Ensuring American Voters Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1217 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit a State from registering an individual to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State unless the individual provides documentary proof that the individual is a citizen of the United States. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Mr. GIBBS (for himself, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Mr. DUN- CAN) 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 registering an individual to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State unless the individual provides documentary proof that the indi- vidual is a citizen of the United States. 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 ‘‘Ensuring American 4 Voters Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1217.IH H1217 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1217 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITING REGISTRATION TO VOTE OF INDIVID- 1 UALS WHO FAIL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF 2 UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the National Voter 4 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub- 6 section (k); and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol- 8 lowing new subsection: 9 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITING REGISTRATION OF INDIVIDUALS 10 NOT PROVIDING PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZEN- 11 SHIP.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 13 provision of this Act, a State may not register an in- 14 dividual to vote in elections for Federal office held 15 in the State unless, at the time the individual ap- 16 plies to register to vote, the individual provides docu- 17 mentary proof that the individual is a citizen of the 18 United States, which shall consist of any of the fol- 19 lowing (or a photocopy thereof): 20 ‘‘(A) A certified birth certificate issued by 21 a State or unit of local government in a State. 22 ‘‘(B) A valid United States passport. 23 ‘‘(C) A Consular Report of Birth Abroad 24 issued by the Secretary of State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1217.IH H1217 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1217 IH ‘‘(D) A Naturalization Certificate or Cer- 1 tificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of 2 Homeland Security. 3 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) applies 4 with respect to an individual who applies to register 5 to vote under section 5, 6, or 7 (including an indi- 6 vidual who submits the mail voter registration appli- 7 cation form prescribed by the Election Assistance 8 Commission pursuant to section 9), or who applies 9 under any other method of voter registration avail- 10 able in the State.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 12 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 13 voter registration which are submitted on or after the date 14 of the enactment of this Act. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1217.IH H1217 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS