Pandemic Democracy for All Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3961 To require States and local jurisdictions to allow absentee voting in the November 2020 general election for Federal office for individuals im- pacted by coronavirus disease 2019, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 2020 Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To require States and local jurisdictions to allow absentee voting in the November 2020 general election for Federal office for individuals impacted by coronavirus disease 2019, 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 ‘‘Pandemic Democracy 4 for All Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3961.IS S3961 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3961 IS SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE ABSENTEE BALLOTS 1 FOR 2020 ELECTIONS TO INDIVIDUALS IM- 2 PACTED BY COVID–19. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the regularly sched- 4 uled general election for Federal office occurring in No- 5 vember 2020, each State and local jurisdiction shall per- 6 mit eligible voters to use absentee registration procedures 7 and to vote by absentee ballot individuals if such eligible 8 voter has a reasonable concern that voting in person on 9 the day of the election may expose the voter to contracting 10 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) or is otherwise im- 11 pacted by COVID–19. 12 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General may 13 bring a civil action against any State or local jurisdiction 14 in an appropriate United States District Court for such 15 declaratory and injunctive relief (including a temporary 16 restraining order, a permanent or temporary injunction, 17 or other order) as may be necessary to carry out the pur- 18 poses of subsection (a). 19 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION SYSTEMS. 20 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en- 21 courage State and local jurisdictions with paper-based ab- 22 sentee ballot request systems to provide for online absen- 23 tee ballot request systems. 24 (b) GRANTS.—The Election Assistance Commission 25 may award grants to States and local jurisdictions to en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3961.IS S3961 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3961 IS able States and local jurisdictions to implement online ab- 1 sentee registration systems for the regularly scheduled 2 election for Federal office in November 2020. 3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 4 are authorized to be appropriated for payments under this 5 section $16,700,000 for fiscal year 2020. 6 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR INCREASED ABSENTEE VOTING. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis- 8 sion may award grants to States and local jurisdictions 9 to facilitate an increase in absentee voting during the reg- 10 ularly scheduled election for Federal office in November 11 2020. 12 (b) USE OF GRANTS.—Grants provided under this 13 section may be used for— 14 (1) the purchase of materials (including the 15 costs of postage, envelopes, ballot printing, drop 16 boxes, and processing equipment) to facilitate absen- 17 tee voting; 18 (2) educational outreach to the public with re- 19 spect to casting absentee ballots and the amount of 20 time it will take to process such ballots and certify 21 election results; and 22 (3) such other purposes as the Commission may 23 determine appropriate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3961.IS S3961 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3961 IS (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated for payments under this 2 section $700,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, of which not 3 less than $200,000,000 shall be authorized for grants 4 used for purposes described in subsection (b)(2). 5 SEC. 5. STATE DEFINED. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 States 7 and the District of Columbia. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3961.IS S3961 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS