[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2499 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2499
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to meet
standards for the location and operation of polling places used in
elections for Federal office, including a standard requiring States to
ensure that no individual waits for longer than one hour to cast a vote
at a polling place, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 17, 2017
Mr. Grijalva (for himself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Raskin, Mr.
Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Ms. Lee, Mr. Richmond,
Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Castor of
Florida, Mr. Polis, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mrs. Davis of
California, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. McNerney, Miss Rice of New
York, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Payne, Ms. Norton, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Swalwell
of California, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Blumenauer,
Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Ellison, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Foster, Ms.
Moore, Mr. Gallego, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms.
Sewell of Alabama, and Ms. Velazquez) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to meet
standards for the location and operation of polling places used in
elections for Federal office, including a standard requiring States to
ensure that no individual waits for longer than one hour to cast a vote
at a polling place, and for other purposes.
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 ``Voting Access Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING STATES TO MEET STANDARDS FOR LOCATION AND OPERATION
OF POLLING PLACES USED IN ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.
(a) Establishment of Standards.--
(1) In general.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after
section 303 the following new section:
``SEC. 303A. COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR LOCATION AND OPERATION OF
POLLING PLACES.
``(a) Compliance.--Each State shall comply with the standards
established by the Commission under this section for the location and
operation of polling places used in elections for Federal office.
``(b) Establishment of Standards.--
``(1) Standards described.--In consultation with the chief
State election officials of the States, the Commission shall
establish national standards for the location and operation of
polling places used in elections for Federal office (other than
sites used as polling places on dates other than the date of
the election), including the following:
``(A) A requirement that no individual shall be
required to wait for longer than one hour in order to
cast a vote at a polling place.
``(B) Standards for determining the number of
polling places within a jurisdiction on the basis of
the voting age population of the jurisdiction, taking
into consideration factors which include the linguistic
preferences of voters in the jurisdiction, the
availability of same-day voter registration in the
jurisdiction, and other relevant factors.
``(C) Standards for the nondiscriminatory placement
and location of polling places within a jurisdiction,
including standards to ensure that polling places are
accessible to voters with disabilities and voters using
public transportation.
``(D) Standards for ensuring that each polling
place has sufficient resources, including voting
systems, ballots, and election officials, to meet the
requirement described in subparagraph (A).
``(E) Standards for ensuring that voters are given
timely, accurate, and current information in clear and
concise language regarding ballot information and the
location of polling places.
``(F) Best practices for preventing violations of
laws prohibiting the intimidation or harassment of
voters at polling places.
``(2) Process for establishment of standards.--The
establishment of the standards under this section shall be
carried out by the Commission in a manner that provides for
each of the following:
``(A) Publication of notice of the proposed
standards in the Federal Register.
``(B) An opportunity for public comment on the
proposed standards.
``(C) Publication of the final standards in the
Federal Register.
``(c) Deadline; Effective Date.--The Commission shall establish the
standards under this section not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, and each State shall comply with the
standards with respect to all elections for Federal office held on or
after the expiration of the 180-day period which begins on the date the
Commission establishes the standards.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of such Act
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303
the following new item:
``Sec. 303A. Compliance with standards for location and operation of
polling places.''.
(b) Enforcement.--Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is
amended by striking ``and 303'' and inserting ``303, and 303A''.
(c) Funding.--Section 257(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21007(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(5) For the first fiscal year during which States are
subject to the requirements of section 303A (relating to
standards established by the Commission for the location and
operation of polling places), such sums as are necessary for
requirements of payments to enable the States to meet the
requirements of such section.''.
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT ON MISIDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUAL POLITICAL
PARTY REGISTRATION.
(a) Study.--The Election Assistance Commission shall conduct a
study of instances of the misidentification by election officials of
the political party registration of individuals attempting to vote in
primary elections for Federal office, including an analysis of the
frequency of such misidentification among various jurisdictions.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report
on the study conducted under subsection (a), and shall include in the
report such recommendations as the Commission considers appropriate to
prevent and respond to the misidentification of an individual's
political party registration, including recommendations to permit
individuals to correct their political party registration at the
polling place on the date of voting.
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