People Over Long Lines Act (POLL Act)

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2117 To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to vote. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Ad- ministration A BILL To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to vote. 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 ‘‘People Over Long 4 Lines Act (POLL Act)’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The right to vote for all Americans is fun- 8 damental and rules for voting and election adminis- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2117 IS tration should protect the right to vote and promote 1 voter participation. 2 (2) It is the responsibility of the State and Fed- 3 eral governments to ensure that every eligible citizen 4 is able to register to vote and to cast a ballot. 5 (3) There continues to be an alarming move- 6 ment to erect barriers to make it more difficult for 7 Americans to participate in our Nation’s democratic 8 process. The Nation has witnessed unprecedented ef- 9 forts to turn back the clock and erect barriers to 10 voting for communities of color, which have faced 11 historic and continuing discrimination, as well as 12 disabled, young, elderly, and low-income Americans. 13 (4) One way voting in communities of color has 14 been suppressed is through long waits at polling lo- 15 cations. Studies have shown a number of contrib- 16 uting factors, including the drastic reduction of early 17 voting days, poor allocation of resources to certain 18 communities, cuts to election funding, and a reduc- 19 tion of polling locations. 20 (5) A 2019 study led by economist Keith Chen 21 of the University of California, Los Angeles, 22 matched anonymous location data from 10,000,000 23 smartphones to 93,000 polling places to create the 24 most extensive map to date of voter wait times 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2117 IS across the United States. The results showed one 1 very clear disparity: voters in predominantly Black 2 neighborhoods waited 29 percent longer, on average, 3 than those in White neighborhoods. They were also 4 about 74 percent more likely to wait for more than 5 half an hour. 6 (6) Waiting in long lines discourages people 7 from voting, undermines confidence in the electoral 8 system, and imposes economic costs on voters. 9 (7) Long lines are estimated to have deterred 10 between 500,000 and 700,000 people from casting 11 their ballot in 2012. 12 (8) These problems led to the creation of the bi- 13 partisan Presidential Commission on Election Ad- 14 ministration, which issued a 2014 report that set 15 forth a standard: ‘‘No citizen should have to wait 16 more than 30 minutes to vote.’’. 17 (9) Despite the work of the Presidential Com- 18 mission on Election Administration, long lines con- 19 tinue, particularly in communities of color where ra- 20 cial discrimination in voting is a clear and persistent 21 problem. 22 (10) In the Arizona 2016 Presidential primary, 23 in one Maricopa County polling place for mostly 24 Latino voters, some waited for 4 hours or more in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2117 IS the 80-degree heat to cast their ballots. For the 1 2016 general election, 3 people collapsed while wait- 2 ing to vote in an hours-long line in Georgia, and a 3 line to vote in Cincinnati, Ohio was a half-mile long. 4 (11) According to a nationwide study, in 2016, 5 roughly 3 percent of people standing in line at vot- 6 ing locations left before they could vote as a result 7 of long lines. 8 (12) The disenfranchisement that long lines 9 create for voters is not limited to that one election. 10 Research suggests that for each hour would-be vot- 11 ers wait, their probability of voting in the next elec- 12 tion drops by 1 percentage point. 13 (13) Congress has the authority under article I, 14 section 4 of the Constitution of the United States to 15 enact laws governing the time, place, and manner of 16 Federal elections. 17 (14) Congress also has authority under section 18 2 of the 15th Amendment to enforce the right of 19 citizens of the United States to vote, which shall not 20 be denied or abridged by the United States, by legis- 21 lation. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2117 IS SEC. 3. PREVENTING UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING 1 TIMES. 2 (a) STATE PLANS REQUIRED.—Title III of the Help 3 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is 4 amended— 5 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 6 sections 305 and 306; and 7 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 8 new section: 9 ‘‘SEC. 304. UNREASONABLE VOTER WAITING TIMES. 10 ‘‘(a) STATE PLANS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days be- 12 fore each election for Federal office, each State shall 13 make public (including through the website of the 14 State on which election information is normally pub- 15 lished) and submit to the Commission a written plan 16 which meets the public notice and comment require- 17 ments of paragraph (2) and describes the measures 18 it is implementing to ensure, to the greatest extent 19 possible, an equitable waiting time for all voters in 20 the State, and a waiting time of less than 30 min- 21 utes at any polling place in the election. 22 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE COMMENT REQUIRE- 23 MENT.—The public notice and comment require- 24 ments of this paragraph are met if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2117 IS ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days prior to the 1 submission of the plan to the Commission, the 2 State made a preliminary version of the plan 3 available for public inspection and comment; 4 ‘‘(B) the State publishes notice that the 5 preliminary version of the plan is so available; 6 and 7 ‘‘(C) the State took the public comments 8 made regarding the preliminary version of the 9 plan into account in preparing the plan which 10 was submitted to the Commission under para- 11 graph (1). 12 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON UNREASONABLE VOTER WAIT- 13 ING TIMES.—Each State shall ensure that no person vot- 14 ing in an election for Federal office shall wait for more 15 than 30 minutes at any polling place for purposes of cast- 16 ing a vote in such election. 17 ‘‘(c) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES- 18 SIVE VOTER WAIT TIMES.— 19 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF VOTER WAIT TIMES.—After 20 each election for Federal office, the Commission 21 shall review voter waiting times for each jurisdiction 22 for which voting in such election took place and 23 make publicly available a report on its findings. 24 ‘‘(2) STATE REMEDIAL PLANS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2117 IS ‘‘(A) REMEDIAL PLANS.