Our Homes, Our Votes Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8924 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to treat the lease for a dwelling unit under certain federally assisted housing programs as a simultaneous application for voter registration in elections for Fed- eral office, to designate owners of dwelling units under certain federally assisted housing programs as voter registration agencies for purposes of such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois (for himself, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MENG, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. NADLER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mrs. TORRES of California, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on House Administration A BILL To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to treat the lease for a dwelling unit under certain federally assisted housing programs as a simultaneous application for voter registration in elections for Federal office, to designate owners of dwelling units under certain federally assisted housing programs as voter registration agencies for purposes of such Act, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8924 IH 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 ‘‘Our Homes, Our Votes 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROMOTING VOTER REGISTRATION FOR RESI- 6 DENTS OF UNITS UNDER CERTAIN FEDER- 7 ALLY ASSISTED HOUSING PROGRAMS. 8 (a) TREATMENT OF LEASE AS SIMULTANEOUS AP- 9 PLICATION FOR VOTER REGISTRATION.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Voter Reg- 11 istration Act of 1993 is amended by inserting after 12 section 5 (52 U.S.C. 20504) the following new sec- 13 tion: 14 ‘‘SEC. 5A. SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION FOR VOTER REG- 15 ISTRATION AND LEASE FOR PHA-ASSISTED 16 HOUSING. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 18 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION FOR VOTER REGISTRA- 19 TION.—Each lease for a PHA-assisted dwelling unit 20 (as such term is defined in subsection (e)) submitted 21 to the applicable public housing agency for such unit 22 shall serve as an application for voter registration 23 with respect to elections for Federal office for each 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8924 IH lessee who signs the lease unless the lessee fails to 1 sign the voter registration application. 2 ‘‘(2) UPDATE.—An application for voter reg- 3 istration submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 4 be considered as updating any previous voter reg- 5 istration by the applicant. 6 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON USE OF INFORMATION.—No in- 7 formation relating to the failure of a lessee of PHA-as- 8 sisted dwelling unit to sign a voter registration application 9 may be used for any purpose other than voter registration. 10 ‘‘(c) FORMS AND PROCEDURES.— 11 ‘‘(1) INCLUSION.—Each owner of a PHA-as- 12 sisted dwelling unit shall include a voter registration 13 application form for elections for Federal office as 14 part of a lease for such dwelling unit. 15 ‘‘(2) INCLUDED INFORMATION.—The voter reg- 16 istration application portion of a lease for a PHA- 17 assisted dwelling unit— 18 ‘‘(A) may not require any information that 19 duplicates information required in the lease por- 20 tion of the form (other than a second signature 21 or other information necessary under subpara- 22 graph (C)); 23 ‘‘(B) may require only the minimum 24 amount of information necessary to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(i) prevent duplicate voter registra- 1 tions; and 2 ‘‘(ii) enable State election officials to 3 assess the eligibility of the applicant and to 4 administer voter registration and other 5 parts of the election process; 6 ‘‘(C) shall include a statement that— 7 ‘‘(i) states each eligibility requirement 8 (including citizenship); 9 ‘‘(ii) contains an attestation that the 10 applicant meets each such requirement; 11 and 12 ‘‘(iii) requires the signature of the ap- 13 plicant, under penalty of perjury; 14 ‘‘(D) shall include, in print that is identical 15 to that used in the attestation portion of the 16 application— 17 ‘‘(i) the information required in sub- 18 paragraphs (A) and (B) of section 8(a)(5) 19 of this Act; 20 ‘‘(ii) a statement that, if an applicant 21 declines to register to vote, the fact that 22 the applicant has declined to register will 23 remain confidential and will be used only 24 for voter registration purposes; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(iii) a statement that if an applicant 1 does register to vote, the office at which 2 the applicant submits a voter registration 3 application will remain confidential and 4 will be used only for voter registration pur- 5 poses; and 6 ‘‘(E) shall be made available (as submitted 7 by the applicant, or in machine readable or 8 other format) to the appropriate State election 9 official as provided by State law. 10 ‘‘(d) TRANSMITTAL.— 11 ‘‘(1) BY OWNER.—In the case of lease for a 12 PHA-assistance dwelling unit described in subsection 13 (e)(1)(B), the owner of the dwelling unit shall trans- 14 mit a completed voter registration portion of a lease 15 to the public housing agency providing assistance 16 with respect to such unit not later than 10 days 17 after the date of acceptance. 18 ‘‘(2) BY PHA.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 19 completed voter registration portion of a lease for a 20 PHA-assisted dwelling unit accepted by the public 21 housing agency as owner of such a dwelling unit, or 22 pursuant to paragraph (1), shall be transmitted to 23 the appropriate State election official not later than 24 10 days after the date of acceptance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED WITHIN 5 DAYS 1 OF REGISTRATION DEADLINE.—If a registration ap- 2 plication is accepted by a public housing agency pur- 3 suant to paragraph (2) within 5 days before the last 4 day for registration to vote in an election, the appli- 5 cation shall be transmitted to the appropriate State 6 election official not later than 5 days after the date 7 of acceptance. 8 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 9 ‘‘(1) PHA-ASSISTED DWELLING UNIT.—The 10 term ‘PHA-assisted dwelling unit’ means a dwelling 11 unit— 12 ‘‘(A) in public housing, as such term is de- 13 fined in section 3(b) of the United States Hous- 14 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)); or 15 ‘‘(B) that is assisted under the program 16 for tenant-based rental assistance under section 17 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 18 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), including the program 19 under paragraph (13) of such section 8(o). 20 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 21 ‘public housing agency’ has the meaning given such 22 term in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 23 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(3) OWNER.—The term ‘owner’ means, with 1 respect to a PHA-assisted dwelling unit— 2 ‘‘(A) in the case of a unit described in 3 paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, the public 4 housing agency that owns or operates such unit; 5 or 6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a unit described in 7 paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection, the private 8 person or entity having the legal right to lease 9 such unit.’’. 10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 11 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to leases 12 entered into on or after the expiration of the 90-day 13 period beginning on the date of the enactment of 14 this Act. 15 (b) TREATMENT OF OWNERS OF UNITS AS VOTER 16 REGISTRATION AGENCIES.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of such Act (52 18 U.S.C. 20506) is amended— 19 (A) in subsection (a)(2)— 20 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 22 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 23 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 24 and’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8924 IH (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing new subparagraph: 2 ‘‘(C) each owner (as such term is defined in 3 subsection (e)) of a dwelling unit assisted under a 4 covered federally assisted housing program (as such 5 term is defined in such subsection) located within 6 such State, subject to section 5A in the case of an 7 owner described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub- 8 section (e)(1), except that such an owner shall be a 9 voter registration agency for purposes of this section 10 only with respect to lessees of such dwelling units of 11 such owner located within such State.’’; and 12 (B) by adding at the end the following new 13 subsection: 14 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 15 ‘‘(1) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING 16 PROGRAM.—The term ‘covered federally assisted 17 housing program’ means— 18 ‘‘(A) the public housing program under 19 title I of the United States Housing Act of 20 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); 21 ‘‘(B) the programs for rental housing as- 22 sistance under section 8 of the United States 23 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), includ- 24 ing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(i) the program for tenant-based 1 rental assistance under subsection (o) of 2 such section 8; and 3 ‘‘(ii) the program for project-based 4 rental assistance under such section 8; 5 ‘‘(C) the program for supportive housing 6 for the elderly under section 202 of the Hous- 7 ing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); 8 ‘‘(D) the program for supportive housing 9 for persons with disabilities under section 811 10 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 11 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); 12 ‘‘(E) the program for housing opportuni- 13 ties for persons with AIDS under subtitle D of 14 title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 15 Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et 16 seq.); 17 ‘‘(F) the program under subtitle A of title 18 IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.); 20 ‘‘(G) the HOME Investment Partnerships 21 Program under subtitle A of title II of the 22 Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Hous- 23 ing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et seq.); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(H) the program under paragraph (3) of 1 section 221(d) of the National Housing Act (12 2 U.S.C. 1715l(d)(3)) that bears interest at a 3 rate determined under the proviso under para- 4 graph (5) of such section 221(d); 5 ‘‘(I) the rental assistance program under 6 section 236 of the National Housing Act (12 7 U.S.C. 1715z–1); 8 ‘‘(J) the programs for rural housing assist- 9 ance provided under sections 514, 515, 516, 10 522, and 538 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 11 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 1486, 1490m, and 1490p– 12 2); 13 ‘‘(K) the low income housing tax credit 14 program under section 42 of the Internal Rev- 15 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42); 16 ‘‘(L) the program for rural housing vouch- 17 ers under section 542 of the Housing Act of 18 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r); and 19 ‘‘(M) the program for assistance from the 20 Housing Trust Fund established under section 21 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Fi- 22 nancial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 23 U.S.C. 4568). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8924 IH ‘‘(2) OWNER.—The term ‘owner’ means, with 1 respect to a dwelling unit assisted under a covered 2 federally assisted housing program— 3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a dwelling unit assisted 4 under a program specified in subparagraph (A) 5 or (B)(1) of paragraph (1) of this subsection, 6 the public housing agency that owns or operates 7 such unit or provides rental assistance with re- 8 spect to such unit, as applicable; or 9 ‘‘(B) in the case of a dwelling unit assisted 10 under any other covered federally assisted hous- 11 ing program, the private person or entity hav- 12 ing the legal right to lease such unit.’’. 13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 14 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to assist- 15 ance provided on or after the expiration of the 90- 16 day period beginning on the date of the enactment 17 of this Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8924.IH H8924 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS