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II
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
S. 3440
To require States to adopt contingency plans to prevent the disruption of
Federal elections from the COVID–19 virus, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 11, 2020
Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Rules and Administration
A BILL
To require States to adopt contingency plans to prevent
the disruption of Federal elections from the COVID–
19 virus, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Resilient Elections
4
During Quarantines and Natural Disasters Act of 2020’’.
5
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION CONTIN-
6
GENCY PLANS IN RESPONSE TO COVID–19.
7
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the
8
date of the enactment of this Act, each State and jurisdic-
9
tion shall establish and make publicly available a contin-
10
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gency plan to enable individuals to vote in elections for
1
Federal office in any case in which a significant number
2
of individuals in such State or jurisdiction are unable to
3
vote because—
4
(1) they are under a quarantine that is—
5
(A) imposed by a government order in re-
6
sponse to the coronavirus disease 2019 (re-
7
ferred to in this section as ‘‘COVID–19’’); or
8
(B) recommended by a government official
9
or public health expert in response to COVID–
10
19; or
11
(2) their polling place is closed because poll
12
workers or election officials are under a quarantine
13
that is—
14
(A) imposed by a government order in re-
15
sponse to COVID–19; or
16
(B) recommended by a government official
17
or public health expert in response to COVID–
18
19.
19
(b) REQUIREMENT TO PLAN FOR VOTERS TO BE
20
ABLE TO REQUEST ABSENTEE BALLOTS ONLINE AND
21
VOTE BY MAIL.—The contingency plan established under
22
subsection (a) shall—
23
(1) permit all individuals who are registered to
24
vote to—
25
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(A) submit an online request for an absen-
1
tee ballot; and
2
(B) cast a vote in Federal elections by
3
mail; and
4
(2) provide for the extension of vote-by-mail
5
deadlines if postal service is disrupted as a result of
6
COVID–19.
7
(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term
8
‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common-
9
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the
10
United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of
11
the Northern Mariana Islands.
12
(d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General may
13
bring a civil action against any State or jurisdiction in
14
an appropriate United States District Court for such de-
15
claratory and injunctive relief (including a temporary re-
16
straining order, a permanent or temporary injunction, or
17
other order) as may be necessary to carry out the require-
18
ments of this section.
19
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE
20
VOTING DURING CERTAIN PERIODS.
21
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America
22
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended
23
by adding at the end the following new subtitle:
24
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‘‘Subtitle C—Other Requirements
1
‘‘SECTION 321. NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING DURING NA-
2
TIONAL EMERGENCIES.
3
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 6(c) of
4
the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C.
5
20505(c)), in the case of any election for Federal office
6
occurring during any period described in subsection (b),
7
each State and jurisdiction shall—
8
‘‘(1) permit any eligible voter to use absentee
9
registration procedures and to vote by absentee bal-
10
lot; and
11
‘‘(2) comply with the requirements of subsection
12
(d).
13
For purposes of this subsection, an election shall be con-
14
sidered to occur during a period described in subsection
15
(b) if votes may be cast in such election (through absentee
16
balloting, early voting, or otherwise) on any day during
17
such period.
18
‘‘(b) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—
19
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A period described in this
20
subsection is a period—
21
‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (2), that begins
22
with the date that is 30 days after the date on
23
which at least 25 percent of States have de-
24
clared an emergency (under the laws of the
25
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State) with respect to any single natural dis-
1
aster or infectious disease (including the
2
coronavirus disease 2019 (referred to in this
3
section as ‘COVID–19’)); and
4
‘‘(B) that ends with—
5
‘‘(i) in the case of a State that did not
6
declare an emergency with respect to the
7
single natural disaster or infectious disease
8
described in subparagraph (A), 180 days
9
after the first date on which less than 25
10
percent of States have an emergency dec-
11
laration in effect with respect to such nat-
12
ural disaster or disease; and
13
‘‘(ii) in the case of a State that did
14
declare an emergency with respect to such
15
natural disaster or infectious disease, the
16
later of—
17
‘‘(I) 180 days after the date on
18
which the State declares that the
19
emergency is no longer in effect; and
20
‘‘(II) the date described in clause
21
(i).
22
‘‘(2) SPECIAL PERIOD.—If, as of the date of en-
23
actment of this section, at least 25 percent of States
24
have declared an emergency (under the laws of the
25
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State) with respect to any single natural disaster or
1
infectious disease (including COVID–19), then a pe-
2
riod described in this subsection shall begin on the
3
date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of
4
this section.
5
‘‘(3) TREATMENT
OF
EMERGENCY
DECLARA-
6
TIONS
BY
CERTAIN
COUNTIES
AND
CITIES.—For
7
purposes of this subsection, a State shall be deemed
8
to have declared an emergency under the laws of the
9
State with respect to a natural disaster or infectious
10
disease (including COVID–19) if an emergency is
11
declared with respect to such disaster or infectious
12
disease by a city, county, parish, or other political
13
subdivision of the State that has a population that
14
is greater than 1,000,000.
15
‘‘(c) STATE OPTION TO DECLARE EMERGENCY VOT-
16
ING PERIOD.—
17
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section
18
6(c) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993
19
(52 U.S.C. 20505(c)), if the Governor of a State has
20
declared an emergency voting period with respect to
21
the State in accordance with paragraph (2), the
22
State and any jurisdiction in the State, with respect
23
to any election for Federal office occurring during
24
such period, shall—
25
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‘‘(A) permit any eligible voter to use ab-
1
sentee registration procedures and to vote by
2
absentee ballot; and
3
‘‘(B) comply with the requirements of sub-
4
section (d).
5
For purposes of this paragraph, an election shall be
6
considered to occur during an emergency voting pe-
7
riod if votes may be cast in such election (through
8
absentee balloting, early voting, or otherwise) on any
9
day during such period.
10
‘‘(2) EMERGENCY VOTING PERIOD.—
11
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Governor of a
12
State may declare an emergency voting period
13
in the State by—
14
‘‘(i) stating that a natural disaster or
15
infectious disease (including COVID–19)
16
has resulted in emergency conditions in the
17
State; and
18
‘‘(ii) invoking the authority provided
19
under this subsection to apply the absentee
20
registration procedures and absentee vot-
21
ing requirements described in paragraph
22
(1) to the State.
23
‘‘(B) DURATION OF EMERGENCY VOTING
24
PERIOD.—An emergency voting period declared
25
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by a Governor of a State under subparagraph
1
(A)—
2
‘‘(i) shall begin on the date that is 30
3
days after the Governor declares the emer-
4
gency voting period in accordance with
5
subparagraph (A); and
6
‘‘(ii) shall end on the later of—
7
‘‘(I) 180 days after the date on
8
which the Governor declares that
9
emergency conditions no longer exist
10
in the State; and
11
‘‘(II) if applicable, the date on
12
which the period described in sub-
13
section (b) ends.
14
‘‘(d) ABSENTEE REGISTRATION
AND VOTING RE-
15
QUIREMENTS.—The requirements described in this sub-
16
section are the following:
17
‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a
18
ballot submitted by an individual by mail with re-
19
spect to an election for Federal office in the State
20
is postmarked on or before the date of the election,
21
the State may not refuse to accept or process the
22
ballot on the grounds that the individual did not
23
meet a deadline for returning the ballot to the ap-
24
propriate State or local election official.
25
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‘‘(2)
ABSENTEE
BALLOT
REQUESTS.—The
1
State shall—
2
‘‘(A) permit any eligible voter to submit an
3
online request for an absentee ballot to vote in
4
an election for Federal office in the State;
5
‘‘(B) send an absentee ballot to vote in an
6
election for Federal office in the State by mail
7
to any eligible voter that submits a request for
8
such a ballot on or before the date that is 5
9
days before the date of such election; and
10
‘‘(C) on or before the date that is 1 day
11
before the date of an election for Federal office
12
in the State, permit any eligible voter that sub-
13
mits a request for an absentee ballot to vote in
14
such election to download or receive via elec-
15
tronic mail a version of such ballot that the
16
voter may print out and mail in.
17
‘‘(3) NO EXCUSE REQUIRED.—The State shall
18
not require that an eligible voter provide a reason in
19
order to vote by absentee ballot or request to receive
20
an absentee ballot.
21
‘‘(4) NO
WRITE-IN
BALLOTS.—Any absentee
22
ballot for an election for Federal office in the State
23
that is provided to an eligible voter pursuant to
24
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paragraph (2) shall include the name of each can-
1
didate for such office.
2
‘‘(e) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term
3
‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common-
4
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the
5
United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of
6
the Northern Mariana Islands.
7
‘‘(f) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—
8
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of
9
this section, section 402 shall not apply and any per-
10
son who is aggrieved by such violation may provide
11
written notice of the violation to the chief election
12
official of the State involved.
13
‘‘(2) RELIEF.—If the violation is not corrected
14
within 20 days after receipt of a notice under para-
15
graph (1), or within 5 days after receipt of the no-
16
tice if the violation occurred within 120 days before
17
the date of an election for Federal office, the ag-
18
grieved person may, in a civil action, obtain declara-
19
tory or injunctive relief with respect to the viola-
20
tion.’’.
21
(b) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Sec-
22
tion 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52
23
U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in-
24
serting ‘‘303, and 321’’.
25
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(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
1
of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by in-
2
serting after the item relating to section 312 the following:
3
‘‘Subtitle C—Other Requirements
‘‘Sec. 321. No-excuse absentee voting during national emergencies.’’.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR PREPAID RETURN ENVELOPES
4
FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.
5
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help
6
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is
7
amended—
8
(1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as
9
sections 305 and 306, respectively; and
10
(2) by inserting after section 303 the following
11
new section:
12
‘‘SEC. 304. USE OF PREPAID SELF-SEALING RETURN ENVE-
13
LOPES.
14
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and local jurisdiction
15
shall provide with any voter registration application, ab-
16
sentee ballot application, or blank absentee ballot sent by
17
mail a self-sealing return envelope with prepaid postage
18
or subject to an arrangement whereby the State will reim-
19
burse the United States Postal Service for the postage of
20
any such return envelope that is sent by mail.
21
‘‘(b) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term
22
‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common-
23
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the
24
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United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of
1
the Northern Mariana Islands.
2
‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this
3
section shall apply to materials sent by States and local
4
jurisdictions after the date that is 60 days after the date
5
of the enactment of this Act.’’.
6
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN-
7
FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C.
8
21111), as amended by section 3(b), is amended by insert-
9
ing ‘‘304,’’ after ‘‘303,’’.
10
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents
11
of such Act is amended—
12
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
13
tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and
14
306, respectively; and
15
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
16
tion 303 the following new item:
17
‘‘Sec. 304. Use of prepaid self-sealing return envelopes.’’.
SEC. 5. REIMBURSEMENTS TO STATES.
18
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtit
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