Save Democracy Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 459 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. BARRASSO, and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Rules and 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Save Democracy Act’’. 5 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 459 IS (1) Congress recognizes that the legitimacy of 1 the United States representative democracy rests on 2 the integrity of our Federal elections and confidence 3 our citizens have in them. 4 (2) Consistent with article I, section 4, clause 5 1 of the Constitution of the United States and the 6 principles of federalism, primary authority to regu- 7 late Federal elections is reserved to the States, while 8 Congress’ role is secondary. 9 (3) While exercising its primary role in deter- 10 mining the manner in which Federal elections shall 11 be carried out, States must seek to protect the fair- 12 ness, accessibility, and integrity of the elections. 13 (4) Congress should limit its secondary role in 14 regulating Federal elections to instances in which 15 State regulation of Federal elections has contributed 16 to or proven unsuccessful in preventing impropriety. 17 SEC. 2. INTEGRITY IN VOTER REGISTRATION. 18 (a) PROHIBITING AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRA- 19 TION.—Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act 20 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 21 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub- 22 section (k); and 23 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol- 24 lowing new subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 459 IS ‘‘(j) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION PURSUANT TO 1 AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 2 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A State may not register 3 an individual to vote in elections for Federal office 4 pursuant to an automatic voter registration system. 5 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, an 6 ‘automatic voter registration system’ means, with re- 7 spect to a State, a system that registers an indi- 8 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in the 9 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 10 information necessary for registration from govern- 11 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 12 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 13 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 14 in such elections.’’. 15 (b) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION TO VOTE OF INDI- 16 VIDUALS WHO FAIL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF UNITED 17 STATES CITIZENSHIP.—Section 8 of the National Voter 18 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507), as amended 19 by subsection (a), is amended— 20 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub- 21 section (l); and 22 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol- 23 lowing new subsection: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 459 IS ‘‘(k) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF INDIVIDUALS 1 NOT PROVIDING PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZEN- 2 SHIP.— 3 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other 4 provision of this Act, a State may not register an in- 5 dividual to vote in elections for Federal office held 6 in the State unless, at the time the individual ap- 7 plies to register to vote, the individual provides docu- 8 mentary proof that the individual is a citizen of the 9 United States, which shall consist of any of the fol- 10 lowing (or a photocopy thereof): 11 ‘‘(A) A certified birth certificate issued by 12 a State or unit of local government in a State. 13 ‘‘(B) A valid United States passport. 14 ‘‘(C) A Consular Report of Birth Abroad 15 issued by the Secretary of State. 16 ‘‘(D) A Naturalization Certificate or Cer- 17 tificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of 18 Homeland Security. 19 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) applies 20 with respect to an individual who applies to register 21 to vote under section 5, 6, or 7 (including an indi- 22 vidual who submits the mail voter registration appli- 23 cation form prescribed by the Election Assistance 24 Commission pursuant to section 9), or who applies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 459 IS under any other method of voter registration avail- 1 able in the State.’’. 2 (c) REQUIRING APPLICANTS FOR VOTER REGISTRA- 3 TION TO PROVIDE FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.— 4 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 303(a)(5)(A) of 5 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 6 21083(a)(5)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING APPLICANTS TO PROVIDE 8 FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.—Notwith- 9 standing any other provision of law, an applica- 10 tion for voter registration for an election for 11 Federal office may not be accepted or processed 12 by a State unless the application includes the 13 applicant’s full Social Security number.’’. 14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 15 CERTAIN VOTERS REGISTERING BY MAIL.—Section 16 303(b)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 17 21083(b)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘either— 18 ’’ and all that follows through ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘the individual’s full Social Security number; and’’. 20 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 21 WAIVER OF PRIVACY ACT.—Section 303(c) of such 22 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(c)) is amended to read as fol- 23 lows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 459 IS ‘‘(c) PERMITTED USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUM- 1 BERS.—Section 7 of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 2 552a note) does not apply to the use of a Social Security 3 number under subsection (a)(5)(A) or subsection 4 (b)(3)(B)(i).’’. 5 (d) ENSURING PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO 6 STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS ON INDIVIDUALS RECUSED 7 FROM JURY SERVICE ON GROUNDS OF NONCITIZEN- 8 SHIP.— 9 (1) REQUIRING STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS TO 10 COORDINATE INFORMATION ON RECUSAL AS PART 11 OF MAINTENANCE OF STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRA- 12 TION LIST.—Subparagraph (A) of section 303(a)(2) 13 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 14 21083(a)(2)) is amended— 15 (A) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 16 (iv); and 17 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol- 18 lowing new clause: 19 ‘‘(iii) For purposes of removing names 20 of ineligible voters from the official list of 21 eligible voters by reason of citizenship sta- 22 tus, the State shall coordinate the comput- 23 erized list with records of courts which 24 have recused individuals from serving on a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 459 IS jury on the grounds that the individuals 1 are not citizens of the United States.’’. 2 (2) REQUIRING NOTIFICATION BY COURTS.— 3 (A) REQUIREMENT DESCRIBED.—If a 4 United States district court or a court of any 5 State or local jurisdiction recuses an individual 6 from serving on a jury on the grounds that the 7 individual is not a citizen of the United States, 8 the court shall transmit a notice of the individ- 9 ual’s recusal— 10 (i) to the chief State election official 11 of the State in which the individual re- 12 sides; and 13 (ii) to the Attorney General. 14 (B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 15 subsection— 16 (i) the ‘‘chief State election official’’ 17 of a State is the individual designated by 18 the State under section 10 of the National 19 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20 20509) to be responsible for coordination 21 of the State’s responsibilities under such 22 Act; and 23 (ii) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of 24 the several States, the District of Colum- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 459 IS bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 1 American Samoa, Guam, the United States 2 Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 3 the Northern Mariana Islands. 4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend- 5 ments made by this section shall take effect on the date 6 of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect 7 to applications for voter registration which are submitted 8 on or after such date. 9 SEC. 3. INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BALLOTS. 10 (a) PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BAL- 11 LOTS.—Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 12 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended— 13 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 14 sections 305 and 306; and 15 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 16 new section: 17 ‘‘SEC. 304. PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CASTING OF BAL- 18 LOTS. 19 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION AS 20 CONDITION OF VOTING.— 21 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.—Not- 22 withstanding any other provision of law, the appro- 23 priate State or local election official may not provide 24 a ballot for an election for Federal office to an indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 459 IS vidual who desires to vote in person unless the indi- 1 vidual presents to the official a current and valid 2 identification. 3 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN 4 PERSON.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 5 law, the appropriate State or local election official 6 may not accept any ballot for an election for Federal 7 office provided by an individual who votes other than 8 in person unless the individual submits with the bal- 9 lot a copy of a current and valid identification. 10 ‘‘(3) CURRENT AND VALID IDENTIFICATION DE- 11 FINED.—In this subsection, a ‘current and valid 12 identification’ means a current and valid version of 13 any of the following: 14 ‘‘(A) An identification issued by a State or 15 a unit of local government in a State. 16 ‘‘(B) A United States passport. 17 ‘‘(C) A military identification card. 18 ‘‘(D) An identification issued by a tribal 19 government. 20 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING DELIVERY OF BALLOTS BY MAIL 21 UNLESS REQUESTED.—A State may not deliver a ballot 22 in an election for Federal office to an individual by mail 23 unless the individual requests that the State deliver the 24 ballot to the individual by mail. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 459 IS ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING USE OF DROP BOXES FOR COL- 1 LECTION OF BALLOTS.—A State may not use a drop box 2 for the collection of voted absentee ballots in an election 3 for Federal office unless the drop box is located inside a 4 building which serves as an office for a State or local elec- 5 tion official. 6 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON DELIVERY OF VOTED BAL- 7 LOTS BY THIRD PARTIES.—A State may not accept a 8 voted absentee ballot in an election for Federal office 9 which is delivered in person to an election official by any 10 individual other than the voter to whom the ballot was 11 transmitted, other than an individual described as follows: 12 ‘‘(1) An election official while engaged in offi- 13 cial duties as authorized by law. 14 ‘‘(2) An employee of the United States Postal 15 Service while engaged in official duties as authorized 16 by law. 17 ‘‘(3) Any other individual who is allowed by law 18 to collect and transmit United States mail, while en- 19 gaged in official duties as authorized by law. 20 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF ABSENTEE BAL- 21 LOTS RECEIVED AFTER DATE OF ELECTION.—A State 22 may not accept a voted absentee ballot in an election for 23 Federal office which is not received by the appropriate 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 459 IS State or local election official prior to the time at which 1 the polls in the election close on the date of the election. 2 ‘‘(f) USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS TO CROSS- 3 CHECK IDENTIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS CASTING BAL- 4 LOTS IN AN ELECTION WITH INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED 5 TO VOTE IN THE ELECTION.— 6 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Immediately upon the 7 closing of the polls in an election for Federal office, 8 each State shall verify the identification of each indi- 9 vidual who cast a ballot in the election by carrying 10 out a cross-check of the individual’s identification 11 with the individual’s identification in the official list 12 of individuals who are registered to vote in the elec- 13 tion, using the individual’s full Social Security num- 14 ber as the method for determining the individual’s 15 identification. 16 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 7 17 days after the closing of the polls in an election for 18 Federal office, the State shall submit to the Com- 19 mittee on House Administration of the House of 20 Representatives and the Committee on Rules and 21 Administration of the Senate a report on the State’s 22 compliance with subsection (a), and shall include in 23 the report— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 459 IS ‘‘(A) the percentage of individuals who cast 1 votes in the election whose identifications were 2 verified by the State under such subsection; and 3 ‘‘(B) the number of individuals who cast 4 votes in the election, or who attempted to cast 5 votes in the election, whose identifications could 6 not be verified by the State under such sub- 7 section. 8 ‘‘(g) EXCEPTION FOR ABSENT MILITARY AND OVER- 9 SEAS VOTERS.—This section does not apply with respect 10 to any individual who is entitled to vote by absentee ballot 11 under the U [Text truncated for display. 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