Restoring Faith in Elections Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 156 To ensure election integrity and security and enhance Americans’ access to the ballot box by establishing consistent standards and procedures for voter registration and 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, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To ensure election integrity and security and enhance Ameri- cans’ access to the ballot box by establishing consistent standards and procedures for voter registration and vot- ing in elections for Federal office, and for other pur- poses. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Restoring Faith in Elections Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 156 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR MAIL-IN BALLOTS Sec. 101. Short title. Sec. 102. Federal standards for mail-in ballots. Sec. 103. Federal standards for reporting election results. TITLE II—AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION Sec. 201. Short title; findings and purpose. Sec. 202. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. Sec. 203. Contributing agency assistance in registration. Sec. 204. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible vot- ers in existing records. Sec. 205. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. Sec. 206. Registration portability and correction. Sec. 207. Payments and grants. Sec. 208. Treatment of exempt States. Sec. 209. Miscellaneous provisions. Sec. 210. Definitions. Sec. 211. Effective date. TITLE III—PROMOTING STANDARDIZED ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS Sec. 301. Requiring parity in treatment of methods of voting. Sec. 302. Requiring standard election administration procedures in all jurisdic- tions in State. TITLE IV—PROMOTING ACCURACY OF VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS Sec. 401. Establishment of National Deconfliction Voting Database and Clear- inghouse. Sec. 402. Pre-election maintenance and certification of official voter registra- tion list. Sec. 403. Requiring applicants for motor vehicle driver’s licenses in new State to indicate whether State serves as residence for voter registra- tion purposes. TITLE I—FEDERAL STANDARDS 3 FOR MAIL-IN BALLOTS 4 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Verifiable, Orderly, 6 and Timely Election Results Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 156 IH SEC. 102. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR MAIL-IN BALLOTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 2 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 4 sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 5 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 6 new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 304. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR MAIL-IN BALLOTS. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When otherwise permitted by 9 State law, any vote-by-mail system used in an election for 10 Federal office must be designed and implemented to en- 11 sure a secure, uniform, and timely system to cast a mail- 12 in ballot in accordance with this section. 13 ‘‘(b) REQUESTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Requests for a mail-in bal- 15 lot under such system may be submitted electroni- 16 cally or by postal mail using a standardized form ap- 17 proved for such requests by the chief State election 18 official. 19 ‘‘(2) REQUEST.—The form for such requests 20 must enable an election official who receives the re- 21 quest to confirm— 22 ‘‘(A) the identity of the individual submit- 23 ting the request; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 156 IH ‘‘(B) that the individual is validly reg- 1 istered to vote in the jurisdiction where the re- 2 quest is submitted; and 3 ‘‘(C) that the individual continues to reside 4 at the physical address where the individual is 5 registered to vote (if different than the mailing 6 address where the ballot is requested to be 7 sent). 8 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—Such re- 9 quest must be submitted by an individual and re- 10 ceived by the office of the State or local election su- 11 pervisor not later than 21 days before the date of 12 the election for Federal office. 13 ‘‘(4) MAILING OF BALLOTS.—Upon receipt of 14 such a request, the State or local election supervisor 15 shall fulfill the request by mailing a mail-in ballot to 16 the individual within 3 days. 17 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE OR LOCAL ELEC- 18 TION OFFICIALS.—The office of the State or local election 19 supervisor shall— 20 ‘‘(1) record the total number of mail-in ballots 21 sent to voters pursuant to this section; and 22 ‘‘(2) include a notation on the voter rolls main- 23 tained by the office and provided to the individual 24 polling locations, which identifies that a voter has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 156 IH received a mail-in ballot and the date that mail-in 1 ballot was sent to the voter. 2 ‘‘(d) BALLOT REQUIREMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be considered validly 4 cast and eligible to be counted in an election for 5 Federal office, a mail-in ballot must— 6 ‘‘(A) be marked using blue or black ink, 7 and properly designate the individual’s vote for 8 each candidate; 9 ‘‘(B) be signed by the individual using the 10 same signature the individual used to register 11 to vote; 12 ‘‘(C) be dated; 13 ‘‘(D) be received by the appropriate elec- 14 tion official no later than the time polls close on 15 the date of the election; and 16 ‘‘(E) include an attestation, signed by the 17 individual, that the individual submitting the 18 mail-in ballot is— 19 ‘‘(i) the individual to whom the ballot 20 was mailed; 21 ‘‘(ii) registered to vote in the jurisdic- 22 tion where the ballot is being submitted; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 156 IH ‘‘(iii) submitting the mail-in ballot in 1 lieu of casting a ballot in-person, and will 2 not attempt to cast a ballot in-person after 3 submitting the mail-in ballot. 4 ‘‘(2) RETURN OF BALLOTS IN-PERSON.—An in- 5 dividual may choose to return a mail-in ballot in-per- 6 son to the polling place where the individual is reg- 7 istered to vote in lieu of returning the ballot by mail. 8 ‘‘(e) OPTION TO VOTE IN-PERSON.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who receives 10 a mail-in ballot with respect to an election for Fed- 11 eral office may instead vote in-person in such elec- 12 tion if the individual turns in the blank or incom- 13 plete mail-in ballot received by the individual to the 14 polling location where the individual plans to vote in- 15 person. 16 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONAL BALLOT.