I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8925 To amend the Help America Vote of 2002 to require States to complete prior to the date of an election for Federal office the tabulation of ballots for the election which were cast or received prior to the date of the election, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. HALL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Help America Vote of 2002 to require States to complete prior to the date of an election for Federal office the tabulation of ballots for the election which were cast or received prior to the date of the election, 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 ‘‘John Lewis Prompt 4 and Accurate Reporting of Elections Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8925.IH H8925 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8925 IH SEC. 2. DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF TABULATION OF 1 BALLOTS CAST OR RECEIVED BEFORE DATE 2 OF ELECTION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 4 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 6 sections 305 and 306; and 7 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 8 new section: 9 ‘‘SEC. 304. DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF TABULATION 10 OF BALLOTS CAST OR RECEIVED BEFORE 11 DATE OF ELECTION. 12 ‘‘(a) DEADLINE DESCRIBED.—Each State shall en- 13 sure that all valid ballots in an election for Federal office 14 which are cast prior to the date of the election, or which 15 are received by mail by the appropriate election official 16 prior to the date of the election, are tabulated prior to 17 the date of the election. 18 ‘‘(b) NO REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLICATION OF TAB- 19 ULATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 20 require a State to publish the results of the tabulation of 21 ballots under subsection (a) prior to the closing of the 22 polls on the date of the election.’’. 23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 24 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8925.IH H8925 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8925 IH is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 1 304’’. 2 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 3 of such Act is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 5 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 6 306; and 7 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 8 tion 303 the following new item: 9 ‘‘Sec. 304. Deadline for completion of tabulation of ballots cast or received be- fore date of election.’’. (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 10 this Act shall apply with respect to any election for Fed- 11 eral office held after the date of the enactment of this Act. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8925.IH H8925 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS