Securing our Elections Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 154 To ensure election integrity and security by establishing consistent photo identification requirements for voting in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. FITZPATRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To ensure election integrity and security by establishing con- sistent photo identification requirements for voting in elections for Federal office, 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 ‘‘Securing our Elections 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 154 IH (1) Free, fair, and secure elections are nec- 1 essary to the prosperity of democracy in the United 2 States and around the world. 3 (2) The right to vote is a crucial aspect of 4 American citizenship and must be protected from 5 any potential interference, abuse, and fraud. 6 (3) The passage of the Help America Vote Act 7 of 2002 improved and standardized State and local 8 governments’ administration of Federal elections, 9 but lacked strong provisions to validate a voter’s 10 identity prior to their voting. 11 (4) In 2005, the bipartisan Commission on 12 Federal Election Reform co-chaired by former 13 Democratic President Jimmy Carter and former Re- 14 publican Secretary of State James A. Baker III re- 15 leased a report which explicitly recommended that 16 States require voters to use a valid identification 17 that includes their full legal name, date of birth, a 18 signature, and a photo. 19 (5) A public survey conducted by the reputable, 20 nonpartisan Monmouth University Polling Institute 21 in June 2021 indicated that an overwhelming 80 22 percent of Americans support requiring voters to 23 show a photo identification in order to vote. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 154 IH (6) Valid identification is required by the States 1 and the Federal Government for a multitude of seri- 2 ous purposes in public life such as driving or renting 3 a car, boarding an airplane or train, traveling within 4 and outside of the United States, purchasing alcohol 5 or controlled substances, picking up prescription 6 medication, opening a bank account or cashing a 7 check, applying for employment or housing opportu- 8 nities, and much more. 9 (7) As determined by the Congressional Re- 10 search Service, 161 nations worldwide—approxi- 11 mately 83 percent—require their citizens to present 12 a form of identification in order to vote, including 13 38 of the top 50 most democratic nations identified 14 by the Democracy Index 2021. 15 (8) More than two-thirds of the States already 16 request or require citizens to show a form of identi- 17 fication in order to vote, 22 of which request or re- 18 quire a photo identification for the purposes of vot- 19 ing. 20 SEC. 3. REQUIRING VOTERS TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTI- 21 FICATION. 22 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTIFICA- 23 TION AS CONDITION OF CASTING BALLOT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 154 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer- 1 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 2 amended by inserting after section 303 the following 3 new section: 4 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 5 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED AS 6 CONDITION OF CASTING BALLOT.— 7 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.— 8 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE IDENTI- 9 FICATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 10 sion of law and except as provided in subpara- 11 graph (B), the appropriate State or local elec- 12 tion official may not provide a ballot for an 13 election for Federal office to an individual who 14 desires to vote in person unless the individual 15 presents to the official a valid photo identifica- 16 tion. 17 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF PROVISIONAL BAL- 18 LOT.— 19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an individual 20 does not present the identification required 21 under subparagraph (A), the individual 22 shall be permitted to cast a provisional bal- 23 lot with respect to the election under sec- 24 tion 302(a), except that the appropriate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 154 IH State or local election official may not 1 make a determination under section 2 302(a)(4) that the individual is eligible 3 under State law to vote in the election un- 4 less, not later than 3 days after casting the 5 provisional ballot, the individual presents 6 to the official— 7 ‘‘(I) the identification required 8 under subparagraph (A); or 9 ‘‘(II) an affidavit developed and 10 made available to the individual by 11 the State attesting that the individual 12 does not possess the identification re- 13 quired under subparagraph (A) be- 14 cause the individual has a religious 15 objection to being photographed. 16 ‘‘(ii) NO EFFECT ON OTHER PROVI- 17 SIONAL BALLOTING RULES.—Nothing in 18 clause (i) may be construed to apply to the 19 casting of a provisional ballot pursuant to 20 section 302(a) or any State law for reasons 21 other than the failure to present the identi- 22 fication required under subparagraph (A). 23 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN 24 PERSON.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 154 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 1 other provision of law and except as provided in 2 subparagraph (B), the appropriate State or 3 local election official may not accept any ballot 4 for an election for Federal office provided by an 5 individual who votes other than in person unless 6 the individual submits with the ballot— 7 ‘‘(i) a copy of a valid photo identifica- 8 tion; or 9 ‘‘(ii) the last four digits of the individ- 10 ual’s Social Security number and an affi- 11 davit developed and made available to the 12 individual by the State attesting that the 13 individual is unable to obtain a copy of a 14 valid photo identification after making rea- 15 sonable efforts to obtain such a copy. 16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR OVERSEAS MILITARY 17 VOTERS.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply 18 with respect to a ballot provided by an absent 19 uniformed services voter who, by reason of ac- 20 tive duty or service, is absent from the United 21 States on the date of the election involved. In 22 this subparagraph, the term ‘absent uniformed 23 services voter’ has the meaning given such term 24 in section 107(1) of the Uniformed and Over- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 154 IH seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 1 20310(1)), other than an individual described 2 in section 107(1)(C) of such Act. 3 ‘‘(b) PROVIDING CERTAIN ASSISTANCE TO INDIVID- 4 UALS UNABLE TO PAY COSTS OF OBTAINING IDENTI- 5 FICATION OR OTHERWISE UNABLE TO OBTAIN IDENTI- 6 FICATION.— 7 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION WITHOUT 8 CHARGE TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—If an individual 9 presents a State official at the appropriate State 10 agency or department designated by the State with 11 an affidavit developed and made available to the in- 12 dividual by the State attesting that the individual is 13 unable to pay the costs associated with obtaining a 14 valid photo identification under this section, or at- 15 testing that the individual is otherwise unable to ob- 16 tain a valid photo identification under this section 17 after making reasonable efforts to obtain such an 18 identification, the official shall provide the individual 19 with a valid photo identification under this sub- 20 section without charge to the individual. 21 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC ACCESS TO DIGITAL IMAGING DE- 22 VICES.—With respect to each State, the appropriate 23 State or local government official of the State shall 24 ensure, to the extent practicable, public access to a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 154 IH digital imaging device, which shall include a printer, 1 copier, image scanner, or multifunction machine, at 2 State and local government buildings in the State, 3 including courts, libraries, and police stations, for 4 the purpose of allowing individuals to use such a de- 5 vice at no cost to the individual to make a copy of 6 a valid photo identification. 7 ‘‘(c) VALID PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS DESCRIBED.— 8 For purposes of this section, a ‘valid photo identification’ 9 means, with respect to an individual who seeks to vote in 10 a State, any of the following: 11 ‘‘(1) A valid State-issued motor vehicle driver’s 12 license that includes a photo of the individual and an 13 expiration date. 14 ‘‘(2) A valid State-issued identification card 15 that includes a photo of the individual and an expi- 16 ration date. 17 ‘‘(3) A valid United States passport for the in- 18 dividual. 19 ‘‘(4) A valid military identification for the indi- 20 vidual. 21 ‘‘(5) Any other form of government-issued iden- 22 tification that the State may specify as a valid photo 23 identification for purposes of this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 154 IH ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE- 1 MENT TO APPLICANTS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall ensure 3 that, at the time an individual applies to register to 4 vote in elections for Federal office in the State, the 5 appropriate State or local election official notifies 6 the individual of the photo identification require- 7 ments of this section. 8 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS APPLY- 9 ING TO REGISTER TO VOTE ONLINE.—Each State 10 shall ensure that, in the case of an individual who 11 applies to register to vote in elections for Federal of- 12 fice in the State online, the online voter registration 13 system notifies the individual of the photo identifica- 14 tion requirements of this section before the indi- 15 vidual completes the online registration process. 16 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF STATES WITH CERTAIN PHOTO 17 IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS IN EFFECT AS OF DATE 18 OF ENACTMENT.—If, as of the date of the enactment of 19 this section, a State has in effect a law that satisfies or 20 exceeds the requirements of this section for an individual 21 to provide a photo identification as a condition of casting 22 a ballot in elections for Federal office held in the State 23 and the law remains in effect on and after the effective 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 154 IH date of this section, the State shall be considered to meet 1 the requirements of this section if— 2 ‘‘(1) the State submits a request to the Attor- 3 ney General and provides such information as the 4 Attorney General may consider necessary to deter- 5 mine that the State has in effect such a law and 6 that the law remains in effect; and 7 ‘‘(2) the Attorney General— 8 ‘‘(A) approves the request; or 9 ‘‘(B) fails to issue a determination with re- 10 spect to the request during the 180-day period 11 that begins on the date the State submits such 12 request. 13 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 14 with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2024 15 or any succeeding year.’’. 16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 17 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 18 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 19 ‘‘Sec. 303A. Photo identification requirements.’’. (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO VOL- 20 UNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS- 21 SION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)) 22 is amended— 23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 24 (2); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 154 IH (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 1 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following new 3 paragraph: 4 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 5 respect to section 303A, October 1, 2023.’’. 6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 7 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 8 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 9 303A’’. 10 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO RE- 11 PEAL OF EXISTING PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE- 12 MENTS FOR CERTAIN VOTERS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of such Act (52 14 U.S.C. 21083) is amended— 15 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND RE- 16 QUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER 17 BY MAIL’’; 18 (B) in the heading of subsection (b), by 19 striking ‘‘FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER BY 20 MAIL’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR MAIL-IN REGISTRA- 21 TION FORMS’’; 22 (C) in subsection (b), by striking para- 23 graphs (1) through (3) and redesignating para- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 154 IH graphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (1) and (2), 1 respectively; and 2 (D) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘sub- 3 sections (a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and (b)(3)(B)(i)(II)’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(i)(II)’’. 5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 6 tents of such Act is amended by amending the item 7 relating to section 303 to read as follows: 8 ‘‘Sec. 303. Computerized statewide voter registration list requirements.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend- 9 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to 10 elections for Federal office held in 2024 or any succeeding 11 year. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H154.IH H154 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB