II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3529 To require States to establish contingency plans for the conduct of elections for Federal office in response to national disasters and emergencies, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2020 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. COONS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. SMITH, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. JONES, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WARNER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. UDALL, Ms. WARREN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To require States to establish contingency plans for the conduct of elections for Federal office in response to national disasters and emergencies, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Natural Disaster and 4 Emergency Ballot Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3529 IS SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION CONTIN- 1 GENCY PLANS IN RESPONSE TO NATURAL 2 DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.— 4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 6 State and jurisdiction shall establish and make pub- 7 licly available a contingency plan to enable qualified 8 individuals (as defined in section 322(b) of the Help 9 America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 10 5(a)), to vote in elections for Federal office during 11 a state of emergency, public health emergency, or 12 national emergency which has been declared for rea- 13 sons including, but not limited to— 14 (A) a natural disaster; or 15 (B) an infectious disease. 16 (2) UPDATING.—Each State and jurisdiction 17 shall update the contingency plan established under 18 this subsection not less frequently than every 5 19 years. 20 (b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SAFETY.—The 21 contingency plan established under subsection (a) shall in- 22 clude initiatives to provide equipment and resources need- 23 ed to protect the health and safety of poll workers and 24 voters when voting in person. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3529 IS (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECRUITMENT OF 1 POLL WORKERS.—The contingency plan established 2 under subsection (a) shall include initiatives by the chief 3 State election official and local election officials to recruit 4 poll workers for the November, 2020, general election and 5 subsequent elections from resilient or unaffected popu- 6 lations, which may include— 7 (1) other State and local government offices; 8 and 9 (2) high schools and colleges in the State for 10 the November, 2020, general election and in subse- 11 quent elections for Federal office in the case where 12 an infectious disease poses significant increased 13 health risks to elderly individuals and affects an 14 election for Federal office. 15 (d) PLAN FOR VOTERS TO BE ABLE TO REQUEST 16 ABSENTEE BALLOTS ONLINE AND VOTE BY MAIL.—The 17 contingency plan established under subsection (a) shall 18 permit all individuals who are registered to vote to— 19 (1) submit an online request for an absentee 20 ballot, which requirement is satisfied if the local, 21 county, or State election official’s website allows an 22 absentee ballot request application to be completed 23 and submitted online and— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3529 IS (A) an absentee ballot request application 1 to be printed for the voter to complete and 2 mail; or 3 (B) a voter to submit an online request for 4 a hard copy absentee ballot request application 5 to be mailed or emailed to the voter to complete 6 and mail; 7 (2) return completed absentee ballot requests to 8 designated drop off boxes; 9 (3) cast a vote in elections for Federal office by 10 mail; and 11 (4) return completed absentee ballots by drop- 12 ping them off at designated locations before the 13 close of polls on the date of the election. 14 (e) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 15 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 16 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 17 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 18 the Northern Mariana Islands. 19 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 20 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen- 21 eral may bring a civil action against any State or ju- 22 risdiction in an appropriate United States District 23 Court for such declaratory and injunctive relief (in- 24 cluding a temporary restraining order, a permanent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3529 IS or temporary injunction, or other order) as may be 1 necessary to carry out the requirements of this sec- 2 tion. 3 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a viola- 5 tion of this section, any person who is aggrieved 6 by such violation may provide written notice of 7 the violation to the chief election official of the 8 State involved. 9 (B) RELIEF.—If the violation is not cor- 10 rected within 20 days after receipt of a notice 11 under subparagraph (A), or within 5 days after 12 receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 13 within 120 days before the date of an election 14 for Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in 15 a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive 16 relief with respect to the violation. 17 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—If the violation oc- 18 curred within 5 days before the date of an elec- 19 tion for Federal office, the aggrieved person 20 need not provide notice to the chief election of- 21 ficial of the State involved under subparagraph 22 (A) before bringing a civil action under sub- 23 paragraph (B). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3529 IS SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW FOR EARLY VOTING AND 1 NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING. 2 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Title III of the Help America 3 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended by adding 4 at the end the following new subtitle: 5 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 6 Requirements 7 ‘‘SEC. 321. AVAILABILITY OF EARLY VOTING AND VOTING 8 BY MAIL. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction 10 shall, with respect to the 2020 general election occurring 11 on November 3, 2020, and each subsequent election for 12 Federal office— 13 ‘‘(1) allow individuals to vote in such election 14 prior to the date of the election through— 15 ‘‘(A) early voting which meets the require- 16 ments of subsection (b); and 17 ‘‘(B) voting by mail which meets the re- 18 quirements of subsection (c); 19 ‘‘(2) publicize the details of any voting allowed 20 under paragraph (1); 21 ‘‘(3) comply with the absentee voting require- 22 ments of subsection (d); and 23 ‘‘(4) comply with the vote counting require- 24 ments of subsection (e). