Vote From Home Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6847 To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to conduct elections for Federal office held in 2020 solely through the use of mail- in absentee ballots, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2020 Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to conduct elections for Federal office held in 2020 solely through the use of mail-in absentee ballots, 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 ‘‘Vote From Home Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6847 IH SEC. 2. REQUIRING STATES TO CONDUCT ELECTIONS IN 1 2020 SOLELY THROUGH USE OF MAIL-IN BAL- 2 LOTS. 3 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Help America 4 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 5 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 6 ‘‘Subtitle C—Special Rules for 7 Elections Held in 2020 8 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING ELECTIONS TO BE CONDUCTED 9 SOLELY THROUGH USE OF MAIL-IN ABSEN- 10 TEE BALLOTS. 11 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—In the case of any election for 12 Federal office held in a State during the period described 13 in subsection (b)— 14 ‘‘(1) the State may not operate any polling 15 place for the casting of ballots in the election; and 16 ‘‘(2) the State shall conduct the election solely 17 through the use of mail-in absentee ballots in ac- 18 cordance with the requirements of section 322. 19 ‘‘(b) PERIOD DESCRIBED.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The period described in 21 this subsection is the period which begins on the ex- 22 piration of the 30-day period which begins on the 23 date of the enactment of this subtitle and ends on 24 January 5, 2021. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6847 IH ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO PRIMARY ELECTIONS OC- 1 CURRING PRIOR TO PERIOD.—In the case of any 2 election for Federal office held in a State during the 3 30-day period which begins on the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act— 5 ‘‘(A) the State may operate polling places 6 for the casting of ballots in the election; and 7 ‘‘(B) the State shall make a good-faith ef- 8 fort to conduct the election through the use of 9 mail-in absentee ballots in accordance with the 10 requirements of section 322. 11 ‘‘SEC. 322. REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF MAIL-IN ABSENTEE 12 BALLOTS. 13 ‘‘(a) AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS BY 14 ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State or 16 local election official shall transmit an absentee bal- 17 lot for an election for Federal office held during the 18 period described in section 321(b) to each individual 19 who is registered to vote in the election, or, in the 20 case of any State that does not register voters, to 21 every individual who is eligible to vote in the elec- 22 tion. 23 ‘‘(2) LOCATION TO WHICH BALLOTS ARE 24 TRANSMITTED.—The official shall transmit the bal- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6847 IH lot to an individual under this subsection to the 1 mailing address which is on file for the individual on 2 the list of registered voters in the election (or, in the 3 case of any State that does not register voters, the 4 mailing address for the individual on the official 5 record or other document used by the State to verify 6 the eligibility of the individual to vote in the elec- 7 tion), except that the official shall transmit the bal- 8 lot to an alternative mailing address provided to the 9 official by the individual (by telephone, by mail, or 10 by an online method), so long as the individual pro- 11 vides the alternative mailing address to the official 12 not later than the date that is 2 weeks before the 13 date of the election involved or such alternative date 14 as the State may establish, whichever is closer to the 15 date of the election. 16 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR TRANSMISSION.—The offi- 17 cial shall transmit the ballot to an individual under 18 this section not later than 3 weeks before the date 19 of the election. 20 ‘‘(b) NO EXCUSE REQUIRED TO VOTE BY ABSENTEE 21 BALLOT.—If an individual in the State is eligible to cast 22 a vote in an election for Federal office, the State may not 23 impose any additional conditions or requirements on the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6847 IH eligibility of the individual to cast the vote in such election 1 by an absentee ballot transmitted under this section. 2 ‘‘(c) DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR SIGNATURE 3 VERIFICATION.— 4 ‘‘(1) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE DIS- 5 CREPANCY.—If an individual submits an absentee 6 ballot in an election for Federal office during the pe- 7 riod described in section 321(b) and the appropriate 8 State or local election official determines that a dis- 9 crepancy exists between the signature on such ballot 10 and the signature of such individual on the official 11 list of registered voters in the State (or, in the case 12 of any State that does not register voters, on the of- 13 ficial record or other document used by the State to 14 verify the eligibility of the individual to vote in the 15 election), such election official, prior to making a 16 final determination as to the validity of such ballot, 17 shall make a good faith effort to immediately notify 18 such individual by mail, telephone, and (if available) 19 electronic mail that— 20 ‘‘(A) a discrepancy exists between the sig- 21 nature on such ballot and the signature of such 22 individual on the official list of registered voters 23 in the State (or, in the case of any State that 24 does not register voters, on the official record 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6847 IH or other document used by the State to verify 1 the eligibility of the individual to vote in the 2 election); 3 ‘‘(B) such individual may provide the offi- 4 cial with information to cure such discrepancy, 5 either in person, by telephone, or by electronic 6 methods; and 7 ‘‘(C) if such discrepancy is not cured prior 8 to the expiration of the 7-day period which be- 9 gins on the date of the election, such ballot will 10 not be counted. 