Louise Slaughter Weekend Voting Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8338 To change the date for regularly scheduled general elections for Federal office to the first Saturday and Sunday after the first Friday in Novem- ber in every even-numbered year. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To change the date for regularly scheduled general elections for Federal office to the first Saturday and Sunday after the first Friday in November in every even-num- bered year. 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 ‘‘Louise Slaughter 4 Weekend Voting Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8338.IH H8338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8338 IH SEC. 2. WEEKEND VOTING FOR REGULARLY SCHEDULED 1 GENERAL ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 2 (a) ELECTIONS FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3 AND SENATE.—Section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the 4 United States (2 U.S.C. 7) is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘SEC. 25. DATES AND TIME OF ELECTIONS. 6 ‘‘(a) DATES OF ELECTION.—The first Saturday and 7 Sunday after the first Friday in November, in every even 8 numbered year, are established as the dates for the elec- 9 tion in each of the States of Representatives and Dele- 10 gates to the next Congress commencing after the dates 11 of the election. 12 ‘‘(b) HOURS OF OPERATION OF POLLING PLACES.— 13 Each State shall by law establish the hours of operation 14 for polling places in the State on the dates of election es- 15 tablished under subsection (a). 16 ‘‘(c) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 17 ‘State’ means each of the several States, the District of 18 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 19 American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and 20 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 21 (b) ELECTIONS FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI- 22 DENT.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1 of title 3, United 24 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8338.IH H8338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8338 IH ‘‘§ 1. Date and time of appointing electors 1 ‘‘(a) DATES OF ELECTION.—The electors of Presi- 2 dent and Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, 3 on the first Saturday and Sunday after the first Friday 4 in November, in every fourth year succeeding every elec- 5 tion of a President and Vice President. 6 ‘‘(b) HOURS OF OPERATION OF POLLING PLACES.— 7 Each State shall by law establish the hours of operation 8 for polling places in the State on the dates of election es- 9 tablished under subsection (a).’’. 10 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 11 tions for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, 12 is amended by striking the item relating to section 13 1 and inserting the following: 14 ‘‘1. Date and time of appointing electors.’’. (c) NO INTERFERENCE WITH RELIGIOUS PRAC- 15 TICES.—It is the sense of Congress that the holding of 16 elections over a weekend, as established by this Act, should 17 be carried out in a manner which does not interfere with 18 religious practices. 19 (d) COST SAVINGS.—It is the sense of Congress that 20 the holding of elections over a weekend, as established by 21 this Act, should result in cost savings to the American tax- 22 payer. 23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 24 this section shall apply with respect to regularly scheduled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8338.IH H8338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8338 IH general elections for Federal office beginning with the first 1 such elections held after the expiration of the 30-day pe- 2 riod which begins on the date of the enactment of this 3 Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8338.IH H8338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS