[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6590 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6590
To provide incentives for States to invest in practices and technology
that are designed to expedite voting at the polls and to simplify voter
registration.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 15, 2012
Mr. Connolly of Virginia (for himself and Mr. Langevin) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House
Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide incentives for States to invest in practices and technology
that are designed to expedite voting at the polls and to simplify voter
registration.
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 ``Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely
Voting Act of 2012'' or the ``FAST Voting Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO INVEST IN PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGY
THAT ARE DESIGNED TO EXPEDITE VOTING AT THE POLLS AND
SIMPLIFY VOTER REGISTRATION.
(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are to--
(1) provide incentives for States to invest in practices
and technology that are designed to expedite voting at the
polls; and
(2) provide incentives for States to simplify voter
registration.
(b) Reservation of Funds.--From the amount made available to carry
out this section for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may reserve
not more than 10 percent of such amount to carry out activities related
to--
(1) technical assistance; and
(2) outreach and dissemination.
(c) Program Authorized.--
(1) In general.--From the amounts made available under
subsection (h) for a fiscal year and not reserved under
subsection (b), the Attorney General shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to States in accordance with subsection
(d)(2), to enable the States to carry out the purposes of this
section.
(2) Number of grants.--A State may not receive more than 1
grant under this section per grant period.
(3) Duration of grants.--
(A) In general.--A grant under this section shall
be awarded for a period of not more than 4 years.
(B) Continuation of grants.--A State that is
awarded a grant under this section shall not receive
grant funds under this section for the second or any
subsequent year of the grant unless the State
demonstrates to the Attorney General, at such time and
in such manner as determined by the Attorney General,
that the State is--
(i) making progress in implementing the
plan under subsection (d)(1)(C) at a rate that
the Attorney General determines will result in
the State fully implementing such plan during
the remainder of the grant period; or
(ii) making progress against the
performance measures set forth in subsection
(e) at a rate that the Attorney General
determines will result in the State reaching
its targets and achieving the objectives of the
grant during the remainder of the grant period.
(d) Applications.--
(1) Applications.--Each State that desires to receive a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the
Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Attorney General may reasonably
require. At a minimum, each such application shall include--
(A) documentation of the applicant's record, as
applicable--
(i) in providing various voter registration
opportunities;
(ii) in providing early voting;
(iii) in providing absentee voting;
(iv) in providing assistance to voters who
do not speak English as a primary language;
(v) in providing assistance to voters with
disabilities;
(vi) in providing effective access to
voting for members of the armed services;
(vii) in providing formal training of
election officials;
(viii) in auditing or otherwise documenting
waiting times at polling stations;
(ix) in allocating polling locations,
equipment, and staff to match population
distribution;
(x) in responding to voting irregularities
and concerns raised at polling stations;
(xi) in creating and adhering to
contingency voting plans in the event of a
natural or other disaster; and
(xii) with respect to any other performance
measure described in subsection (e) that is not
included in clauses (i) through (xi);
(B) evidence of conditions of innovation and reform
that the applicant has established and the applicant's
proposed plan for implementing additional conditions
for innovation and reform, including--
(i) a description of how the applicant has
identified and eliminated ineffective practices
in the past and the applicant's plan for doing
so in the future;
(ii) a description of how the applicant has
identified and promoted effective practices in
the past and the applicant's plan for doing so
in the future; and
(iii) steps the applicant has taken and
will take to eliminate statutory, regulatory,
procedural, or other barriers and to facilitate
the full implementation of the proposed plan
under this subparagraph;
(C) a comprehensive and coherent plan for using
funds under this section, and other Federal, State, and
local funds, to improve the applicant's performance on
the measures described in subsection (e), consistent
with criteria set forth by the Attorney General,
including how the applicant will, if applicable--
(i) provide flexible registration
opportunities, including online and same-day
registration and registration updating;
(ii) provide early voting, at a minimum of
9 of the 10 calendar days preceding an
election, at sufficient and flexible hours;
(iii) provide absentee voting, including
no-excuse absentee voting;
(iv) provide assistance to voters who do
not speak English as a primary language;
(v) provide assistance to voters with
disabilities, including visual impairment;
(vi) provide effective access to voting for
members of the armed services;
(vii) provide formal training of election
officials, including State and county
administrators and volunteers;
(viii) audit and reduce waiting times at
polling stations;
(ix) allocate polling locations, equipment,
and staff to match population distribution;
(x) respond to any reports of voting
irregularities or concerns raised at the
polling station;
(xi) create contingency voting plans in the
event of a natural or other disaster; and
(xii) improve the wait times at the
persistently poorest performing polling
stations within the jurisdiction of the
applicant;
(D) evidence of collaboration between the State,
local election officials, and other stakeholders, in
developing the plan described in subparagraph (C),
including evidence of the commitment and capacity to
implement the plan;
(E) the applicant's annual performance measures and
targets, consistent with the requirements of subsection
(e); and
(F) a description of the applicant's plan to
conduct a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of
activities carried out with funds under this section.
(2) Criteria for evaluating applications.--
(A) Award basis.--The Attorney General shall award
grants under this section on a competitive basis, based
on the quality of the applications submitted under
paragraph (1), including--
(i) each applicant's record in the areas
described in paragraph (1)(A);
(ii) each applicant's record of, and
commitment to, establishing conditions for
innovation and reform, as described in
paragraph (1)(B);
(iii) the quality and likelihood of success
of each applicant's plan described in paragraph
(1)(C) in showing improvement in the areas
described in paragraph (1)(A), including each
applicant's capacity to implement the plan and
evidence of collaboration as described in
paragraph (1)(D); and
(iv) each applicant's evaluation plan as
described in paragraph (1)(F).
(B) Explanation.--The Attorney General shall
publish an explanation of how the application review
process under this paragraph will ensure an equitable
and objective evaluation based on the criteria
described in subparagraph (A).
(e) Performance Measures.--Each State receiving a grant under this
section shall establish performance measures and targets, approved by
the Attorney General, for the programs and activities carried out under
this section. These measures shall, at a minimum, track the State's
progress--
(1) in implementing its plan described in subsection
(d)(1)(C);
(2) in expediting voting at the polls or simplifying voter
registration, as applicable; and
(3) on any other measures identified by the Attorney
General.
(f) Uses of Funds.--Each State that receives a grant under this
section shall use the grant funds for any purpose included in the
State's plan under subsection (d)(1)(C).
(g) Reporting.--A State that receives a grant under this section
shall submit to the Attorney General, at such time and in such manner
as the Attorney General may require, an annual report including--
(1) data on the State's progress in achieving the targets
for the performance measures established under subsection (e);
(2) a description of the challenges the State has faced in
implementing its program and how it has addressed or plans to
address those challenges; and
(3) findings from the evaluation plan as described in
subsection (d)(1)(F).
(h) State Defined.--In this section, the term ``State'' means each
of the several States and the District of Columbia.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
<all>