Voter Empowerment Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1275 To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting for individuals with disabilities, protect the ability of individuals to exercise the right to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. HOYER, and Mr. NADLER) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Science, Space, and Technology, Veterans’ Affairs, Oversight and Re- form, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting for individuals with disabilities, protect the ability of individuals to exercise the right to vote 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; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Voter Empowerment Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1275 IH (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 1 United States that— 2 (1) all eligible citizens of the United States 3 should access and exercise their constitutional right 4 to vote in a free, fair, and timely manner; and 5 (2) the integrity, security, and accountability of 6 the voting process must be vigilantly protected, 7 maintained, and enhanced in order to protect and 8 preserve electoral and participatory democracy in the 9 United States. 10 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 11 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 12 Sec. 1. Short title; statement of policy. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—VOTER REGISTRATION MODERNIZATION Sec. 100. Short title. Subtitle A—Promoting Internet Registration Sec. 101. Requiring availability of Internet for voter registration. Sec. 102. Use of Internet to update registration information. Sec. 103. Provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals reg- istered to vote. Sec. 104. Clarification of requirement regarding necessary information to show eligibility to vote. Sec. 105. Effective date. Subtitle B—Automatic Voter Registration Sec. 111. Short title; findings and purpose. Sec. 112. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. Sec. 113. Contributing agency assistance in registration. Sec. 114. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible vot- ers in existing records. Sec. 115. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. Sec. 116. Registration portability and correction. Sec. 117. Payments and grants. Sec. 118. Treatment of exempt States. Sec. 119. Miscellaneous provisions. Sec. 120. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1275 IH Sec. 121. Effective date. Subtitle C—Same Day Voter Registration Sec. 131. Same day registration. Subtitle D—Conditions on Removal on Basis of Interstate Cross-Checks Sec. 141. Conditions on removal of registrants from official list of eligible vot- ers on basis of interstate cross-checks. Subtitle E—Other Initiatives To Promote Voter Registration Sec. 151. Acceptance of voter registration applications from individuals under 18 years of age. Sec. 152. Annual reports on voter registration statistics. Subtitle F—Availability of HAVA Requirements Payments Sec. 161. Availability of requirements payments under HAVA to cover costs of compliance with new requirements. Subtitle G—Prohibiting Interference With Voter Registration Sec. 171. Prohibiting hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registra- tion. Sec. 172. Establishment of best practices. Subtitle H—Saving Voters From Voter Purging Sec. 181. Short title. Sec. 182. Conditions for removal of voters from list of registered voters. TITLE II—ACCESS TO VOTING FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES Sec. 201. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities. Sec. 202. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register to vote and vote privately and independently at residences. Sec. 203. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting ac- cess for individuals with disabilities. TITLE III—PROHIBITING VOTER CAGING Sec. 301. Voter caging and other questionable challenges prohibited. Sec. 302. Development and adoption of best practices for preventing voter cag- ing. TITLE IV—PROHIBITING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES AND PREVENTING VOTER INTIMIDATION Sec. 401. Short title. Sec. 402. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. Sec. 403. Corrective action. Sec. 404. Reports to Congress. TITLE V—DEMOCRACY RESTORATION Sec. 501. Short title. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1275 IH Sec. 502. Rights of citizens. Sec. 503. Enforcement. Sec. 504. Notification of restoration of voting rights. Sec. 505. Definitions. Sec. 506. Relation to other laws. Sec. 507. Federal prison funds. Sec. 508. Effective date. TITLE VI—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT Sec. 601. Short title. Sec. 602. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. Sec. 603. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. Sec. 604. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. Sec. 605. Effective date for new requirements. Sec. 606. Clarification of ability of States to use election administration pay- ments to meet requirements. TITLE VII—PROVISIONAL BALLOTS Sec. 701. Requirements for counting provisional ballots; establishment of uni- form and nondiscriminatory standards. TITLE VIII—EARLY VOTING Sec. 801. Early voting. TITLE IX—VOTING BY MAIL Sec. 901. Voting by mail. TITLE X—ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS AND OVERSEAS VOTERS Sec. 1001. Extending guarantee of residency for voting purposes to family members of absent military personnel. Sec. 1002. Pre-election reports on availability and transmission of absentee bal- lots. Sec. 1003. Enforcement. Sec. 1004. Revisions to 45-day absentee ballot transmission rule. Sec. 1005. Use of single absentee ballot application for subsequent elections. Sec. 1006. Effective date. TITLE XI—POLL WORKER RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING Sec. 1101. Leave to serve as a poll worker for Federal employees. Sec. 1102. Grants to States for poll worker recruitment and training. Sec. 1103. Model poll worker training program. Sec. 1104. State defined. TITLE XII—ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT Sec. 1201. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. TITLE XIII—FEDERAL ELECTION INTEGRITY Sec. 1301. Prohibition on campaign activities by chief State election adminis- tration officials. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1275 IH TITLE XIV—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS Sec. 1401. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. Sec. 1402. GAO analysis of effects of audits. TITLE XV—PROMOTING VOTER ACCESS THROUGH ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENTS Subtitle A—Promoting Voter Access Sec. 1501. Treatment of universities as voter registration agencies. Sec. 1502. Minimum notification requirements for voters affected by polling place changes. Sec. 1503. Election Day holiday. Sec. 1504. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification re- quirements for voting. Sec. 1505. Postage-free ballots. Sec. 1506. Reimbursement for costs incurred by States in establishing program to track and confirm receipt of absentee ballots. Sec. 1507. Voter information response systems and hotline. Subtitle B—Improvements in Operation of Election Assistance Commission Sec. 1511. Reauthorization of Election Assistance Commission. Sec. 1512. Requiring States to participate in post-general election surveys. Sec. 1513. Reports by National Institute of Standards and Technology on use of funds transferred from Election Assistance Commission. Sec. 1514. Recommendations to improve operations of Election Assistance Commission. Sec. 1515. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain government contracting requirements. Subtitle C—Miscellaneous Provisions Sec. 1521. Application of laws to Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. Sec. 1522. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain government contracting requirements. Sec. 1523. No effect on other laws. TITLE XVI—SEVERABILITY Sec. 1601. Severability. TITLE I—VOTER REGISTRATION 1 MODERNIZATION 2 SEC. 100. SHORT TITLE. 3 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Registration 4 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1275 IH Subtitle A—Promoting Internet 1 Registration 2 SEC. 101. REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 3 VOTER REGISTRATION. 4 (a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 5 REGISTRATION.—The National Voter Registration Act of 6 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by inserting 7 after section 6 the following new section: 8 ‘‘SEC. 6A. INTERNET REGISTRATION. 9 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 10 ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF ONLINE REGISTRA- 12 TION.—Each State, acting through the chief State 13 election official, shall ensure that the following serv- 14 ices are available to the public at any time on the 15 official public websites of the appropriate State and 16 local election officials in the State, in the same man- 17 ner and subject to the same terms and conditions as 18 the services provided by voter registration agencies 19 under section 7(a): 20 ‘‘(A) Online application for voter registra- 21 tion. 22 ‘‘(B) Online assistance to applicants in ap- 23 plying to register to vote. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1275 IH ‘‘(C) Online completion and submission by 1 applicants of the mail voter registration applica- 2 tion form prescribed by the Election Assistance 3 Commission pursuant to section 9(a)(2), includ- 4 ing assistance with providing a signature as re- 5 quired under subsection (c). 6 ‘‘(D) Online receipt of completed voter reg- 7 istration applications. 8 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS.— 9 A State shall accept an online voter registration applica- 10 tion provided by an individual under this section, and en- 11 sure that the individual is registered to vote in the State, 12 if— 13 ‘‘(1) the individual meets the same voter reg- 14 istration requirements applicable to individuals who 15 register to vote by mail in accordance with section 16 6(a)(1) using the mail voter registration application 17 form prescribed by the Election Assistance Commis- 18 sion pursuant to section 9(a)(2); and 19 ‘‘(2) the individual meets the requirements of 20 subsection (c) to provide a signature in electronic 21 form (but only in the case of applications submitted 22 during or after the second year in which this section 23 is in effect in the State). 24 ‘‘(c) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1275 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 1 tion, an individual meets the requirements of this 2 subsection as follows: 3 ‘‘(A) In the case of an individual who has 4 a signature on file with a State agency, includ- 5 ing the State motor vehicle authority, that is 6 required to provide voter registration services 7 under this Act or any other law, the individual 8 consents to the transfer of that electronic signa- 9 ture. 10 ‘‘(B) If subparagraph (A) does not apply, 11 the individual submits with the application an 12 electronic copy of the individual’s handwritten 13 signature through electronic means. 14 ‘‘(C) If subparagraph (A) and subpara- 15 graph (B) do not apply, the individual executes 16 a computerized mark in the signature field on 17 an online voter registration application, in ac- 18 cordance with reasonable security measures es- 19 tablished by the State, but only if the State ac- 20 cepts such mark from the individual. 21 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNABLE TO 22 MEET REQUIREMENT.—If an individual is unable to 23 meet the requirements of paragraph (1), the State 24 shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1275 IH ‘‘(A) permit the individual to complete all 1 other elements of the online voter registration 2 application; 3 ‘‘(B) permit the individual to provide a sig- 4 nature at the time the individual requests a bal- 5 lot in an election (whether the individual re- 6 quests the ballot at a polling place or requests 7 the ballot by mail); and 8 ‘‘(C) if the individual carries out the steps 9 described in subparagraph (A) and subpara- 10 graph (B), ensure that the individual is reg- 11 istered to vote in the State. 12 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—The State shall ensure that in- 13 dividuals applying to register to vote online are noti- 14 fied of the requirements of paragraph (1) and of the 15 treatment of individuals unable to meet such re- 16 quirements, as described in paragraph (2). 17 ‘‘(d) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 18 ‘‘(1) CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT.—Upon the 19 online submission of a completed voter registration 20 application by an individual under this section, the 21 appropriate State or local election official shall send 22 the individual a notice confirming the State’s receipt 23 of the application and providing instructions on how 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1275.IH H1275 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1275 IH the individual may check the status of the applica- 1 tion. 2 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF DISPOSITION.—As soon as the 3 appropriate State or local election official has ap- 4 proved or rejected an application submitted by an in- 5 dividual under this section, the official [Text truncated for display. 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