—If the individual 17 attempts to vote in-person but does not bring their 18 blank or incomplete mail-in ballot to the polling loca- 19 tion, the individual shall be directed to complete a 20 provisional ballot. 21 ‘‘(f) PERSONS PERMITTED TO POSSESS MAIL-IN 22 BALLOTS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 24 person to possess or return a mail-in ballot com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 156 IH pleted by another person, except as provided in this 1 subsection. 2 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person may possess 4 or return a mail-in ballot completed by an im- 5 mediate family member, provided that the per- 6 son does not possess more than two such com- 7 pleted mail-in ballots other than his or her own. 8 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY 9 MEMBER.—In this paragraph, the term ‘imme- 10 diate family member’ means the spouse, child, 11 parent, grandparent, or sibling of the person. 12 ‘‘(3) CAREGIVER.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A caregiver may pos- 14 sess or return a mail-in ballot completed by a 15 person under the supervision or care of the 16 caregiver, provided that the caregiver does not 17 possess more than two such completed mail-in 18 ballots other than his or her own. 19 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF CAREGIVER.—In this 20 paragraph, the term ‘caregiver’ means an indi- 21 vidual who has the responsibility for the care of 22 an older individual, either voluntarily, by con- 23 tract, by receipt of payment for care, or as a re- 24 sult of the operation of law and means an indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 156 IH vidual who provides (on behalf of such indi- 1 vidual or of a public or private agency, organi- 2 zation, or institution) compensated or uncom- 3 pensated care to an older individual. 4 ‘‘(4) INCIDENTAL POSSESSION EXCEPTED.— 5 The prohibition under paragraph (1) shall not apply 6 to the incidental possession of mail-in ballots by a 7 postal worker or election official acting within the 8 scope of his or her official capacity. 9 ‘‘(5) PENALTY.—Any person who violates this 10 subsection shall be fined under title 18, United 11 States Code, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or 12 both. 13 ‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 14 with respect to elections for Federal office held after the 15 date of the enactment of this section.’’. 16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 17 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 18 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 19 304’’. 20 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 21 of such Act is amended— 22 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 23 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 24 306; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 156 IH (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 1 tion 303 the following new item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 304. Federal standards for mail-in ballots.’’. SEC. 103. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR REPORTING ELEC- 3 TION RESULTS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 5 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), as amended 6 by section 102(a), is amended— 7 (1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 8 sections 306 and 307, respectively; and 9 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 10 new section: 11 ‘‘SEC. 305. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR REPORTING ELEC- 12 TION RESULTS. 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election official 14 shall ensure that ballots validly cast in an election for Fed- 15 eral office are able to be counted and reported in a timely 16 manner as follows: 17 ‘‘(1) Mail-in ballots received prior to the date of 18 the election shall be counted beginning at least one 19 week prior to the date of the election. 20 ‘‘(2) One hour after polls close on the date of 21 the election, each voting precinct shall report to the 22 chief State election official the following: 23 ‘‘(A) The total number of mail-in ballots 24 received by the voting precinct. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 156 IH ‘‘(B) The total number of ballots cast in- 1 person in the voting precinct. 2 ‘‘(C) Of the ballots reported under sub- 3 paragraphs (A) and (B), the number of such 4 ballots that have been counted and the number 5 of such ballots that remain to be counted. 6 ‘‘(3) All ballots validly cast in an election for 7 Federal office shall be counted and reported within 8 24 hours after the conclusion of voting on the date 9 of the election. 10 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 11 with respect to elections for Federal office held after the 12 date of the enactment of this section.’’. 13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 14 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 15 21111), as amended by section 102(b), is amended by 16 striking ‘‘and 304’’ and inserting ‘‘304, and 305’’. 17 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18 of such Act, as amended by section 102(c), is amended— 19 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 20 tions 305 and 306 as relating to sections 306 and 21 307; and 22 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 23 tion 304 the following new item: 24 ‘‘Sec. 305. Federal standards for reporting election results.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 156 IH TITLE II—AUTOMATIC VOTER 1 REGISTRATION 2 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2023’’. 5 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.— 6 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 (A) the right to vote is a fundamental 8 right of citizens of the United States; 9 (B) it is the responsibility of the State and 10 Federal Governments to ensure that every eligi- 11 ble citizen is registered to vote; 12 (C) existing voter registration systems can 13 be inaccurate, costly, inaccessible and con- 14 fusing, with damaging effects on voter partici- 15 pation in elections and disproportionate impacts 16 on young people, persons with disabilities, and 17 racial and ethnic minorities; and 18 (D) voter registration systems must be up- 19 dated with 21st-century technologies and proce- 20 dures to maintain their security. 21 (2) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title— 22 (A) to establish that it is the responsibility 23 of government at every level to ensure that all 24 eligible citizens are registered to vote; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 156 IH (B) to enable the State and Federal Gov- 1 ernments to register all eligible citizens to vote 2 with accurate, cost-efficient, and up-to-date pro- 3 cedures; 4 (C) to m [Text truncated for display. 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