Save Voters Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 966 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit a State from removing the name of any registrant from the official list of voters eligible to vote in elections for Federal office in the State unless the State verifies, on the basis of objective and reliable evidence, that the registrant is ineligible to vote in such elections. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 11, 2021 Mrs. BEATTY (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. COOPER, and Mr. MCGOV- ERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit a State from removing the name of any reg- istrant from the official list of voters eligible to vote in elections for Federal office in the State unless the State verifies, on the basis of objective and reliable evi- dence, that the registrant is ineligible to vote in such elections. 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 ‘‘Save Voters Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H966.IH H966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 966 IH SEC. 2. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM LIST 1 OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 2 (a) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—The National Voter 3 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is 4 amended by inserting after section 8 the following new 5 section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 8A. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM 7 OFFICIAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 8 ‘‘(a) VERIFICATION ON BASIS OF OBJECTIVE AND 9 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.— 10 ‘‘(1) REQUIRING VERIFICATION.—Notwith- 11 standing any other provision of this Act, a State 12 may not remove the name of any registrant from the 13 official list of voters eligible to vote in elections for 14 Federal office in the State unless the State verifies, 15 on the basis of objective and reliable evidence, that 16 the registrant is ineligible to vote in such elections. 17 ‘‘(2) FACTORS NOT CONSIDERED AS OBJECTIVE 18 AND RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—For 19 purposes of paragraph (1), the following factors, or 20 any combination thereof, shall not be treated as ob- 21 jective and reliable evidence of a registrant’s ineligi- 22 bility to vote: 23 ‘‘(A) The failure of the registrant to vote 24 in any election. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H966.IH H966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 966 IH ‘‘(B) The failure of the registrant to re- 1 spond to any notice sent under section 8(d), un- 2 less the notice has been returned as undeliver- 3 able. 4 ‘‘(C) The failure of the registrant to take 5 any other action with respect to voting in any 6 election or with respect to the registrant’s sta- 7 tus as a registrant. 8 ‘‘(b) NOTICE AFTER REMOVAL.— 9 ‘‘(1) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUAL REMOVED.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 48 11 hours after a State removes the name of a reg- 12 istrant from the official list of eligible voters for 13 any reason, the State shall send notice of the 14 removal to the former registrant, and shall in- 15 clude in the notice the grounds for the removal 16 and information on how the former registrant 17 may contest the removal or be reinstated, in- 18 cluding a telephone number for the appropriate 19 election official. 20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 21 does not apply in the case of a registrant— 22 ‘‘(i) who sends written confirmation to 23 the State that the registrant is no longer 24 eligible to vote in the registrar’s jurisdic- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H966.IH H966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 966 IH tion in which the registrant was registered; 1 or 2 ‘‘(ii) who is removed from the official 3 list of eligible voters by reason of the death 4 of the registrant. 5 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 48 hours 6 after conducting any general program to remove the 7 names of ineligible voters from the official list of eli- 8 gible voters (as described in section 8(a)(4)), the 9 State shall disseminate a public notice through such 10 methods as may be reasonable to reach the general 11 public (including by publishing the notice in a news- 12 paper of wide circulation or posting the notice on the 13 websites of the appropriate election officials) that 14 list maintenance is taking place and that registrants 15 should check their registration status to ensure no 16 errors or mistakes have been made. The State shall 17 ensure that the public notice disseminated under this 18 paragraph is in a format that is reasonably conven- 19 ient and accessible to voters with disabilities, includ- 20 ing voters who have low vision or are blind.’’. 21 (b) CONDITIONS FOR TRANSMISSION OF NOTICES OF 22 REMOVAL.—Section 8(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 23 20507(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following 24 new paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H966.IH H966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 966 IH ‘‘(4) A State may not transmit a notice to a 1 registrant under this subsection unless the State ob- 2 tains objective and reliable evidence (in accordance 3 with the standards for such evidence which are de- 4 scribed in section 8A(a)(2)) that the registrant has 5 changed residence to a place outside the registrar’s 6 jurisdiction in which the registrant is registered.’’. 7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 8 (1) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 9 1993.—Section 8(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 10 20507(a)) is amended— 11 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘pro- 12 vide’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, pro- 13 vide’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘con- 15 duct’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, con- 16 duct’’. 17 (2) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Section 18 303(a)(4)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 19 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(4)(A)) is amended by striking 20 ‘‘, registrants’’ and inserting ‘‘, and subject to sec- 21 tion 8A of such Act, registrants’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H966.IH H966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 966 IH (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 2 of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H966.IH H966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS