5) the Commission to issue standards for the administration of early voting.Accelerates the study on election day as a public holiday.Requires mail voter registration forms to include, in lieu of mandatory questions and statements, an affidavit to be signed by the registrant attesting both to citizenship and age.Directs each state to establish a program under which individuals may access voter registration forms electronically through the Internet. Provides for establishing voter identification with respect to in person voting and voting by mail.Outlines election administration requirements.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2008-05-22 00:00:00

Amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to direct the Secretary of Defense (the presidential designee) to establish procedures for: (1) collecting marked absentee ballots of military overseas voters in elections for federal office; and (2) delivering such ballots to the appropriate state election officials. Requires the designee to: (1) ensure that such ballots are delivered prior to the time established for the closing of the polls on the date of the election; and (2) carry out delivery requirements through a contract with one or more providers of express mail services, which shall include a mechanism for ballot tracking. Provides a special rule for voters in jurisdictions using post office boxes for the collection of such ballots. Prohibits states from refusing to accept such ballots on the grounds that they were not delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the designee to: (1) provide outreach to absentee military voters on the procedures established under this Act; (2) report, after each general election, to the congressional defense and appropriations committees on the utilization of such procedures; and (3) submit a one-time report to such committees on the status of implementation of this Act. Prohibits states from refusing to accept voter registration and absentee ballot applications and write-in ballots for failure to meet nonessential requirements (requirements not clearly necessary to prevent fraud in the conduct of elections).
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2008-06-06 00:00:00

Voting Opportunities and Integrity in the Conduct of Elections Act of 2008 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to: (1) allow individuals to vote in an election before the date of the regularly scheduled election; (2) require the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to issue standards for administration of such voting; and (3) require each state to permit any person otherwise qualified to vote in a federal election to vote in a manner other than in person, and impose no conditions or restrictions on absentee voting other than a reasonable deadline for requesting and returning the ballot.Directs the EAC to establish a Vote by Mail grant program. Requires each federal election voting system to require the use of or produce an individual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballot of the voter's vote, available for voter inspection and verification before the vote is cast and counted. Directs the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to study, test, and develop best practices to enhance the accessibility of ballot verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy.Prohibits the use of: (1) uncertified election dedicated voting system technologies; and (2) any voting system unless its manufacturer and the election officials using it meet applicable security requirements. Provides for mandatory availability of paper ballots at polling places.Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to make research grants for development of election-dedicated voting system software. Requires states to make unannounced random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots in a federal election.Directs the EAC to establish: (1) a pre-registration implementation grant program; (2) an automatic re-registration grant program; and (3) a computerized system capable of communicating and exchanging data among participating states (interoperability).Prohibits voter caging practices (those preventing voting or registration through the reliance by officials on certain non-forwardable or non-returned documents).
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-07-22 00:00:00

Veteran Voting Support Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit a state to designate facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) located in the state as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Requires any VA facility designated as a voter registration agency to: (1) provide information relating to the opportunity to request an absentee ballot; (2) make available absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots upon request, as well as assistance in completing them; and (3) work with local election officials to ensure the proper delivery of such applications and ballots. Directs the Secretary to permit a meaningful opportunity for nonpartisan organizations to provide voter registration information and assistance at VA facilities. 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 nonpartisan voting information to veterans at any VA facility. Directs the Secretary to provide reasonable access to VA facilities to state and local election officials for the purpose of providing nonpartisan voter registration services to individuals.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2009-01-06 00:00:00

Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2009 - 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; (15) required use of publicly available open source software in voting machines; (16) standards for conducting recounts; and (17) standards for prohibiting conflicts of interest of entities involved in manufacture, distribution, or other activities relating to voting machines. Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) prohibit deceptive practices in federal elections; (2) modify the penalty for voter intimidation; and (3) prohibit voter caging and other questionable challenges. States that the right of an individual citizen of the United States 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 2010 and each even-numbered year thereafter to enable them to cast votes in the elections held on that day.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2009-01-28 00:00:00

American Elections Act of 2009 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require, except as provided for under this Act, that all ballots and balloting material used in federal elections be only in the English language. Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the requirement that certain jurisdictions provide ballots and other voting materials in languages other than English. Restricts such requirement to certain political subdivisions with populations of American Indians or Alaska Natives.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2009-05-13 00:00:00

Military Voting Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to direct the Secretary of Defense (the presidential designee) to establish procedures for: (1) collecting marked absentee ballots of absent overseas uniformed services voters in regularly scheduled general elections for federal office; and (2) delivering such ballots to the appropriate state election officials. Requires the designee to: (1) ensure that such ballots are delivered prior to the time established for the closing of the polls on the date of the election; (2) carry out delivery requirements by utilizing the express mail delivery services of the U.S. Postal Service, which shall include a mechanism for ballot tracking; (3) inform individuals who are anticipated to be absent overseas uniformed services voters in such an election of the procedures for collection and delivery of marked absentee ballots established pursuant to this Act; and (4) take steps to ensure that such voters are able to cast their votes in a private and independent manner, and that vote contents remain private while in the designee's possession or control.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2009-05-20 00:00:00

Absentee Ballot Track, Receive, and Confirm Act - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to make a payment to reimburse a state for the costs incurred in establishing, if the state so chooses, an absentee ballot tracking program for federal elections.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2009-07-24 00:00:00

Democracy Restoration Act of 2009 - 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 and remedies for violations of this Act. Specifies that: (1) nothing in this Act shall be 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; and (2) 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. Prohibits any state, unit of local government, or other person from receiving or using any federal grant amounts to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has a program to notify each U.S. citizen incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction, on release from such incarceration, of that individual's rights under this Act.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2009-07-31 00:00:00

Directs the Presidential designee under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to carry out a series of pilot programs to test the feasibility of using alternative methods, including advanced electronic technologies and the Internet, to enable absent uniformed services voters to register to vote and vote in federal. Specifies criteria for a state to be eligible to participate in such a pilot program.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2009-09-15 00:00:00

Ex-Offenders Voting Rights Act of 2009 - 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 or is on parole or probation for a felony offense. Authorizes the Attorney General or private individuals to bring civil actions to remedy violations of this Act. Specifies that: (1) nothing in this Act shall be 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; and (2) 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.
Topic: Civil Rights — Voting Rights
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2009-10-15 00:00:00

Protection Against Wrongful Voter Purges Act - Amends the National Voter Registration Act to establish notice and review requirements for removal of individuals from a list of eligible voters by reason other than death or a change of residence, including removal by reason of mental incapacity. Requires the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to adopt voluntary guidance with respect to audits of the statewide computerized voter registration list so that each state will be able to ensure that the list: (1) reflects an accurate and complete count of all individuals validly registered to vote in federal elections; and (2) is secure against unauthorized uses. Revises requirements for removal of individuals from the official list of eligible voters by reason of change of residence. Permits removal upon state verification that the registrant has registered in a new jurisdiction. Specifies requirements for verification procedures. Declares that, if any registrant who is subject to removal from the official list of eligible voters requests that the appropriate election official review the removal, the removal shall not take effect unless the official demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the registrant was properly removed. Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit a state from refusing to register any applicant who has completed the national voter registration application form. Prohibits delay or denial of registration on grounds of failure to match the applicant's driver's license or Social Security information with related information in the databases of state or federal governmental entities.