—Notwithstanding 1 section 209, each jurisdiction for which the 2 Commission, after the review conducted under 3 paragraph (1), determines that a substantial 4 number of voters waited more than 60 minutes 5 to cast a vote, or in which there were substan- 6 tial violations of the standards established 7 under section 299, shall comply with a State re- 8 medial plan established by the Commission to 9 provide for the effective allocation of resources 10 to administer elections for Federal office held in 11 the State and to reduce the waiting time of vot- 12 ers. 13 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH ATTORNEY 14 GENERAL AND STATES.—Each remedial plan 15 established by the Commission shall provide for 16 coordination between the Commission, the At- 17 torney General, and the State involved to mon- 18 itor the compliance of the State with the reme- 19 dial plan during the period leading up to the 20 election and on the date of the election and to 21 respond to serious delays in the ability of voters 22 to cast their ballots at polling places. 23 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—A jurisdiction shall 24 not be required to comply with a State remedial 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2117 IS plan required under subparagraph (A) if the 1 Commission determines that the voter waiting 2 times were less than 60 minutes for 2 consecu- 3 tive regularly scheduled general elections for 4 Federal office. 5 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes of 6 this subsection, the term ‘jurisdiction’ has the mean- 7 ing given the term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 8 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 9 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(j)). 10 ‘‘(4) STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days 11 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 12 Commission shall establish standards for conducting 13 the review under paragraph (1) and for establishing 14 remedial plans under paragraph (2)(A). 15 ‘‘(5) APPROPRIATIONS.—In addition to other 16 amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Com- 17 mission, there are authorized to be appropriated for 18 each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2031, 19 $5,000,000 for each such year for the Commission 20 to carry out this subsection. 21 ‘‘(d) EMERGENCY BALLOTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a failure of 23 voting equipment or other circumstance at a polling 24 place that causes an unreasonable delay, any indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2117 IS vidual who is waiting at the polling place to cast a 1 ballot in an election for Federal office at the time 2 of the failure shall be advised immediately of the in- 3 dividual’s right to use an emergency paper ballot, 4 and upon request shall be provided with such an 5 emergency paper ballot for the election and the sup- 6 plies necessary to mark the ballot. 7 ‘‘(2) BALLOT REQUIREMENTS.—Any emergency 8 paper ballot provided under paragraph (1) shall— 9 ‘‘(A) include the names of each candidate 10 for each Federal office for which voting occurs 11 at such polling place; and 12 ‘‘(B) be available in each language for 13 which other ballots provided at the polling place 14 are available. 15 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF BALLOT.—Any emergency 16 paper ballot which is cast by an individual under 17 this subsection shall be counted in the same manner 18 as a regular ballot, unless the individual casting the 19 ballot would have otherwise been required to cast a 20 provisional ballot in the absence of the delay, in 21 which case that ballot shall be treated in the same 22 manner as a provisional ballot.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2117 IS (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 1 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 2 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 3 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNREASON- 4 ABLE VOTER WAITING TIME. 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sec- 6 tion 304(b), section 402 shall not apply and any person 7 who is aggrieved by such violation may commence a civil 8 action in any appropriate district court of the United 9 States for relief. 10 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—In any civil action commenced under 11 subsection (a): 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds a viola- 13 tion of section 304(b), the court shall assess a civil 14 penalty equal to the sum of— 15 ‘‘(A) $50; plus 16 ‘‘(B) an additional $50 for each additional 17 hour the person waited at the polling place to 18 cast a vote; plus 19 ‘‘(C) reasonable attorney fees, including 20 litigation expenses, and costs. 21 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the court determines 22 that the violation was due to an intentional action 23 to suppress votes or was made with reckless dis- 24 regard of the requirements of section 304— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2117 IS ‘‘(A) paragraph (1)(A) shall be applied by 1 substituting ‘$650’ for ‘$50’; and 2 ‘‘(B) paragraph (1(B) shall be applied by 3 substituting ‘$150’ for ‘$50’.’’. 4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 of such 5 Act (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 7 paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and 8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol- 9 lowing new paragraph: 10 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in section 11 304(c);’’. 12 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 13 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended— 14 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 15 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 16 306, and by inserting after the item relating to sec- 17 tion 303 the following new item: 18 ‘‘Sec. 304. Allocation of election resources.’’; and 19 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 20 tion 402 the following new item: 21 ‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for unreasonable voter waiting time.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 23 of this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2117.IS S2117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2117 IS SEC. 4. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL 1 WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 2 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer- 4 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following new 6 subtitle: 7 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 8 Requirements 9 ‘‘SEC. 321. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND 10 POLL WORKERS. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for the 12 minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, 13 and other election resources (including all other physical 14 resources) for each voting site on th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]