Vote at Home Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 136 To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections, to amend the National Voter Reg- istration Act of 1993 to provide for automatic voter registration. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections, to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for automatic voter registration. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vote at Home Act of 4 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 136 IS (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the 1 United States because voters in some States have 2 the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 3 other States do not. 4 (2) Many voters often have work, family, or 5 other commitments that make getting to polls and 6 waiting in line on the date of an election difficult or 7 impossible. Many citizens with disabilities are phys- 8 ically unable to vote due to long lines, inadequate 9 parking, no curb cuts, steep ramps, and large 10 crowds. In 2012, 30 percent of voters with disabil- 11 ities had difficulty voting, and in 2016, nearly two- 12 thirds of the 137 polling places inspected on election 13 day had at least one impediment to people with dis- 14 abilities. Under current State laws, many of these 15 voters are not permitted to vote by mail. 16 (3) In 2020, despite a global pandemic, the 17 general election saw record high turnout as a result 18 of increased vote by mail options, which allowed vot- 19 ers to cast a ballot and stay safe at the same time. 20 (4) Thirty-four States and the District of Co- 21 lumbia allow universal absentee voting (also known 22 as ‘‘no-excuse’’ absentee voting), which permits any 23 voter to request a mail-in ballot without providing a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 136 IS reason for the request. No State which has imple- 1 mented no-excuse absentee voting has repealed it. 2 (5) Five States currently hold elections entirely 3 by mail. At least 22 States currently allow some 4 elections to be conducted by mail, especially in large 5 and rural jurisdictions where voting by mail is espe- 6 cially convenient. Polling stations in rural jurisdic- 7 tions tend to have higher costs per voter, smaller 8 staffs, and limited resources. Transportation is often 9 a crucial barrier for rural voters. 10 (6) In 2020, in order to provide greater accessi- 11 bility and to protect the public health, 30 States 12 adopted or changed their laws for the general elec- 13 tion to allow voters to cast their ballots from home. 14 These changes included removing strict excuse re- 15 quirements, allowing COVID–19 concerns to be a 16 valid excuse to vote absentee, allowing ballot drop 17 boxes, offering prepaid postage on election mail, and 18 proactively sending all active registered voters appli- 19 cations to request an absentee ballot—with some 20 States even skipping that step and sending the ac- 21 tual ballots. 22 (7) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 23 consider their choices, which is especially important 24 as many ballots contain greater numbers of ques- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 136 IS tions about complex issues than in the past due to 1 the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 2 process in many States. 3 (8) Voting by mail is cost effective. After the 4 State of Oregon adopted vote by mail for all voters 5 in 1996, the cost to administer an election in the 6 State dropped by nearly 30 percent over the next 7 few elections, from $3.07 per voter to $2.21 per 8 voter. After Colorado implemented all-mail balloting 9 in 2013, voting administration costs decreased by an 10 average of 40 percent. The cost of conducting vote- 11 by-mail elections is generally one-third to one-half 12 less than conducting polling place elections. Voting 13 by mail also saves a substantial amount by getting 14 rid of the temporary labor costs of hiring poll work- 15 ers. In addition to that cost, many jurisdictions have 16 been facing difficulty in obtaining sufficient numbers 17 of poll workers. 18 (9) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 19 mail can reduce waiting times for those voters who 20 choose to vote at the polls. In 2016, voters in Ari- 21 zona reported waiting in line from 1 to 5 hours to 22 vote; in New York, voters reported that stations ran 23 out of ballots and did not have staff during all of 24 the hours scheduled for voting. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 136 IS (10) Voting by mail is preferable to many vot- 1 ers as an alternative to going to the polls. In 2018, 2 25.3 percent of ballots in the United States were 3 cast by mail, up from 10 percent in 2000. In 2016, 4 nearly 58 percent of California voters chose to vote 5 by mail. Voting by mail has become increasingly 6 popular with voters who want to be certain that they 7 are able to vote no matter what comes up on election 8 day, as it reduces the physical obstacles and eases 9 the time constraints connected with the act of vot- 10 ing. 11 (11) Despite attempts to claim that voting by 12 mail is susceptible to fraud, it is not. Strategies such 13 as tracking systems for ballots and postal service co- 14 operation in preventing ballots from being delivered 15 to names not recognized as receiving mail at an ad- 16 dress nearly eliminate the potential for fraud in vote 17 by mail elections. Evidence of undue influence or 18 voter coercion after vote-by-mail implementation in 19 Oregon has been nonexistent to minimal. 20 (12) Many of the reasons which voters in many 21 States are required to provide in order to vote by 22 mail require the revelation of personal information 23 about health, travel plans, or religious activities, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 136 IS which violate voters’ privacy while doing nothing to 1 prevent voter fraud. 2 (13) State laws which require voters to obtain 3 a notary signature to vote by mail only add cost and 4 inconvenience to voters without increasing security. 5 (14) Many voters choose to cast ballots early 6 when they have the option (over 50 percent in Ari- 7 zona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Geor- 8 gia, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North 9 Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and 10 Washington). More than 40 percent of voters in the 11 2016 election cast their ballot before election day. In 12 Oregon, 7 years after vote-by-mail election imple- 13 mentation, over 80 percent of voters favored the 14 vote-by-mail system. 15 (15) Vote-by-mail typically increases turnout in 16 all elections, but can be particularly effective in in- 17 creasing voter participation in special elections and 18 primary elections. Oregon, Washington, and Colo- 19 rado, 3 of the 5 States with entirely vote by mail 20 elections, continue to have consistently high voter 21 turnout rates. In the 2016 Presidential election, 22 while the percentage of registered voters who cast a 23 ballot nationally was 68.1 percent, Oregon’s was 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 136 IS 80.3 percent, Washington’s was 78.76 percent, and 1 Colorado’s was 74.3 percent. 2 (16) A crucial component of a modern voting 3 system is making it easy, affordable, and accessible 4 to register to vote. Twenty states and the District of 5 Columbia have enacted automatic voter registration 6 policies, with Oregon and California becoming the 7 first to automatically register their citizens to vote 8 when they apply for a driver’s license. Automatic, 9 permanent voter registration has the potential to in- 10 crease participation, protect election integrity, and 11 reduce registration costs. 12 SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 13 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 14 (a) VOTING BY MAIL IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 16 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 17 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 18 the following new section: 19 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 20 MAIL. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli- 22 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 23 State may not impose any additional conditions or require- 24 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 136 IS in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 1 State imposes a deadline for returning the ballot to the 2 appropriate State or local election official. 3 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF BALLOT MATERIALS.—Not later 4 than 2 weeks before the date of any election for Federal 5 office, each State shall mail ballots to individuals who are 6 registered to vote in such election. 7 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS- 8 ABILITIES.—All ballots provided under this section shall 9 be accessible to individuals with disabilities in a manner 10 that provides the same opportunity for access and partici- 11 pation (including for privacy and independence) as for 12 other voters. 13 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 14 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 15 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 16 polling places at which individuals cast ballots. 17 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 18 to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) with re- 19 spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 20 with 2022.’’. 21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 22 ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 23 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘303, and 303A’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 136 IS (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 1 tents for such Act is amended by inserting after the 2 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 3 ‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. (b) FREE POSTAGE FOR VOTING BY MAIL.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 6 end the following: 7 ‘‘§ 3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elec- 8 tions 9 ‘‘The following shall be carried expeditiously and free 10 of postage: 11 ‘‘(1) Blank ballots mailed pursuant to section 12 303A(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (in- 13 dividually or in bulk). 14 ‘‘(2) Any ballot described in paragraph (1) that 15 is completed by a voter and mailed by the voter to 16 an election official for counting.’’. 17 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 18 MENTS.— 19 (A) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of 20 sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end 22 the following: 23 ‘‘3407. Ballots provided for voting in Federal elections.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 136 IS (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 1 TIONS.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, United 2 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘3403 3 through 3406’’ and inserting ‘‘3403 through 4 3407’’. 5 SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH 6 STATE MOTOR VEHICLE AUTHORITIES. 7 (a) AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION.—Section 5 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 9 20504) is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘SEC. 5. VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH MOTOR VEHICLE 11 AUTHORITY. 12 ‘‘(a) SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION FOR VOTER REG- 13 ISTRATION AND APPLICATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLE 14 DRIVER’S LICENSE.— 15 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION TO ELEC- 16 TION OFFICIALS.—Each State’s motor vehicle au- 17 thority, upon receiving any of the identifying infor- 18 mation described in paragraph (2) with respect to 19 any applicable individual, shall securely transmit the 20 identifying information to the appropriate State elec- 21 tion official. 22 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION DESCRIBED.— 23 The identifying information described in this para- 24 graph with respect to any individual is as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 136 IS ‘‘(A) The individual’s legal name. 1 ‘‘(B) The individual’s age. 2 ‘‘(C) The individual’s residence. 3 ‘‘(D) The individual’s citizenship status. 4 ‘‘(E) The individual’s electronic signature. 5 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF OFFICIALS RECEIVING INFORMA- 6 TION.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving the identi- 8 fying information with respect to an applicable indi- 9 vidual under subsection (a), the appropriate State 10 election official shall determine— 11 ‘‘(A) whether such individual is eligible to 12 vote in an election for Federal office; and 13 ‘‘(B) whether such individual is currently 14 registered to vote in elections for Federal office 15 at the address provided in such identifying in- 16 formation. 17 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO INDIVIDUALS.— 18 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE UNREGISTERED INDIVID- 19 UALS.—In the case of an applicable individual 20 who is eligible to vote in an election for Federal 21 office and who is not currently registered to 22 vote, the appropriate State election official shall 23 issue a notification to the individual con- 24 taining— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]