[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3300 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3300
To establish a Vote by Mail grant program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 4, 2010
Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Carper, Ms. Cantwell, Mr.
Merkley, and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a Vote by Mail grant program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Vote by Mail Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Supreme Court declared in Reynolds v. Sims that
``[i]t has been repeatedly recognized that all qualified voters
have a constitutionally protected right to vote . . . and to
have their votes counted.''
(2) In recent presidential elections, voting technology
failures, procedural irregularities, and long lines for polling
places deprived some Americans of their fundamental right to
vote.
(3) Under the Oregon Vote by Mail system, election
officials mail ballots to all registered voters at least 2
weeks before election day. Voters mark their ballots, seal the
ballots in both unmarked secrecy envelopes and signed return
envelopes, and return the ballots by mail or to secure drop
boxes. Once a ballot is received, election officials scan the
bar code on the ballot envelope, which brings up the voter's
signature on a computer screen. The election official compares
the signature on the screen and the signature on the ballot
envelope. Only if the signature on the ballot envelope is
determined to be authentic is the ballot forwarded on to be
counted.
(4) Oregon's Vote by Mail system has deterred voter fraud
because the system includes numerous security measures such as
the signature authentication system. Potential misconduct is
also discouraged by the power of the State to punish those who
engage in voter fraud with up to 5 years in prison, $100,000 in
fines, and the loss of their vote.
(5) Oregon's Vote by Mail system promotes uniformity and
strict compliance with Federal and State voting laws because
ballot processing is centralized in county clerks' offices,
rather than at numerous polling places.
(6) Vote by Mail is 1 factor making voter turnout in Oregon
consistently higher than the average national voter turnout. In
the 2004 presidential election, for example, Oregon had a
turnout rate of 86.48 percent of registered voters, compared to
69.96 percent turnout of registered voters nationally.
(7) Women, younger voters, and homemakers also report that
they vote more often using Vote by Mail.
(8) Vote by Mail reduces election costs by eliminating the
need to transport equipment to polling stations and to hire and
train poll workers. Oregon reduced its costs to administer
elections by nearly 30 percent after implementing Vote by Mail.
In Oregon's last polling place election in 1998, the cost per
voter was $3.07. By 2004, the cost per voter in Oregon had
dropped to $2.21.
(9) Vote by Mail allows voters to educate themselves
because they receive ballots well before election day, which
provides them with ample time to research issues, study
ballots, and deliberate in a way that is not possible at a
polling place.
(10) Vote by Mail is accurate--at least 2 studies comparing
voting technologies show that absentee voting methods,
including Vote by Mail systems, result in a more accurate vote
count.
(11) Vote by Mail results in more up-to-date voter rolls,
since election officials use forwarding information from the
post office to update voter registration.
(12) Vote by Mail allows voters to visually verify that
their votes were cast correctly and produces a paper trail for
election recounts.
(13) In a survey taken 5 years after Oregon implemented the
Vote by Mail system, more than 8 in 10 Oregon voters said they
preferred voting by mail to traditional voting.
(14) Voters in other States are moving toward Vote by Mail
as well. In 2008, 89 percent of voters in Washington State who
cast ballots voted by mail, 64 percent of voters in Colorado
voted by mail, and 44 percent of voters in California voted by
mail.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Election.--The term ``election'' means any general,
special, primary, or runoff election.
(2) Participating state.--The term ``participating State''
means a State receiving a grant under the Vote by Mail grant
program under section 4.
(3) Residual vote rate.--The term ``residual vote rate''
means the sum of all votes that cannot be counted in an
election (overvotes, undervotes, and otherwise spoiled ballots)
divided by the total number of votes cast.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means a State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, or a territory or possession of the United States.
(5) Voting system.--The term ``voting system'' has the
meaning given such term under section 301(b) of the Help
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(b)).
SEC. 4. VOTE BY MAIL GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance Commission shall
establish a Vote by Mail grant program (in this section referred to as
the ``program'').
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the program is to make implementation
grants to participating States solely for the implementation of
procedures for the conduct of all elections by mail at the State or
local government level.
(c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--In no case may grants made under
this section be used to reimburse a State for costs incurred in
implementing mail-in voting for elections at the State or local
government level if such costs were incurred prior to the date of
enactment of this Act.
(d) Application.--A State seeking to participate in the program
under this section shall submit an application to the Election
Assistance Commission containing such information, and at such time, as
the Election Assistance Commission may specify.
(e) Amount and Awarding of Implementation Grants; Duration of
Program.--
(1) Amount of implementation grants.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
amount of an implementation grant made to a
participating State shall be, in the case of a State
that certifies that it will implement all elections by
mail in accordance with the requirements of subsection
(f), with respect to--
(i) the entire State, $2,000,000; or
(ii) any single unit or multiple units of
local government within the State, $1,000,000.
(B) Excess funds.--
(i) In general.--To the extent that there
are excess funds in either of the first 2 years
of the program, such funds may be used to award
implementation grants to participating States
in subsequent years.
(ii) Excess funds defined.--For purposes of
clause (i), the term ``excess funds'' means any
amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under subsection (h)(1) with
respect to a fiscal year that are not awarded
to a participating State under an
implementation grant during such fiscal year.
(C) Continuing availability of funds after
appropriation.--An implementation grant made to a
participating State under this section shall be
available to the State without fiscal year limitation.
(2) Awarding of implementation grants.--
(A) In general.--The Election Assistance Commission
shall award implementation grants during each year in
which the program is conducted.
(B) One grant per state.--The Election Assistance
Commission shall not award more than 1 implementation
grant to any participating State under this section
over the duration of the program.
(3) Duration.--The program shall be conducted for a period
of 3 years.
(f) Requirements.--
(1) Required procedures.--A participating State shall
establish and implement procedures for conducting all elections
by mail in the area with respect to which it receives an
implementation grant to conduct such elections, including the
following:
(A) A process for recording electronically each
voter's registration information and signature.
(B) A process for mailing ballots to all eligible
voters.
(C) The designation of places for the deposit of
ballots cast in an election.
(D) A process for ensuring the secrecy and
integrity of ballots cast in the election.
(E) Procedures and penalties for preventing
election fraud and ballot tampering, including
procedures for the verification of the signature of the
voter accompanying the ballot through comparison of
such signature with the signature of the voter
maintained by the State in accordance with subparagraph
(A).
(F) Procedures for verifying that a ballot has been
received by the appropriate authority.
(G) Procedures for obtaining a replacement ballot
in the case of a ballot which is destroyed, spoiled,
lost, or not received by the voter.
(H) A plan for training election workers in
signature verification techniques.
(I) Plans and procedures to ensure that voters who
are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise disabled
have the opportunity to participate in elections
conducted by mail and to ensure compliance with the
Help America Vote Act of 2002. Such plans and
procedures shall be developed in consultation with
disabled and other civil rights organizations, voting
rights groups, State election officials, voter
protection groups, and other interested community
organizations.
(J) Plans and procedures to ensure the translation
of ballots and voting materials in accordance with
section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
1973aa-1a).
(g) Best Practices, Technical Assistance, and Reports.--
(1) In general.--The Election Assistance Commission shall--
(A) develop, periodically issue, and, as
appropriate, update best practices for conducting
elections by mail;
(B) provide technical assistance to participating
States for the purpose of implementing procedures for
conducting elections by mail; and
(C) submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress--
(i) annual reports on the implementation of
such procedures by participating States during
each year in which the program is conducted;
and
(ii) upon completion of the program
conducted under this section, a final report on
the program, together with recommendations for
such legislation or administrative action as
the Election Assistance Commission determines
to be appropriate.
(2) Consultation.--In developing, issuing, and updating
best practices, developing materials to provide technical
assistance to participating States, and developing the annual
and final reports under paragraph (1), the Election Assistance
Commission shall consult with interested parties, including--
(A) State and local election officials;
(B) the United States Postal Service;
(C) the Postal Regulatory Commission established
under section 501 of title 39, United States Code; and
(D) voting rights groups, voter protection groups,
groups representing the disabled, and other civil
rights or community organizations.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) Grants.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
award grants under this section, for each of fiscal years 2012
through 2014, $6,000,000, to remain available without fiscal
year limitation until expended.
(2) Administration.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to administer the program under this section,
$200,000 for the period of fiscal years 2012 through 2014, to
remain available without fiscal year limitation until expended.
(i) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to
authorize or require conduct prohibited under any of the following
laws, or to supersede, restrict, or limit the application of such laws:
(1) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15301 et
seq.).
(2) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).
(3) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and
Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.).
(4) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.).
(5) The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.
1973gg et seq.).
(6) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12101 et seq.).
(7) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.).
SEC. 5. STUDY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF MAIL-IN VOTING FOR ELECTIONS.
(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United
States (in this section referred to as the ``Comptroller
General'') shall conduct a study evaluating the benefits of
broader implementation of mail-in voting in elections, taking
into consideration the annual reports submitted by the Election
Assistance Commission under section 4(g)(1)(C)(i) before
November 1, 2013.
(2) Specific issues studied.--The study conducted under
paragraph (1) shall include a comparison of traditional voting
methods and mail-in voting with respect to--
(A) the likelihood of voter fraud and misconduct;
(B) the accuracy of voter rolls;
(C) the accuracy of election results;
(D) voter participation in urban and rural
communities and by minorities, language minorities (as
defined in section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
(42 U.S.C. 1973aa-1a)), and individuals with
disabilities and by individuals who are homeless or who
frequently change their official residences;
(E) public confidence in the election system;
(F) the residual vote rate, including such rate
based on voter age, education, income, race, or
ethnicity or whether a voter lives in an urban or rural
community, is disabled, or is a language minority (as
so defined); and
(G) cost savings.
(3) Consultation.--In conducting the study under paragraph
(1), the Comptroller General shall consult with interested
parties, including--
(A) State and local election officials;
(B) the United States Postal Service;
(C) the Postal Regulatory Commission established
under section 501 of title 39, United States Code; and
(D) voting rights groups, voter protection groups,
groups representing the disabled, and other civil
rights or community organizations.
(b) Report.--Not later than November 1, 2013, the Comptroller
General shall prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection (a), together
with such recommendations for legislation or administrative action as
the Comptroller General determines to be appropriate.
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