SAVE VOTERS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 958 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to save eligible voters from voter purging, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 28, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to save eligible voters from voter purging, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Automatically 4 Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘SAVE VOTERS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 958 IS SEC. 2. INDIVIDUAL AND PUBLIC NOTICE OF REMOVALS 1 FROM VOTING ROLLS; CONDITIONS FOR RE- 2 MOVAL OF VOTERS FROM LIST OF REG- 3 ISTERED VOTERS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the National Voter 5 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended 6 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(k) INDIVIDUAL AND PUBLIC NOTICE OF REMOV- 8 ALS FROM THE VOTING ROLLS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 10 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUALIZED NOTICE.—After a 11 State or political subdivision removes the name 12 of a registrant from the official list of eligible 13 voters for any reason, the State or registrar 14 shall send the former registrant notice of the 15 removal, the grounds for the removal, and in- 16 formation on how to contest the removal or be 17 reinstated, including a contact phone number. 18 Such individualized notice is not required in in- 19 stances where the State or political subdivision 20 has received written confirmation from the reg- 21 istrant that the registrant is no longer eligible 22 to vote in the jurisdiction in which the reg- 23 istrant is registered. 24 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—After a State or 25 political subdivision completes any systematic 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 958 IS program to remove the names of registrants 1 from the official list of eligible voters for any 2 reason, the State or registrar shall provide rea- 3 sonable public notice, for example, in a news- 4 paper of wide circulation or on the Internet 5 website of the registrar and the chief State elec- 6 tion official, that list maintenance is taking 7 place and that voters should check their reg- 8 istration status to ensure no errors or mistakes 9 have been made. The public notice under this 10 subparagraph, in such publication or on the 11 Internet, shall be in a format that is reasonably 12 convenient and accessible to voters with disabil- 13 ities, including voters who have low vision or 14 are blind. 15 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR NOTICE.—A State or polit- 16 ical subdivision shall provide the notice required 17 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) not 18 later than 48 hours after the removal described in 19 such subparagraph (A) or (B) took place.’’. 20 (b) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—The National Voter 21 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is 22 amended by inserting after section 8 the following new 23 section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 958 IS ‘‘SEC. 8A. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM 1 OFFICIAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 2 ‘‘(a) VERIFICATION ON BASIS OF OBJECTIVE AND 3 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—Notwith- 4 standing any other provision of this Act, a State may not 5 remove any registrant from the official list of voters eligi- 6 ble to vote in elections for Federal office in the State un- 7 less the State verifies, on the basis of objective and reliable 8 evidence, that the registrant is ineligible to vote in such 9 elections. 10 ‘‘(b) SENDING OF NOTICES.—A State may not send 11 a notice described in paragraph (2) of section 8(d) unless 12 the State first obtains objective and reliable evidence that 13 a voter has changed residence to a place outside the reg- 14 istrar’s jurisdiction in which the registrant is registered. 15 ‘‘(c) FACTORS NOT CONSIDERED AS OBJECTIVE AND 16 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—For purposes 17 of subsection (a), the following factors, or any combination 18 thereof, shall not be treated as objective and reliable evi- 19 dence of a registrant’s ineligibility to vote: 20 ‘‘(1) The failure of the registrant to vote in any 21 election. 22 ‘‘(2) The failure of the registrant to respond to 23 any notice sent under section 8(d), unless such no- 24 tice has been returned as undeliverable. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 958 IS ‘‘(3) The failure of the registrant to take any 1 other action.’’. 2 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 3 (1) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 4 1993.—Section 8 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507) is 5 amended— 6 (A) in subsection (a)— 7 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘pro- 8 vide’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, 9 provide’’; and 10 (ii) in paragraph (4), by striking 11 ‘‘conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to sec- 12 tion 8A, conduct’’; and 13 (B) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘A 14 notice’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to section 8A(b), 15 a notice’’. 16 (2) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Section 17 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 18 U.S.C. 21083(a)) is amended— 19 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘of 20 such Act’’ and inserting ‘‘of such Act, and sec- 21 tion 8A of such Act’’; and 22 (B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘, 23 registrants’’ and inserting ‘‘, and subject to sec- 24 tion 8A of such Act, registrants’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 958 IS (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 2 of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS