Save Democracy Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 322 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote integrity in voter registration, the casting of ballots, and the tabulation of ballots in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 15, 2021 Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. HERN, Mr. NOR- MAN, Mr. BUDD, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. PFLUGER, Ms. HERRELL, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. BARR, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. GOODEN of Texas, Mr. BABIN, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. ADER- HOLT, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. POSEY, and Mr. RESCHENTHALER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote integrity in voter registration, the casting of ballots, and the tab- ulation of ballots in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 322 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Save Democracy Act’’. 3 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 4 (1) Congress recognizes that the legitimacy of 5 the United States representative democracy rests on 6 the integrity of our Federal elections and confidence 7 our citizens have in them. 8 (2) Consistent with article I, section 4, clause 9 1 of the Constitution of the United States and the 10 principles of federalism, primary authority to regu- 11 late Federal elections is reserved to the States, while 12 Congress’s role is secondary. 13 (3) While exercising its primary role in deter- 14 mining the manner in which Federal elections shall 15 be carried out, States must seek to protect the fair- 16 ness, accessibility, and integrity of the elections. 17 (4) Congress should limit its secondary role in 18 regulating Federal elections to instances in which 19 State regulation of Federal elections has contributed 20 to or proven unsuccessful in preventing impropriety. 21 SEC. 2. INTEGRITY IN VOTER REGISTRATION. 22 (a) PROHIBITING AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRA- 23 TION.—Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act 24 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 322 IH (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub- 1 section (k); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol- 3 lowing new subsection: 4 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION PURSUANT TO 5 AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 6 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A State may not register 7 an individual to vote in elections for Federal office 8 pursuant to an automatic voter registration system. 9 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, an 10 ‘automatic voter registration system’ means, with re- 11 spect to a State, a system that registers an indi- 12 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in the 13 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 14 information necessary for registration from govern- 15 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 16 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 17 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 18 in such elections.’’. 19 (b) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION TO VOTE OF INDI- 20 VIDUALS WHO FAIL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF UNITED 21 STATES CITIZENSHIP.—Section 8 of the National Voter 22 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507), as amended 23 by subsection (a), is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 322 IH (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub- 1 section (l); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol- 3 lowing new subsection: 4 ‘‘(k) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF INDIVIDUALS 5 NOT PROVIDING PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZEN- 6 SHIP.— 7 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other 8 provision of this Act, a State may not register an in- 9 dividual to vote in elections for Federal office held 10 in the State unless, at the time the individual ap- 11 plies to register to vote, the individual provides docu- 12 mentary proof that the individual is a citizen of the 13 United States, which shall consist of any of the fol- 14 lowing (or a photocopy thereof): 15 ‘‘(A) A certified birth certificate issued by 16 a State or unit of local government in a State. 17 ‘‘(B) A valid United States passport. 18 ‘‘(C) A Consular Report of Birth Abroad 19 issued by the Secretary of State. 20 ‘‘(D) A Naturalization Certificate or Cer- 21 tificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of 22 Homeland Security. 23 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) applies 24 with respect to an individual who applies to register 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 322 IH to vote under section 5, 6, or 7 (including an indi- 1 vidual who submits the mail voter registration appli- 2 cation form prescribed by the Election Assistance 3 Commission pursuant to section 9), or who applies 4 under any other method of voter registration avail- 5 able in the State.’’. 6 (c) REQUIRING APPLICANTS FOR VOTER REGISTRA- 7 TION TO PROVIDE FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.— 8 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 303(a)(5)(A) of 9 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 10 21083(a)(5)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING APPLICANTS TO PROVIDE 12 FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.—Notwith- 13 standing any other provision of law, an applica- 14 tion for voter registration for an election for 15 Federal office may not be accepted or processed 16 by a State unless the application includes the 17 applicant’s full Social Security number.’’. 18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 19 CERTAIN VOTERS REGISTERING BY MAIL.—Section 20 303(b)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21 21083(b)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘either— 22 ’’ and all that follows through ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘the individual’s full Social Security number; and’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 322 IH (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 1 WAIVER OF PRIVACY ACT.—Section 303(c) of such 2 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(c)) is amended to read as fol- 3 lows: 4 ‘‘(c) PERMITTED USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUM- 5 BERS.—Section 7 of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 6 552a note) does not apply to the use of a Social Security 7 number under subsection (a)(5)(A) or subsection 8 (b)(3)(B)(i).’’. 9 (d) ENSURING PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO 10 STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS ON INDIVIDUALS RECUSED 11 FROM JURY SERVICE ON GROUNDS OF NONCITIZEN- 12 SHIP.— 13 (1) REQUIRING STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS TO 14 COORDINATE INFORMATION ON RECUSAL AS PART 15 OF MAINTENANCE OF STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRA- 16 TION LIST.—Subparagraph (A) of section 303(a)(2) 17 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 18 21083(a)(2)) is amended— 19 (A) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 20 (iv); and 21 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol- 22 lowing new clause: 23 ‘‘(iii) For purposes of removing names 24 of ineligible voters from the official list of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 322 IH eligible voters by reason of citizenship sta- 1 tus, the State shall coordinate the comput- 2 erized list with records of courts which 3 have recused individuals from serving on a 4 jury on the grounds that the individuals 5 are not citizens of the United States.’’. 6 (2) REQUIRING NOTIFICATION BY COURTS.— 7 (A) REQUIREMENT DESCRIBED.—If a 8 United States district court or a court of any 9 State or local jurisdiction recuses an individual 10 from serving on a jury on the grounds that the 11 individual is not a citizen of the United States, 12 the court shall transmit a notice of the individ- 13 ual’s recusal— 14 (i) to the chief State election official 15 of the State in which the individual re- 16 sides; and 17 (ii) to the Attorney General. 18 (B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 19 subsection— 20 (i) the ‘‘chief State election official’’ 21 of a State is the individual designated by 22 the State under section 10 of the National 23 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 24 20509) to be responsible for coordination 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 322 IH of the State’s responsibilities under such 1 Act; and 2 (ii) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of 3 the several States, the District of Colum- 4 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 5 American Samoa, Guam, the United States 6 Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 7 the Northern Mariana Islands. 8 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend- 9 ments made by this section shall take effect on the date 10 of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect 11 to applications for voter registration which are submitted 12 on or after such date. 13 SEC. 3. INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BALLOTS. 14 (a) PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BAL- 15 LOTS.—Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 16 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended— 17 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 18 sections 305 and 306; and 19 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 20 new section: 21 ‘‘SEC. 304. PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BAL- 22 LOTS. 23 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION AS 24 CONDITION OF VOTING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 322 IH ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.—Not- 1 withstanding any other provision of law, the appro- 2 priate State or local election official may not provide 3 a ballot for an election for Federal office to an indi- 4 vidual who desires to vote in person unless the indi- 5 vidual presents to the official a current and valid 6 identification. 7 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN 8 PERSON.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 9 law, the appropriate State or local election official 10 may not accept any ballot for an election for Federal 11 office provided by an individual who votes other than 12 in person unless the individual submits with the bal- 13 lot a copy of a current and valid identification. 14 ‘‘(3) CURRENT AND VALID IDENTIFICATION DE- 15 FINED.—In this subsection, a ‘current and valid 16 identification’ means a current and valid version of 17 any of the following: 18 ‘‘(A) An identification issued by a State or 19 a unit of local government in a State. 20 ‘‘(B) A United States passport. 21 ‘‘(C) A military identification card. 22 ‘‘(D) An identification issued by a tribal 23 government. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 322 IH ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING DELIVERY OF BALLOTS BY MAIL 1 UNLESS REQUESTED.—A State may not deliver a ballot 2 in an election for Federal office to an individual by mail 3 unless the individual requests that the State deliver the 4 ballot to the individual by mail. 5 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING USE OF DROP BOXES FOR COL- 6 LECTION OF BALLOTS.—A State may not use a drop box 7 for the collection of voted absentee ballots in an election 8 for Federal office unless the drop box is located inside a 9 building which serves as an office for a State or local elec- 10 tion official. 11 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON DELIVERY OF VOTED BAL- 12 LOTS BY THIRD PARTIES.—A State may not accept a 13 voted absentee ballot in an election for Federal office 14 which is delivered in person to an election official by any 15 individual other than the voter to whom the ballot was 16 transmitted, other than an individual described as follows: 17 ‘‘(1) An election official while engaged in offi- 18 cial duties as authorized by law. 19 ‘‘(2) An employee of the United States Postal 20 Service while engaged in official duties as authorized 21 by law. 22 ‘‘(3) Any other individual who is allowed by law 23 to collect and transmit United States mail, while en- 24 gaged in official duties as authorized by law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 322 IH ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF ABSENTEE BAL- 1 LOTS RECEIVED AFTER DATE OF ELECTION.—A State 2 may not accept a voted absentee ballot in an election for 3 Federal office which is not received by the appropriate 4 State or local election official prior to the time at which 5 the polls in the election close on the date of the election. 6 ‘‘(f) USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS TO CROSS- 7 CHECK IDENTIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS CASTING BAL- 8 LOTS IN AN ELECTION WITH INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED 9 TO VOTE IN THE ELECTION.— 10 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Immediately upon the 11 closing of the polls in an election for Federal office, 12 each State shall verify the identification of each indi- 13 vidual who cast a ballot in the election by carrying 14 out a cross-check of the individual’s identification 15 with the individual’s identification in the official list 16 of individuals who are registered to vote in the elec- 17 tion, using the individual’s full Social Security num- 18 ber as the method for determining the individual’s 19 identification. 20 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 7 21 days after the closing of the polls in an election for 22 Federal office, the State shall submit to the Com- 23 mittee on House Administration of the House of 24 Representatives and the Committee on Rules and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H322.IH H322 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 322 IH Administration of the Senate a report on the State’s 1 compliance with subsection (a), and shall include in 2 the report— 3 ‘‘(A) the percentage of individuals who cast 4 votes in the election whose identifications were 5 verified by the State under such subsection; and 6 ‘‘(B) the number of individ [Text truncated for display. 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