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3529 IS ‘‘(b) EARLY VOTING.—Early voting meets the re- 1 quirements of this subsection— 2 ‘‘(1) if such voting occurs— 3 ‘‘(A) for a 20-day period preceding the 4 date of the election so that such days constitute 5 consecutive weekdays and include at least one 6 weekend, which period may end on a date cho- 7 sen by the chief election official of the State 8 that is between the date of the election and 4 9 days preceding such date; and 10 ‘‘(B) for no less than 8 hours on each of 11 the 20 days such early voting occurs; and 12 ‘‘(2) each early voting location in the State of- 13 fers a ballot drop-off box for voters to submit their 14 voted and sealed absentee ballots. 15 ‘‘(c) VOTING BY MAIL.—Voting by mail meets the re- 16 quirements of this subsection if— 17 ‘‘(1) the State does not require an excuse in 18 order to obtain and cast a ballot by mail for any 19 election for Federal office; 20 ‘‘(2) the State permits any eligible voter to sub- 21 mit an online request for an absentee ballot to vote 22 in an election for Federal office, which requirement 23 is satisfied if the local, county, or State election offi- 24 cial’s website allows an absentee ballot request appli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3529 IS cation to be completed and submitted online and 1 if— 2 ‘‘(A) an absentee ballot request application 3 to be printed for the voter to complete and 4 mail; or 5 ‘‘(B) a voter is able to submit an online re- 6 quest via the internet to have a hard-copy ab- 7 sentee ballot request application mailed or e- 8 mailed to them to complete and mail; 9 ‘‘(3) the State sends an absentee ballot to vote 10 in an election for Federal office in the State by mail 11 to any eligible voter that submits a request for such 12 a ballot and that request is received by the appro- 13 priate election office on or before the date that is 5 14 days, not including weekend days, before the date of 15 such election, except that nothing in this paragraph 16 shall preclude a State or local jurisdiction from al- 17 lowing for the acceptance and processing of ballot 18 requests submitted or received after such required 19 period; 20 ‘‘(4) the State permits any eligible voter to have 21 the option to request an absentee ballot for subse- 22 quent elections on all absentee ballot requests; 23 ‘‘(5) the State does not require any form of 24 identification for an absentee ballot request; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3529 IS ‘‘(6) the State does not include any require- 1 ments for notarization or witness signature or other 2 formal authentication (other than voter attestation); 3 ‘‘(7) the State permits voters to submit an ab- 4 sentee ballot by dropping it off at designated loca- 5 tions before the close of polls on the date of the elec- 6 tion, including at any polling location on the date of 7 the election before the close of polls; 8 ‘‘(8) the State— 9 ‘‘(A) permits a voter to designate any per- 10 son to return a voted and sealed absentee ballot 11 to the post office, a ballot drop-off location, 12 tribally designated building, or election office 13 and that such person designated to return an 14 absentee ballot shall not receive any form of 15 compensation based on the number of ballots 16 that the person has returned and no individual, 17 group, or organization shall provide compensa- 18 tion on this basis; or 19 ‘‘(B) does not put any limits on how many 20 voted and sealed absentee ballots any des- 21 ignated person can return to the post office, a 22 ballot drop off location, tribally designated 23 building, or election office; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3529 IS ‘‘(9) the State permits any eligible voter that 1 submits a request for an absentee ballot to vote in 2 such election, but does not receive their absentee 3 ballot at least 2 days prior to election day to 4 download and mark at home an absentee ballot pro- 5 vided by the State pursuant to section 103C of the 6 Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act or 7 section 322 of this Act. 8 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements 9 described in this subsection are that a State shall count 10 a ballot submitted by an individual by mail with respect 11 to an election for Federal office in the State— 12 ‘‘(1) if it is postmarked, signed, or otherwise in- 13 dicated by the United States Postal Service to have 14 been mailed on or before the close of polls on the 15 date of the election; and 16 ‘‘(2) received by the appropriate State election 17 official on or before the date that is 10 days after 18 the date of such election. 19 ‘‘(e) BALLOT PROCESSING AND SCANNING REQUIRE- 20 MENTS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirement described 22 in this subsection is that the State begins processing 23 and scanning ballots cast during early voting or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3529 IS through vote by mail for tabulation at least 14 days 1 prior to election day. 2 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 3 shall allow for the tabulation of ballots before the 4 close of polls on the date of the election. 5 ‘‘(f) STATE.— For purposes of this section, the term 6 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 7 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 8 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 9 the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 11 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 12 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 13 subtitle C of title III’’. 14 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 15 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 16 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 17 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF 18 NATURAL DISASTER AND EMERGENCY BAL- 19 LOT ACT OF 2020. 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sub- 21 title C of title III, section 402 shall not apply and any 22 person who is aggrieved by such violation may provide 23 written notice of the violation to the chief election official 24 of the State involved. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3529 IS ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—If the violation is not corrected within 1 20 days after receipt of a notice under subsection (a), or 2 within 5 days after receipt of the notice if the violation 3 occurred within 120 days before the date of an election 4 for Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in a civil ac- 5 tion, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with respect 6 to the violation. 7 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—If the violation occurred wi [Text truncated for display. 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