11 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE MISSING SIG- 12 NATURE.—If an individual submits an absentee bal- 13 lot without a signature, the State shall notify the in- 14 dividual and give the individual an opportunity to 15 provide the missing signature on a form proscribed 16 by the State. 17 ‘‘(3) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—An election offi- 18 cial may not make a determination that a discrep- 19 ancy exists between the signature on an absentee 20 ballot and the signature of the individual who sub- 21 mits the ballot on the official list of registered voters 22 in the State (or, in the case of any State that does 23 not register voters, on the official record or other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6847 IH document used by the State to verify the eligibility 1 of the individual to vote in the election), unless— 2 ‘‘(A) at least 2 election officials make the 3 determination; and 4 ‘‘(B) each official who makes the deter- 5 mination has received training in procedures 6 used to verify signatures. 7 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF POSTAGE ON RETURN ENVE- 8 LOPES.— 9 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF RETURN ENVELOPE.—The 10 appropriate State or local election official shall pro- 11 vide a self-sealing return envelope with each absen- 12 tee ballot transmitted under this section. 13 ‘‘(2) PREPAYMENT OF POSTAGE.—Consistent 14 with regulations of the United States Postal Service, 15 the State or the unit of local government responsible 16 for the administration of the election involved shall 17 prepay the postage on any envelope provided under 18 paragraph (1). 19 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE FOR CERTAIN VOTERS.—In the 20 case of an individual with a disability or a serious illness 21 or a language minority individual, the State shall permit 22 the individual to receive assistance from a person of the 23 individual’s choosing to complete and submit the ballot 24 transmitted under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6847 IH ‘‘SEC. 323. PAYMENTS TO ASSIST WITH COSTS OF COMPLI- 1 ANCE. 2 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS.—The Commis- 3 sion shall make a payment to each eligible State to assist 4 with the costs incurred in complying with the requirements 5 of this subtitle, including costs attributable to postage, 6 equipment such as high-speed ballot scanners and auto- 7 mated mail sorting systems, election personnel to process 8 absentee ballots and related materials, online voter reg- 9 istration systems, public education campaigns, and soft- 10 ware to track absentee ballots. 11 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of the 12 payment made to a State under this section shall be deter- 13 mined by the Commission on the basis of the information 14 provided by the State in its application under subsection 15 (c), except that the amount may not exceed the sum of— 16 ‘‘(1) the average of the costs incurred by the 17 State in administering the 3 most recent regularly 18 scheduled general elections for Federal office held in 19 the State; and 20 ‘‘(2) if a regularly scheduled primary election 21 for Federal office is held in the State during the pe- 22 riod described in section 321(b), the average of the 23 costs incurred by the State in administering the 3 24 most recent regularly scheduled primary elections for 25 Federal office held in the State. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6847 IH ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 1 payment under this section if the State submits an appli- 2 cation for the payment to the Commission at such time 3 and in such manner and containing such information as 4 the Commission shall require. 5 ‘‘(d) PASS-THROUGH OF FUNDS TO LOCAL JURIS- 6 DICTIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State receives a pay- 8 ment under this section for costs that include costs 9 incurred by a local jurisdiction or Tribal government 10 within the State, the State shall pass through to 11 such local jurisdiction or Tribal government a por- 12 tion of such payment that is equal to the amount of 13 the costs incurred by such local jurisdiction or Trib- 14 al government. 15 ‘‘(2) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED.—In this 16 subsection, the term ‘Tribal Government’ means the 17 recognized governing body of an Indian tribe (as de- 18 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 19 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 20 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 22 necessary to carry out this section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6847 IH ‘‘SEC. 324. COVERAGE OF NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 1 ‘‘In this subtitle, the term ‘State’ includes the Com- 2 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 4 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 5 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 6 subtitle C of title III’’. 7 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 8 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 9 relating to title III the following: 10 ‘‘Subtitle C—Special Rules for Elections Held in 2020 ‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring elections to be conducted solely through use of mail-in ab- sentee ballots. ‘‘Sec. 322. Requirements for use of mail-in absentee ballots. ‘‘Sec. 323. Payments to assist with costs of compliance. ‘‘Sec. 324. Coverage of Northern Mariana Islands.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6847.IH H6847 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS