1 | 1 | | II |
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2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 2843 |
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5 | 5 | | To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to provide |
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6 | 6 | | for same day voter registration. |
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7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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8 | 8 | | SEPTEMBER19, 2023 |
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9 | 9 | | Ms. K |
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10 | 10 | | LOBUCHAR(for herself, Mr. KING, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Mrs. GILLI- |
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11 | 11 | | BRAND, Mr. PADILLA, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. DURBIN, |
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12 | 12 | | Ms. W |
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13 | 13 | | ARREN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. |
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14 | 14 | | C |
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15 | 15 | | ARPER, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. |
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16 | 16 | | B |
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17 | 17 | | ENNET, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Mr. BROWN, and |
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18 | 18 | | Mr. M |
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19 | 19 | | ENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and |
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20 | 20 | | referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration |
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21 | 21 | | A BILL |
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22 | 22 | | To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require |
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23 | 23 | | States to provide for same day voter registration. |
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24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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25 | 25 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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26 | 26 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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27 | 27 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Same Day Registration 4 |
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28 | 28 | | Act’’. 5 |
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29 | 29 | | SEC. 2. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 6 |
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30 | 30 | | (a) I |
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31 | 31 | | NGENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 7 |
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32 | 32 | | Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended— 8 |
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34 | 34 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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35 | 35 | | •S 2843 IS |
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36 | 36 | | (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 1 |
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37 | 37 | | sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 2 |
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38 | 38 | | (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 3 |
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39 | 39 | | new section: 4 |
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40 | 40 | | ‘‘SEC. 304. SAME DAY REGISTRATION. 5 |
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41 | 41 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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42 | 42 | | NGENERAL.— 6 |
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43 | 43 | | ‘‘(1) R |
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44 | 44 | | EGISTRATION.—Each State shall permit 7 |
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45 | 45 | | any eligible individual on the day of a Federal elec-8 |
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46 | 46 | | tion and on any day when voting, including early 9 |
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47 | 47 | | voting, is permitted for a Federal election— 10 |
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48 | 48 | | ‘‘(A) to register to vote in such election at 11 |
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49 | 49 | | the polling place using a form that meets the 12 |
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50 | 50 | | requirements under section 9(b) of the National 13 |
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51 | 51 | | Voter Registration Act of 1993 (or, if the indi-14 |
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52 | 52 | | vidual is already registered to vote, to revise 15 |
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53 | 53 | | any of the individual’s voter registration infor-16 |
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54 | 54 | | mation); and 17 |
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55 | 55 | | ‘‘(B) to cast a vote in such election. 18 |
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56 | 56 | | ‘‘(2) E |
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57 | 57 | | XCEPTION.—The requirements under 19 |
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58 | 58 | | paragraph (1) shall not apply to a State in which, 20 |
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59 | 59 | | under a State law in effect continuously on and after 21 |
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60 | 60 | | the date of the enactment of this section, there is no 22 |
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61 | 61 | | voter registration requirement for individuals in the 23 |
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62 | 62 | | State with respect to elections for Federal office. 24 |
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64 | 64 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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65 | 65 | | •S 2843 IS |
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66 | 66 | | ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLEINDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 1 |
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67 | 67 | | section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means, with respect 2 |
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68 | 68 | | to any election for Federal office, an individual who is oth-3 |
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69 | 69 | | erwise qualified to vote in that election. 4 |
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70 | 70 | | ‘‘(c) E |
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71 | 71 | | NSURINGAVAILABILITY OF FORMS.—The 5 |
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72 | 72 | | State shall ensure that each polling place has copies of 6 |
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73 | 73 | | any forms an individual may be required to complete in 7 |
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74 | 74 | | order to register to vote or revise the individual’s voter 8 |
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75 | 75 | | registration information under this section. 9 |
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76 | 76 | | ‘‘(d) E |
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77 | 77 | | FFECTIVEDATE.— 10 |
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78 | 78 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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79 | 79 | | N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 11 |
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80 | 80 | | each State shall be required to comply with the re-12 |
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81 | 81 | | quirements of this section for the regularly sched-13 |
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82 | 82 | | uled general election for Federal office occurring in 14 |
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83 | 83 | | November 2024 and for any subsequent election for 15 |
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84 | 84 | | Federal office. 16 |
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85 | 85 | | ‘‘(2) S |
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86 | 86 | | PECIAL RULES FOR ELECTIONS BEFORE 17 |
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87 | 87 | | NOVEMBER 2028.— 18 |
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88 | 88 | | ‘‘(A) E |
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89 | 89 | | LECTIONS PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 19 |
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90 | 90 | | 2026 GENERAL ELECTION .—A State shall be 20 |
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91 | 91 | | deemed to be in compliance with the require-21 |
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92 | 92 | | ments of this section for the regularly scheduled 22 |
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93 | 93 | | general election for Federal office occurring in 23 |
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94 | 94 | | November 2024 and subsequent elections for 24 |
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95 | 95 | | Federal office occurring before the regularly 25 |
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97 | 97 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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98 | 98 | | •S 2843 IS |
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99 | 99 | | scheduled general election for Federal office in 1 |
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100 | 100 | | November 2026 if at least one location for each 2 |
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101 | 101 | | 15,000 registered voters in each jurisdiction in 3 |
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102 | 102 | | the State meets such requirements, and such lo-4 |
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103 | 103 | | cation is reasonably located to serve voting pop-5 |
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104 | 104 | | ulations equitably across the jurisdiction. 6 |
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105 | 105 | | ‘‘(B) A |
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106 | 106 | | DDITIONAL ELECTIONS PRIOR TO 7 |
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107 | 107 | | NOVEMBER 2028 GENERAL ELECTION .—If a 8 |
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108 | 108 | | State certifies to the Commission not later than 9 |
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109 | 109 | | November 3, 2026, that the State will not be in 10 |
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110 | 110 | | compliance with the requirements of this section 11 |
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111 | 111 | | for the regularly scheduled general election for 12 |
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112 | 112 | | Federal office occurring in November 2026 be-13 |
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113 | 113 | | cause it would be impracticable to do so and in-14 |
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114 | 114 | | cludes in the certification the reasons for the 15 |
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115 | 115 | | failure to meet such requirements, the State 16 |
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116 | 116 | | shall be deemed to be in compliance with the re-17 |
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117 | 117 | | quirements of this section for the regularly 18 |
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118 | 118 | | scheduled general election for Federal office in 19 |
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119 | 119 | | November 2026 and subsequent elections for 20 |
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120 | 120 | | Federal office occurring before the regularly 21 |
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121 | 121 | | scheduled general election for Federal office in 22 |
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122 | 122 | | November 2028, if at least one location for each 23 |
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123 | 123 | | 15,000 registered voters in each jurisdiction in 24 |
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124 | 124 | | the State meets such requirements, and such lo-25 |
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126 | 126 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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127 | 127 | | •S 2843 IS |
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128 | 128 | | cation is reasonably located to serve voting pop-1 |
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129 | 129 | | ulations equitably across the jurisdiction.’’. 2 |
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130 | 130 | | (b) C |
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131 | 131 | | ONFORMINGAMENDMENT RELATING TOEN-3 |
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132 | 132 | | FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 4 |
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133 | 133 | | is amended by striking ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and 5 |
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134 | 134 | | inserting ‘‘subtitle A of title III’’. 6 |
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135 | 135 | | (c) C |
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136 | 136 | | LERICALAMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 7 |
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137 | 137 | | of such Act is amended— 8 |
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138 | 138 | | (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-9 |
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139 | 139 | | tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 10 |
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140 | 140 | | 306, respectively; and 11 |
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141 | 141 | | (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-12 |
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142 | 142 | | tion 303 the following new item: 13 |
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143 | 143 | | ‘‘Sec. 304. Same day registration.’’. |
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144 | 144 | | Æ |
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146 | 146 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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