Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 138 To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mrs. DAVIS of California 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 allow all eligible voters to vote by mail in Federal elections. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Universal Right to 4 Vote by Mail Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the 8 United States because voters in some States have 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H138.IH H138 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 138 IH the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 1 other States do not. 2 (2) Many voters often have work, family, or 3 other commitments that make getting to polls on the 4 date of an election difficult or impossible. Under 5 current State laws, many of these voters are not per- 6 mitted to vote by mail. 7 (3) 32 States and the District of Columbia cur- 8 rently allow universal absentee voting (also known as 9 ‘‘no-excuse’’ absentee voting), which permits any 10 voter to request a mail-in ballot without providing a 11 reason for the request, and no State which has im- 12 plemented no-excuse absentee voting has switched 13 back. 14 (4) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 15 consider their choices, which is especially important 16 as many ballots contain greater numbers of ques- 17 tions about complex issues than in the past due to 18 the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 19 process in many States. 20 (5) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 21 mail can lead to increased voter participation. 22 (6) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 23 mail can reduce waiting times for those voters who 24 choose to vote at the polls. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H138.IH H138 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 138 IH (7) Voting by mail is preferable to many voters 1 as an alternative to going to the polls. Voting by 2 mail has become increasingly popular with voters 3 who want to be certain that they are able to vote no 4 matter what comes up on Election Day. 5 (8) No evidence exists suggesting the potential 6 for fraud in absentee balloting is greater than the 7 potential for fraud by any other method of voting. 8 (9) Many of the reasons which voters in many 9 States are required to provide in order to vote by 10 mail require the revelation of personal information 11 about health, travel plans, or religious activities, 12 which violate voters’ privacy while doing nothing to 13 prevent voter fraud. 14 (10) State laws which require voters to obtain 15 a notary signature to vote by mail only add cost and 16 inconvenience to voters without increasing security. 17 SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 18 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 20 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 21 amended by inserting after section 303 the following new 22 section: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H138.IH H138 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 138 IH ‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 1 MAIL. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli- 3 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 4 State may not impose any additional conditions or require- 5 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 6 in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 7 State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and re- 8 lated voting materials from the appropriate State or local 9 election official and for returning the ballot to the appro- 10 priate State or local election official. 11 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 12 tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 13 to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 14 polling places at which individuals cast ballots on the date 15 of the election. 16 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 17 to comply with the requirements of this section with re- 18 spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 19 with 2022.’’. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 21 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 22 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 23 303A’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H138.IH H138 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 138 IH (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1 for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat- 2 ing to section 303 the following new item: 3 ‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H138.IH H138 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS