Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the voting rights of the citizens of the United States.

IA 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 9 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the voting rights of the citizens of the United States. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. ENGEL submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the voting rights of the citizens of the United States. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 1 of the United States of America in Congress assembled 2 (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the fol- 3 lowing article is proposed as an amendment to the Con- 4 stitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all 5 intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 6 ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several 7 States within seven years after the date of its submission 8 for ratification: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ9.IH HJ9 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HJ 9 IH ‘‘ARTICLE — 1 ‘‘SECTION 1. The President and Vice President shall 2 be elected by the citizens of the United States. 3 ‘‘SECTION 2. No voting qualification or prerequisite 4 to voting, nor any standard, practice, or procedure, shall 5 be imposed or applied by Congress, or by any State or 6 political subdivision, to deny or abridge the right of any 7 citizen of the United States to vote. The right of the citi- 8 zens of the United States to vote shall not be infringed 9 on account of any undue burden of proof of identity or 10 citizenship, nor by any standard, practice, or procedure 11 implemented since the previous national election for Sen- 12 ator and Representative in Congress. 13 ‘‘SECTION 3. The right of the citizens of the United 14 States to engage in free and fair political debate shall be 15 free from acts or expenditures by foreign persons, and 16 from undue or anonymous influence from any person. 17 ‘‘SECTION 4. Districts represented by members of 18 Congress, or by members of any legislative body of any 19 State or political subdivision, shall be geographically com- 20 pact and composed of contiguous territory. No State or 21 political subdivision shall deviate from this requirement 22 except by reference to existing natural or political bound- 23 aries. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ9.IH HJ9 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HJ 9 IH ‘‘SECTION 5. No citizen who has reached eighteen 1 years of age shall be barred from participating in elections 2 for President and Vice President, or for Senator or Rep- 3 resentative in Congress, on account of failure to register 4 to vote. 5 ‘‘SECTION 6. Elections for President and Vice Presi- 6 dent, and for Senator and Representative in Congress, 7 shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday 8 in November. This day shall be designated a national holi- 9 day. No entity shall interfere with, withhold regular com- 10 pensation from, or otherwise penalize the exercise of the 11 right of any of its agents, employees, contractors, or as- 12 signs so entitled to vote on this day. 13 ‘‘SECTION 7. Congress shall have the power to en- 14 force this article by appropriate legislation. 15 ‘‘SECTION 8. This article shall take effect two years 16 after the date of its ratification.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HJ9.IH HJ9 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS